Anonymous
Post 07/27/2011 08:33     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
We bought a Mazda 5 specifically because we wanted sliding doors and I didn't want to pilot a yacht around DC simply because I have 2 kids. Works fine for us, but it's a little cramped for my tall husband and it really isn't viable for larger families or people who routinely carpool. Unlike minivans, which are built on van/truck bodies, the Mazda 5 is built on a sedan body - so it really is like driving a "regular car with sliding doors."
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2011 08:02     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Minivans also have very low clearance, so they don't travel well in anything more than 3 inches of snow. The low clearance, however, is nice when your are loading and unloading kids.

What I would like is a compact vehicle - like a priuys - that had sliding doors. I would totally go for that.


True, minivans have a lower clearance, but it's not like we usually get so much snow around here that it's an issue. During Snowmageddon, DH drove our minivan through unplowed roads to get to my parents - he only got stuck once and he'd probably have gotten stuck in an SUV too.

I also would LOVE a regular car with sliding doors. Not a prius necessarily, but a "family" sedan. I wonder why no cars are designed like that.


This is the mazda 5.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2011 07:08     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
Anonymous wrote:Minivans also have very low clearance, so they don't travel well in anything more than 3 inches of snow. The low clearance, however, is nice when your are loading and unloading kids.

What I would like is a compact vehicle - like a priuys - that had sliding doors. I would totally go for that.


True, minivans have a lower clearance, but it's not like we usually get so much snow around here that it's an issue. During Snowmageddon, DH drove our minivan through unplowed roads to get to my parents - he only got stuck once and he'd probably have gotten stuck in an SUV too.

I also would LOVE a regular car with sliding doors. Not a prius necessarily, but a "family" sedan. I wonder why no cars are designed like that.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2011 06:40     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The cars are for entirely different purposes. At least they are supposed to be. SUVs are supposed to be for offroading, hauling trailers, etc. Minivans for soccer moms hauling kids around. Get the one that is right for your purposes. If you really are a soccer mom but just want to pretend to be a hip out-doorsy offroading sort for the purposes of status and image . . . well, get a life.





What I DH and I offroad and haul trailers and we also haul kids around? What is so wrong with wanting a car that could do both so that we could be a ONE car family? That is not about image....thanks for being a judgy jerk.


Then you would be a minority of SUV drivers who actually need the off road and haul capability. No need to be so sensitive.


NP here. I find the same is true of minivan drivers. There are many of them that don't NEED a minivan. I know lots of families that have one or two children with a minivan. They don't carpool regularly. They really COULD buy a small sedan, but they choose a gas hogging minivan (which is not much better, if at all, than a small SUV gas wise). It cracks me up when the minivan drivers get so judgy.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2011 06:37     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The cars are for entirely different purposes. At least they are supposed to be. SUVs are supposed to be for offroading, hauling trailers, etc. Minivans for soccer moms hauling kids around. Get the one that is right for your purposes. If you really are a soccer mom but just want to pretend to be a hip out-doorsy offroading sort for the purposes of status and image . . . well, get a life.





What I DH and I offroad and haul trailers and we also haul kids around? What is so wrong with wanting a car that could do both so that we could be a ONE car family? That is not about image....thanks for being a judgy jerk.


Then you would be a minority of SUV drivers who actually need the off road and haul capability. No need to be so sensitive.
Anonymous
Post 07/26/2011 21:48     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
Anonymous wrote:The cars are for entirely different purposes. At least they are supposed to be. SUVs are supposed to be for offroading, hauling trailers, etc. Minivans for soccer moms hauling kids around. Get the one that is right for your purposes. If you really are a soccer mom but just want to pretend to be a hip out-doorsy offroading sort for the purposes of status and image . . . well, get a life.





What I DH and I offroad and haul trailers and we also haul kids around? What is so wrong with wanting a car that could do both so that we could be a ONE car family? That is not about image....thanks for being a judgy jerk.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2011 14:37     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Minivans have three rows of seats.

SUVS have only two.

That's a huge difference.


Lots of SUVs have 3rd row seating now, though. Particularly the huge ones.


I had no idea. Well, then, I declare those to be minivans and not SUVs.


Have you ever sat in the third row of some of those SUV's though? I think a Tahoe or a Suburban is more like minivan style seating. But a Pathfinder or one of those Volvo SUV's (forget the number) is like a clausterphobic's worst nightmare. There's literally no way out, except to crawl through the trunk or wait for the second row to empty out and one of the seats gets folded down. Forget about it if there are carseats in the second row. Ugh!


Although now many 3-row SUVs come with the option of captains seats in the 2nd row, making access to the third row similar to a minivan. Still not as spacious inside, but much more user-friendly.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2011 14:17     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
OK this is starting to remind me of 30 rock:


http://jalopnik.com/5388530/30-rock-rips-on-aztek-auto-industry
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2011 13:19     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
Minivans also have very low clearance, so they don't travel well in anything more than 3 inches of snow. The low clearance, however, is nice when your are loading and unloading kids.

What I would like is a compact vehicle - like a priuys - that had sliding doors. I would totally go for that.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2011 13:02     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Minivans have three rows of seats.

SUVS have only two.

That's a huge difference.


Lots of SUVs have 3rd row seating now, though. Particularly the huge ones.


I had no idea. Well, then, I declare those to be minivans and not SUVs.


Have you ever sat in the third row of some of those SUV's though? I think a Tahoe or a Suburban is more like minivan style seating. But a Pathfinder or one of those Volvo SUV's (forget the number) is like a clausterphobic's worst nightmare. There's literally no way out, except to crawl through the trunk or wait for the second row to empty out and one of the seats gets folded down. Forget about it if there are carseats in the second row. Ugh!
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2011 12:34     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
Anonymous wrote:An "SUV with sliding doors" is a minivan.


Heh. Exactly. Also, I always find it amusing that there are a few out-of-touch holdouts who think SUVs are "cool" and minivans "uncool". I wonder if they still wear power suits with white tennis shoes, listen to Michael McDonald, and think cigar smoking is the height of transgressive cool.

Anonymous
Post 07/25/2011 12:08     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Minivans have three rows of seats.

SUVS have only two.

That's a huge difference.


Lots of SUVs have 3rd row seating now, though. Particularly the huge ones.


I had no idea. Well, then, I declare those to be minivans and not SUVs.


Not true. I have a tahoe - which is AWESOME - and it has three rows..


is the honda pilot considered an suv? it has 3 rows.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2011 11:53     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Minivans have three rows of seats.

SUVS have only two.

That's a huge difference.


Lots of SUVs have 3rd row seating now, though. Particularly the huge ones.


I had no idea. Well, then, I declare those to be minivans and not SUVs.


Not true. I have a tahoe - which is AWESOME - and it has three rows..
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2011 11:35     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
The cars are for entirely different purposes. At least they are supposed to be. SUVs are supposed to be for offroading, hauling trailers, etc. Minivans for soccer moms hauling kids around. Get the one that is right for your purposes. If you really are a soccer mom but just want to pretend to be a hip out-doorsy offroading sort for the purposes of status and image . . . well, get a life.



Anonymous
Post 07/25/2011 11:34     Subject: Do SUVs with minivan style sliding doors exist?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Minivans have three rows of seats.

SUVS have only two.

That's a huge difference.


Lots of SUVs have 3rd row seating now, though. Particularly the huge ones.


I had no idea. Well, then, I declare those to be minivans and not SUVs.