Proud minivan driver

[Miguel]

Originally Posted by wombat13

We also have a Jeep Liberty and when we bought the Toyota Sienna my wife and I agreed that I would drive the minivan because it has more leg room and she liked the Jeep better anyway. Now we both want the Sienna. I will inevitably lose that battle.

The only downside to driving the minivan that I've noticed is the number of other drivers that just can't deal with being passed by a minivan. They go to great lengths (and speeds) to make sure they get back ahead of the minivan. I refer to those drivers as members of the Little P**is Patrol (LPP).

Same thing for MINIs. I used to humilate the LPPs, but since the CHL I just ignore them.

[wombat13]

We drove the Kia, Honda, and Toyota. Here's what we found:

Honda: Best handling, easiest/most functional seats, most refined drive train, most expensive b/c sells for sticker

Toyota: Almost as nice as the Honda in all respects, except not as powerful (although 2007s will have 268 hp, 13 more than Honda).

Kia: Has all the features of the Toyota/Honda and as much power as the Honda. Fit and finish and resale not as good and reliability may or may not be there, but the 10 yr./100k mi. warranty provides peace of mind

The Kia/Hyundai are very good values. But when were were able to get thousands off the Toyota, plus 0% financing, plus 10yr/100k mi warranty thrown in, that made the decision to buy the Toyota easy. We got the deal b/c the Toyota dealers wanted to unload the 215 hp 2006 models to make room for the 2007s.

[robinsre]

Originally Posted by tbhahn

I learned to drive in a mini-van (1990 Plymouth Voyager), and it was my ride for a few months once I turned 16...best part about having it was the looks I got from parents of girls I dated. See, the middle seats were taken out back when my folks first got it (I was a tall kid, and liked the extra legroom on trips). The ol shaggin wagon treated me right till I got my Jeep Cherokee...

Ha! another cherokee driver!

I've driven one of two cherokees most of my life. My dad taught me to drive on an old POS junk Jeep Cherokee towing a trailer filled with rocks with one bum wheel back and forth to the dump in heavy vegas traffic when I was 15 years old. I guess he figured if you can drive like that you can drive anything.

Technically my first REAL car was a 1977 Chevy Impala....and boy do I miss her sometimes, but my I love my Jeep Cherokee.

IMHO they are some of the best running vehicles on the road.

-Ryan

[wombat13]

Originally Posted by Miguel

Same thing for MINIs. I used to humilate the LPPs, but since the CHL I just ignore them.

I desperately try to ignore them. All I want to do is cruise at my own speed. If LPPs want to speed up and pass me that's fine. The real problem are the LPPs that suffer from ADD. They pass me and then slow back down. Then I pass them, they speed up pass me and slow down, and on and on.

Has anyone heard of cruise control for crissakes?!

[philman]

Originally Posted by wombat13

The recent thread on lease vs. buy had a number of posts that referenced driving certain cars b/c they're cool which got me thinking...

I am a proud minivan driver. They are by far the most practical family vehicle. Unless one has a boat or heavy trailer to tow or actually goes offroad, driving a SUV amounts to paying thousands extra to appease one's vanity - "I may be a slightly overweight, middle-aged married man with two kids, but hey I'm still cool!" And the vast majority of SUVs have never towed or gone offroad.

Flame away.

I also luv and have a chevy astro mini van, buuuuutttttt, I also have a Chevy trailblazer, for some reason it does much better in 12 inches of snow. It also simply rides and handles better than the van. Luv them both.

[nickb]

Funny topic. I drove an Astro when my boys were playing little league. Since I was usually a manager or coach it came in really handy with all of the gear we hauled to practices and games.

I kept calling it a "truck". My buddies never bought that line, even though I could prove it was built on a truck chassis.

The Astro did work great on long trips and had a HUGE amount of space when you pulled the two back seats.

But.......I now have a GMC 2500HD dual cab with the Duramax. It is a truck!

Nick

[AntXD]

We have 2 kids but my wife won't set foot in a minivan either, she says she is not an old soccer mom yet(she is 26). We have a Honda Pilot and we are very happy, besides we need the 4WD as well. There is nothing wrong with a minivan in my opinion, the wife can have her Pilot my next purchase hopefully will be a new Silverado.

[The_Duke]

My wife and I have one teenage girl and none of us want to be seen in a mini van so the wife drives the Hemi Durango while I drive the Ram 2500 with the Cummins.

[Jon Smykal]

I always get behind the minivans. They are always in a rush (soccer practice, supermarket, etc).

A buddy of mine got an older caravan given to him from his mom back when we were in high school. He did some engine work, and made it pretty darn quick. Should have seen the looks on the peoples faces when they couldn't keep up .

Needless-to-say, I had to drive a mini-van as a rentel when my car got crashed into (while It was parked..on the side of the road, and I was inside eating christmas dinner).. I wasn't too crazy about it, so I doubt if I'll ever be getting one.

[fenster]

single guy here, and proud driver of a honda odyssey for the past 3 years. when I first got it, it was primarily to save my subaru wrx from travel/commuter miles. as time wore on, I found I hardly drove the subie.
the van easily hauls myself, 3 buds and our bikes when we head out for a ride, or myself 3 buds and our hockey gear when we carpool to our game across town. lately, I've gone so far as to consider selling the subie and going minvan-only. can't quite do it, though.

it may be a vain effort, but a set of 17's and some dark tint make it look less like a soccermom-ride.