I started a minivan thread on the DIS a few months back.
We are that time in our life when our kids are older & almost ready for college (well, 2 out of 3 kids), &, for a while, I was really questioning whether or not I wanted to get another minivan.
After thinking about it & looking at different options, we decided we'd really miss the minivan - the storage, the comfort, the convenience, the safety factors, etc. I love the sliding passenger doors on a mini-van!
Plus, even w/ older kids, I still find us carting them & their friends around. A couple of weekends ago, we took 6 to a dance.
We had a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan w/ the Stow-and-Go seats, & I KNEW we'd miss those seats! On road trips, the space in the "stow-and-go" compartments was used for extra cases of water, beach toys, & beach chairs. Day-to-day, it was nice to have the ability to stow the seats away if we needed the space for carting something. In other minivans, you have the space, but you have to completely remove the 2nd row seats.
In the end, though, instead of the new Chrysler Pacifica, we went w/ the Toyota Sienna. DH was concerned about the reliability factor w/ the Chrysler. Additionally, for what I wanted in my minivan (the "fluff" stuff like a sun roof, upgraded leather seats, etc.), I could get it for less w/ the Toyota XLE. (The sunroof was only available in the highest trim level w/ the Chrysler.)
I LOVE our Toyota Sienna!! We have the XLE model w/ the additional navigation system. The Limited model includes the entertainment system & a 2nd sunroof. I was able to get our XLE in the prettiest blue, which was important to me (again, "fluff" stuff).
When comparing the Toyota Sienna to the Honda Odyssey, I hated the visible door track on the Honda. The new 2018 Honda model no longer has the door track, but the inside of the Sienna, to me, looks so much nicer than the inside of the Odyssey. The 2nd row seats in the Sienna are nicer than the 2nd row seats in the Odyssey too. My sister has a Odyssey, & the leather on the armrests has cracked & worn off - which would drive me crazy. Additionally, the Sienna feels roomier on the inside to me, & I think, even w/ all the seats in their normal positions, we have more cargo space in the back in our Sienna.
I like the different ways we can configure the seating in the Sienna, & ours will seat 8. However, we store our 8th seat.
However, I will admit, I do miss our Stow-and-Go seats.