Minivan shopping

Today we went minivan test driving. I guess you could say we're in the market for one but we're not in any rush. We're not so naive (anymore) to think we can live without a minivan. Truth is, we're doing fine without one now but recognize it will be more comfortable (and almost necessary) to have it when our parents come to visit. So we know it's in our future but could wait as long as a hypothetical third child before getting one. If only we could be as amazing as my friend Cheryl who chauffeurs 3 boys, 6, 4 and a baby with a Honda CIVIC.

We're thinking of buying a used minivan, a couple of years old, just old enough for to the car to depreciate from driving it off the lot but still new enough to last and make us happy. But then we realized that even if we got our friend Richard, car connoisseur and craigslist shopper extraordinaire, to shop around for us, we need to test drive these puppies ourselves. So off to the Toyota and Honda dealerships we went today.

In summary, we liked both. I can see how Richard said the suspension for the Odyssey is harder, giving a feel for the road better. But truth be told, we're used to the Toyota suspension too, given that we currently drive a Corolla and Camry, so we were happy with the softer ride too. Plus, there is no softer ride in this world than my parents Mercury Grand Marquis, a.k.a., the boat. You could run over a curb and not notice in that thing but I digress. Tom thought acceleration on the Odyssey was smoother than the Sienna but again, it didn't really bother me because apparently our Camry accelerates similarly as the Sienna. In our post-test driving debrief, I found out that Tom apparently drives like a mad man during test drives so that he can see how the car handles. Wonder how our salespeople felt about that today. But I don't notice things like acceleration. I notice things like the nifty fisheye mirror that lets me see both kids in the backseat at the same time.

If it's not obvious, we're only really considering the Odyssey and the Sienna, the two most popular minivans out there. We don't really have the time or the interest to take the road less taken in a Quest or a Grand Caravan or even others out there.

Much to our salespeople's disappointment, we were nowhere near ready to buy today and said so. Tobey's hunger and Eli's poopy diaper(s) were convenient excuses to get us out of the dealerships without much hassle. Plus, we were supposed to keep our focus on just test driving since our original plan was to buy used. But that is hard when we were driving the top of the line models and inhaling that irresistible new car smell.