What do you drive?

[Keonobi]

The Sienna gets nearly as good mileage as the Chevy Traverse (23 vs 24 highway), compared to the Kia and the Hyundai which get like 18 highway, the Sienna is the most efficient minivan on the market (except for the Odyssey models with the variable displacement engine systems...).  So I guess you could say I went with the most conveniently efficient vehicle.

[King_Maul]

My dad has a 2005 Sienna, and it's probably one of the best cars anyone in my family (immediate and extended) has gotten.  I get to drive it during the weekends when we go visit my grandparents after stopping off at my parents.  The Sienna drives great, gets really nice gas mileage, has a ton more space then the Highlander my wife and I drive now, and has had no mechanical issues since purchase.  My sister and I have been able to borrow it a few times to transport stuff when moving or purchasing big items.  It's a very efficient and practical vehicle for sure.

[Scott]

We have a 2001 Sienna and love it to death...2nd best vehicle I've ever owned

[Keonobi]

See, and here I was preparing a retort for all the comments about how minivans are uncool....  Not that I think the Sienna will be cool, I just figured someone on the Star Wars Toy website would try and point that out.   

Picking it up tonight!

[I Am Sith]

See, and here I was preparing a retort for all the comments about how minivans are uncool....  Not that I think the Sienna will be cool, I just figured someone on the Star Wars Toy website would try and point that out.  

My point is that at some point you have to realize there are more important things than looking cool.

Looks like you didn't have a problem with that before you bought it though   I agree, there is more to life these days for me than looking cool...

Yeah, I've gotten over the 'looking cool while driving' phase of my life.  Now it's more about ease of getting the kids to and from daycare, having a reliable vehicle to get me to and from work, and feeling comfortable on long trips.

If I said anything about mini-vans being uncool, I'd be a hypocrite...

Congrats on the purchase Kenobi!  You'll really enjoy it.  The Toyota and Honda flip flopped as our #1 and #2 choices while we were looking.  It ended up being a matter of the available models when we were finally able to purchase one.

[Keonobi]

Anyone ever give their car a nick-name?

[iFett]

Buying a new vehicle is always exciting, but I've never gone down that route.  I do have a friend who calls her Explorer - Dora.  Get it?   

[Daigo-Bah]

I don't think I've mentioned mine yet, but I drive a silver 2006 Mercury Milan.  I really like it, and it has good mileage for the type of car it is.  The body is almost identical to the Ford Fusion (or is it Focus?  I always forget which).

[Keonobi]

The Milan is Mercury's midsize sedan, right?  Then that's the Fusion.  The focus is a more compact model, and I'm pretty sure Mercury doesn't have an equivalent in the states.

In college I had a Volvo 850 I called Thor.  Not for any reason other than it was a Swedish car...

[Morgbug]

I'll happily mock mini-van owners, I just thought I shouldn't push too hard on the issue    It is kind of amazing how kids are soooo much bigger today than when we all grew up.  Imagine fitting kids into a compact car.  How utterly absurd.  But hey, if you're cool being mistaken for a soccer mom, that's really none of my business.   

[Phrubruh]

For me I'm looking at getting rid of the old Accent and going with something like a Kia Soul or Nissan Cube.

[stormie]

I'll happily mock mini-van owners, I just thought I shouldn't push too hard on the issue    It is kind of amazing how kids are soooo much bigger today than when we all grew up.  Imagine fitting kids into a compact car.  How utterly absurd.  But hey, if you're cool being mistaken for a soccer mom, that's really none of my business.   

Hell, when I was a kid, we didn't even have seatbelts, much less carseats. We were able to fit our entire family of five kids in a Vega...until we got our '72 VW bus, then I had the "luxury" of being able sit in the cargo area at the very back. It's not that the kids today are bigger, it's that the carseats are bigger (or actually exist). There's no way you can fit two Britax carseats (with accompanying kids) and more than two adults into a normal-sized car. And when there actually is space for more than two adults (such as with SUVs and wagons), it's nearly impossible to climb over the carseats to get to the "free" seat. This is why many begrudgingly go the minivan route. We have to use the third row of seats about every two weeks when we haul the mother-in-law around. If it wasn't for that, we would surely have NOT purchased a minivan. But, we have one, and it's what we need...for now.  At least I take solace from the fact that it's probably one of the safest vehicles for the kids. But that's pretty much it. 

[JesseVader08]

Anyone ever give their car a nick-name?

I owned a '83 Ford LTD Crown Vic for a couple years when I was in university and affectionately called it Bruno. 

At the same time my wife owned a '95 Ford Escort and loved it - she named it Nelly.

[john todd]

Hell, when I was a kid, we didn't even have seatbelts, much less carseats. We were able to fit our entire family of five kids in a Vega...until we got our '72 VW bus, then I had the "luxury" of being able sit in the cargo area at the very back.

yup... i remember fondly our old dodge coronet.  we would race out to the car so we could be the one who got to ride on the shelf behind the back seat under the rear window.  then when we got bigger our family had a couple of station wagons which technically had plenty of seating, but we usually had it folded down and the boys would just sit in the cargo area.  it was so much easier to get a big family around before all this safety stuff came around.  since my fam had 5 kids and most of the time 3 of them would have needed to be in car seats i don't really know if we ever could have all gone somewhere together in one car.

[Morgbug]

It was also a huge boon during high school, when we transported most of the boys and girls volleyball teams to games in only 2-3 cars.  We managed 13 in a Nova once.  Impressive, most impressive (especially if you're the guy tucked in the back with all the girls).