I liked the van okay but the station wagon better. The van held more people and stuff and was more comfortable but in the wagon you could ride backwards.
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Dumb question: lately I’ve been hearing the term “plug-in hybrid”. Does this mean that there are 2 ways to charge the battery, by plugging in and by running the gas engine? D recently bought a non-plug in hybrid, as since she parks her car way too far way from her apartment to charge in via plug in.
Yep - LeMans Blue metallic (381) over Black Complete Nappa Heritage (M1SW - pleated). One of 162 made. I lucked into finding exactly what I wanted. Bought at 35k, drove it for 12 years, to 220k miles.
My RX-7 is actually still in my garage. Hagerty says an Excellent condition model is now worth 70% more than I paid for it. I may need to find a local specialist and think about a sale. I guess I can thank the Fast & Furious gang for the appreciation.
We also have a 2010 RX350 - the last new car we bought, when my wife got a new job. She drove it for 7 years, my older D used it for a year after getting her license, and now my youngest is finishing the first of two years she’ll be using it. 215,000 miles and bulletproof until 200k, when an AC compressor was needed.
My bank account tells me that. It says, I’m a Toyota Camry kind of person.
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Must be safe, reliable, & practical. Good mileage , great visibility & comfortable seats a big plus. Must be tall (inside). I don’t really care what it looks like on the outside.
Loved our Pontiac Vibe, which they don’t make anymore. Cargo folded true flat and front passenger folded flat as well. We could haul nearly anything, and even camp in it! There was a lot of thought that went into that car. Next was a Honda Fit. Older ones were great. Newer ones far to claustrophobic. Loved our van – but it was the shorter version which they quit making. It was easy to fit in a city parking space. No more. Mileage in the new vans are not great either.
Can’t find a new one we like. Cargo areas typically don’t fold flat. Less flexibility. Visibility is awful in most, so back-up camera is a necessity.
Sigh.
Personally, I used to be a Toyota Corolla gal. We bought new Corollas (the Matrix trim), and I made used ones out of them for the kiddos. The last one we had to sell. Baby kid decided she wanted a car of her own - got herself a new Subaru.
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I tell ya’, I’m tired of seeing them, no question even though there aren’t as many as before. But my Dodge Grand Caravan is probably my most favorite vehicle ever. Maybe it’s because of the time we had it raising up three kids rather than anything ever, but great memories of that thing. So much family life.
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At a different time in my life, I would have asked for more info on your FD. But alas, I’m more in the downsizing mode nowadays. 
A little car story: I lived in Singapore in 1999 - 2001 and loved it. I even moved back for a stint later. Singapore is a wonderful country, but it is infamous for car prices. The government tries to limit the number of cars in the country. Well, I came home from work one evening and my now ex-wife was feeling pretty bad.
She exclaimed, “I was parking the car (our basic Honda CRV cost US$108,000 in 1999) and I panicked and hit the gas. The next thing I know, I have the wheels up on the bonnet (hood) of the Ambassador from Nepal’s Rolls Royce and it was parked. The Ambassador’s driver was standing beside it. He was so mad at me.”
Oh no, I thought, that must be the most expensive asset of the entire Nepalese government! Who knows how much that Rolls was worth in Singapore?
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Yes. A plug-in hybrid is really the most hybrid of the hybrids. It plugs in like an all electric vehicle and you can run solely on electricity. It still does the regenerative braking, etc, and the gas engine will kick in when you run out of electric battery. My 20 yr old can drive the C-Max to work and back w/o ever having to use any gas at all and come home and plug back in and do the same the next day. They have a very limited range, so once you get beyond that the gas engine will kick in automatically. The C-Max range is about 20 miles. The Chevy Volt is 53 if I recall correctly.
Another former Windstar owner here. An old one. My favorite story is taking a vanload of kids somewhere, and one of the kids just looking at the door. Standing there, staring. Dude was expecting automatic doors to open. Uh, no. lol
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Some time in the '00s, I gave someone a ride someplace, and the passenger was surprised that my (not that old) car had a manual transmission.
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I had two mini vans, of the Dodge/Plymouth sort. The first was standard transmission, and when I was shopping for the second, was irritated to be told that “women don’t like stick shift when dealing with children.” As a single parent of three, a manual transmission was the least of my concerns. Regardless, I had to accept automatic. I liked the van, the visibility, the comfortable seats, the feeling of safety, and most importantly, the hauling ability when the rear seat was removed.
When the empty nest arrived, and I was done hauling to colleges, I bought my current car, a 2008 Honda Fit, with manual transmission. In the 10 or so years of ownership, I have driven 40,000 miles. I appreciate the rare credit I get for still driving manual.
But life is changing again with retirement and I anticipate driving west most years, and exploring back roads in the SW. So I am in the market for a hopefully hybrid SUV with all wheel drive.
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I grew up in New England but moved to CA right after college. There I became more of a “car guy”. Over the years I’ve have Porsches, VW GTI, Saab 9000 Turbo and others. I usually have more cars than drivers and typically buy new. I order the car with the specific options and the color of my choice. I drive them until they die or should be dead (from a maintenance cost point of view).
I retired and moved back to NH a few years ago. My current vehicles are: 2001 Suburban (4WD), 2005 Mini Cooper S (manual transmission and my summer car), 2007 Mini Cooper S ( also manual transmission and my wife’s summer car) and a 2018 Honda CR-V with AWD. All have heated seats, just about required in snow country. All are kept in the garage, washed somewhat regularly and are kept neat but not super clean inside.
I am more of a drive than ride person so Telsas and EV in general have no appeal. Daily driver is a Tahoe (great for lugging lots of stuff to the beach) also have a Buick Encore (wife’s DD), Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (manual), Jeep Sahara (automatic) and my weekend car is a 2021 Porsche 718 Spyder.
You haven’t experienced just how well some EVs can handle.
Everyone knows Tesla’s are fast in a straight line (my Model 3 Performance does 0-60 in 3.1 sec). While its handling from the factory only good, it became great after I upgraded the suspension. It now outperforms my 911 in corners, while still delivering a softer ride. The Porsche Taycan is another great handling EV.
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I am not hugely into cars, but it is fun when I get a new one - probably because I drive mine for so long!
I primarily want my cars to be safe and reliable. A/C and intermittent wipers are all I need in terms of bells and whistles. I like good cargo space.
Loved by Grand Cherokee and Pilot. Went smaller with the last purchase (and am enjoying the better gas mileage!)
I have never been a mini van person, but my friend’s new Sienna has so much leg room in the back!
It’s interesting that many of you are using van and minivan interchangeably. I consider them totally different types of cars and was wondering if I were the odd one out. I googled van images. No minivans showed up on the first page, but a VW older van did bringing back memories! It was the first touring vehicle I remember with my family. Ours was red.
Other true vans showed up too. I learned to drive in a 1973 Ford van. I’m pretty sure I’m correct on the year because I think that was the first year seatbelts were mandatory. My dad special ordered this van and he was livid that he would have to pay for seatbelts when we never used them. If that wasn’t 1973, it was whatever year that happened.
Yes I know what you mean re: van vs. minivan. But I think for this discussion households were/are probably more likely to own minivans than the full sized van that is used for business or has few windows, that kind of thing.
Now I agree with you. Vans were mainly brought up with “back in my day” thoughts, weren’t they? VW and some other vans were common in the 60s and 70s if my recollections hold. I know we had one of each for traveling - VW first, Ford second. Then we had a succession of cars, but I don’t recall exactly what or when those came into our lives. We only had one car at a time, though two if you counted the vans.
I know of only one family who still drives a van (passenger van - I don’t think cargo vans were ever included in other posts). That family ended up with seven kids, so needed something that could hold the nine of them.
(Lest anyone gets judgy, 5 of the 7 were adopted. It’s a great family IMO.)
In our region now, pickups, SUVs, and minivans are the norm. Typical “cars” are far less common. In a business parking lot one would probably only see 1 or 2 cars among 10 - 15 vehicles. We figure it’s due to being rural, because when we travel to cities we rarely see pickups and cars are more common.