How to convince my sister to buy an LR4 instead of a Honda Odyssey?

[paula]

My sister has 3 toddlers. She loves my LR3 but thinks it is not practical for her due to the absence of cargo space if the 3rd seats are up. She wants to buy an Odyssey instead as she thinks it is more practical for her family needs.

How do you suggest I convince her to buy the LR4 instead? Any way you folks have gotten over the space issue behind the 3rd row? Thanks

 

[jwest]

The min-van right? If she wants space inside, it's kind of hard to beat the vans these days! I'd say do two things:
1st, drive them both to see if either is a big winner over the other in just how it feels to drive and be inside and use it.

2nd, take a measuring tape and compare them side by side, literally. Get one, or yours, next to the van, put the seats up, compare cargo, puts seats all down... how are they then? etc. The slick design of the lr3 or lr4 seats is how they are all 7 up, then in about 4 minutes, all 5 rear are flat down into the floor. Can't do that in the van but how quickly could the van seats just be removed entirely? They might pop out in 10 minutes which would be cool and leave LOTS of space.

Honda though... ick, how about a Toyota van, Mazda 5 is very cool actually, and Mercedes just came out with their "Metris" for the US market. Pretty cool vehicle with huge square opening rear hatch.

As for the "space issue" behind 3rd row in lr3....well, as you know, there's essentially NO space left with all the seats upright. But, it is about as functional as it could be that you can have just 1 3rd row upright, and even just one of 2 of the 2nd row upright with everything else flat. It's very versatile for what space it does have but it will never be as big inside as these people hauling vans.

Here's a crazy idea for you/her: Mercedes Sprinter in the short length as passenger layout. They are available now in 4x4 version and have an efficient diesel engine. Stand up inside, and VERY huge cargo space even with several seats inside. 2015 is the first year for the 4x4 but the rear wheel drive versions have been running here for many years.

How many people does she need to seat anyway ?

 

[JotaDe]

The odyssey wins here in practically every category (I have both cars).

Here is why the odyssey is the ultimate family car imo.
- rear seats fold down flat to floor with a pull of a strap, super easy.
- middle row seats can be removed, moved front/back, left/right, we keep the middle seat out so it like two captain chairs for our car seats and with an aisle down the middle.
- back seat is like an indoor changing table (amazing), don't need to go outside of open a door.
-all doors are automatically open end/closed
-Odyssey gets better mpg and uses the lowest octane.

The touting elite has more creature comforts than my lr4. For $50k I don't think the odyssey can be beat for a family hauler on either short or long trips.

That being said, I prefer to drive my vehicle on a daily basis. [emoji41]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lgibson]

If your sister ever intends to pull off the asphalt, drive over a curb, or even back out of a steep driveway she would be in trouble with the Odyssey and its 4 1/2 inch ground clearance. However, it's a great interstate cruiser.

 

[eye.surgeon]

Honda is a more practical kid hauler.

 

[TCM75]

My wife had the Odyssey and it was a great people-mover. Lease ended when our kids were ages 6.5, 5, and 5. Because they are not stroller-age anymore and generally have less "support equipment" we decided to downsize. That, and my wife refused to have another minivan, lol.

Does your sister care about how the vehicle drives? I am just asking because the Odyssey and LR are two different animals and drive completely different. If she doesn't, then why try to push her towards the LR...it's not like its a small price difference. How about reliability? Honda has the market cornered here. Take it from me, it's no fun pulling three car seats out of a car and then reinstalling them after the car goes into the shop...multiple times (thank you, Routan). Conversely, I feel that Honda brakes are sub-par and there is a lot of road noise inside the vehicle. I also agree with JotaDe on all points.

Btw, my wife decided on a QX60 and is very happy with it. Tons of space in the second row (kids sit 3-across) and still very good cargo space...less than LR and lots less than Odyssey.

 

[Quijote]

The minivan will always win over a medium/large-ish SUV. It's cheaper to run, easier to load kids, and has more room.

Once she decides she needs an SUV, you can convince her on the merits of an LR4 over others.

But from a practical stand point, the only reason to pick an SUV over a minivan are ground clearance and AWD (excellent AWD in the case of the LR4).

If those are not factors and she is not one of those who prefer the ride height or image of an SUV, the minivan is the right choice.

 

[GoLoaf]

If the Odyssey is even a consideration, wouldn't a more mom-friendly SUV be a better alternative? She's better off comparing the Odyssey to a Pilot or a Toyota Highlander.

 

[jwest]

If the Odyssey is even a consideration, wouldn't a more mom-friendly SUV be a better alternative? She's better off comparing the Odyssey to a Pilot or a Toyota Highlander.

WHAT are you talking about? Unless they have grown overnight, my impression of the Highlander and Pilot is they are rather small inside and virtually useless compared to a mini-van. They have even less useful space than the LR3/4 due to the lr3/4 seat design.

Really, I think the best true mini-van comparison is the Toyota Sienna.

****It appears to be the only AWD minivan in the US market.

Honda Odyssey cargo about 170 cubit feet vs Toyota Sienna stated volume of 150. That's a significant difference so I'm curious to see these side by side sometime. 170 is freaking huge. AWD is potentially more awesome though.

 

[jwest]

The odyssey wins here in practically every category (I have both cars).
For $50k I don't think the odyssey can be beat for a family hauler on either short or long trips.

Toyota Sienna loaded 100% is $47k including AWD. I like it's dual sunroofs too. They're both cool vans actually. I'd like to test drive them to see which one is simply more fun to drive.

A Mercedes R class would be a cool one too, especially the diesel.