Minivans...? Thoughts and comments wanted.

[ri702bill 8,316]

Looking at the roof mounted A/C unit reminds me of watching traffic videos of a 10 foot 8 inch clearance of a railroad underpass in Westwood Mass. , south of Boston near where I used to work. What a hoot!! Clearly marked as a LOW clearance, even with the dum-dum dangling loud suspended bars across the road prior to entry. Loved to see the A/C units get cleaned off the roofs of Airstreams...!!

10foot8.com. if I recall. Then a few years back, DOT had the road lowered - took all the "fun" out of it....

[Handy Don 12,214]

39 minutes ago, wh500special said:

never towed with my Odyssey but I have no reason to suspect it wouldn't be completely acceptable right up to its rated limit

One thing to remember when towing with a minivan is that the load inside (passengers, etc.) must be counted when evaluating towing capacity. Four adults plus luggage and vacation gear can get you most of the way to 1,000 lbs.! This is usually well explained in the (unread) owners manual.

[wh500special 2,170]

1 minute ago, Handy Don said:

This is usually well explained in the (unread) owners manual.

very true.  
 

There is no such thing as an unread owner’s manual in my house!   I read them all cover to cover.  Sometimes multiple times.  

 

Honda is very detailed about towing and payload even going so far as to tell you how to compensate for altitude.  It’s hyper specific.  
 

Either their tech writing department is really on the ball or their legal team won’t leave anything to chance.  Or maybe both!

 

steve 

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,315]

@ebinmaine

  Were you thinking less of a family minivan and more of a cargo van like the Ford Connect? 
  I think Gary has the small Ford in a cargo van configuration. @Retired Wrencher  maybe he can shed some light on how they are.

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,432]

11 minutes ago, Sparky said:

@ebinmaine

  Were you thinking less of a family minivan and more of a cargo van like the Ford Connect? 
  I think Gary has the small Ford in a cargo van configuration. @Retired Wrencher  maybe he can shed some light on how they are.

 

 

 

Given the right vehicle and circumstances, yes. 

 

Likely it would still need to have the 4 seats though....

 

[squonk 41,071]

3 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

Given the right vehicle and circumstances, yes. 

 

Likely it would still need to have the 4 seats though....

 

We have one at work. If I drove it all the time I would need to move the partition back a foot and than the seat. Then add 2 feet to the back to carry anything

[ri702bill 8,316]

Originally from Europe - built on the same "platform" as my Ford Focus.....

 

[8ntruck 6,998]

We've had several over the years. All of them V6 powered, all of them Dodge. 

 

We pulled a pop up camper with the first two - no issues.  All of them comfortable travel vehicles.  We drove the first two well over 100,000 miles, and the last one over 90,000 miles.  The last one had front and rear air conditioner evaporator failures.  We decided that we would be money ahead buying a different vehicle rather than getting that one repaired.  All of them got mid 20's gas mileage on the highway.

 

We are talking about another mini van for our next vehicle.  We miss the cargo capacity that they have.

[Pullstart 62,837]

5 hours ago, ri702bill said:

KEVIN !!!!

 

 

 

[C-85 681]

We've had 2 mini vans, a Windstar and a Venture.  When we entered into the 'Mini Zone' I told my wife "you know, this is the death of manhood."  She came back with "no, this is the beginning of family man"!   We liked both of these in different ways, the Ford had a 3.8L and had more power and better MPG than our Venture with a 3.4L.  We have quite a driveway on a hill in Vermont and they both did pretty well with the studded snow tires we put on them.

 

C-85

[D_Mac 8,607]

I had a Dodge Caravan with a 3.8 L in it and I loved it. More then enough power. Went through the snow with no problems. Captains chairs and bench seat in the rear. Now they have the stow and go that is great. My niece now has a new Honda Odyssey and they love it. I wouldn't mine having another.

[Lee1977 6,656]

I had a mini bike, and have a mini pickup but when to come to vans full size long wheel base high top conversion van is the only way to go. Talk about cargo with the back seat out 12' roll of carpet with the doors closed.  You can haul 12 sheet of plywood standing up between the mid seats. Side doors were hinged, none to fall off.  A necessary piece of equipment if you have kids going off to collage, and don't forget your hand trucks. Never seen an unloading area close to a dorm, if there was one it was packed full with no one moving. I know thoes mini van will run had them zipping past going down I-40 but when we came to Old Fort and started up Black Mountain (4 miles steep up grade) I past them all still doing 65.  The only way to travel, unless you have a motor home. The only down side was if the tanks were bone dry it took 38 gallons to fill up. Just goes to show you can't have everything, it's just what you are willing to give up. I will take the conversion van and the 38 gallon gas tanks over a mini van any day. Kid ran into the back of it with an S-10 at a stop light, bent the back bumper busted the tail light put a couple small dents in the right corner of the van and totaled the S-10.

Edited March 17, 2023 by Lee1977

[Retired Wrencher 5,451]

13 hours ago, Sparky said:

@ebinmaine

  Were you thinking less of a family minivan and more of a cargo van like the Ford Connect? 
  I think Gary has the small Ford in a cargo van configuration. @Retired Wrencher  maybe he can shed some light on how they are.

 

 

I do have a Ford Transit Connect. Great van but it has no options meaning no cruse no navigation. Pretty much bare bones but I have haled many tractors with this so far I like it a lot. Someday I will put cruse on it.  Oh also it gets good fuel milage with an Auto or a six-speed handy to have in the hills. Hopes this helps.

[Blasterdad 2,692]

20 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

 Handled snow and ice as well as my F-150 4WDs.     The rear wheels on an empty pick up have zero traction.    

We had a Windstar when our twins were little, an absolute TANK in the snow, hauled 2 kid's quad's in it once, a snowmobile another time, & a  of course!

Only real drawbacks apply to all of them, a  to work on. 

Ours got hit by lightning one night, the Mrs. went to take the kids to scool in the morning & the stereo was on full blast & the rear brake pads on one side were melted to the rotor. 

[squonk 41,071]

23 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Trina is putting some consideration into making her next vehicle a minivan.

 

We are looking for thoughts comments questions suggestions positives negatives whatever....

 

 

Do you have one? Have you had one? What was great? What would you have changed?

 

 

You can prolly pic one of these up with low mileage and a Diesel Eric! CHEEP!!  Rolling workshop, camper, greenhouse. Possibilities are endless! 

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by squonk

[ebinmaine 67,432]

10 minutes ago, squonk said:

You can prolly pic one of these up with low mileage and a Diesel Eric! CHEEP!!  Rolling workshop, camper, greenhouse. Possibilities are endless! 

 

 

 

 

 

Excellent idea and to be honest I agree with it in principle but it won't fit in a parking garage... 

[Ed Kennell 38,145]

19 minutes ago, Blasterdad said:

to take the kids to school in the morning

 

Maybe doesn't apply to @ebinmaine, but  the safety and convenience of the sliding doors when loading  kids in traffic, tight parking spaces, and against high curbs was not mentioned.  example...  On our trips to the gym where we have to park in the street against a high curb, Mrs. K rides in the rear passenger seat as you can't open the front swinging door but no problem with the rear slider.      BTW, our Windstars and Grand Caravans have never shown any problem with the doors falling off.

Ours were used to haul sons, grandsons, boy scouts,football and baseball teams.    Today, we no longer need a 7 passenger and are in the market for a smaller car.   But we have not been able to find one that Mrs. K can get in and out of.    Due to back and foot fusions, she has limited use of her left leg and needs a flat floor with no raised side rail to be able enter and exit.

[Mike'sHorseBarn 2,998]

1 hour ago, squonk said:

You can prolly pic one of these up with low mileage and a Diesel Eric! CHEEP!!  Rolling workshop, camper, greenhouse. Possibilities are endless! 

 

 

 

 

Wonder if you can put a hitch on one of those? I like that idea!

[squonk 41,071]

23 minutes ago, Mike'sHorseBarn said:

 

Wonder if you can put a hitch on one of those? I like that idea!

It would have to be custom built but it can be done. We had one at work. We put a work bench, generator nd welder inside as well as tool cabinets and parts shelves.

[kwalshy 229]

Eric, 

a few questions & those of us familiar with minivans could help you better: 

1. New or Used?

2. Main purpose of a minivan?  

3. How many butts in seats at maximum?

4. Removable or foldable seats for the 2nd & 3rd rows?

[ri702bill 8,316]

A "humerous" true story about the sliding side door switch(es) on the first generation Ford Minivan, the Aerostar - the one with the wedge nose that made it look like the Space Shuttle.

I designed the Functional End-of-Line Tester for both the 3 pin and the 5 pin style, both door plunger switches and the fixed door frame striker pad. Built to the customer and Ford supplied specification. Went into production late 1992 for the 1994 Model Year. All goes well, until there are a lot of customer complaints about "Dancing Doorlocks" The door and the body frame wiggled so much while moving that the plungers pads would fret on the striker plate and get intermittent contact, not full contact. The result was the power door lock unlocking and relocking the door over every bump - not good. Customer had to redesign the switches and pads - all replaced on their shared nickel.....

 

[ri702bill 8,316]

16 minutes ago, kwalshy said:

2. Main purpose of a minivan?  

3. How many butts in seats at maximum?

 

2. Main purpose - to carry mini people 

2. How many butts in seats - None, No smoking allowed  

Edited March 17, 2023 by ri702bill

[oliver2-44 9,739]

We had 2 Dodge minivans in the mid 90's.  I think the 1st was a 95. Initially a great vehicle, then about 25k miles the transmission failed to "limp home mode" at 70 miles an hour.  It limped home but made all kinds of bad noises!  Dealer replaced under warranty, then over the next 6 months we went through 3 more transmissions. They replaced transmissions, computers, sensors etc. The factory replacement transmissions lasted a few months down to a week. But they never replaced the wiring harness which towards the end I felt was the problem with an intermittent short/causing the failure.  Finally with a lot of haggling and a letter from a lawyer (that specialized in lemon vehicles) got a fair deal on a replacement 96 mini-van.  It was a good vehicle and we put 150+k on it.

 

My daughter in-law had a Toyota Sienna mini van year?? handed down through her family.  At 230K miles she sold it to her brother to keep using for their dog training business. I drove it from New Jersey to Texas back in 2019 when they moved down here and in 2022 her brother drove it back to New Jersey.  They really like their new Toyota Sienna with their 2 young kids and large dog. 

Edited March 17, 2023 by oliver2-44

[SylvanLakeWH 25,535]

4 minutes ago, oliver2-44 said:

We had 2 Dodge minivans in the mid 90's.  I think the 1st was a 95. Initially a great vehicle, then about 25k miles the transmission failed to "limp home mode" at 70 miles an hour.  It limped home but made all kinds of bad noises!  Dealer replaced under warranty, then over the next 6 months we went through 3 more transmissions. They replaced transmissions, computers, sensors etc. The factory replacement transmissions lasted a few months down to a week. But they never replaced the wiring harness which towards the end I felt was the problem with an intermittent short/causing the failure.  Finally with a lot of haggling and a letter from a lawyer (that specialized in lemon vehicles) got a fair deal on a replacement 96 mini-van.  It was a good vehicle and we put 150+k on it.

 

Oh... does that sound really familiar...

 

same

 

exact 

 

scenario 

 

Up until you got a good one... that never happened for us...

 

Never again will i own a Chrysler, Dodge, Daimler, Fiat, Stellantis (or whatever they are this week)... They absolutely knew they had a major defective transmission and did nothing to address it with their customers. For years... Horrible customer service...

 

Contrast that with Honda. One issue with 6 Hondas. A rear hatch lift cylinder lost seal at about 45,000 miles. Out of warranty and I just wanted it fixed. Did not ask for or expect any consideration. Service advisor calls and says " That shouldn't have happened. I'm going to replace it no charge to you and make a case file with Honda so they know it occurred..." Picked up the van and they had washed and detailed it for us as well!!! 

 

[ebinmaine 67,432]

1 hour ago, kwalshy said:

Eric, 

a few questions & those of us familiar with minivans could help you better: 

1. New or Used?

2. Main purpose of a minivan?  

3. How many butts in seats at maximum?

4. Removable or foldable seats for the 2nd & 3rd rows?

 

1. Used. 

2. Trina is thinking about getting one for her next vehicle because of the practicality with it.

We could have up to four passengers. LOTS of cargo room. And still be able to tow stuff up to about 2.5K or 3,000.  

 

Ugly as ∆~¶|×π÷    on the outside but ridiculously practical on the inside.   

 

3. Usually one. 

Sometimes two. 

Rarely 3 or 4. 

 

4. Seat configuration doesn't matter as long as the floor CAN be made flat.