In Defense of the Minivan!

[ponyo]

yes and the econovan moniker is also a huge misnomer. They drink gas like crazy.

I have both minivan and econovan so I know firsthand how awful gas mileage is on econovan. I get like 12 mpg with the econovan and it's like $120 per fillup. Meanwhile with the minivan I get like double the gas mileage. Even my full size truck gets way better gas mileage than the econovan.

 

[Gillbot]

http://www.turbovan.net/van.html

 

[Gillbot]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpwmN3d0x_s

 

[_Rick_]

And here I thought I knew turbo lag. I never heard anything like this before though.

 

[Demo24]

I drive a sienna everyday for work, and even though its got some annoying faults I love that thing. It seriously must be the easiest van in the world to drive, which is great for city driving, parking, and making it through the work day.

Got to drive a slightly newer, but last gen, odyssey a few weeks ago and damn, that thing felt like a sports car in comparison to the sienna. Surprisingly quick for something that size.

I still think I'd choose a town & country since in my experience its the most comfortable to sit in for hours on end, plus the recent upgrades have made it pretty nice.

 

[nerp]

I don't get the appeal of a minivan at all. Sure a full size V8 suv gets somewhat worse gas mileage but it has upsides, like the V8 and the fact that it's much less likely to make you lose the will to continue living.

If you lose the will to continue living because you have a minivan, then you have deeper problems than what car you're driving.

 

[Mursilis]

Love our family Odyssey. Great, great van. No other vehicle can do the job (hauling our family of 6 plus sometimes dogs and gear) as well.

 

[Scarpozzi]

The problem with SUVs is that they only have 4 doors. It's hard to get in and out if you have a 3rd row. Most vans come with 4 captains chairs and a bench...so seating for up to 7. The advantage of captains chairs in the back is that you can have 2 car seats and there's storage space in between that the kids can't reach.... I don't have a van, but my cousin prefers their bigger SUV.

 

[slag]

I could not disagree with you more strongly
My neighbor has a caravan that hauls plywood and compressors and miter saws and sawhorses and sheetrock and tape tools and everything else for remodel, all dry and heated and rust free and easy access through 3 different huge doors with a low floor. All for much less fuel than any truck, and INFINITeLY more convenient than a truck with a canopy.
Real world folks use minivans for just about anything you can imagine, taking the seats out and hauling a half ton of you name it all heated and dry.
The floor loading height alone makes my old back smile.

You're not going to fit my 4 wheeler in a minivan, or the sectional sofa we just bought at Nebraska furniture mart, or the table saw I picked up last year on craigslist for free.

There is a ton of room in minivans, the whole problem is tall items that you cant or shouldn't lie down like refrigerators, air compressors (vertical), etc.

 

[jaedaliu]

You're not going to fit my 4 wheeler in a minivan, or the sectional sofa we just bought at Nebraska furniture mart, or the table saw I picked up last year on craigslist for free.

There is a ton of room in minivans, the whole problem is tall items that you cant or shouldn't lie down like refrigerators, air compressors (vertical), etc.

completely agree. A pickup is better than a minivan at hauling. However, I also agree with skyking that the minivan is better than a pickup with a canopy.

We should just rename this forum muscle/power cars and minivans.

 

[rh71]

I like the way the Sienna (whichever is the sport edition with bigger rims and LEDs) looks. I just have a feeling it still drives like a springy box on wheels though. The one big advantage is sliding doors. Other than that, my SUV has hauled 130sqft of sod and a 5cu ft. wheelbarrow most recently. Works great for me.

 

[Eureka]

I have a silent respect for minivans. It's the car I learned to drive on (and is still in use by the family). Hauled my bicycle when I needed it, hauled my first apartment's entire furnishings. Seats 7, 22 mpg, beat to hell and will keep taking more beatings. And it has a mechanical throttle so it responds better than many more modern cars out there.

Still can't get past it for a daily driver though.

 

[vi edit]

I like the way the Sienna (whichever is the sport edition with bigger rims and LEDs) looks. I just have a feeling it still drives like a springy box on wheels though. The one big advantage is sliding doors. Other than that, my SUV has hauled 130sqft of sod and a 5cu ft. wheelbarrow most recently. Works great for me.

I've got a Sienna SE and it's surprisingly well damped. There's no mush to it all. You still can't defeat a 4300 pound curb weight though and you can feel that if you plow into a corner aggressively. The V6 in there definitely has some grunt, even when fully weighted down. I've hauled over 700 pounds in pre-mix concrete bags in my van. Engine barely broke a sweat.

 

[smackababy]

I'm sorry, but that article reads more as a "oh, I live an alternative Hipster lifestyle and don't shower, so minivans don't suck; have some pictures of me camping!".

I understand the utility of minivans, but that doesn't mean they aren't ugly, large vehicles. Soccer moms don't own Lexus. I live in a very affluent area of the country, and even those with a Bently or a Ferrari have a minivan to haul the kids around.

 

[darom]

When my daughter was little, my wife took her girl scout friends on field trips like Disney land. We traveled a lot around CA visiting places, now we have about 200k miles on our '02 MPV.

I remember when I took the automotive class at the local college, I pulled in driving the van. The kids started making fun of it and passing jokes around. They quietened down when I opened the hatch and pulled a SBC engine with accessories out of it The ease of lowering the 3rd row seats and removing the second one is really appreciated when you need to turn your van into a truck.

The van still rides good on the original a/c charge and transmission (knocking on the wood).

 

[ibex333]

One thing I miss about the minivans are the ones without windows. Now, they only make those for work related things. "No civilians allowed". Rapist vans, those were called? If my memory serves me correctly?

Why is it that people have to always create such negative labels? Think Dumb and Dumber van!!! Surfer van... Guitar Band van... THAT, is the kind of things I am talking about. But such vans are no longer for sale. What gives?

 

[smackababy]

One thing I miss about the minivans are the ones without windows. Now, they only make those for work related things. "No civilians allowed". Rapist vans, those were called? If my memory serves me correctly?

Why is it that people have to always create such negative labels? Think Dumb and Dumber van!!! Surfer van... Guitar Band van... THAT, is the kind of things I am talking about. But such vans are no longer for sale. What gives?

Well, they probably didn't want people being abducted and raped in some windowless van anymore. So, they stopped catering to a segment of the market specifically for rapists.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Full size SUV will barely exceed the capacity of a Full mini van.

The minivan will have better handling; probably better gas mileage and easier parking.

All which are better for the soccer Mom not the status Mom.

I've driven relatively new Sequoia's and Sienna's back to back and the SUV was unquestionably the better vehicle from a driving standpoint, obviously it was far quicker thanks to the 5.7L V8 but it also had more pleasant handling, not that either of them really excel in that regard. Sure it got worse gas mileage but when you do the math it's a pretty trivial amount considering what you gain.

 

[xanis]

I used to hate minivans and even went so far as to say, "I'd buy an SUV any day before I'd buy a minivan."

Then I thought: I'm a dork and no one is going to likely think less of me if I have a minivan, so why not get one some day if I need it? Spacious, comfortable, and practical, with MPGs better than the SUVs I loved so much. I'm of the opinion that you should drive whatever the hell you want, and screw everyone else.

 

[jagec]

You're not going to fit my 4 wheeler in a minivan, or the sectional sofa we just bought at Nebraska furniture mart, or the table saw I picked up last year on craigslist for free.

There is a ton of room in minivans, the whole problem is tall items that you cant or shouldn't lie down like refrigerators, air compressors (vertical), etc.

That's why you get a trailer hitch and a small utility trailer.

The only reason why pickup trucks exist at all is for (a)People who need to haul manure, gravel, or other such things that you load with a shovel and/or don't want stinking up your interior (b)People who need gargantuan towing capacity for horses, massive boats etc, and (c)People who have massive insecurities (if you own a pickup truck without a scratched-up bed, this is your category).

SUVs, well...I'll just say that you wouldn't want to haul manure in them and they usually don't have the towing capacity of pickup trucks, so...

 

[vi edit]

I've driven relatively new Sequoia's and Sienna's back to back and the SUV was unquestionably the better vehicle from a driving standpoint, obviously it was far quicker thanks to the 5.7L V8 but it also had more pleasant handling, not that either of them really excel in that regard. Sure it got worse gas mileage but when you do the math it's a pretty trivial amount considering what you gain.

A Sequoia is like $10,000 more than a Sienna and at 12,000 miles a year and gas at $3.75 a gallon that's another $625 a year. If you are towing or need to go offroad regularly I can understand. But for most other people that's money pissed down the drain with something that's harder to park and harder to get kids in and out of.

 

[Gillbot]

You're not going to fit my 4 wheeler in a minivan, or the sectional sofa we just bought at Nebraska furniture mart, or the table saw I picked up last year on craigslist for free.

There is a ton of room in minivans, the whole problem is tall items that you cant or shouldn't lie down like refrigerators, air compressors (vertical), etc.

I fit a riding tractor in mo old one easily. Also hauled plenty of furniture in it. As a matter of fact, when I moved I used my minivan to do the moving and I moved our entire house in a few trips. My wife came home as was mad because her dad was on the way with his truck and trailer but I moved everything before he even got there using only my minivan. But sure, I guess you can't haul anything in them.

Also, you contradict your post by saying SHOULDN'T. So yeah, they CAN be easily moved in a minivan. Matter of fact, I moved my CH 250 gallon air compressor in that same minivan without a problem.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Way useful vehicles. Haul alot of crap or people. Comfy. Way cheap compared to similar (CUV) type vehicles. Can tow small boats and campers. Luv mine even though kid is grown and gone.

Also, something noone has mentioned is it's hard to lose your license with one. I have/had alot of fast cars. This is not one of them. So i tend to just cruise and enjoy. Hard to road rage in a minivan lol.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Yah, I used to sometimes pick on minivans, but one would be handy for road trips, trips to menards, towwing, and so much more ...

 

[thedarkwolf]

Way useful vehicles. Haul alot of crap or people. Comfy. Way cheap compared to similar (CUV) type vehicles. Can tow small boats and campers. Luv mine even though kid is grown and gone.

Also, something noone has mentioned is it's hard to lose your license with one. I have/had alot of fast cars. This is not one of them. So i tend to just cruise and enjoy. Hard to road rage in a minivan lol.

My one and only speeding ticket was in my 89 caravan turbo. I've been pulled over in my redneck 5.0l foxbody mustang and miata for speeding but was always let off with a warning but not in the beat to shit minivan lol.