Help!

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

The wife wants a new grocery-go-getter, which is fine. I'm a big fine of small sedans that are great on gas and guarantee you never have to help friends move. So anything is a stretch for me. Unfortunately we've gone from looking at minivans-in-denial (SUVs) to the real deal.

Her trump card at the moment is the 3rd row of seats. We're often driving people around and if we add one more child seat the back of a typical vehicle will be full.

My argument boils down to not wanting to spend the extra dough, and not wanting a minivan. The money argument just puts things like my hockey tickets on the chopping block, so I have to be careful there. The stigma argument assumes my wife cares about my hang-ups. Anyone who's married knows how that goes.

So, I either need help fighting off the evil minivan fairy who infected my wife, or the name of a good support group.

I know they're practical. I know they're popular. But all those things are good reasons for other people to have them.

Tell me your horror stories. Please.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Chicks dig minivans... especially if they are your grandparents.... stupid ford building cars that break.

It all really depends on what you need it for though. If it is just to pick of groceries then get a regular sedan. If you have kids you are going to have to transport in the future, you might want to swallow your pride and go with the minivan.

If I was inyour position though I would just pull out all the predictions for gas prices and the increased insurance and go from there, and how for what you would be doing it would be a better idea to go with the smaller compact car, and mention how cute they are to her at every turn. Every woman I have ever talked to (5 or so) has said that small cars are cute or something to that effect. Personally I don't think that metal and plastic are cute, but at the same time if you are able to pull that one off it just might work.

[Table 5]

meet her in the middle, get a station wagon. Im not sure what your price range is, but there are some fairly good looking wagons out there....

[Regulator75]

Maybe one of these might work?
2005 Mitsubishi Outlander, starts at $23,348. It's a 4 cylinder. No 3 row seating though.

Mitsibishi Canada

[pope04]

Several years ago, before our deluge of children, my wife cajoled me into buying a minivan. I was very busy, so she did all of the research, and she felt the way to go was a '95 Ford Windstar. Safety, economy blah, blah, blah. Unfortunately, she did not pick up the Lemon-aid book, which absolutely lampooned this rolling hunk of crap.

Due to work-related commitments and the process of having three kids, we have only gone on a couple of vacations these past few years. Of course, the Windstar broke down both times. Fuel pump went both times, which is a $500 touch.

Believe it or not, we still have it. It doesn't leave the city limits very often.

The moral of my story is this: Make sure you do a whole heck of a lot of research.

[winjetsfan]

Pope your story sounds all to familiar. We had a 98 Windstar, biggest piece of shingaurd around. Bought it used and within 2 months had to replace the motor. We finally were able to get rid of it last year. I just cringe when I see someone else driving one on the road.

Stay away from the used mini-van.

[@theCBE]

7 or 8 years ago our family was looking to to trade in our car and upgrade.. it was right about the time were suv's started popping up everywhere and my and my brother were at that age where our parents were driving us around lots to all sorts of extracurricular activities...
anyways to make a long story short.. we walked into the dealership looking at a 4runner and walked out of the dealership with a top of the line toyota privea(its a minivan which has since been discontinued)

everyone was excited and we couldn't beleive we never thought of getting van before this... all it took was a few trips to the grocerry store and the mall at peak hours trying to manouver that behemoth into a tight parking stall.. or navigate bumper to bumper traffic and my mom was screaming that she didn't want it anymore..

the van only lasted 6 weeks and was replaced by a 4 door sedan

anyways .. hope some of those things help good luck with the car shopping.. noone should be forced to endure living with a minivan the don't desire.

[BlackRedGold25]

Originally posted by Bend it like Bourgeois@Apr 10 2005, 04:43 AM
Her trump card at the moment is the 3rd row of seats. We're often driving people around and if we add one more child seat the back of a typical vehicle will be full.

Why not wait until the if is eliminated from your statement?

When you have the need for another child seat, then consider the minivan. But until then stick with the economical sedan you want. If you get something by Honda or Toyota you won't see much of a decline in the resale value.

[Sylvanfan]

Use the fuel economy arguement to demonstrate that you are doing your part in preserving the environment for your childrens future. If everyone continues to drive mini-vans and SUV's poisoning the planet than what type of world is it for your children. But if you do your part to reduce consumption and pollution, and can influence those you know, than your children will have a much cleaner nicer world to live in, which is much more important than a 3rd row of seats isn't it?


Thats the best angle I can come up with for you. Best of luck.

[notoepik]

Suck it up and let her get the mini van, especially if you have kids. I loved mine when my kids were small, it was so easy to get the kids into, and out of. I am on my second mini van now, a Voyager.

It is also the perfect car for grocery getting. Getting the kids in, then out, getting the grocery bags in the car, room for everything you need to stuff in there. I will never have another sedan type car with a trunk. That is pain in the rear after having a car with a back that opens like a mini van does.

[Pagal4321]

I would have to say back in the day when me and my brother were but little people, parent's decided to grab a van. And really don't recall any mentions of severe problems with it. We ran that thing into the ground, took it on multiple drives to vancouver, a trip down to LA/Las Vegas, the thing lasted us a good 12-ish years. MAzda MPV....so nothing but good reviews for a van here.

[Clarkey]

Van's are kind of lame but who cares.

You can fit a 4x8' sheet of drywall in a van.

You can fit 7 kids in a van.

If you need to move a desk or something just take out the seats and throw er in.

There is more "utility" to a van than an suv in my opinion (well except for the 4x4 but how many people use that?).

[Incinerator]

I personally hate SUVs and Vans equally, but if you must have that 3rd row...here are my top picks:

Honda Pilot
Acura MDX
Ford Freestyle AWD (edit, got name mixed up first time)

All of them are not Minivans and have 3rd row seating, they even handle like cars, I've test drove all of them.

And your host of excuses to convince Mrs. BilB:

1. Vans are harder to park (Most women hate parking/can't park with ease)
2. SUVs are "safer" because AWD handles better (not really true for the safety part but you gotta use what you can here)
3. People will look to you to carpool their kids if you have a van
4. People will ask you to help them move if you have a van
5. People will cut you off more often if you drive a van (it's true, I see it all the time, van drivers are slow as grandmas)

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

1. Vans are harder to park (Most women hate parking/can't park with ease)
- I highly doubt anyone would buy that one.

2. SUVs are "safer" because AWD handles better (not really true for the safety part but you gotta use what you can here)
- Because they are big doesn't make them safe. Autos which have a tendency to roll are not really safe.

3. People will look to you to carpool their kids if you have a van
- No they won't

4. People will ask you to help them move if you have a van
- You could say no as you have other things to do.

5. People will cut you off more often if you drive a van (it's true, I see it all the time, van drivers are slow as grandmas)
- Your excuses are getting worse... the only route is taking the financial route with gas, and also the cost to get it fixed... the enviroment route is a good one. You also might get some points with the hip factor being reduced. But whatever you do don't start to say women can't drive... that might not be the right route to go no matter what Incinerator would suggest.

[Incinerator]

Originally posted by Mean Mr. Mustard@Apr 11 2005, 04:38 AM
1. Vans are harder to park (Most women hate parking/can't park with ease)
- I highly doubt anyone would buy that one.

2. SUVs are "safer" because AWD handles better (not really true for the safety part but you gotta use what you can here)
- Because they are big doesn't make them safe. Autos which have a tendency to roll are not really safe.

3. People will look to you to carpool their kids if you have a van
- No they won't

4. People will ask you to help them move if you have a van
- You could say no as you have other things to do.

5. People will cut you off more often if you drive a van (it's true, I see it all the time, van drivers are slow as grandmas)
- Your excuses are getting worse... the only route is taking the financial route with gas, and also the cost to get it fixed... the enviroment route is a good one. You also might get some points with the hip factor being reduced. But whatever you do don't start to say women can't drive... that might not be the right route to go no matter what Incinerator would suggest.

Yours are not that much better, soccer moms don't care much about hip factor nor is the gas gonna be much different between SUVs and Vans. Like I said above I hate them both equally, just trying to help poor guy here. If he didn't need that 3rd row seat I'd suggest a Mazda6 Wagon.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Mine don't insult here though. Personally I think an SUV is the wrong route to go and he mentioned he was looking into the sedan, and with the Sedan there is a large difference in terms of gas. SUVs/Sedans also break down less = less time in the shop = less hassle.

Don't underestimate the hip factor though.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Hey thanks everyone for the responses...

I can't tell if I'm being talked into it or I'm finding ways to talk her out of it :P

The parking issue is definitely a biggie. But if life's a whole lot more convienient with a van...

One little item we discovered this weekend: if you put 2 carseats in FreeStyle or Highlander type vehicle, the 3rd row of seats becomes almost inaccessible. (because you can't flip the seat forward. doh!)

My wife's pretty small and wants the high driving position in vans/suvs because she feels safer being able to see more. So station wagons are out. But thanks for that suggestion.

We're basically down to a CR-V or an Odyssey or Sienna. (as someone suggested, I like hondas and toyotas for resale among other reasons).

Since I've created a complete thread all about me anyway, I'll ask another question. By any chance does someone have real-world experience with the gas mileage of these vehicles. By their spec sheets they are not dramatically different than sedans with similar engines.

[ah123]

There are a number of SUVs (Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander) that offer 3rd row seating...and next year Toyota is releasing a hybrid version of the Highlander...does that help in the minivan argument?

[Ironhorse]

I'll add in one more thing. Ford has an an SUV now that is a hybrid, a version of their Escape -- 43 mpg in city driving. No 3rd row though, but room for 3 kid seats in the second row, and lots of storage area. And hip.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Right, forgot to mention we're looking into the hybrids. Though I'm not a Ford fan I gotta admit I like the idea of the Escape Hybrid. And I think the Highlander comes out in June.