p0ndering a minivan

[Bignate603]

Not sure if serious, but using the right tool for the job is much more manly than caring what people think of what you're driving. :thumbsup:

I've always thought that it's most manly to completely disregard what other people think and do what you think is best instead.

 

[Vic Vega]

...

 

[Bignate603]

Very true and to expand on that, many times an SUV is the right tool for the job.

Not really. Unless you're leaving pavement another vehicle will probably do just as well while burning less fuel.

 

[Doppel]

Yeah unless leaving pavement or need heavy tow capacity SUV just equals higher purchase price and worse on gas. They are generally extremely good examples of how people pay for prestige; they are inferior in I would guess 99% of the ways people use them (carting kids around).

 

[Bignate603]

Yeah unless leaving pavement or need heavy tow capacity SUV just equals higher purchase price and worse on gas. They are generally extremely good examples of how people pay for prestige; they are inferior in I would guess 99% of the ways people use them (carting kids around).

Yup. Suvs aren't any better at hauling kids or stuff than other vehicles and in many ways they're much worse. Kids getting in and out of a minivan is much easier because of the sliding doors and easy access to the back row of seats (don't have to climb over or flip forward a seat like in a 3 row SUV)
2 kids? A sedan will do just as well.
2 kids + stuff? Get a wagon.
>3 kids and/or a bunch of stuff? Get a minivan.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

IMO I'd rather have a suv. You can tow a trailer (I don't consider any trailer a trailer unless it has at least 1 3500lb axle) and build quality will be better. A suv with heavy duty suspension/frame/motor will outlast any minivan and take 10x the abuse.

 

[rh71]

Yeah unless leaving pavement or need heavy tow capacity SUV just equals higher purchase price and worse on gas. They are generally extremely good examples of how people pay for prestige; they are inferior in I would guess 99% of the ways people use them (carting kids around).

I wouldn't call it "prestige" when choosing an SUV over a minivan... it's just the better of the two to drive. Driving a truck (or car-based) frame is better than driving a boat. I love minivans for their sliding doors, but I would rather my wife drive it than me. Test drove a late model Odyssey and yeah... boat.

 

[Bignate603]

IMO I'd rather have a suv. You can tow a trailer (I don't consider any trailer a trailer unless it has at least 1 3500lb axle) and build quality will be better. A suv with heavy duty suspension/frame/motor will outlast any minivan and take 10x the abuse.

As long as you aren't doing stupid things that you shouldn't be doing with a van it'll last just fine. If he's planning on driving on pavement without insane loads he won't have a thing to worry about.

Also, if the OP doesn't want to tow (or only tow very occasionally) there's no reason to spend more to buy the vehicle as well as every time he fills up.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

As long as you aren't doing stupid things that you shouldn't be doing with a van it'll last just fine. If he's planning on driving on pavement without insane loads he won't have a thing to worry about.

Also, if the OP doesn't want to tow (or only tow very occasionally) there's no reason to spend more to buy the vehicle as well as every time he fills up.

True. It really depends on OP. For me personally I don't see how a man can do without a truck/suv and a trailer. I like to maintain my own house/yard, pick up my own furniture (no delivery fees), help a family member move, pick up a nice riding mower, get free firewood for the winter, building a deck only takes one trip to the home depot, etc..
Having the ability to do all that on my own is akin to the freedom it feels like when you first learn to drive.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Most minivans these days have a 3500 lb towing capacity, which is enough for a smallish trailer.

If you get an SUV because you need more than 3500 lbs of towing capacity, then you're part of a very small group who actually needs an SUV for more reasons than "I have to haul my kids around" and "my driveway is sometimes snowy in winter."

 

[SyndromeOCZ]

A suv with heavy duty suspension/frame/motor will outlast any minivan and take 10x the abuse.

If an SUV can take 10x the abuse my brother has put his 96 caravan with 300k miles on it, and its been loaded full of paint tools with ladders on top since 180k miles. Then that SUV your speaking of is probably the strongest vehicle in the world...

 

[jlee]

True. It really depends on OP. For me personally I don't see how a man can do without a truck/suv and a trailer. I like to maintain my own house/yard, pick up my own furniture (no delivery fees), help a family member move, pick up a nice riding mower, get free firewood for the winter, building a deck only takes one trip to the home depot, etc..
Having the ability to do all that on my own is akin to the freedom it feels like when you first learn to drive.

Haha, I sold my Tundra after realizing all I did with it was move everyone else's shit.

I'm going to get another one, but a Tacoma for offroad shenanigans (and because I love them), not so much for the truck utility of it.

 

[LegendKiller]

i have to wonder how buying based on emotion instead of logic and reason is the manlier thing to do.

Churchill said it best. Americans will always choose all of the wrong choices before making the right ones.

If somebody thinks they need to drive a gas guzzling SUV to prove they are a man, they are obviously not that much of a man. At least not that much of a thinking man.

I'm probably going to be buying a Sienna within the next 12 months or so, I don't give a rats ass if somebody thinks I am a wimp for it. I'll have a roomier, easier to use and more fuel efficient vehicle.

At least I'll be teaching my kid what a real man is, one who can think past being a puffer fish.

 

[spaceman]

k the mancard thing, i couldnt care less.too old to care
truck,truck is killer for in town fuel & its all hills where i am,so ive owned several trucks..they ranged from bad to horrid real world fuel
i dont req any towing capacity,but if neccesary my wrangler can tow
i require easy to access,dry cargo area,now trucks with caps provide this but getting to the stuff sucks and dun wanna be hopping in and out of a truck with cap all the time..im short and it still sucks.
so enter the minivan..