Crossing Over To The Minivan Side

Posted on 06 25, 2009 under Doodads by Noodad | Comments

Noodads, I did something I swore to myself I never would. This weekend I went into the largest selling Honda dealership in the world in my trusty Honda Civic and walked out with a brand new 2006 Honda Odyssey. This was more than just an exchange of car keys, this was a step into a world of soccer practices and sleep-overs.

A co-worker recently mentioned to me that she and her friends refer to this action as "crossing over" and I can"t think of a more perfect phrase. To me, this decision makes me feel like, right or wrong, that I am on a different side of the fence. It is not that any side is wrong or better, but there is an invisible line between the minivan family and the family sans minivan. The funny thing about the line is you don"t know  it is there until you crossed it.

 

So what did it for me? After gradually warming up to the idea since my second kid was born, a recent vacation in Florida where my wife and I rented a minivan, put me over the edge. It was the easy access, the family-centric accessories, and the 3rd row seating.

Sure, I could have bought a bigger SUV that seats 7. But an SUV doesn"t have dual power sliding doors! I could have bought a station wagon, but a station wagon doesn"t have limitless storage and fold down seats. I could have bought a Hummer, but I can"t afford a Hummer.

And after doing even more research, we decided, a minivan purchase was right for us. I checked all preconceived notions of selling out to the family man, at the door. And it ain"t no big sacrifice either. I"m still driving an SUV while my wife takes the minivan but even when I do drive the new vehicle, I have every possible amenity at my disposal. But how cool can a minivan be? I mean, you never see the hot models at the auto shows showing off the kid-friendly vehicles. Well with GPS Navigation, rear camera, and built-in DVD system, I"m living larger than I thought I would while hauling up to 7 other people.

So who else has "crossed over" and can vouch for how nice owning a minivan can be? Or who has chosen not to go the minivan route and wants to explain why?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Viewing 6 Comments

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    ...and I couldn\'t be happier. I got a Mazda MPV a couple of years ago. The sheer utility of the van far outweighs any stigma associated with it. I had to help a buddy sheetrock his vacation home and I needed to bring all my tools with me. I simply flipped down the third row bench seat, and popped the middle row captain\'s chairs out and put them in the garage. I fit the following into the van\'s cargo area: three big plastic bins filled with painting gear; two step ladders; table saw; halogen lights and stand; shop vac; a 5-gallon bucket of joint compound; a 5-gallon bucket of primer; three gallons of ceiling paint; folding saw horses; two cordless drills and cases; and all our food and luggage for three days of work. Try that with a station wagon or sedan!

    I was talking with someone about this issue over the weekend. They have been reluctant to go to the minivan, but the thing that pushed them over the edge is being able to cart their kids\' friends around. Without the third row of seats they just can\'t do it and have to convoy with other parents instead of getting into one vehicle to go to a playground or soccer game.

    Finally, if you have more than one kid and are still concerned about how \"cool\" you look behind the wheel of a car; you\'ve got bigger issues than can be solved in this forum.

    Noodad is right. Don\'t fear the Mom Bomb. A minivan will make your life a hell of a lot easier, and it\'s a veritable living room on wheels.
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    I\'m glad to hear you can carry that much stuff in a minivan. I had traded my sedan in for a longbed truck a year ago because with our new house I was constanly hauling things. Then, when we found out we were pregnant, (why do people say \"we\" anyway?) my wife instantly starting talking minivan. I have been putting up a fight, saying that we can\'t live without a truck since we are still going to Home Depot every weekend to get one thing or another. She also doesn\'t like the idea of the baby riding in the front seat in the rare occassions that he would ride with me. Damn, I loved that truck. :cry :cry :cry
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    My beloved Mazda 626 died (zoom-zoom-zoom) and since we had one-and-a-half kids, it was time to upgrade. We went with the Honda CR-V. Granted, we aren\'t hauling around our kids\' friends yet, but for having two kids under 20 months, it works great! It fits everything we need and drives like a car, only you sit higher on the road. Plus, I can get 28-30 MPG on the highway, if I behave.

    So, no minivan yet. Perhaps when the Civic we bought PK (pre-kids) goes on to the Honda dealership in the sky, it\'ll be time, but until then, I\'m only halfway to the minivan.
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    We\'re a one car household (Civic too, Coupe) needing to add that all important 2nd vehicle, the Family Truckster, before our first arrives...but we\'re not ready to make the big move to minivan yet. But it\'s good to know that noodads feel like minivan design is headed in the right direction for when that day for me arrives (which I\'m sure it will). Right now, I refuse to go family sedan and my wife is anti-wagon (I keep showing her how sweet the Audi S4 Avant and Saab 9-3 SportCombi are but she just doesn\'t seem to get that THAT kind of wagon is cool!). Many guys I know have endorsed the CR-V. I like what I see - I agree that it\'s got the right mix of form and function...small enough to navigate city streets but big enough to hold plety of gear...and it looks enough like a real SUV that you can look down just a bit on the guys driving Toyota RAV-4\'s! :grin
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    Stopped driving trucks and bought small to mid-sized suvs and my wife gave up the sports cars for sedans. Vans came up but wasn\'t something that we really gave much thought other than neither of us really cared to have one. We\'ve occasionally rented something bigger if we needed it but those times have been few and far between. We are about to buy a freestyle which as about as close to a van as we will get. Even with one of mine starting to drive, it seems like that we are always trying to cram one more kid into the car to go somewhere.

    One other thing to consider, that may or may not apply to you, is cousins. I am the oldest of 3. The youngest of the other 2 lives close by and has 4 children. Ready for this? They are 11mo, 2, 4, 5. At any given time I may have 2 of that bunch and that was just another reason for the larger vehicle.
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    We loved our Toyota Matrix, but it just wasn't big enough when we had two kids and moved 3 hours away from family and the big city. We went to the Honda dealership thinking we'd check out the Rav4 or something along those lines, for almost the same money the salesman told us about the Odyessy. We drove it. It drives wonderfully. I think it even gets better mileage than an SUV. Who can argue with that? Plus we can bring Papa with, an aunt, an uncle and even another child! Gotta love it.
 

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