Anyone gone from Minivan to Expedition Max?

[Husker4theSpurs]

Hello all!

Have been considering an Expedition Max or Navigator L and currently have a Chrysler Pacifica. I even ordered a Navigator last Spring and turned it down at the last second ... I'm not sure why the hesitation, but it mostly has to do with losing the convenience of those sliding doors in the van and the overall length of the Max/L. We have a 3 1/2 yr old and a 1 1/2 year old and will be traveling more with my in-laws starting next Spring/Summer and I figured if we were going to get one then, we might as well do so prior to winter to have 4wd when it moreso matters. I have to say the craptastic RSES is a concern as well ... just give us a direct line DVD option as well FORD!

I am having a lot of hesitation about this change for some reason. Trust me, I would love to not drive a minivan but they are so convenient in many ways. The 4wd in an Expedition/Navigator would obviously be a benefit, but is there anything else anyone can suggest to consider? We will order the 2nd row bench if we end up getting one.

Any thoughts and input welcome!

 

[shane_th_ee]

We have an Odyssey and an Expedition Max FX4. The only practical* reason to go from a minivan to the Expedition is if you need a tow vehicle and/or better ground clearance. The power sliding doors and lower floor height are awesome for both small children and grandparents. My 5 year old can walk up to the minivan, open the door, close the door and strap himself into his carseat. With the Expedition, my 7 year old struggles mightily to open the door herself. And once the door is open the 3 year old needs help getting in and out. Then there's the sliding doors: I pull into a parking spot with the minivan and the kids can just open the doors and get out. With the Expedition, I pull in, have to check clearances and, if it there's any doubt, then I have to go open the door so the kids don't slam it into side of the next car. It's a lot easier for older adults to get into/out of the minivan than to climb up into the Expedition.

If you need/want improved snow/ice performance you'd be far better off with an AWD Sienna and/or dedicated snow tires.

*Minivans are "uncool", but I don't consider coolness to be a practical consideration. YMMV.

 

[Adieu]

Forum, meet the reason why we can't have new cool trucks anymore

 

[WJD_xlt]

I went from an odyssey to an expedition max. Only thing I miss from the minivan is the sliding doors (due to the aforementioned reason), I’m happier with the switch.

 

[JasonH]

We have an Odyssey and an Expedition Max FX4. The only practical* reason to go from a minivan to the Expedition is if you need a tow vehicle and/or better ground clearance. The power sliding doors and lower floor height are awesome for both small children and grandparents. My 5 year old can walk up to the minivan, open the door, close the door and strap himself into his carseat. With the Expedition, my 7 year old struggles mightily to open the door herself. And once the door is open the 3 year old needs help getting in and out. Then there's the sliding doors: I pull into a parking spot with the minivan and the kids can just open the doors and get out. With the Expedition, I pull in, have to check clearances and, if it there's any doubt, then I have to go open the door so the kids don't slam it into side of the next car. It's a lot easier for older adults to get into/out of the minivan than to climb up into the Expedition.

If you need/want improved snow/ice performance you'd be far better off with an AWD Sienna and/or dedicated snow tires.

*Minivans are "uncool", but I don't consider coolness to be a practical consideration. YMMV.

I concur with all of the above. My Expedition EL replaced my Odyssey minivan. If you don't have to tow and don't need AWD or the extra ground clearance, the Minivan is a superior people mover. I needed to tow a 30 ft trailer, and my minivan started having mechanical issues around 200K. I still miss the fuel economy and convenience of loading and unloading passengers and cargo from the van. My Expedition is great for towing, but around town the minivan was more convenient. A Toyota Sienna AWD would be a great alternative if it has sufficient ground clearance for your weather conditions.

 

[scottdm]

We currently have both an AWD Sienna and an Expedition short wheelbase, so I'll provide a few data points. The vehicles are obviously apples and oranges for their intended purpose. From a packaging/space utilization perspective, the Sienna wins hands down. The floor to ceiling dimension is also larger for tall items. The A and B pillars on the Expedition also have worse visibility than the Sienna. It also rides more smoothly than our Expedition even with CCD on the cushiest setting. All that being said, I feel that the Expedition has a much better powertrain and can actually get out of it's own way (I added the 5 star tune). The Sienna feels gutless after driving the Expedition. The road presence is also a big reason we purchased the Expedition (replaced my S550 4matic) since there are so many larger trucks on the Interstate nowadays, so I definitely feel safer in the Expedition than the Sienna. Technology and the ability to manipulate things in Forscan was also an appealing feature of the Expedition. We also had fun driving in the sand at the Outer Banks of North Carolina this summer, which obviously would be a no-go in the Sienna.

 

[Husker4theSpurs]

We have an Odyssey and an Expedition Max FX4. The only practical* reason to go from a minivan to the Expedition is if you need a tow vehicle and/or better ground clearance. The power sliding doors and lower floor height are awesome for both small children and grandparents. My 5 year old can walk up to the minivan, open the door, close the door and strap himself into his carseat. With the Expedition, my 7 year old struggles mightily to open the door herself. And once the door is open the 3 year old needs help getting in and out. Then there's the sliding doors: I pull into a parking spot with the minivan and the kids can just open the doors and get out. With the Expedition, I pull in, have to check clearances and, if it there's any doubt, then I have to go open the door so the kids don't slam it into side of the next car. It's a lot easier for older adults to get into/out of the minivan than to climb up into the Expedition.

If you need/want improved snow/ice performance you'd be far better off with an AWD Sienna and/or dedicated snow tires.

*Minivans are "uncool", but I don't consider coolness to be a practical consideration. YMMV.

Thanks for the input ... those are all my sentiments as well. One difference is having a bench in the 2nd row in the Expedition/Navigator while still being able to get a panoramic roof. As far as kids needing help in and out of the car ... this could be good and bad I suppose.

The Toyota Sienna needs a significant refresh imho before I would consider it, although I have heard the Pacifica will be getting AWD within a few years?

I am leaning toward ordering a Exp/Nav but honestly I'm surprised I haven't committed to do so yet.

 

[Husker4theSpurs]

I concur with all of the above. My Expedition EL replaced my Odyssey minivan. If you don't have to tow and don't need AWD or the extra ground clearance, the Minivan is a superior people mover. I needed to tow a 30 ft trailer, and my minivan started having mechanical issues around 200K. I still miss the fuel economy and convenience of loading and unloading passengers and cargo from the van. My Expedition is great for towing, but around town the minivan was more convenient. A Toyota Sienna AWD would be a great alternative if it has sufficient ground clearance for your weather conditions.

Thanks for your input ... I am quite torn. I think I'd enjoy driving the Expedition more and we do have snow to be dealt with here, but I have a 3rd car that has 4wd (2019 Jeep Wrangler 4 door). However we will make some trips to some very rural areas with quite a lot of poorly maintained gravel roads and that might be a bit of a kicker to this situation (don't think we can fit the kids and stuff in a 4 door Wrangler).

 

[Husker4theSpurs]

We currently have both an AWD Sienna and an Expedition short wheelbase, so I'll provide a few data points. The vehicles are obviously apples and oranges for their intended purpose. From a packaging/space utilization perspective, the Sienna wins hands down. The floor to ceiling dimension is also larger for tall items. The A and B pillars on the Expedition also have worse visibility than the Sienna. It also rides more smoothly than our Expedition even with CCD on the cushiest setting. All that being said, I feel that the Expedition has a much better powertrain and can actually get out of it's own way (I added the 5 star tune). The Sienna feels gutless after driving the Expedition. The road presence is also a big reason we purchased the Expedition (replaced my S550 4matic) since there are so many larger trucks on the Interstate nowadays, so I definitely feel safer in the Expedition than the Sienna. Technology and the ability to manipulate things in Forscan was also an appealing feature of the Expedition. We also had fun driving in the sand at the Outer Banks of North Carolina this summer, which obviously would be a no-go in the Sienna.

Thank you for your input! It's very helpful.

 

[Jace]

I'm gonna echo pretty much everything said in here so far. I switched my family cruiser/wife's vehicle from a '14 Sienna SE to a '19 Limited Max a few weeks ago and she absolutely loves it and so do I. We do miss the sliding doors for the laziness of letting the kids just rush out and for tight parking, but those aren't too much of a big deal as we, like many others, just park a bit further out, and assist the littles in getting out.

In regards to kids, I have 5 boys... Ages 7,5,3,2 and 4mo. We got the captains chairs so every seat is full. The only issue we've ran into so far is in the 3rd row. We haven't figured out how to put the 2 backed boosters in with forward facing harness seat. The 2 in boosters have a hard time clicking their belts in because they are flush with the seats and slightly under the harness sest vs sticking up like they were in the sienna. Also, I wish I could disable the power reclining 3rd row seats as kids like to push buttons and that doesn't work too well with car seats.

I also wanted to add a different angle than some have posted about their kids having a hard time getting into the expedition. All of my boys, except for the baby obviously, can get into mine just fine. We found this to be the case with the models that have the power steps as they come down a lot further than the fixed running boards. My younger boys couldn't get into the XLT models without help.

Our main deciding factors were snow, ground clearance, towing and technology. The presence is much better, but parking takes a little more thought as the hood is much larger.

 

[byathread]

Our other vehicle is a 2013 Odyssey, it holds way more people WITH all of their crap than the Expy Max. I now understand why so many large SUV's have that large cargo box on the roof. I've done two trips to the beach with my 4 kids and my wife. Long story short, everything fits in the van. The Expy means some nice to haves are left behind (unless I'd get a roof top cargo box).

My mother in law, wife, my 4 kids and my two nieces went to the beach for a 3 nighter and all fit great, with all their crap, in the minivan including a jogging stroller. I don't have the second row bench, so, the Expy wasn't an option. Even if I did, they wouldn't have all fit with all their crap (again, unless roof top cargo box).

YMMV...

 

[byathread]

Also, I wish I could disable the power reclining 3rd row seats as kids like to push buttons and that doesn't work too well with car seats.

Mine are all in boosters or don't need anything at this point, but, I agree there should be some way to disable this feature. Really crazy to me what is in place in the name of safety vs what isn't the more I think about it.

 

[Black]

Dumped a Sienna for the Expedition EL and could not be happier.
Nightmare for 3 kids in car seats that can’t buckle themselves.
I ended up removing the 2nd row passenger seat and putting 2 car seats in the 3rd row and with Toyota’s genius they only had one latch setup in the 3rd row for the car seat and it was off center so it took the left seat and the center.
I ended up using seatbelts and ratchet straps.
Plus the Sienna has no soul is a complete bore to drive and absolutely uninspiring.
Not to mention the sliding door safety stop is worthless.
I had to dive between the door and my kid twice without it stopping.
Tons more room in the EL/Max much better ride and we get to go off road too.
Not a chance I’d go back to a minivan.

 

[scottdm]

Tons more room in the EL/Max much better ride and we get to go off road too.
Not a chance I’d go back to a minivan.

Not sure how you determined that the EL/Max has tons more room than a Sienna. A Sienna has 150 cubic ft of space behind the 1st row. The EL/Max has 121.5 cubic ft behind the first row. Sounds like fuzzy math to me

 

[Deadman]

My 4 year old climbs right into my 18 Expedition with the power running boards. He also climbs right out after we unbuckle his seatbelts.

 

[Black]

Not sure how you determined that the EL/Max has tons more room than a Sienna. A Sienna has 150 cubic ft of space behind the 1st row. The EL/Max has 121.5 cubic ft behind the first row. Sounds like fuzzy math to me

Usable space is what I was referring to. I had to remove the passenger side 2nd row seat so my wife and I could get to the 3rd row to buckle the two back there.
Also we have a double running stroller that can be laid flat in Expedition behind the 3rd row. So you can stack stuff on top of it. Stroller had to be upright and bungied to the headrest of the 3rd row and very little could be put behind the 3rd row with it in the Sienna.

 

[joethefordguy]

I went from a 2005 Chrysler T&C to an 04 Expedition XLT. Love it! the Exp has more interior room (much to my surprise); I suspect it is wider so the seating feels more spacious. I have not measured.
I do miss the mileage of the van, but I badly needed ground clearance and 4WD. Not to mention, the Expy is an SSV, so there's that.

 

[TheDoug]

Friends dont let friends drive minivans!

I say that but mynold MDX was essentially a honda odyssey and I couldn't stand it. I have 2 kids 6 and 3 and both can climb in to the Expy just fine.

 

[jjy168]

I moved from a Nissan Quest to Exp Max. The main reason I did was for safety. If you haven't done a search, the minivans are not very safe in a crash. They are roomy because they hang over the chasis and in a crash those area that hangs over are the weakest.

I plan on driving up to snow area more and I couldn't help to notice that the road in the mountains are just 2 lanes. I am also paranoid about idiot drivers looking at their screens while driving...

If a car crashes into me I don't want to be in a loosing position, and definitely not anyone in the family either. Choosing a big car like the Expy is more of an extra insurance policy decision than a practical day to day convenience decision.

 

[Adieu]

Friends dont let friends drive minivans!

I say that but mynold MDX was essentially a honda odyssey and I couldn't stand it. I have 2 kids 6 and 3 and both can climb in to the Expy just fine.

Eh...Wasn't Acura MDX a dressed up Honda Pilot?