The Least Manliest Blog I've Ever Written

I think it was last hockey season that planted the seed in our brains. We would stuff our boy's hockey gear in the trunk, but we've been starting to also take his buddies to practices and games. One hockey bag in our 4-door Malibu, no problem. Two bags, problem.

So, when this would happen, a sense of terror overcame me. What were we going to do next year when our other boy begins hockey? Two bags would be a regular occurrence, maybe even three! After pondering this, I hung my head and came to the sad conclusion that we need a minivan ("sigh").

After a brief period of mourning, we began our research. We would start with Internet research. Our list produced the first round candidates. We decided to purchase new. This would be a cash purchase, so the automakers' different financing options will not enter into our evaluation criteria.

• The Dodge Grand Caravan
• The Pontiac Montana
• The Chevrolet Upplander
• The Honda Odyssey
• The Toyota Sienna

First to go was the Upplander. Poor crash test results, and some poor reviews sealed its fate. Plus, this was the minivan that I drove around Montreal when I was briefly working over there. Pretty small.

Our first sit-in experience was the Grand Caravan, which we had high hopes for. But it just seemed barren inside, almost flimsy. Plus, the 2008 is a complete re-working of this model, so you're rolling the dice on depreciation rate and reliability with a brand new design. Cross off the Grand Caravan.

The Montana we thought was the nicest looking of the bunch, and it did make our "test drive cut". But after paying $26 for a Consumer Reports subscription, and diving deeper into other car research, it was found that its reliability was poor, very poor. No like-ee. The Montana was dropped.

So, this is where we are at this very point in time. Deciding between the Odyssey and the Sienna. Both reviewed extremely well with ALL reputable auto review organizations. Consumer Reports gives the Odyssey a very high 90, the Sienna a 91. Like comparing two X-Men, each has its super-powers:

Sienna: Has more of a "car feel". You can get any option in any model. Its available in AWD (All Wheel Drive). She has more Headroom, and a slightly better Consumer Reports reliability score.

Odyssey: It has a massive amount of cargo room. She's a little purdier than the Sienna, we thought. The seats are very solid, more substantial. The reviews also indicated that this was the more responsive of the current class of minivans.

So, this is where we are. We have not test driven either yet, just sat in them.

I know you are absolutely riveted by this tale, so we will unveil our select soon. Donations to our minivan fund are graciously accepted through PayPal.