And I’m loving it.
We started car shopping before Thanksgiving. We visited dealerships to check out options for 3-row SUVs. While waiting for a salesman to bring around a Honda Pilot for us to test drive, there happened to be an Odyssey EX-L in black sitting in the showroom. Despite our preconceived notions about minivans and how lame they are… this one caught our eye. It was unexpected, but from then on, we were thrown into a debate—3-row SUV vs. minivan.
Now you know which one won out.
Last month, we bit the bullet and bought one. And guess what? It’s identical to the one we saw in the showroom that day. We considered other colors, but ultimately liked the sleek black exterior with the “truffle” interior. Done deal.
Speaking of deals, I feel good about where we ended up. I negotiated with a number of different dealerships, playing them against each other to get the best deal possible. We got a few accessories thrown in for “free”—mud guards for the wheels and all-weather floor mats—and then paid to add on the Honda remote starter, because hello, we live in the freaking ARCTIC TUNDRA. Especially this year, during the winter that will.never.end. We also got a fantastic interest rate (if you have to have an interest rate, because obviously 0% is way better) of 0.9%.
Since then, I’ve adjusted quite well, I think! Loving the power sliding doors and tailgate. The extra storage in the back? It’s been sweet for skis and our strollers. BLUETOOTH IS AMAZING (it’s the little things in life, my friends). The back-up camera, the leather HEATED seats… I could go on and on and on.
You could say I’m a convert.
For those of you on the fence… dooooo it. Now I’ll be an enabler. :)
11 Responses to I’m a Minivan Mom.
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About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
Hey, I was a minivan fan back in their neophyte stage, they have come a long way, baby! As much as I called mine the “matronly mobile” it was so practical. Of course, YOU kept saying, “NEVER”. Do mothers always know best? Lol! Love ya. Mom
Nevah!! I have heated leather, storage, remote start, Bluetooth, etc in my SUV. You have me on sliding doors though and I admit that would be sweet. ;)
Ditto megan. :)
Do the bucket seats have the latch system? It looks like you are using the seat belt for Nora’s seat. Also, I strongly recommend getting the seat protectors for underneath the car seats. Those car seats give the leather seats a beating. The seat protectors have been a life saver in my husband’s truck.
Hi Lisa,
The bucket seats do have the LATCH system, but ever since switching Nora to a convertible car seat (and now the Britax Frontier 90 harness-to-booster seat), I’ve felt like I can get a much tighter installation using the seatbelt. Plus, with the new LATCH safety guidelines—which states that the weight of the seat + the weight of the child should not exceed 65 lbs. when using LATCH—I feel better using the seatbelt. Nora + her seat probably only weigh 56-57 lbs. combined, but I’m fine with the seatbelt install. In fact, the Frontier has a “click tight” mechanism for seatbelt installations that make them even easier, and more secure. Just a personal preference, I guess! The Odyssey seat and the Frontier 90 both are capable of LATCH installation, though.
As far as the seat protectors… I researched them a lot before taking delivery of the new van, because I worried about the leather seats and damage to them from the car seats. But based on my research, there are absolutely NO after-market accessories like this that are considered safe by car seat experts. To put ANYTHING in between the child seat and the car seat is considered a risk, since these accessories are not crash tested. Most of them actually interfere with proper installation of the car seat, and if they don’t (or minimize the interference), then they are so thin that they don’t actually offer much protection for the seats. I’d rather maim my leather seats than compromise my children’s safety, so we decided against using anything like that. If I find out that they’re safe, fine, but I haven’t been able to find any information like that.
Very interesting information you provided. Thank you! I am very interested in the “click tight” mechanism for the Frontier. I’m always afraid of the seatbelt because I feel like I can’t get it tight enough. I will have to look that up.
I actually didn’t know that about the seat protectors. Ours are kind of thin but I feel like the do protect the seat still. And our car seats are both in really tight….they don’t budge. So I never even thought that the seat protectors might interfere with my chidlren’s over all safety. I will definitely have to do some research.
Oh, the click tight thing is the BEST! Seriously awesome. Britax has a YouTube video, I think, that shows how it works. If you watch it… it really is THAT easy! You don’t have to work too hard to remove the slack from the belt because the mechanism does it for you.
I didn’t mean to come off too harshly about the seat protectors. I’m just really careful with car seat safety stuff, and get really furious when I see people with all of the “add-ons”… I don’t blame them (I know people are just uninformed), it’s just that I wonder why this stuff is even sold! The aftermarket pads to go on the shoulder pads, the “BundleMe” fuzzy blanket-like things for winter (the ones that go behind/underneath the child? Not safe!). No one finds out this stuff unless they look into it themselves and it’s frustrating. A friend just had a baby last month and she said that when they brought the car seat into the hospital to take the baby home, the nurse actually told them to remove the BundleMe for safety reasons. I was so glad to hear that, because otherwise, they just wouldn’t have known! They went out and bought the Cozy Cover instead.
It’s not like using this stuff = automatic injury or death of a child should something happen. It’s just that it’s not crash tested, so there’s no evidence that it’s safe. I am just one who would rather not take the risk.
We are expecting baby #2 in September and we will be trading in my car before then. The Odyssey is at the top of my list – glad to hear from someone who is pleased with theirs! Congratulations! :)
We are odyssey converts too…I put up a good fight but I finally succumbed and we are loving it! How do you (andNora) like the britax frontier car seat? We have the britax marathon 70 for our 3 1/2 year old and weight wise we are getting close to new LATCH limits. We could seat belt it but thinking of just getting a new seat. It looks larger and a different seat angle so just curious how Nora was fitting.
We really like the Frontier so far. It’s a little more challenging to tighten the straps (when tightening/loosening) than I experienced with the Marathon, but we’ve just been keeping her straps taut when we take her out, and it makes things easier. The Frontier will be the last car seat/booster Nora ever has to have… it’ll last her until she’s old enough to ride without one altogether! It converts into a belt-positioning booster when she’s ready for that. Instead of buying two more Marathons (which Vivienne will be in very soon), we decided to go this route.
I had a small VW turbo that I got rid of and bought a CR-V for “when we had kids”, thinking we’d have one kid at a time. Well, when I got pregnant with twins, we quickly traded that in for the Odyssey. Best.decision.ever. Love my van!!