Oh and about the auto side doors, THEY'RE SIMPLY A GOD SEND! Awesome on raining days, terrific for expediting boarding procedures, super wicked for unloading the kids at the drop off curb for school (no more getting out of the vehicle because the mindless kid decides to semi close the door as he/she runs off with friends), no accidentally dinging the car parked next to us (specifically my car once the wife enters the garage and attempts to disembark the kids). The only thing I regret not getting in our Odyssey was the auto hatch in the rear. This would have made trips to the local grocery store and Costco so much easier. But I degress......
So there's a stigma around minivans, something about it being a "Mommy Mobile". I don't know about you guys but 80% of all "mommies" at my kids school drive SUVs! You know the ones, they usually hold up all the other mommy's at the drop off curb because their child didn't properly close the SUV's doors and ones that produce the unusually high door dings on our prized possessions. As stated before the minivan handles better then any SUV I've driven, seats more people more comfortably then a SUV, takes less gas to move around, etc. But why a SUV? For some people I completely understand, they probably have a boat or trailer to haul around (in case you didn't know, most minivans can pull 3,500 lbs).
If you compare a SUV to a station wagon, you'd quickly realize a SUV is simply a raised station wagon. Yet we seem to have a stigma about station wagons as well. Does a SUV make the driver anymore sexy or macho then a driver in a minivan? Yeah, I guess you got me there. But with the amount of money I can save on fuel, insurance and aggravation of having to get out of the vehicle in order to shut the stupid door my kids can't seem to shut on their own is all worthwhile.
