Do guys that drive mini vans look nerdy, dorky or geeky? - Page 2

Jims5543 · 04:02 PM

I was thinking more along the lines of having to drive the thing.

I don't like driving my Dodge Truck because, well, it drives like a truck.

When we had our second child we thought about what car to get. My wife was anti-SUV as I am too. We looked at lots of different cars and decided a good sized 4 door sedan would do the job. I was pushing for a used M-3, she tought it was too small. We looked at lots of 4 door cars and when we found this A-6 Quattro with a 6 Speed Manual we knew we found our car.

I prefer a car that is a delight to drive even when running around with the family on errands.

I have driven Mini Vans and SUV's. I even rented a Ford Expedition for a week to go skiing. They are horrible cars especially for daily driving and road trips. That expedition wore me out. I shutter when I see a soccer mom in one on a cel phone on the highway.

I don't look at a dude in a Mini van and think nerd. I have plenty of friends that think they are awesome. Same goes for SUV's 1 Million Soccer Moms cannot be wrong.

I just dont like driving them.

vash · vash's Garage

i completely tease my friend, because he is single, lives with his mom and he owns a mini van, and a toyota camry. only time i shut my mouth, is when we went skiing, and one night out, hitting the casinos (tahoe), bars whatever, we had five hot asian girls in the back. moving alot of people? short of a bus, there is nothing better. he quit borrowing my truck for sheetrock duty, so they must fit too.

married with kids? mini van just make sense.

SLO-BOB · 02-27-2005, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vash
we had five hot asian girls in the back.

married with kids? mini van just make sense.

Sounds like they make sense for more than that!

bluebullet · 02-27-2005, 04:45 PM

bangbus.....LMFAO!!!

My friend has a minivan. A 91 Caravan that doesnt burn oil at it has 176k on it. He has replaced the tranny 3 times tho. All maintenace done, new exhaust, the ceiling carpet hasnt come down yet either. He uses it to haul all his bands amps and stereo stuff around when doing gigs. Never had a prob with it.

His other car is an 87 rx-7 Turbo II. With 86k miles on the ORIGINAL MOTOR!!!!! Its only seen 10psi its entire life and only has full exhaust and a first gen mitsu eclipse stock blow off valve.

pwd72s · 02-27-2005, 04:54 PM

When I'm out there on the road, I should give a flying french kiss what the total strangers I share the road with think? The Porsche is for fun. The other 2 machines are for hauling people and stuff, right? They may be as exciting as a fridge, but as long as they function well, I'm happy. BTW, no mini van here, but I doubt I'd die of embarassment to be seen driving one. Beats walking, right?

Serge914 · Serge914's Garage

I saw on TV that the Dodge Caravan was Reagan answer to promote a good Conservative way of life. The target customer was the mother of 3 or more; she would use it to do some shopping and puck-up the kids at school while his husband would be at work.

Not for me, I still prefer my wagon. The closest vehicule I would buy is a Westfalia.

pwd72s · 05:37 PM

Serge, politics aside, I'm with you there. Years ago, Cindy & I had a rear wheel drive Detroit wagon as a grocery getter. It was a prime example of low performance engineering, and ugly as hell. But it would haul 4 in comfort, 6 in a pinch, plus picnic supplies for all. I still miss it for what it would do. I still forgive it's shortcomings. It just became too expensive to keep when I ran the numbers on fixing it vs. value... That said, I'm pretty sure that Reagan believed in letting people drive whatever they chose to put their money down for.

Jims5543 · 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bluebullet

His other car is an 87 rx-7 Turbo II. With 86k miles on the ORIGINAL MOTOR!!!!! Its only seen 10psi its entire life and only has full exhaust and a first gen mitsu eclipse stock blow off valve.

I don't know why people are amazed at this. Rotaries get a bad rap because a majority of car owners are ignorant and dont know how to properly maintain a car. Or mod then too much beofre they know what they are doing.

My friend poped the engine on his 88TII with 250K miles on it. I have another friend who has 160K on his TII and there are countless others with high milage Rotaries.

I am on engine #3. #1 dies due to a N2O experiment gone bad. ( I was modding and not knowing what I was doing. My only defense was that I asked around a LOT and no one had tried it on aTurbo Rotary before except for big money race teams. I have learned a lot and will run it again someday.

#2 - Blew after we had a wastegate issue in Sebring and it boosted to 30+PSI for a long duration in 3rd gear. My tires were breaking loose at 70 MPH in a straight line!! That engine ran for another 6 months of street driving AuotX and Road Course before I decided to tear it down adn see what was hurt. 1 apex seal was cracked.

#3 has been in my car for over a year now running at 400RWHP @15 PSI problem free. Lots of driving and racing on it too.

Sorry for the Hijack.....

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

I think this might be my next minivan:

Bill Douglas · 02-27-2005, 06:35 PM

I'm looking to buy a mini van to setup as a camper - now THAT is nerdy

Moses · 02-27-2005, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bill Douglas
I'm looking to buy a mini van to setup as a camper - now THAT is nerdy

I know a guy with an all-wheel drive mini van that is a perfect fly-fishing rig. The last two rows of seats are gone. There is a nice sized bunk along the right side of the van with drawers underneath holding reels, tippet, flies and other gear. The left side of the van has racks that hold the fly rods. Really well done. You could easily make a great camper.

Evans, Marv · 02-27-2005, 09:33 PM

Well, I don't drive a mini van, but I drove VW campers from the early '70s to the late '80s. Been using a full sized Ford Club wagon since then. I use it for driving to work, vacationing, camping, hauling tools and materials around, and anything else I need to do. I don't think a mini van would do. But, I never felt nerdy and don't care. As for the VW camper, when I was single, it was the best thing ever for afternoon delights.

Eric 951 · 02-28-2005, 06:36 AM

Who gives a damn what other people think about how you look when driving your vehicle? You can't please all the people all of the time.

If you drive a minivan, you are a geek
If you drive an SUV you are destroying the environment and are a poser
If you drive a Porsche you are a rich arrogant jerk.

If you like a vehicle, drive it, wether it is a minivan or a Yugo.

xlr8 · 02-28-2005, 06:45 AM

I love my truck, it handles just like a 911.

dhoward · dhoward's Garage

Yes.
And Ted's right.
Buncha' girlie-men....

targa911S · 07:50 AM

I have/need a mini van. As a working musician and bass player I have to carry a lot of equippment every weekend so the space is a wonderful thing. I'm on my 4th one now and buy em used and drive them till they drop dead. All Dodges. They all had gearbox problems though. Dodge may have invented the Mini Van but they have a long a long way to go on transmission developement!I also have two big dogs and live in a state where ya never know when you need to haul about 12 sheets of 4x8x3/4" plywood. I seriously don't know how I would live withoput one now. The lift height and capacity are much better than any SUV. HOWEVER...if I were a single guy I would rather have my hands cut off than drive one full time if I were trying to pick up ladies....unless I was picking up a bunch of them at one time!

oldE · 02-28-2005, 08:02 AM

The company had me driving mini-vans for the last 7 years of the job. previously, I had used my Passat. Biggest problem? Cornering (or lack of it) If the vans had been mine, I would have swapped the wheels and tires for something about 1 1/2 inches wider. My wife refused to drive the things, and would take our truck first, saying "the van wallows like a pig." Image? Who cares?
Les

Tim Hancock · 02-28-2005, 08:38 AM

I think many young families are just becoming too high maintenance. You have to have DVD players in the seat backs, power doors on both sides, heated seats, heated mirrors, variable climate controlled systems , 20 air bags, GPS, On-Star ETC, ETC. How did my brother, sister and I survive traveling on vacations in the 70's in a Volkswagon Beetle?

Maybe I just am lagging behind the times?

I have a 4WD Toyota truck for occasional bad weather and to haul stuff in, other than that my family of 4 drives in comfort in cars. If we have luggage, we put it in the trunk and/or on a rack.

That said, to each his own.

Moneyguy1 · 02-28-2005, 06:13 PM

I don't think you are behind the times. Things have changed, though. Seems as if we have a passel of folks out there that want, in everything...homes, cars, other things, EVERYTHING and they want it now, without a clue as to why it took their parents or grandparents a lot of work and a few years to collect that nice house, travel home, etc. Might want to look into that as one of the root causes of what is driving up some land and housing values. I call it the Lemming effect. If you can do it, or you can have it, so can I!!

Not meaning to sound "religious", but the jist of the following prayer says a lot:

Lord, yesterday I asked you for all things so I could enjoy life. Today you gave me life so I could enjoy all things.

Point of view and value placed upon things differs from person to person.

911pcars · 02-28-2005, 09:41 PM

"...You have to have DVD players in the seat backs, power doors on both sides, heated seats, heated mirrors, variable climate controlled systems , 20 air bags, GPS, On-Star ETC, ETC."

Tim,
That applies to the entire car industry. It's not necessarily a function of what buyers demand, it's a demand caused by the marketing and advertising folks who convince buyers these extra amenities are necessary.

Sure it's nice to have door locks that automatically lock at 6 mph. Sure it's nice to have a fully automated climate control system, and very soon most cars will have back up and accident-avoidance sensors and fully auto-reaction devices to ensure our safety. Safety items are one thing (I guess I can live with 8 air bags), but the manufacturers inherently provide many of these neat fru fru items to justify a price increase each year (i.e. more profit).

On the consumer side, that usually means turning over the car after X years, not because it's worn out, but because it costs too much to repair and/or replace the various smart systems (e.g. my inoperative minivan gas gauge, as was the blower switch on my old bimmer, were controlled by an ECU). I have my doubts many dealership technicians are able to diagnose and repair a 7-year old ECU-controlled system without mass replacement of components, and I'm pretty sure this pattern will hold true 7 years from now for today's cars. Would you pay $400 to have more than 1 blower speed?. The old term is called planned obsolescence and it still applies.

I suppose that's why many of us prefer early Pcars. Sometimes less technology can be a good thing.

Sorry for the rant,
Sherwood
http://members.rennlist.org/9110pcars