Toyota: Sienna

"From what I've been able to gather about this issue, it all boils down to ONE THING: Honda Odyssey vs. Toyota Sienna. I haven't been able to get to the bottom of it, because there are enthusiastic proponents of each. The debate rages! I have a feeling that nearly every response you get is going to be for one or the other minivan.

I love my Toyota Sienna. While we only have two kids, we constantly use the third row. The rear seat is split so you can have it all up, all down, or just one or two seats up. Even with the entire third row up, I have room in the rear for a stroller, booster seat, diaper bag, and whatever shopping I'm doing that day.

I think the absolutely best feature (available on many minivans) is power sliding doors. The convience is wonderful when you have a baby in your arms and are trying to get a toddler in/out of the vehicle. However, the real reason I love them is that they automatically stop closing if they feel any resistance -- which is wonderful when you have a toddler who really wants to close his own door. I have tested this feature several times just to ensure it is working properly. I had my hand shut in a car door as a child and I never want that to happen to one of my kids.

The other features I love on my minivan are proximity (kinda like sonar) sensors and the back-up camera. The proximity sensors are on the front two corners, the rear two corners and straight back and give you are warning as you are approaching objects (beeps that increase with frequency as you get closer). The backup camera is nice just to get another visual view before you backup.

I also like the built-in sun shades on the windows. They are actually independent of the windows -- so you can roll the windows up/down while leaving the sunshades up."