I assume kids and gear won't be loaded at the same time.

Honestly, if you already have enough self-confidence to buy and drive a minivan, you're not going to be happy downgrading to an SUV. Minivans are 10x more practically in almost every way.

Ended up getting a Honda Pilot partly based on cargo capacity needs

Honestly, if you already have enough self-confidence to buy and drive a minivan, you're not going to be happy downgrading to an SUV. Minivans are 10x more practically in almost every way.

I'm in a Honda Odyssey and love the damn thing.

It's got plenty of power, plus my PC2X in a SKB case slides in between the two rear captain's chairs. I can also load the EAW cabinets, my amp rack, and everything else.

For beach trips I get kinda dorky with a pod on top to carry clothes and towels, etc. But the kids and their friends can all fit inside.

I keep a spreadsheet on mileage and have consistently gotten 18 MPG around town. By contrast, my wife's 4 cylinder Accord gets 28 MPG in town. So we take her car for short jaunts between Raleigh and Chapel Hill.

I've got a third Honda - another Accord. It's a '95. It's been beat to death by the kids, but I've maintained it. It still runs well - well enough that my daughter drives it across town to school every day. Hondas are reliable cars. Counting up, I think we've owned at least six so far.

Yeah... for what I do, that Odyssey was a good choice. Sure, it's no babe magnet, but my good looks make up for that.

My old Trooper has almost 200k miles and no problems whatsoever. It still looks new. And it has my favorite keyboard's name on the license plate.

People always miss the obvious--you're hauling way too much stuff and it's time to downsize: the family will just have to go!

Even in a minivan, though, I find it hard to haul my gear and my family at the same time. The biggest problem is that my S90ES is too long to fit behind the second row seats and two wide to slide between them. Noah

I have a 1998 Sienna with 130,000 miles on it. It runs just fine but I sometimes get the urge for something new. I've been looking at the Honda Element which only seats four, so it wouldn't work for Jeff, but it has some neat things about it. This is definately a function over form vehicle. The looks of the thing have grown on me, moving from ugly to kind of funky cool. The rear seats quickly slide over to the side or can easily be removed--they're very light. The floor is a plastic (on the base model) and would seem to make it easier to move stuff in and out. I use a mid-size rack on wheels and I can't have a bumpy floor. Some of the minivans (Odyssey and Quest) with the folddown seats have a pretty bumpy floor and that would be a PITA for me. The Chrysler minivan looks to be the exception (Pat Azz has one). Also, I don't think the new Siennas have fold down seats, but they do have a fairly flat floor. The Element is at least as tall as a minivan but shorter in length. With the seats out it has 77 sq ft of cargo space vs. 100+ with a minivan. But most people don't need all that space anyway. Another thing going for it is it's not high off the ground like an SUV so you don't have to lift as much. That's another issue for me with my particular gear. Gas mileage is not much better than a minivan but it's smaller and more manuverable. The big thing is it's priced roughly $10,000 less than a Honda Odyssey. Honda reliability.

Busch.

My wife has a fairly new Toyota Sienna that she loves and it holds a tremendous amount of dog show gear and crates.

[quote=misterdregs]Dogs? Did someone say DOGS?

This one likes to play BIOSHOCK until the wee hours of the night and enjoys reading the cat obituaries in the newspaper.

With my Sienna I have captain's chairs in the second row so the 88-note keyboard slides in between them. Another thing to consider.

Of course, my wife tells me that she's sick of driving a minivan and she wants a cool little convertible to drive around!

Noah

I assume kids and gear won't be loaded at the same time.

=eric
Busch, regarding the "bumpy floor" issue, I implemented a solution to this about 6 years ago and it is going strong. I did this in the back of my Trooper and something that I can swap between each of my Troopers with minimal hassle.

I cut a piece of 1/2" nice plywood to fit the rear cargo floor of my Trooper very snugly. Then I cut a couple of extra pieces that fit into the space left when the seats are folded up. This way, the cargo floor piece is always there even when I am using rear seats for passengers. When it becomes a gear mobile, I simply fold the seat(s) and scoot the extra plywood to create a flat and smooth bed, perfect for sliding in keyboards, things on wheels, amps, etc. Gear slides easily and it protects the carpeted "bumpy" floor underneath.

The finishing touch was taking a couple of carpet remnants and riveting them on the bottom side of the back of the plywood, soft side facing down, hanging about 2 ft long of the rear bumper. Kind of hard to describe, but I'll snap off a photo to show this. This carpet folds down over the back bumper, protecting it from any gear that may slam into it during loading. After the gear is loaded in, the carpet folds up against the gear, protecting the inside of the back doors from getting scratched by the gear.

I'll post a photo over the weekend. I know a couple other people that followed suit after seeing my setup with the plywood and carpet.

Get her the one my wife just got. 2008 BMW 335 hard-top convertible. Ferrari red. Twin turbo, 0 - 60 in 5.5 secs. The new hard top convertibles are very slick. Evidently the same company makes them for all the manufacurers.



Busch.