Minivan for long travel. infos?

[vince37]

Hi! I'm Vincent.

I'm planing to travel from canada to argentina next year. I like small vehicles that's why i want to do it with a minivan like grand caravan or sienna.
I'm still hesitating about my minivan...
The biggest problem is to be able to get spare parts in cntral and south america cause dodge grand caravan and toyota sienna don't exist there. So i don't know what will happen in case of a big problem with this car...
I saw today that chrysler town and country exist almost everywhere. Is it a good car? Is anyone know if spare parts for a town and country are the same for a grand caravan? (cause both car seems to be very similar)
Is anyone can give me any advice? Is someone think about another but kind of similar vehicle to do this trip? Sorry but i'm french so i don't really know lots of things on U.S cars...

Thanks a lot!!!

Vincent

 

[madmax718]

depending on the model you get, the caravan and TC are virtually the same.

depending on the year sienna, it shared many parts and design with the camry. Engine sensors are widely the same along the toyota engine lines, for example, crank sensors are the same in avalon, the 4 runner, the camry, the RX350, the is250... As for spares, the belts are widely the same as well, as well as other sensors, compressors, etc. The most widely varied thing is hubs, wheel bearings (but still common in many ways to get just the bearing and not the whole assembly). The hardest parts are things molded to the body shape- water tanks, radiators, brake lines.

 

[SpectreH3]

A few years ago I used my Honda Odyssey for offroading and camping in Arizona. Lots of dirt roads, sand pits, and other places it really wasn't designed for.

I must say it took it all really well. It was an older model, 2001, so it had a few less electronics than the newer ones. Madmax718 nailed it. The biggest thing would be get a good shop manual for your specific year van and know what parts are interchangeable. It might take some research, going into a dealership and talking to the shop people or getting on a forum specific to your make/model, but it will pay off. You don't want to break down and not know what you can and can't fix/replace.

Now, if you are planning to stick to the roads or "roads" (in some parts of south america), you may be just fine. I liked the minivan because it got awesome gas milage and you could load it up with all the gear you could ever need. I had 4 people, firewood, tents, food, water, and beer all while getting 22 MPG.

Now there are a few things I would suggest you look into.

First, TIRES. If you are going to have paved roads the whole way this may be less of an issue, but if you think there may be times the road runs out or you want to just have piece of mind on gravel roads look into what size All Terrain (A/T) Tires will fit you car. I had a set of General Grabber A/T^2 on mine that were great. There's only a few A/T tires that come in sizes that can fit on a minivan, but trust me you will LOVE them if you ever need to get off the beaten path. Also good A/T's do great in rain, snow, mud, and dry pavement. Always smart to be prepared.

Also if you do plan on hitting a lot of dirt roads and getting away form the interstate, I would recommend finding a local metal shop that can fabricate a skid plate for under your engine/transmission. I accidentally jumped my van during the night and luckily landed on the frame (middle of a desert/dirt road and I couldn't see where water had created a foot wide whole in the ground). 1 inch in either direction and I would have lost my transmission. Skid plate, cheap, simple protection. Again, good piece of mind to know when you are far from home that your important car parts are protected.

Again, there are some downsides with a minivan. You won't be keeping up with Jeeps or 4x4's, but if you need a practical way of seeing the world, it's a great option.

All that said, even stock there are a lot of places a minivan can get you:

 

[vince37]

Thanks a lot for your answers!!!

I continue to search! Toyota told me that they can't assure witch parts are the same on a canadian sienna and a south american camry, but it seems that some parts could fit!

Still searching i noticed that honda odyssey are selling in almost all the country on my way, so it could be great (i send a message to Honda to see if there are exactly same vehicles).
Spectre H3 do you know the lenght of the cargo from the back to drivers seat? Cause i get different answers... Sometimes 76 inches sometimes 96... I want to be able to put a bed and a small kitchen in the van.
I don't know if all the minivan had the same size or not. Grand caravan for exemple seems to be bigger but i'm not sure.

It's a bit difficult cause all those cars don't exist in Europe, so lots of people that i contact told me to go to a toyota or honda seller but i can't
I will not use the minivan as a 4*4 but some roads will be pretty bads so i think i ll need good tires, thanks for your advice! Maybe i ll change lift to put the car a little bit higher from the floor.

Anyway thanks a lot for your advices!!! i really need them!!!

 

[SpectreH3]

Oh sorry I missed the part where you saidnyou were from overseas. My mistake.

The Odyssey in North and South America is different from the International version sold in Japan and maybe Europe. The one in the Americas is larger, I think its 96 inches. I had no problem getting a 4 x 8 ft sheet of plywood in mine with the chairs down. The 3rd row seat can also be lowered into a well in the back of the van giving you a flat area in the back. If you remove the 2 middle seats you more or less have an 8 foot bed. I used mine to move full size couches several times. The trunk would even close with the couch inside.

Now time for some words of caution.

Be careful which year you look at. Honda had some transmission issues about 10 years ago. Avoid 2000 and 2001. If you can find a 2004 they are probably the best year. Those had the best reliability ratings and fixed many of the transmission problems with the earlier models. Or if your looking for a newer one I would try for a 2006 or newer. I don't like the first year in new models. No matter what its probably a good idea to have it fully inspected before you buy (usually a good thing to do no matter what your trying to buy)

The Odyssey was known for great handling due to its 4 wheel indpendent suspension. It does wonders for road trips but if something should go wrong, its more complicated to repair than a 'solid axle' design found on most other minivans from the early 2000s. That said, I never had any issues with mine. I just want to let you know what you may need to watch out for.

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. I'm not a mechanic, I just learned about my van over time and what it needed to keep it running. Eventually my transmission went out and I had to sell it. (After 216,000 miles). But I loved it and miss the extra room for sure.

-Curt

 

[mbuckner]

Go to NAPAonline .......... look up the part for the vehicle and use the buyers guide .. it tells
you what other vehicles that that part will fit .... I used it to research for inter-changeable
Jeep parts ....

Good luck .....

Mike

 

[vince37]

Hi Curt! Thanks a lot for your advices! I think i will need to contact you in the future to get more infos héhé

Thank you Mike for napaonline. I din't knew this site and it seems really interesting!!!