Multi-Car

'98 Toyota SiennaMore conservative than the supercharged Previa egg it replaces, the Sienna set its sights firmly on mainstream America. All the minivan prerequisites are available: dual sliding doors, seating for seven, rear air conditioning outlets, abundant cupholders, and car-oriented dynamics. We indulged in the premium XLE model to gain an attractive two-tone exterior and laundry list of power features. The XLE's $27,100 base price includes power windows/door locks/mirrors, keyless entry anti-theft system, power driver's seat, second-row captain's chairs, tire pressure monitors, and alloy wheels, among other pampering items. We opted for a $2390 primo package with leather upholstery and power moonroof-a true minivan luxury. For a reasonable $180, the standard stereo was upgraded to an AM/FM/CD/cassette head unit with six speakers, pushing the bottom line to $30,090. Our first gripe: an extremely low position for the stereo makes it challenging for drivers to make frequent station changes. As one logbook entry succinctly stated, "Its hard to argue with a minivan based on the Camry/ES 300 platform that shares the silky, smooth powertrain and quality feel."

'98 Lincoln NavigatorThe Navigator logbook has its share of criticisms for the big Lincoln's traffic-dwarfing size, overly isolated steering, and need for the mighty Ford V-10 engine. However, the odometer tells the true story of its popularity among our editors. Rapidly approaching 26,000 miles, we need to actively discourage driving the Lincoln to add miles on the other vehicles in our fleet. The Navigator's greatest strength has repeatedly proven to be as a family vacation vehicle. Seems like everyone on staff has at one point taken out the back-straining rear bench, loaded up the family, coolers, and luggage, then escaped the city. Large, leather captains chairs for the front two rows ensure comfort on multistate drives. The second-row kids receive plenty of cool air as they listen to the radio on headphones, sparing the parents from hearing Hanson for the 100th time. Our staffers' kids found the console between the rear buckets makes a handy impromptu cooler or toy storage bin. However, when fully loaded with people, the Lincoln doesn't offer much storage, so this is more a four-person vacationer than a rig for seven. Normal servicing are all its asked for so far.