Would you drive a minivan?

[JulesMaximus]

minivans are hard to beat as family vehicles. they're not cool, but they WTF-pwn every other vehicle in practicality.

My wife had another Lexus SUV loaner the other day. I threw my bike in the back and went to meet a friend of mine for a ride and, I have to say, it was nice to just fold the seats down and toss the bike in there without practically having to disassemble it.

 

[ShawnD1]

Sorry, but that first comment is just a laugh.

Before we bought our SUV, we looked at minivans. 1000 pound towing limit almost universal on them, not to mention almost all minivans are wrong-wheel-drive....FWD is not the choice in drivetrain for towing.

tip: don't buy minivans made in North Korea

Even my piece of shit Toyota Corolla is rated for 1500lbs. Serious.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/vehicle/towing-capacity-chart36.htm

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

I used to have a Mazda5, so I guess that counts. I wouldn't mind having a swaggerwagon in the garage. Gimme one of those Sienna SE's in black or that dark grey color.



I just hate getting kids and all their crap out in tight spaces with traditional doors.

I'd have to steer you away from the Sienna's. Ours is going back to the shop again. This will be trip #6 in the 2.5 years that we've had it. It's the 3rd trip for a lean running condition due to a faulty o2 sensor. So we'll be on sensor, and cat #3 soon.

 

[cyclistca]

Nope, I would get a wagon.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Nope, I would get a wagon.

Minivan has more cargo space and you can get taller cargo in it.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Minivan has more cargo space and you can get taller cargo in it.

It's not as big a difference as you might imagine.

Caravan Long wheelbase: 650 litres of space.
M5 Touring: 500 litres of space.

 

[RKS]

My wife had another Lexus SUV loaner the other day. I threw my bike in the back and went to meet a friend of mine for a ride and, I have to say, it was nice to just fold the seats down and toss the bike in there without practically having to disassemble it.

 

[Bartman39]

Only thing I see wrong with is you didnt put "Jules" under the guy...

 

[x-alki]

I'd drive a Pacer if it got me where I needed to go.

 

[RU482]

minivans are hard to beat as family vehicles. they're not cool, but they WTF-pwn every other vehicle in practicality.

exactly...minivans aren't cool, but neither is smacking your kids on the side of the road because they won't stop bothering their siblings and kicking the back of your seat in the back of your sedan

 

[mb]

If I had a need for a larger people hauler, yes I would absolutely get one over an SUV.

But for 5 or less people I'd stick with a large sedan. I'd consider the new Taurus before a minivan.

 

[kornphlake]

I'd have to steer you away from the Sienna's. Ours is going back to the shop again. This will be trip #6 in the 2.5 years that we've had it. It's the 3rd trip for a lean running condition due to a faulty o2 sensor. So we'll be on sensor, and cat #3 soon.

Mine had the same type of problem, but it wasn't under warranty and I wasn't going to spend $2k in parts to not fix the problem. After reading about so many similar problems and attempted repairs that result in the problem returning within a few months, I believe it's not the cat or the O2 sensor, it's a goofy string of code in the PCM. I cleared the check engine light and sold it cheap.

No regrets buying a Chevy Astro. I didn't buy it to haul a trailer but, it can tow 6000 lbs.

 

[JCH13]

True that, but how much can it tow?

When I was in high school I would occasionally tow a 4500lb boat/trailer with a mini van without TOO much argument. The 1000lb tow rating is probably for un-braked trailer weight. My boat trailer had a hydraulic tongue brake that no doubt made a huge difference.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

I've driven a minivan as a rental - for 6 people plus camping gear it was the only vehicle that would do the job. It was an 09 Volkswagen Routan (essentially a Dodge Caravan) - smooth, handled decently and the fuel economy was alright, but it was gutless as fuck, even with the 4.0L engine.

If I had kids, I'd sooner own a wagon - Impreza, Mazda3 or maybe a Mazda5. Still a decent amount of space but sportier.

 

[speedy2]

Depends on your situation. Do you need to seat 7 people? In my case, no. A minivan would be overkill. Plus I hate them. We're small people compared to the norm. I'm 5'5" 130lbs. Wife is 5'3" and we have 2 kids under 2 years old. We all fit fine in our '05 Grand Prix. Enough trunk space. Comfortable enough. And it was a good deal. It also gets 30 MPG on the highway around here. A minivan would cost more and cost more to operate for little benefit. Plus, I would cringe every time I had to drive it.

 

[cyclistca]

Minivan has more cargo space and you can get taller cargo in it.

That would come in might handy since 99 percent of the time my cars caring me to work.

 

[ShawnD1]

That would come in might handy since 99 percent of the time my cars caring me to work.

I'm a big boy, so I wouldn't drive anything less than a Chevy Suburban. 5mpg on the highway = win.

for 6 people plus camping gear it was the only vehicle that would do the job. It was an 09 Volkswagen Routan (essentially a Dodge Caravan) - smooth, handled decently and the fuel economy was alright, but it was gutless as fuck, even with the 4.0L engine.

6 people = roughly 1200lbs of ass to move around. Of course it will be slow as hell. When there's nobody in it, most minivans will beat most compact cars in a drag race. A Toyota Sienna minivan is considerably faster than a Toyota Corolla. Honda's minivan crushes the Civic, etc.

 

[JCH13]

Toyota Sienna minivan is considerably faster than a Toyota Corolla. Honda's minivan crushes the Civic, etc.

For 0-60MPH times...

Toyota Corolla - 8.4s
Toyota Sienna - 7.9s

Honda Civic - 7.6s
Honda Odessy - 8.8s

Depends on the model, engine, and transmission, of course...

 

[Arkaign]

For 0-60MPH times...

Toyota Corolla - 8.4s
Toyota Sienna - 7.9s

Honda Civic - 7.6s
Honda Odessy - 8.8s

Depends on the model, engine, and transmission, of course...

Most definitely, I know for a fact that 7.6 second Civic time for the current model is only achievable with the 5-speed, good tires, and a driver that just nails the launch right beyond bog but not needless wheelspin. The auto Civics are tested between 8.6-9.0 second 0-60, as it's impossible with the nanny-sense on the AT to get a power launch going, so you bog off the line and have to wait for the revs to climb.

The Corollas test a bit more loosely, this site got 9.1 seconds with the XRS 5-speed, and 10.1 seconds with the S model automatic.

http://www.hybridcarfreak.com/hybrid-car-reviews/2010-toyota-corolla/

Then MT got 8.8 and 10.3 respectively for the same pair

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/112_0802_2009_toyota_corolla_toyota_corolla/index.html

The 2012 Honda Odyssey posts times under 8 seconds, courtesy of the new 250hp motor.

The current Sienna also posts all the down to 7.4, when matched with the optional V6.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/09q1/2009_toyota_sienna_limited_awd-short_take_road_test

Anyhow, most V6 minivans will outgun econoboxes like Civic and Corolla S/XRS, unless it's the base 4-cyl models, and even then it's pretty much a wash. They're all slow though.

 

[ponyo]

I converted 3 families and friends to minivans. It wasn't the guys that needed the convincing but rather the wives. The wives were all totally against it because they didn't want to be seen as middle aged soccer moms. The husbands had to bribe their wives in order to buy them minivans. :sneaky: Now they all love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. Of course they won't admit it in public. They're closet minivan lovers.

 

[ShawnD1]

You said it man. Driving my Corolla LE (automatic) makes me want to kill myself and everyone else on the road. Why do shitty cars like mine only have 4 gears but cars that don't need as many gears have 6? It makes no sense. If you have less power, you need more gears. If I was trying something silly like hauling 30 tons of cargo and I only had about 500HP, I would need something crazy like 20 gears (18 wheelers really do have 20 gears).

 

[BassBomb]

Yes if I had 3 kids or more, Yes but I could never afford one

I'd more rather enjoy a nice wagon than a minivan

 

[thegimp03]

No and neither will my wife.

 

[Elfear]

Never thought I'd say it but I love our minivan. Much easier than an SUV to get my three kids in and out of. Gets decent mileage for its size. Cost a lot less than the bigger SUVs. Sto 'n Go seating is great for hauling plywood, sheetrock, or large appliances.

SUV's may look cooler, but my experience has been that a minivan is more versatile. Easier on the back than a sedan too.

 

[mwmorph]

If I had kids (plural, 3 or more), minivan over SUV any-day. Minivans are efficient and suited for family transport, SUVs, not for this situation.

The thing is though, a Minivan is good at it's job of being reliable, low maintenance, semi affordable and off the radar.

A Ferrari Minivan would be either Aston Martin Cygnet like which would be probably a Fiat re-badge or something absolutely insane which would be contradictory to the whole point of a minivan. Either way, the only function of those vans would be bait for people whose only thing smaller than their penis is self esteem and sense of self worth. It'd be like making a hammer out of diamond, carbon fiber and myrrh.