I've joined the minivan club...

[Ian]

With the coming of my second child, my wife and I realized that the two kids, dog and all their stuff won't fit in our current cars. For the last few weeks, we've been looking for something bigger. We started looking at larger SUV's, but in most cases, getting to the third row was a pain. Even then, there wasn't alot of room for storage. Finally, we sucked it up and started looking at vans.

After doing a bunch of test drives and looking at the features, it came down to the Kia Sedona. Unfortunately, they couldn't get the one we wanted in black so for the hell of it, we went to Hyundai. The Entourage is essentially the same as the Sedona, but we found that we could get more features, for less. After looking at it for about 30 minutes, we bought one.

Anyway, we're trading in my Suzuki for it. As much as I like the little trucklet and its true 4wd, it needs too much work.

[SithTracy]

I'm a Honda man myself... We are considering a mini-van too, but I am dragging my feet (as I have been for about two years) ... I used to make up songs about them and swore I would never own one... Never realizing in my youth I would end up with kids. Probably next year, but would love to see a Diesel Hybrid...

Was not aware Hyundai made a mini-van...

tune = I'm going to McDonalds in my go#$&*n mini-van, da da da da da da da

I'll be joining the club someday sooner than later.

[Ian]

This is the first year that Hyudai is offering one. Normally I wouldn't buy a first year car, but its based on the Kia design and its been available for awhile.

[LoneWolf]

I'm a Honda man myself... We are considering a mini-van too, but I am dragging my feet (as I have been for about two years) ... I used to make up songs about them and swore I would never own one... Never realizing in my youth I would end up with kids. Probably next year, but would love to see a Diesel Hybrid...

Was not aware Hyundai made a mini-van...

tune = I'm going to McDonalds in my go#$&*n mini-van, da da da da da da da

I'll be joining the club someday sooner than later.

As much as I'm not a huge minivan fan, I'd own one over an SUV for almost all purposes. Most models are more fuel-efficient (better drag coefficient body designs, plus lower to the ground), and having a lower center of gravity, their emergency handling is better and risk of rollover is less. And they still offer that higher-up seating position that everyone who owns an SUV says they bought it for. I've driven the parents' Grand Caravans, and they handle much like a big car, though I'd prefer a more solid, less wallowy feel when changing lanes or cornering.

It's too bad that Honda and Toyota's minivans are so much more expensive. They beat everyone else on quality, but you pay for it. I'm a Honda fan myself, having owned two Integras and now an `04 Civic EX sedan.

[CowboySlim]

I saw one of those RAV 4s on the way to work this AM.
They look good! They are not like soccer mom's minivan at all.
They are really a mini-mid size 4wd wagon.

What was the MIR? Did the dealer help you carefully remove the UPC sticker?

[LoneWolf]

I saw one of those RAV 4s on the way to work this AM.
They look good! They are not like soccer mom's minivan at all.
They are really a mini-mid size 4wd wagon.

What was the MIR? Did the dealer help you carefully remove the UPC sticker?

I'd call the RAV 4 more of a crossover vehicle --a small SUV based on a car body rather than a truck body. For the average daily (non-trailer towing) driver, a much better choice than truck-based SUVs once again due to lower center of gravity, and usually having better gas mileage, especially in the non-4WD 4-banger versions.

Of course, taking away 4WD and going with a smaller engine usually stops a vehicle from being a "real man's SUV" in a lot of eyes. But those people can probably afford the gasoline more than I can (80-mile round-trip commute 5 days a week).

[Ian]

Unless you really go off roading, the "real man's" SUV's are overkill. During the time I had my Zuki, I think I put it into 4-Lo twice.. and that was the two times it couldn't get out of the snow in 4-Hi. My wife's Saturn has Awd and we've driven it through all sorts of bad weather. My only beef is that it doesn't have the clearance of the truck based SUV's. If the snow gets above 8-10", it floats on top of it.

[LoneWolf]

Unless you really go off roading, the "real man's" SUV's are overkill. During the time I had my Zuki, I think I put it into 4-Lo twice.. and that was the two times it couldn't get out of the snow in 4-Hi. My wife's Saturn has Awd and we've driven it through all sorts of bad weather. My only beef is that it doesn't have the clearance of the truck based SUV's. If the snow gets above 8-10", it floats on top of it.

I agree. It's just the marketing droids that have gotten many into believing that if they don't have this or that feature, they won't be cool or measure up.
Front wheel drive serves almost everyone but the U.P. folks (that's Upper Peninsula for those of you not from Michigan) or some northern Wisconsinites pretty well.

[Ian]

Okay.. this is crazy. We were running low on diapers so we made a run to Sam's Club after dinner. I get out of the van and turn around to see my old Suzuki parked right next to us. My car had a brush bar, custom lights and over sized tires so there was no doubt it was mine. I was hoping the new owner would come out so I could find out how much they paid for it.

[aviationwiz]

Haha, wow, that's awesome.

Personally, as you all know, I'm more of an airplane guy,

I'm happy with my 9-10 year old Ford/Mercury something-rather stationwagon. It drives well, plenty of room for people or cargo, what more do I need? That, and at least 2-3 UPS drivers recognize it as my car now.

[jase]

The Entourage has been available over here for a long time, under its original Korean title of "Trajet".

Seems OK to be honest -- lots of taxi drivers use them because of their size, price and long warranty.

I've owned a couple of Korean cars (Hyundai and Daewoo) and they've never given me any trouble.