Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

klutch said:
That being said though, if you want proper driving dynamics, you should be getting a mid-size sedan/wagon, or a car-based SUV. 1.)The vast majority of families here aren't bigger than 5, so I don't really see the need for 7 seats. 2)Fuel economy in a V6 equipped minivan is abysmal, and the 4 cylinder options really don't have enough power to pull them around when full of screaming kids and cargo. The car option will get you those driving dynamics back and turn better fuel efficiency, 3.)and if you go with an SUV (unibody or full-on body on frame) you're getting the off-road utility.
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There are a couple of things wrong here mate

1.) Imagine if you will a family of 5. Kids will want to take their freinds places, what if the littlest girl (and it is invariably a girl :p) invintes her friend at the last minute to the family roadtrip and you on your haste say yes? Unbeliebable as it may seem those seats do come in handy

2.) Using the Toyota Sienna as an example you end up with a Massive difference of 1 MPG city between the regular 4-cyl Sienna and the V6 one (19/24 vs 18/24) and if anything the V6 should get better fuel economy because it doesn't have to work as hard to move the massive box full of kids.No argument about your comment about the 4-cyl

3.) I'm by no means an offroad expert. But I do believe most SUV's families would buy for family use would be quite hopeless off-road.
 
Most Minivans are frequent-5-seaters, and occasional 7-seaters. There isn't enough room in the car for 7 people and all of their stuff. Many people just leave the rear-most seats folded down. Then, you've got a 5-seat vehicle that can carry lots of stuff. But then you have the extra seats if you need 'em. There are a lot of people, though, who never go on long trips with luggage, and they usually leave the seats up. Then, instead of three kids across the "middle" seat, one of two can sit in the way-back for some elbow room. 3-across children do not a happy road trip make.
 
My family used all the seats in our Grand Voyager but having 3 other siblings we were obviously the exception.
 
when i was growing up, we never had a minivan. we were a family of 5 in the 1980s and the biggest vehicle we first had as the family car a 1979 AMC Concord sedan.
http://images2.carsforsale.com/329473/52818B32-2EA8-4669-9DB6-2868E678DC03_1.jpg
an interesting story, my dad got this car for free at his old job. apparently, the company he was working at had a fleet of AMC Concords as company cars in both sedan and wagon and they were getting rid of them. my dad wanted a wagon version and his supervisor promised he could buy one if he had the money. the following day, he had the cash on hand. but his supervisor had sold the last wagon from under him. my dad decided to go over his supervisor and talked to the "big boss" of his company. so the head honcho decided to give him the Concord sedan for free for his trouble.

but as we grew, my dad realized we needed something bigger. around '88, he and my mom went to a Chevy dealer cause he wanted to buy a new Astro Van. so again, he went to the bank and had cash on hand to buy a new Astro Van. but when he asked one of the sales people for a test drive, the salesman immediately replied by saying "i'm sorry, this vehicle is out of your price range" and refused to give him test drive. now keep in mind, we're Latino and California in the late 80s were pretty racist. my dad was furious and wanted to talk to a manger. the manager came and my dad took out an envelope of cash with the amount of an Astro Van plus tax in it. the manager apologized for the salesman in question, but my dad told them to fuck off and left without a new van.

instead, we ended up this...
SANY0018.jpg

a 1980 Toyota Corolla 5 Speed Wagon. the money he would of spent on a new van, instead went for a down payment for a new house away from the "ghetto".

and as kids (very small kids) we had plenty of room in the Corolla. my parents occupied the front, my sisters in the back seat, and i made the cargo area in the wagon my own domain, seeing how seat belt weren't really enforced in those days. we grew up with that wagon. it traveled all over Cali repeatedly, it was my dad's daily driver, it was the first car i leaned to drive a stick shift. by the end, my dad and i estimated that the chassis maybe close to 1 million miles. 2 engines and both were rebuilt. and for me, it began a weird obsession with the Toyota Corolla. so i'm kinda glad the racist salesman denied my dad that test drive. minivans are overrated for families of 5 or less anyways.

i later found out that the new fleet of cars my dad's company replaced back then, were Toyota Corollas.
 
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Unless it's got a V8, manual gearbox, AWD or RWD and a radio that would embarrass a slipknot concert I don't want anything to do with it.


Though even if it had those things I still wouldn't trust it. I've had way too many Dodges crap out, and two of the four were minivans. Plastic-fantastic disposable garbage heaps the lot of 'em.
 
That's not a Dodge man-van, this is a Dodge man-van:

 
tigger said:
*Black van of doom*
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After all this minivan/MPV talk it's satisfying to see a proper van. The race-taxi counts too because it's awesome.

Anyway the picture of the van at a car show makes me laugh, advertised as a manly van for men but you're not allowed to go near it.
 
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