Seeking God Knows What

I think I’m about to become a minivan mom. We are beginning the process of looking to replace T’s 1996 Jimmy with 185,000 miles on it. The a/c system has a leak in a mysterious place (just to locate it would cost lots o’ money, let alone fix it), it needs new struts, new brakes, new tires. It is beginning to overheat on a regular basis. T puts 1500+ miles on it a month, fortunately his work pays for his gas and insurance. We’ve been holding on and on to it because it is paid off and we haven’t wanted to add another car payment on top of all the other debt we are trying to pay off. We’ve been using the car allowance he gets to pay my car payment.

Now, I hate driving the Jimmy. Hate it. I can’t see very well, it feels too large to me, don’t like the steering or brakes on it. So, I’m reluctant to replace it with another SUV. The only one I’ve liked is the Ford Escape we test drove when we were looking for a replacement for my Honda Civic- my favorite car but was, alas, too small for Widget and her paraphenalia. We ended up with a Focus wagon and I do like it pretty well. The biggest thing is that there is a lot of road noise, particularly on the highway.

We are tossing around the idea of getting a minivan for me to drive, and letting T drive the Focus as it has the space he would need for transporting all his computer equipment. Then, if I needed to drive his car for some reason, I would be comfortable with it. We figure we would probably want a minivan when baby #2 comes around.

The dilemma is what version to get. I know I don’t want a Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth. My sister has a Chrysler and my parents have a Dodge and I don’t like driving either of their vans. Mostly, it is because they feel too big. I’ll even admit that I don’t like riding in them either because I’m short enough my feet don’t hit the floor in the front passenger seat :p

We have friends with a Mazda MPV and a Honda Odyssey, which they like. I’ve heard good things about the Toyota Sienna but that is on the expensive end for us, even used, which is probably the route we would go.

Anyone willing to share their preferences and why?