Trading in for a used SUV

2016 dodge grand caravan here. 2 kids. It's so easy to load the kids with the sliding doors. Third row stays down most of the time just for convenience. When we go to the beach the kids wagon can fit in the back with the rest of the luggage. I really wanted a suburban but after loading the kids in the van there is no way I would want to constantly buckle two kids in worrying about the door swinging into the car beside me or having less room to get up higher into the burbank to get them in the seat.

We didn't like the honda or toyota mini vans. The dash and shifter layout are completely fubar.
 
I have 3 boys two dogs and the woman and I swear you can’t beat a suburban, fawk a mini van tho, unless it’s a old WV 18 window or as equally cool as that! lol
 
We have 220k miles on our Volvo XC90 and it keeps on going and we like it. No major repairs since we had it new other than a few small things normal for a higher mileage car.

I have some coworkers with a Honda Element that they seem to like. Odd looking but seems convenient for them and kids and boson it out weekly.
 
I’ll put in a plug for a crew cab TRUCK! My wife sports a 2WD Ram 1500 with a tonneau cover. Man card still intact. She loves being in a bigger vehicle (feels safer), cheaper than the equivalent SUV because it’s not a fad right now. If you like mpg’s, get the eco-diesel. Resale value is awesome. All I got.
 
Look at your life style first. Frequent short trips? Do you by groceries for a week or a few days and forget this and that? Do your kids potentially play sports for a team do dance and see yourself traveling to such? Need awd, or 4wd, because work demands you get there or the driveway shits the bed? Is your family fairly minimal and pack just what needed or look like the Kardashian clan going boating? Its all relative.
Buy based on use. Buy based on habits. Buy considering if it child transport aka tha' bus, or hey kiddos need to go with you today.
My biggest advice buy the best fit and not the catch all...middle crap. Like our Pacifia. Four doors, heavy and handles like a truck. Can't tow crap. Trunk space and doors hard to get stuff through. Lay down all the seats and still want fit a bycicle for example. Now the Honda Element a friend owns. Fit things through the door like a barn. Held 3 dudes gear and a bike inside the cab. Half the size and easily kills it in the economy area. Research and don't buy into your shoe fits me. Take you the wife and the some of the crap you'd haul and test. Easiest way.....Enterprise. Rent something for an excursion. Then send it back and try something else.
 
I just don’t uderstand the hate on mini vans. If you don’t like them, fine, don’t get one. No sweat. But why hate on everyone else that likes theirs?

When this “which vehicle” conversation comes up and mini vans get mentioned, there’s a whole group of anti mini van people that act like a Jehovas witness just knocked on the door! Lol
 
Oh, and if you don't keep stuff long......the older they get the bigger life and toys are. Buy something efficient smaller and cheap when the little ones are young. They get older everything thing gets bigger and potentially more complicated. Barbies and Tonka toys are replaced by luggage and ball bats.
 
77GreenMachine said:
I just don’t uderstand the hate on mini vans. If you don’t like them, fine, don’t get one. No sweat. But why hate on everyone else that likes theirs?

When this “which vehicle” conversation comes up and mini vans get mentioned, there’s a whole group of anti mini van people that act like a Jehovas witness just knocked on the door! Lol
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I don't understand the hate either. I've been daily driving one for seven years. I've still got my man card, and my dick still works.
 
77GreenMachine said:
I just don’t uderstand the hate on mini vans. If you don’t like them, fine, don’t get one. No sweat. But why hate on everyone else that likes theirs?

When this “which vehicle” conversation comes up and mini vans get mentioned, there’s a whole group of anti mini van people that act like a Jehovas witness just knocked on the door! Lol
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drkelly said:
I don't understand the hate either. I've been daily driving one for seven years. I've still got my man card, and my dick still works.
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It ain’t about hate. There’s “haters” out there for any and all vehicles. The OP asked for opinions and we give them. If you take offense to anything written on the Internet, you’re not playing the game right.
 
I don’t take offense. I laugh at the apparent insecurities of people like that, that feel they need the latest truck or SUV or only drive a certain style and sure wouldn’t have anything X amount of years old.
I could not care any less about what I drive, and if it’s cool, or if it takes my “man card”. I go with what makes the most sense financially and practically. High School was over a long time ago.
 
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77GreenMachine said:
I don’t take offense. I laugh at the apparent insecurities of people like that, that feel they need the latest truck or SUV or only drive a certain style and are wouldn’t have anything X amount of years old.
I could not care any less about what I drive, and if it’s cool, or if it takes my “man card”. I go with what makes the most sense financially and practically. High School was over a long time ago.
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I consider the “man card” to be a joke anyway. To me, the man defending his man card most likely has his balls in his wife’s purse. And it’s not just men. My wife is a full blown minivan “HATER” and proud of it. Just another reason I love her.
 
If somebody would make a van with a stickshift and a turbo, it would really improve the sellability to "car guys".
 
In college a buddy had a minivan (dodge caravan) that his folks gave him.
Now it never endorse such activities but as college kids we were known to 1 or 2 times possibly drink beers while driving to the shoe show. It was a fantastic setup. No one pulls over a minivan.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Also, where the fawk are you getting that from? NC is only 8 yo OR 80 lbs.
Child Passenger Safety Law Summary : BuckleUpNC.org – Securing North Carolina for Life
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Stuntman Autoworks said:
The dash and shifter layout are completely fubar.
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Agreed. They're a pain to bang shift, but you get used to it.
 
We've got 3 kids and piled them into everything from a Wrangler (only 2 then, both in seats), a neon (all 3, some long drives), my xj, and presently her zj. No need for mini van, and the zj didn't have a hitch until recently, and then it's just for a rack to take the trash out.. I think the trans would puke if I hooked any kind of trailer to it. No mini van for us. Though sometimes it'd be nice. We did take a three door Silverado to mass one time.. full doors would be necessary if we were to own one and no dry cargo room sucks.
 
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