Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
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.

So where do you suggest we fit our two kids plus our two dogs? Should we tie the dogs to the roof of a Toyota Camry?

Station wagon. Rav4. Subaru outback. Hatchback Sedan. Or . . . . leave the dogs at home. Boarding them a few times a year is less expensive than a higher monthly car payment for 5 years.

We go hiking and camping with our dogs. Why would I want to board them?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What is the big deal about sliding doors?

Oh honey...you have not truly lived until you've experienced the joy of sliding doors. No more worries about tight parking spaces, no more worries about the door not staying open and closing on you while you're trying to get a kid in a car seat...and the best part is, with a minivan, I've been in such tight spots that I've opened the back sliding door, gotten in, and climbed easily into the driver's seat. There is no way I could have opened my regular door wide enough to have gotten in. Oh, and when it rains? You can slide that door closed behind you and still have room to strap your kid in the carseat!

It is my favorite minivan feature. Seriously, the sliding door is awesome. Yes, I'm a sliding door dork, and I'm proud of it!

If you are parked in that tight of a spot, how do you think the person you parked next to can get in and out of their vehicle?

Well, that's their problem now, isn't it? They should have gotten a vehicle with a sliding door.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: 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."

Minivans are built on a sedan body, but a larger larger sedan body than the Mazda5.

SUVs are built on truck platforms, which blah blah blah mileage requirements blah blah STOP ME before I start spewing safety and efficiency facts.

Very few SUVs are still built with body-on-frame construction -- Really only the very large ones. That kind of gets back to the SUV with sliding doors= minivan argument.

Anonymous wrote: 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."

Minivans are built on a sedan body, but a larger larger sedan body than the Mazda5.

SUVs are built on truck platforms, which blah blah blah mileage requirements blah blah STOP ME before I start spewing safety and efficiency facts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What is the big deal about sliding doors?

Oh honey...you have not truly lived until you've experienced the joy of sliding doors. No more worries about tight parking spaces, no more worries about the door not staying open and closing on you while you're trying to get a kid in a car seat...and the best part is, with a minivan, I've been in such tight spots that I've opened the back sliding door, gotten in, and climbed easily into the driver's seat. There is no way I could have opened my regular door wide enough to have gotten in. Oh, and when it rains? You can slide that door closed behind you and still have room to strap your kid in the carseat!

It is my favorite minivan feature. Seriously, the sliding door is awesome. Yes, I'm a sliding door dork, and I'm proud of it!

If you are parked in that tight of a spot, how do you think the person you parked next to can get in and out of their vehicle?

Not to mention the fact that if you weren't in a huge minivan you probably wouldn't be in the tight spot in the first place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What is the big deal about sliding doors?

Oh honey...you have not truly lived until you've experienced the joy of sliding doors. No more worries about tight parking spaces, no more worries about the door not staying open and closing on you while you're trying to get a kid in a car seat...and the best part is, with a minivan, I've been in such tight spots that I've opened the back sliding door, gotten in, and climbed easily into the driver's seat. There is no way I could have opened my regular door wide enough to have gotten in. Oh, and when it rains? You can slide that door closed behind you and still have room to strap your kid in the carseat!

It is my favorite minivan feature. Seriously, the sliding door is awesome. Yes, I'm a sliding door dork, and I'm proud of it!

If you are parked in that tight of a spot, how do you think the person you parked next to can get in and out of their vehicle?

Not to mention the fact that if you weren't in a huge minivan you probably wouldn't be in the tight spot in the first place.

Anonymous wrote:
What is the big deal about sliding doors?

Oh honey...you have not truly lived until you've experienced the joy of sliding doors. No more worries about tight parking spaces, no more worries about the door not staying open and closing on you while you're trying to get a kid in a car seat...and the best part is, with a minivan, I've been in such tight spots that I've opened the back sliding door, gotten in, and climbed easily into the driver's seat. There is no way I could have opened my regular door wide enough to have gotten in. Oh, and when it rains? You can slide that door closed behind you and still have room to strap your kid in the carseat!

It is my favorite minivan feature. Seriously, the sliding door is awesome. Yes, I'm a sliding door dork, and I'm proud of it!

If you are parked in that tight of a spot, how do you think the person you parked next to can get in and out of their vehicle?

Anonymous wrote:What is the big deal about sliding doors?

Oh honey...you have not truly lived until you've experienced the joy of sliding doors. No more worries about tight parking spaces, no more worries about the door not staying open and closing on you while you're trying to get a kid in a car seat...and the best part is, with a minivan, I've been in such tight spots that I've opened the back sliding door, gotten in, and climbed easily into the driver's seat. There is no way I could have opened my regular door wide enough to have gotten in. Oh, and when it rains? You can slide that door closed behind you and still have room to strap your kid in the carseat!

It is my favorite minivan feature. Seriously, the sliding door is awesome. Yes, I'm a sliding door dork, and I'm proud of it!

Anonymous wrote:
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.

So where do you suggest we fit our two kids plus our two dogs? Should we tie the dogs to the roof of a Toyota Camry?

Station wagon. Rav4. Subaru outback. Hatchback Sedan. Or . . . . leave the dogs at home. Boarding them a few times a year is less expensive than a higher monthly car payment for 5 years.

Anonymous wrote: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.

So where do you suggest we fit our two kids plus our two dogs? Should we tie the dogs to the roof of a Toyota Camry?

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.

Minivans have the same clearance as a regular sedan. I'm pretty sure it's more than 3".

What is the big deal about sliding doors?

This reminds me so much of that Veggie Tales songs about soccer moms wanting SUVs . . . . slam into 4 wheel drive to pick up a box of jo!

Both: Oh you and me in our sport utility vehicles crusin to 7-11 for a bag of frito laysOh you and me in our sport Utility Vehicles we'll slam into 4 wheel and pick up a dozen eggs and if there ever was a snow
Girl- A really really deep snow
Larry: And if everyone was stuck but us
Girl- We'd be the ones not stuck
Larry: then we could be the heroes
Girl- We could be the heroes
Both- we could be the herooooooos
Girl- We would push them and pull them
Larry: push them and pull them
Both- Push them and pull them right out of the snow
Girl- I like your car
Larry- I like yours too
Girl- Periwinkle?
Larry- it's baby blue
Girl- hows it handle?
Larry- Like a dream
Girl- How 'bout coffee
Larry- and then Ice cream!
Both- o you and me in out sport utility vehicles crusin to Dunkin Donuts for a cup of steaming Joe oh you and me in our sport utility vehicles we'll slam into 4-wheel drive for a scoop of rocky road
Girl- and if we ever go campin,.. you know
Larry- haven't been but one day.. I'll go
Girl- And we find a ranger stuck in a ditch
Both- a nice ranger in a deep ditch
Larry- we could be the heroes
Girl- we could be the heros
Both- we could be the heroes
Girl- we would push him and pull him
Larry- push him and pull him
Both- Push him and pull him right out of that ditch
Larry- I like your car
Girl- I like yours too
Larry- Is it a Jeep?
Both- it's my sport Utility Vehicle

Why are the minivan drivers so insecure? I guess because they are so dorky.

that's what I love about my rav4!!! my pseudo SUV!!!

built in a camry's chassi is very economic, cute looking and huuuuge trunk space. perfect fit for our family.

I only wish we has sliding doors too

our friend has a huuuuuge boat kind of "mini"-van and his only kid is 8yo. they're not having other kids so I always wonder why they picked that car...