LOL- borrowed my wife's car, traded it in for a van without her knowledge

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JS80

Lifer
Oct 24, 2005
26,271
7
81
Uh yeh. I'd probably be out of sex for the next five years...or ran over by said minivan if I did that. One because I didn't consult the CFO in the purchase...but more importantly because my wife has some deep rooted, irrationally insane disdain for minivans.

She was literally in tears when I put my foot down and bought my Mazda5 which is about the most "unvanlike" mini-van you can buy.

My wife begged me for a minivan.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
the only reason I'd get a minivan would be for the sliding doors. I hate having to pull out of a spot to get my kids into their carseats. But that's only because douches park next to me even though I park far away purposely. I should just not care and swing the door wide open anyway.
 
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ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
15,987
2
81
I don't know how old you are, but the cars I grew up with were as large, if not larger than a minivan. The trunks and hoods were tremendous, and while they had a good amount of room for a passenger car, they weren't nearly as versatile as a minivan. My vehicles are traveling hotel rooms. I miss the back seat of my full size van, and the front seat of a Cherokee gets pretty uncomfortable after awhile when you're 6'4".
I could tell you the name of the car but it's so obscure that nobody would know what I'm talking about. My parents car was about as big as a modern police car, the Ford Crown Victoria :D

I don't have kids, but I've gone camping with friends and we could easily fit 4 fully grown adults and all of their shit into my Toyota Corolla. The only downside is that it's sloooooooow.

As a kid, I always hated how my friend's minivan had a sliding door on one side of the vehicle. If I'm sitting on the right and the person to my left wants to get out, I need to get out in order to let them out. wtf kind of bullshit is this? If we were in a car, my friend could get out his own door without bothering me. I'm guessing the person who designed those older minivans did not have kids or friends, otherwise they would realize what a horrible design that is.
 

hanoverphist

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2006
9,867
23
76
Very few people truly appreciate the beauty of sliding doors until they have kids.

i have 3 kids. had an astro van when they were 1,1 and 3. traded that in on a suburban for the wife and i had no issue with my 76 impala. 3 kids, wife, dogs and luggage, and still had room for my sub cabinet in the trunk. hell, that sucker was great.

minivans are soul suckers.
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
the_minivan.jpg

I would love to do this for my wife.

:eek:
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
I could tell you the name of the car but it's so obscure that nobody would know what I'm talking about. My parents car was about as big as a modern police car, the Ford Crown Victoria :D

I don't have kids, but I've gone camping with friends and we could easily fit 4 fully grown adults and all of their shit into my Toyota Corolla. The only downside is that it's sloooooooow.

As a kid, I always hated how my friend's minivan had a sliding door on one side of the vehicle. If I'm sitting on the right and the person to my left wants to get out, I need to get out in order to let them out. wtf kind of bullshit is this? If we were in a car, my friend could get out his own door without bothering me. I'm guessing the person who designed those older minivans did not have kids or friends, otherwise they would realize what a horrible design that is.

I always wondered about minivans with single sliding doors. Doors on both sides are so much better. Maybe it had to do with rigidity or something, or just cost-cutting.
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
I could tell you the name of the car but it's so obscure that nobody would know what I'm talking about. My parents car was about as big as a modern police car, the Ford Crown Victoria :D

I don't have kids, but I've gone camping with friends and we could easily fit 4 fully grown adults and all of their shit into my Toyota Corolla. The only downside is that it's sloooooooow.

How obscure could it be? Hell, I owned a 74 Dodge Monaco as a teenager.
 

ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
15,987
2
81
How obscure could it be? Hell, I owned a 74 Dodge Monaco as a teenager.

It was a Pontiac Parisienne, looks like this, with the gay little skirt on the back wheels and everything :D

1981_pontiac_parisienne-pic-57067.jpeg


Would you believe that car only has about 150HP? And that was with a 5L engine. It was the slowest piece of shit in the history of the universe, but it could still tow a 17" fiberglass boat somehow. The frame is all steel.
 
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Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,908
2,141
126
It was a Pontiac Parisienne looks like this, with the gay little skirt on the back wheels and everything :D

1981_pontiac_parisienne-pic-57067.jpeg


Would you believe that car only has about 150HP? And that was with a 5L engine. It was the slowest piece of shit in the history of the universe, but it could still tow a 17" fiberglass boat somehow. The frame is all steel.

That...sir...is what they call a "hooptie".
 

de8212

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2000
4,021
0
76
Sounds like you got a good deal. We (the wife) has an 08 also. Ours doesn't have the 2nd row seats that spin around but they do stow and go. It's a pretty decent van and gets better mileage than our 2004 Durango w/Hemi that we traded but not as good as I was thinking.
You just can't beat the convienience of it. power sliding doors and rear hatch, stow and go, heated seats, dual dvd w/wireless headphones, remote start, etc.

There have been 2 recalls though so you might want to check on those. I can't remember the first one but we just got the latest last week. Something about the sliding door harness. If you can't find it I'l get teh letter and see if there is a recall # associated with it.

Also, Chrysler sent out a notice (but not a recall) on the front brakes. They are underpowered so they offered to pay to replace the pads/rotors, etc. We had already had ours done by this time and just sent in the receipt and they reimbursed us.
 

roguerower

Diamond Member
Nov 18, 2004
4,563
0
76
I inherited my rabid hatred of all things mini-van from my parents. I can understand that they have practical uses which exceed other vehicles, however when it comes to driving, I am shallow enough to say that I will NEVER be seen driving a mini-van.
 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,908
2,141
126
Sounds like you got a good deal. We (the wife) has an 08 also. Ours doesn't have the 2nd row seats that spin around but they do stow and go. It's a pretty decent van and gets better mileage than our 2004 Durango w/Hemi that we traded but not as good as I was thinking.
You just can't beat the convienience of it. power sliding doors and rear hatch, stow and go, heated seats, dual dvd w/wireless headphones, remote start, etc.

There have been 2 recalls though so you might want to check on those. I can't remember the first one but we just got the latest last week. Something about the sliding door harness. If you can't find it I'l get teh letter and see if there is a recall # associated with it.

Also, Chrysler sent out a notice (but not a recall) on the front brakes. They are underpowered so they offered to pay to replace the pads/rotors, etc. We had already had ours done by this time and just sent in the receipt and they reimbursed us.

Thanks for that.

I called my sales person after I read this and she said to bring the van back in to make sure all of the recalls have been added + they'll make sure the brake situation is squared away. I appriciate the notice.
 

meltdown75

Lifer
Nov 17, 2004
37,548
7
81
I had a 2010 Chrysler minivan a while back as a rental and I enjoyed it for the day! Definitely a fun vehicle to drive but would obviously be a waste for me :)
 

dainthomas

Lifer
Dec 7, 2004
14,635
3,507
136
i have 3 kids. had an astro van when they were 1,1 and 3. traded that in on a suburban for the wife and i had no issue with my 76 impala. 3 kids, wife, dogs and luggage, and still had room for my sub cabinet in the trunk. hell, that sucker was great.

minivans are soul suckers.

It's OK, let them justify their compromises. We don't have to drive them, just look at them.
 

Bignate603

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
13,897
1
0
I'd rather get a suburban or something than a minivan.

If you only care about style or need something beyond the minivan's capability (ground clearance, towing capacity, etc) a suburban is a good fit. Otherwise, minivans typically are better at hauling kids and their crap around town. It's much easier to get kids in and out and the gas mileage typically is better than an SUV that seats the same amount of people. On top of that our insurance on our van is ridiculously low, it's almost laughable.