My husband and I have pretty much decided to get a minivan, because they are practical and spacious. We feel like it's the best choice for our family of four, and we love the new features minivans have. However, I've been feeling some hate when I tell people about it. I was talking with a group of friends, and a couple of them said they wouldn't be caught dead driving a minivan. That seems like an extreme reaction to me. I know minivans are associated with moms, but when did being a mom become so uncool? Or is there something else I'm missing?
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Haha a child free friend once told me minivans were 'the sweatpants of vehicles,' like you'd just given up on life lol. I wouldn't go that far and really don't pay attention to what anyone else is driving- but I do admit I don't want one. Idrive an Suv with a third row and I guess I just prefer that look. Maybe what she said did stay with me lol.
ETA we're only having 2 Los at most but I can definitely see needing the room/convenience of a minivan if you have 2 or more.
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Funny you say that because this article popped up today! http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/05/the-revenge-of-the-minivan/481203/?utm_source=SFFB
I am a huge minivan fan - they've improved sooo much. I think people just associate it to that "soccer mom" stereotype of the 80s/90s, and haven't really given it a chance or know how cool the new models are!
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@JerricaBenton: ha that pretty much sums it up. I was thinking of fanny packs- convenient but no style. But I cannot deny the pros, especially if you have more than two- 3rd row SUVs are way less convenient. DH is one of those completely anti mini van people. (We both grew up with mini vans though!)
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I feel like I'm not old enough to drive one lol. I don't love the look of them from the outside, but they are tempting because they have really awesomename convenient features for families with littles!
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All I know is when I see a minivan on the road, there tends to be a super sloooow driver behind the wheel who actually seems to make things more dangerous (like people driving normal speed have to slam on their breaks or swerve around them). Not sure if it's because they are so awful to drive or all the kids distracting them but I don't want any part of it!
And I will admit that my only experience driving one was my sisters and I automatically became that horrible driver. I don't know why it's just the minivan effect.
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My husband and I were on a vacation recently in a massive Nissan Pathfinder and an old school Dr Dre song came on so we rolled the windows down and sang along like the idiots we are. Mid-song I looked at my husband and said, "See. It's like we don't even have kids! We could be 25 again with an active outdoor lifestyle and need a big car for our dog. If we had a minivan we'd never get away with this." So yes. I think minivans are great for some people but not for me. Because I still like to roll my windows down and look like an idiot.
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I never understood SUVs, they just seem bulky and impractical. Like some people haul stuff and need a truck, some people off road and use a jeep, an SUV just seems like a combo of making it less useful. So I donno, I don't think minivans look cool but I never thought SUVs looked cool either so DH and I never had any reservations about a minivan.
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@skipra: we had to borrow my dads minivan last year and it was so hard to drive. My dh is a really good driver and it was so choppy and not smooth in the van. I'm not a great driver anyway so I always thought it was just me.
@Maysprout: we have a midsize SUV and I do think it is really nice looking, but it's a total mom car. We got it because we needed more space for our kids and their seats and their stuff- mom car.
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Good question. I don't find SUVs to be any "cooler" though most people seem to perceive SUV > minivan. They kind of seem the same to me... 🤔
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@Foodnerd81: I'm not into cars in general so that might be part of it. The only cars I think look cool are the sleek smaller cars way out of my price range or maybe convertibles, which while I think look cool and fun I hate being in with the top down
But to me everything else seems to be a way to get from point A to point B, I don't see much style in most cars.
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I. Don't. Care. Most of those people end up eating their words when they have 2 or more kids.
We road trip a lot to visit my family as it's such a pain in the butt with our Xterra. Doing a regular SUV with third row means having no storage if you're using the third row. The convenience and space of a minivan can not be beat.
And I bet most minivan haters haven't ridden in a current one, with kids, during a long car trip.
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I think minivans are awesome actually and I can't wait to upgrade my Jetta and get one. They have great features and tons of room. My husband thinks they are embarrassing but the minivan will be for me anyway! I think he will come around when we are able to fold down the back seat to fit camping equipment and put the LOs into the middle seat without having to bend over and crawl halfway into the car because of the awesome sliding doors.
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I have no idea why minivans are a problem. My parents always had them (like they each had one) and they STILL both drive minivans and they have no kids at home. The sliding doors alone with a kid and not worrying about banging someone's car door and the storage - it's such a no brainer to me. We rented a 3-row SUV (loaded Highlander) when family visited and it was such a pain - it didn't fit any stuff in it and the people in the 3rd row were squished. The only SUV that could be comparable to my minivan in terms of space is like a huge Suburbab XL or something and those are like driving a boat!
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@caterw: my husband never got it until he drove my brothers on a road trip a few years back. Now he's a believer. We both can't wait till we get one for the sheer convenience.
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They don't look sleek or stylish from the outside.
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DH is not a fan. We settled on a Ford Flex- best of all worlds.
I don't think they are that bad. We rented one in Hawaii and I think they are just a low SUV.
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They look pretty awful and I strongly associate them with bad/slow drivers. My mom has one and made me drive it a couple weeks ago. Just awful. Clunky, unresponsive, and a PITA to park.
The previous poster who referenced "sweatpants on wheels"... Yeah.
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@regberadaisy: This! Who cares if your car doesn't look cool if it gets you where you need to go? That reminds me, gotta get my emissions test and change my oil this weekend
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If you love it, who cares. I personally like smaller cars (love my CRV) so it would be a struggle to get a minivan. Luckily, DH said he would consider getting one if we had to. Win win! Though, he ended up getting a Highlander.
I know minivan are more practical (sliding doors and not having to worry about the kids opening the door and hitting the car beside it). My brother is now a minivan convert after having 3 kids. I think I'm not quite there yet. Ask me again when the twins are older. Oh, there are cool features like auto sliding doors, power lift gate, sliding second row and probably others that I don't even know of because I'm not currently looking. I just have to get over the size of it.
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Cause this. They are all sticky and yucky and I don't care how easy they are to get in, they all come with stickyness included.
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Minivans sit too low to the ground. I would literally get stuck in the middle of the road in the snow in the winter where I live.
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Haha, my husband would not in a million years consider a minivan...unless maybe it was electric and was made by Tesla. Then he would be the first in line.
I don't mind them, they're very practical but we don't have the need for one.
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@skipra: I think a lot of elderly people drive vans now! Space and convience.
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@gingerbebe: yes. DH was anti minivan until we had our second child. I told him to find me something that had the space but decent gas mileage. He finally agreed the minivan was it especially with the features you get for the price. To get a similar loaded expedition or something (for similar space) you pay $15k more for features and get horrible gas mileage.
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@T.H.O.U.: I don't think it matters who drives! I am a terrible minivan driver too! And I have to disagree with good gas mileage thing. The bad gas mileage is one of the big factors that turns me off to them. And when you compare to an SUV which usually has 4wd, it's apples to oranges. Of course SUVs have terrible gas mileage too but you can get hybrid versions of them which I don't know of any hybrid minivans but I could definitely be wrong about that!
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@macintosh: seriously. Who cares?! But then I don't generally care about how I look to others. Don't wear makeup...these days I barely have time to put my contacts in trying to get both girls out the door. I just really do not care that they're uncool.
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Um. Minivans are awesome.
When I got mine I had six moms climb in it at preschool pickup. They're seriously jealous of my sweet ride.
I think that some people think SUVs are cooler is hilarious. They're both mom cars but one has better features and better gas mileage.
I don't generally give a crap about public opinion though so maybe I'm just ignorant but in my circle my minivan is part of my street cred.
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@skipra: the Oddyseey is 19/28. I don't think you'll find any full size SUV in that range.
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@T.H.O.U.: it also does not have awd/4wd so you can't even compare really.
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I don't really have a strong opinion about them. Yes, they aren't a sports car or super stylish, but neither are those oversized SUVs. I would consider one if I had 3 kids. I don't want to become the parent that carpools every child in the hood just because I have the space, so I'll stick to slightly smaller cars. They do seem oh so convenient though!!
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@skipra: @T.H.O.U.: my Sienna is AWD and I average 18/19 per gallon.
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I think they are awesome. And, to be honest, where I am all SUVs are driven by the "soccer mom stereotype" so now in my head I associate SUVs with people who are uncool like me, but have fragile egos so they put convenience and comfort behind "looking cool."
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@aprild: I think people grow up thinking minivans are uncool because they associate them with their moms who were uncool when they were a teenager! And it takes a long time to get over that feeling (and obviously some people never do). I think it's pretty obvious too that minivans just aren't that sleek or cool looking from the outside.
However, someone made a comment on one of these minivan posts recently about how basically a minivan is designed for a family (especially of more than 2 kids). I can't use my pride as a reason to not get the vehicle designed for me. So I never thought I'd be a minivan driver, but if we have 3 kids we definitely will be getting one.
That being said, I'm probably going to be getting a new car sooner than expected (I have a VW tdi
) and my husband freaked at the idea of just getting a minivan now since we are still on kid 1 and I think he convinced me that it would be silly. So I'm not totally converted yet -
@Silva: Agreed. Basically driving a minivan is the new cool since it shows you don't care what other people think
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Personally I like to live minimally. I drive a small fuel efficient sedan, and DH drives a 2 seat convertible to commute to work. Sure, we could use more space, but what we have works just fine for our family of 4. I would love more trunk space, but I know eventually the kids won't need a stroller anymore.
It's not that I'm anti-mini van. I'm also not a fan of SUV's. Occasionally I need the extra space, and that's when I borrow my in-law's mini van.
I've also traveled up and down the east coast on road trips with my family. We manage to pack everything in our small car.
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@petitenoisette: that's how I convinced myself, anyway
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@Silva: haha! Yup!
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I don't think they're uncool I just really don't like the way they look. There are lots of cars I wouldn't buy because of the how they look, so minivans just go in that category for me.
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I should add, if I knew we were stopping with two kids I would't get one- I think we'd be fine with something like an outback or a matrix which does better on gas and isn't as enormous. But we plan on at least three kids, and I know we will want a third row. So mini van it is.
But to me everything else seems to be a way to get from point A to point B, I don't see much style in most cars.
) and my husband freaked at the idea of just getting a minivan now since we are still on kid 1 and I think he convinced me that it would be silly. So I'm not totally converted yet Subscribe to our newsletter
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