Would you drive a minivan?

[Zenmervolt]

If I needed the room of a minivan, I'd just go whole-hog and buy one of these instead. If I have to have a vehicle that's too big to be fun to drive, then it damn well better be able to tow my fun-to-drive cars to the track and a minivan just isn't going to manage 5,000+ pounds of trailer/car as seamlessly as a real van. Minivans are great, but once I get something that size I want legitimate towing and hauling capability.

ZV

 

[Fenixgoon]

Yeap. Easily a huge majority of SUV drivers with families would be better off with a minivan (almost invariably cheaper to operate, lower center of gravity, more room, higher safety ratings, higher fuel economy), but they have the same stigma that station wagons had : it screams "ZOMG 30+ year old responsible parents!" and that is just not what most people are willing to do.

toyota even ran a commercial for the land cruiser (i think) and they had a little kid comment on how his parents would no longer be lame if they had one instead of a minivan.

i was pretty shocked by that.

 

[Sid59]

Yes! I have a Mazda5. I love sitting in the right middle captain's chair. I shove the front passenger seat all the way up, slide my seat all the back and recline. I love being chauffeured and the sliding door is icing on the cake.

 

[mmntech]

I'd rather drive a GMC Savana with the 6.0L, 319 hp Vortec V8. If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.

I drive a lot of minivans at work. They're not bad but I definitely wouldn't buy one, even if I had kids. I just can't shake the notion of a minivan being the ultimate conformist vehicle. You have the wife, 2.5 kids, giant new-build house on the tiny lot, an a minivan in the driveway. Might as well hang yourself at that point, or get neutered. Never grew up in a family like that. Heck, I remember my mom driving me around in her Chevrolet Caprice Classic coupe with the small block V8.

Mind you, the Ford Flex is a nice minivan-ish vehicle. It's definitely a big departure from the Grand Caravan clones. Like driving around in your living room. If I was forced to get a van, I'd probably get one of those.

 

[JackBurton]

toyota even ran a commercial for the land cruiser (i think) and they had a little kid comment on how his parents would no longer be lame if they had one instead of a minivan.

i was pretty shocked by that.

I wasn't shocked at all. It actually pretty accurate. Minivans are pretty damn lame. I wouldn't drive one, but I don't have kids either. They're pretty lame too. However if I DID have kids, I'd just get a Yukon, Tahoe (LTZ), or a Porsche Cayenne. There might be others I'd consider, but a minivan wouldn't even be an option. Neither would a goofy station wagon.

 

[DrPizza]

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.



And this is a small boat that tops out around only 1800# or so when being towed to the lake. No minivan would safely handle this load, and it's a relatively small one.

Minivans have their place, but so do SUV's.

I'm not sure what you're talking about. I have a Dodge Grand Caravan. Two of them actually. They both haul our boat quite easily. Our boat is ~3000 pounds. We've hauled it around quite a bit. Our older van (2003?) has about 140k miles on it & hauls like a champ. The newer van (2007) has about 120k miles & does just fine hauling.

My little owners manual shows that our boat does not exceed their recommendations for towing. i.e. it lists our motor & drive train to be just fine for towing a boat of our size.

edit: listed at 3800 pounds towing capacity.


Also, I've hauled a shitload of stuff in the older van. I regularly (30-40 times a year) load it with over 1000 pounds of feed for the animals or with half a ton of coal at a time. It doesn't even flinch. I've loaded it with far more weight than that on a few occasions.

 

[Bignate603]

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.


This weighs significantly more:

And this is a small boat that tops out around only 1800# or so when being towed to the lake. No minivan would safely handle this load, and it's a relatively small one.

Minivans have their place, but so do SUV's.

I agree with you that SUVs are useful for certain things, I love my jeeps for the amount of abuse I can give them without issues. However, people that actually use the extra capability are in the minority. There are more SUVs that never see a dirt road or a trailer than those that do.

 

[kmmatney]

My second car (its actually my wife's old car) is a Dodge Grand Caravan, with all-wheel drive. I drive it often - especially in snow, as the AWD is great for that. I live in Colorado, so its our car for ski trips, etc...It has 140K miles, so I'm just gonna keep it until it craps out.

 

[kmmatney]

I'm not sure what you're talking about. I have a Dodge Grand Caravan. Two of them actually. They both haul our boat quite easily. Our boat is ~3000 pounds. We've hauled it around quite a bit. Our older van (2003?) has about 140k miles on it & hauls like a champ. The newer van (2007) has about 120k miles & does just fine hauling.

My little owners manual shows that our boat does not exceed their recommendations for towing. i.e. it lists our motor & drive train to be just fine for towing a boat of our size.

edit: listed at 3800 pounds towing capacity.


Also, I've hauled a shitload of stuff in the older van. I regularly (30-40 times a year) load it with over 1000 pounds of feed for the animals or with half a ton of coal at a time. It doesn't even flinch. I've loaded it with far more weight than that on a few occasions.

I've also towed a few trailers, and even moved our whole house mostly in our Dodge Grand Caravan (and my house isn't small - 4400 sq. feet).

I can't tell you how many giant SUVs/Trucks in Colorado never see the dirt, or never tow anything. My neighbor has a large RAM truck - the only thing that I've ever seen in the back are his golf clubs. I have no idea why he bought a truck.

 

[kmmatney]

I wasn't shocked at all. It actually pretty accurate. Minivans are pretty damn lame. I wouldn't drive one, but I don't have kids either. They're pretty lame too. However if I DID have kids, I'd just get a Yukon, Tahoe (LTZ), or a Porsche Cayenne. There might be others I'd consider, but a minivan wouldn't even be an option. Neither would a goofy station wagon.

A Yukon or Tahoe make sense - but you don't want kids destroying a Cayenne! You have no idea on the destructive power of kids.

 

[ShawnD1]

I've also towed a few trailers, and even moved our whole house mostly in our Dodge Grand Caravan (and my house isn't small - 4400 sq. feet).

Most people could just rent a trailer for that. A quick google search says the cargo space of a dodge caravan is 144 cubic feet. Uhaul has a trailer that is approximately 130 cubic feet and it says it costs $15 to rent for a day.

That's sort of the one thing that puzzles me about a lot of people who get vans and pickup trucks. If you use the cargo space and the towing capacity on a regular basis (ie kids who play hockey) then that's awesome. If you use it once a year... then wtf, just rent a trailer.

I can understand my parents doing this since they're old and ballin', but they bought a $40,000 SUV with about 300HP and a 6 speed manual transmission just so they could pull the same boat that they were previously pulling with a 1986 Pontiac Parisienne (big heavy car with no balls). Also because my mom think it's fun to drive in winter and she can park it deep snow where no other vehicle can park

 

[Imported]

Never. I'd rather get a crossover, SUV or wagon of sorts.

 

[ShawnD1]

Never. I'd rather get a crossover, SUV or wagon of sorts.

This thread is feeling a lot of love toward station wagons.

That's ironic people got away from station wagons because they were too gay. Now we're getting away from minivans and going back to station wagons because minivans are too gay :awe:

 

[Imported]

More on the lines of this.. but even the above I'd take over a minivan.

 

[Bignate603]

More on the lines of this.. but even the above I'd take over a minivan.

Yeah, that has no real relation to the capabilities of a minivan at all. That's equivalent to saying you wouldn't drive a economy car because you'd prefer a corvette.

 

[ShawnD1]

More on the lines of this.. but even the above I'd take over a minivan.

But we're talking about things comparable to minivans. SUVs have the cargo space and towing capacity (and sometimes seating) while station wagons had 3 rows of seating capacity and they could tow things because they were heavy. The quoted car has none of those. We might as well suggest buying a Honda Fit if we're talking about cars that can't haul or tow anything or move people around


We need to bring back full size station wagons. Cheap knock offs like the Honda Fit are theoretically good, but it's not quite long enough to have sex in it, even when the seats are down.

Might be enough room if we went diagonal and did cowgirl position. Not enough room to really spread out.

 

[Monster_Munch]

That's ironic people got away from station wagons because they were too gay.

The Mercedes E63 Estate isn't gay. 525hp 6 litre V8 means it's a wagon that's as fast as a Ferrari.

 

[Viperoni]

I'd rather not.

 

[DivideBYZero]

That's ironic people got away from station wagons because they were too gay. Now we're getting away from minivans and going back to station wagons because minivans are too gay :awe:

Some non-"gay" wagons:

 

[IcePickFreak]

Don't forget the new 2011 CTS-V sportwagon - 556hp 551ft-lbs, and available in a 6-speed manual

 

[Zenmervolt]

That's sort of the one thing that puzzles me about a lot of people who get vans and pickup trucks. If you use the cargo space and the towing capacity on a regular basis (ie kids who play hockey) then that's awesome. If you use it once a year... then wtf, just rent a trailer.

A beater truck or van is worlds more convenient than scheduling a rental, driving out to wherever the rental place happens to be, dealing with the paperwork, making sure you don't go over the mileage, making sure that you get the rental back in time, and potentially contesting any additional charges for cleaning or damage.

To a lot of people, the significant increase in convenience of having their own vehicle is more than worth the additional cost.

ZV

 

[ShawnD1]

A beater truck or van is worlds more convenient than scheduling a rental, driving out to wherever the rental place happens to be, dealing with the paperwork, making sure you don't go over the mileage, making sure that you get the rental back in time, and potentially contesting any additional charges for cleaning or damage.

To a lot of people, the significant increase in convenience of having their own vehicle is more than worth the additional cost.

ZV

I know it's convenient, but the extra cost is astoundingly high. According to Canada's test standard (driving slow), a 4 cylinder Toyota Tacoma small truck consumes about 28% more gas than the 4 cylinder Toyota Camry (the V6 4x4 Tacoma consumes 59% more). My current shitbox car is slightly better mileage than the Camry and my gas budget for the year is approximately $1890. If I drove the Camry I4, gas would cost $2055. If I had the Tacoma I4, gas would be $2630. If I got the V6 truck that most people would get, gas would be $3267 per year. If I really went balls to the wall and got a Toyota Tundra V8, gas would cost $3635. Toyota's minivan does quite a bit better for gas mileage and the V6 van would cost the same $2630 as the I4 truck.

The van actually looks like a practical and cost effective solution. The truck is a definite fuck no. Burns way too much gas

edit: summarized cost difference between the camry and others:
I4 truck = extra $600 per year
V6 truck = extra $1200 per year
V8 truck = extra $1600 per year
V6 van = extra $600 per year

 

[vi edit]

He's not saying a truck as a replacement daily driver. He's saying use it as a 2nd/3rd vehicle.

To which you still have to license and insure, but depending on your state/age/ect could be a lot. Or it could be next to nothing.

An old ranger pickup with liability/recreation use only would probably run me $25 a month to license and insure.

 

[Mursilis]

True that, but how much can it tow?

As much as we've ever needed it to tow. I'll let you guess how much that is.

 

[thedarkwolf]

My van cost me a bit over $300 to insure + a bit for reg, lic, and repairs a year. I've only put about 1k miles on it so far this year but I use it nearly every day just to drive my dogs up to the park. I have the itch to get another beater but I have no idea what I would do with my van if I did. It isn't worth jack squat but it runs and drive great so it makes it really hard to justify replacing it.