The used car dealer I recently bought my used audi from stopped buying SUV's to re-sell. Nobody was buying them and he would just have to sell them back at auction after they sat on his lot for weeks.



I don't get the SUV craze. They are just inefficient minivans with truck tires. I'd feel ridiculous in one of them. Give me a regular minivan over any SUminiVan anyday.

2005 Nissan Armada

Fuel Economy

Fuel Type Regular

MPG (city) 12
MPG (highway) 17
MPG (combined) 14

Fuel Economics
Cost to Drive 25 Miles $6.68
Fuel to Drive 25 Miles 1.79 gal
Cost of a Fill-up $94.25
Miles on a Tank 353 miles
Tank Size 28.0 gal
Annual Fuel Cost $4006
* Based on 15000 annual miles and a fuel price of 3.74 per gallon.

:(

it was just a fad, which is now pretty much over. it was mostly caused by excellent and profuse marketing to desk-bound middle agers who fancied themselves as weekend rugged outdoorsmen/individualists (plenty of irony there!).

Sporty and Utility? I must own one!



It's crazy to me that some of my wifes single friends in their late 20's bought them. These girls do nothing outdoors except shop (most southern california malls are outside).

Feel free to please post pics.

I love my sport utility vehicle. It's great in the snow, my mountain bike fits in the back and it gets around 23mpg. Of course, it's a 944...
-Chris

Wow, back from the dead. Funny to read my "wife won't drive a minivan" comments. We ended up selling the SRX and buying a Mazda MPV. Now I don't think she'd drive anything else.

Minivans are amazingly space-efficient vehicles compared w/ SUVs. I've only owned one MV, but I quickly fell in love w/ it just from a *good design* perspective. The interior space/comfort/walk-through are just unbeatable.

A buddy of mine is an actor and when he's making a film he will have the studio rent a new Chrysler T&C for his assistant to drive him around in. He could get any vehicle on the planet, but nothing can touch that MV for an office on wheels that you can actually park in a regular car space.

Very true. The minivan idea started as a "just temporary" thing. We would buy a minivan, she would drive it for a few years, and when we had more money to spare we would buy her the nice big SUV. She's now confessed that while she still likes SUVs, she really can't imagine going to something smaller inside that gets much worse MPG. Now she's eyeing the new Honda Odyssey for her next car. It really is incredible that her MPV externally is smaller than the SRX it replaces, but internally has as much room as the Nissan Armada that she wanted. Space efficiency, thy name is minivan.

Funny how some things work out :D

I should probably thank all of you for my purchase of the ultimate castration machine.;) Your comments were at the back of my mind when I forced her to CarMax so we could look at/drive a variety of vans. As an aside, we ALMOST bought an '04 Odyssey, but couldn't swing a deal. My wife liked the MPV styling better than the pre-facelift Odyssey anyway, and it was cheaper as a bonus.

The next vehicle for the wife will be a used BMW 5 series 4dr sedan. Her Discovery is going to stay in the family converted into a dedicated trail rig.

Choice in cars is a personal thing. Our friends have a Toyota mini van, AWD, swallows many many humans and their gear, comfortable, quiet, good mpg, so practical, yada yada. All that is great but we can't past the fact that it's a retarded looking vehicle. No mini van for us. We'll keep feeding the gas guzzler Disco thanks. ;)

David, I agree. I wish I could choose her car based totally on looks and driving experience, a 5-series would be a good pick. However, once you get past 2 kids (or kids + friends) your options get pretty slim. Our two kids + stuff easily filled the SRX on trips. Add more kids (more stuff), and the situation gets even worse. Until they offer a super-sized 5-series wagon with a 3rd row seat, the choices are minivan and SUV. SUV might be more hip, but it's tough to justify spending a LOT more on gas for a vehicle that doesn't have as much room as a minivan.

If she likes the MPV, she'll love an Odyssey. That's like going from a Chevy Cavalier to a Rolls Royce.

Plus the Odyssey is faster than my 944 :(

Speedy:)

The '04 MPV stacks up fairly well vs the old body style Odyssey, but the new Odyssey blows it away. We pay cash for cars, and unfortunately a newer Odyssey wasn't in the budget.

MV's rule at your stage of raising kids. We had one of these for over 150,000 trouble free miles. Four wheel drive was great, ran and handled like a sedan.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1219693818.jpg

The people across the street drive one just like that. Unfortunately, not as nice looking (or as rust free).