My wife and I are looking to purchase a new car for the family. As the title suggests we are between the Odyssey and the Enclave. We currently have a 2.5 year old and a new one on the way. It's possible we'll have a third kid down the road or we might stick with 2. We plan to keep this car at least 6 years and maybe longer (if all goes well) and carpooling is likely.
This will be my wife's car and she is really torn. She dislikes the idea of a minivan but wants to be practical as well. She actually really disliked the look of the Sienna and "doesn't hate" the new Odyssey. I was a little surprised as most people around here dislike the look of the 2011.
I think in our mind the main plus to the Odyssey is the storage space in the trunk when all three rows are up compared to the Enclave. A big negative is the lack of AWD as we live just North of Chicago and safety in the snow is a big concern. We wouldn't get snow tires and switch them for the season but would stick with the All Season tires that come with either car.
It seems that most of the threads around here that talk about the Odyssey in the snow heavily recommend Winter tires. Hearing that we wouldn't do that would you recommend against the Odyssey for the lack of AWD?
Hearing our situation do you think we'd be making a big mistake going SUV Xover or do you think if my wife has a big stigma against minivans she would probably never be happy with the Odyssey?
I appreciate any thoughts or advice. For the record she currently drives (and loves) a Lexus RX 350 AWD and the lease is expiring soon.
This will be my wife's car and she is really torn. She dislikes the idea of a minivan but wants to be practical as well. She actually really disliked the look of the Sienna and "doesn't hate" the new Odyssey. I was a little surprised as most people around here dislike the look of the 2011.
I think in our mind the main plus to the Odyssey is the storage space in the trunk when all three rows are up compared to the Enclave. A big negative is the lack of AWD as we live just North of Chicago and safety in the snow is a big concern. We wouldn't get snow tires and switch them for the season but would stick with the All Season tires that come with either car.
It seems that most of the threads around here that talk about the Odyssey in the snow heavily recommend Winter tires. Hearing that we wouldn't do that would you recommend against the Odyssey for the lack of AWD?
Hearing our situation do you think we'd be making a big mistake going SUV Xover or do you think if my wife has a big stigma against minivans she would probably never be happy with the Odyssey?
I appreciate any thoughts or advice. For the record she currently drives (and loves) a Lexus RX 350 AWD and the lease is expiring soon.