The Scion Toaster is the absolute champ on interior space vs exterior footprint. The only other thing even close IME is the
The OP might be surprised at how cheap an older one is. Lots of glitzy features to fail, but the basic machine is pretty darn stout & long-lived.
It’s a brilliant design. I don’t know why no one else has started making it.
To me, a minivan is much more practical than an SUV. First, I find the seats more comfortable. Second, it’s easier to get in and out of. If I’m hauling stuff, it’s easier to load and unload. I don’t believe SUVs are more fuel efficient than minivans; just the opposite, I think. They’re also more safe, both for the passengers and the people you hit. SUVs do much more damage to pedestrians than minivans (I was hit by a minivan once, mostly unscathed after a night in the hospital and a week of limping around). Mnivan manufacturing also has a smaller environmental footprint than SUV manufacturing.
I don’t drive offroad and I rarely am going to be driving in severe winter weather, so I don’t need an SUV’s superior handling.
The one thing might be that SUVs are easier to park, but that might be just a marginal advantage, especially with modern rear camera technology, etc.
And I’ve rented both SUVs and minivans in the past couple of years. I had a much better experience with minivans.
I don’t care that they have a “soccer mom” reputation. That’s all superficial nonsense. I’m not going trolling for dates in my car anyway. (And if I were: Much more comfortable inside!)
If I could, I’d get a Ford Econoline or Volkswagen Minibus type thing, but I don’t think they really make those any more.
My credit union won’t finance something that’s too old.
I’ll definitely look into those.
Like airplanes, cheap old luxury cars are cheap because they are a fortune to maintain. A G Wagon is also really expensive to insure.
According to CarEdge, you can expect to pay about $16,500 on maintenance in the first ten years of the vehicle’s life, and it goes up to about $3,000 per year after that. And that assumes no major failures like engine or transmission. A transmission replacement can cost $8,000. Four rotors and brake pads can run $3000, or $7,000 for the AMG,
The same is true for a lot of old expensive cars. There are used supercars out there that you can buy for a few tens of thousands, but the first time you need a brake job you’ll understand why.
There’s nothing wrong with a minivan if it fits your personal use dases better. And I don’t care about the ‘soccer mom’ label either. I don’t define myself by the car I drive.
Agreed.
There are ways to keep them alive more cheaply if you’re willing to wrench some yourself & scrounge parts, but you have to look at the car as semi-disposable. If it shits a transmission, you’re not going to replace the tranny; you’re going to sell the now non-running car as used parts to somebody who works on that model and get a different car.
You can own an older semi-supercar relatively (!) cheaply by buying it well down the depreciation curve, running it a couple years and selling it a bit farther down the flat part of the depreciation curve before your luck runs out. Lather rinse repeat. Until your luck runs out.
Definitely not a game for fat-cats who don’t need to play it nor for folks looking for basic transportation to their basic job who can’t afford to play it. But there is a group in the middle who can have some fun with it while it lasts.
I’m a pretty big (though not tall) guy and I find my '20 Mazda CX-5 pretty much perfect.
I had a list of six vehicles I intended to test drive before coming to a decision. the CX-5 was the first one I drove. It turned out to be the only one I drove.
It also ranks very high in safety features, which I have come to appreciate.
mmm
It sounds like you’re thinking of SUVs from ~20 years ago. “Crossovers” would probably be a more accurate term to describe most of the vehicles people are calling “SUVs” in this thread. Apart from their taller stance, they’re really more like a modern version of the station wagon. They have much more car-like ride and handling than the trucky SUVs of old. And although I haven’t looked it up, more car like fuel economy, I believe. While many have all wheel drive available as an option, for most of them the standard model is front wheel drive. They don’t really have any off road capability to speak of, nor do they claim to.
The current batch of compact pickups are very good, very practical, and my Colorado gets real-world 24mpg (to be fair, my commute NEVER puts me in traffic and is pretty much a perfect constant 50mph). Colorado/Canyon; Ranger; Tacoma would be the ones I’d look at.
Get the crew cab and short bed and they aren’t overly large but have lots of space inside (mine is a small cab with long bed, but carrying lumber and dirt/stone was important to me).
Don’t count them out because you don’t see yourself as a truck person.
Has anyone been new car shopping recently and can comment on whether there’s still a shortage of vehicles with what’s available selling for over list price?