When all my friends were being picked up from soccer practice in their parents' cool SUVs (or shoot, even their plain sedans), I dreaded being seen getting into the boxy white Astro minivan that my parents used to cart me and my three siblings all around the Metroplex. My 13-year-old self just knew that everyone was thinking less of me because of the vehicle I was riding in. Forget that I had two super supportive parents who sacrificed their time, money, and probably their sanity so I could participate in activities and sports that I loved. No, I was concerned about their ride. And it was for that reason that I swore I'd never put my kids through the torture of the minivan.
Only my parents were kinda smart. (Gosh, I hate admitting that.) It turns out that if you need lots of passenger and cargo space with acceptable gas mileage for a decent price, a minivan is pretty much your best bet.
If you're one of the few people in the world who hasn't seen the Swagger Wagon commercial that Toyota put out awhile ago, here it is. You should watch it because it's pretty funny. And it makes me feel better.
I've had more and more friends jump on the minivan bandwagon, so maybe that's made it easier to accept my fate as a "soccer mom," but what really changed my mind was the fact that I could no longer ride as a passenger in our Scion xB without my knees touching the glove box. Two carseats take up a lot of room! (Side note: third row crossovers weren't an option because when we have more kids, that third row will need to be permanent and we'll need the extra storage in the back.)
We went to the small local dealership where we bought our Scion, and they had six minivans: five Toyota Siennas and one Honda Odyssey. When you're looking at used cars, you can't always be too picky. But then we found it.
A 2005 dark gray Sienna XLE with tons of sweet extras. It's a 7-passenger with leather seats (heated, although that's not too appealing at the moment), a sun roof, DVD system, a CD changer, built-in sun shades, automatic doors, and tons of other stuff. I love the color, and when I'm inside I forget that it's even a minivan. :)
The best part was that it has fewer miles than our 2008 Scion (75,000) and they gave us so much for the Scion that we were able to avoid getting a loan by borrowing money from our savings account. Hooray for no interest!
So now I'm that mom, and I'm surprisingly okay with it.
2 comments:
You're so funny. My parents were the same way though, we ALWAYS had a van in the family. And, alas, those parents of our's are pretty smart.
We'll have to get together and go somewhere! :)
We had an Astro growing up too!!! It was anything but mini. There were 4 of us kids too. It lasted for 24 years!!! Definitely came in handy for many moves, for us, for our friends and family, going away for college, more moving. =) Glad you guys found something.
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