Man ya'll are a bunch of minivan hating, tender foot baking faux macho men, ain't y'all?
When my ninos were small, the missus and I acquired a series of minivans because they were voluminous but much less costly to acquire and fuel than SUVs. Back then to get a third row (outside of the minivan field) you pretty much had to get a Suburban which cost as much as a small farm and got GPMs instead of MPGs.
So we had a 1998 Plymouth Voyager. From 1996 to 2000, the Voyager and its sisters (the Dodge Caravan and the Chrysler T&C) were the least boxy, most teardroppy minivans ever built. And they were ubiquitous. Everybody had one.
Then in 2005 we traded it off for a 2004 Pontiac Montana. Now the Montana was a jewel. It was so smooth, comfortable and quiet. Had the quad bucket seats and built in DVD player. I loved that minivan. We'd probably still have it if some dang fool hadn't rearended us and their insurance company declared it a total loss.
So after much fighting that even required us to get a lawyer and file a claim, we finally settled and got a 2006 Saturn Relay. It was a lot like the Montana but it just wasn't the Montana. It was like the dog that you regrettably buy right after your beloved 15 year old dog dies.
Plymouth, Pontiac and Saturn. Were we the kiss of death for American marquees or what?
Along about the time our oldest had cars of their own and my i s c & a w wasn't having to transport a car load anymore we traded the Relay in on a 2013 Jeep Patriot. Now it's about time to give the youngest the Patriot and move up to acquire a Grand Cherokee or Durango or Explorer so we can pull a small travel trailer.
But often times when I travel for business , if a handful of us are having to travel, I'll rent a Dodge Caravan. It's good stewrdship. I got read the riot act the time I rented an Expedition so I stick with Caravans to save $10 a day and to avoid confrontations.
I love to get somebody else to drive, crawl back to the third row, pull down the shade, plug in all my devices, fold down the middle bucket to use as an ottoman and kick back. I'll have my big drink next to me and about three vents blowing hard at me. It's really pretty nice. It's not a bad experience.
The worst part is that so many people are moving to Texas, Enterprise doesn't have any vehicles with Texas plates anymore so you have to drive around looking like you're some rube from Wisconsin or Arkansas.