A Gateway Minivan

Say hello to this new “soccer mom”.

I used to drive a Mazda CX-9, which is a medium/large SUV with a third row and it was my gateway drug minivan. It gave me a taste of what driving a minivan would be like without the stigma associated, but left me wanting what the minivan had to offer.

Last week we joined the “minivan club” when we purchased a 2010 Honda Odyssey (with DVD for the long car rides), for those of you scratching your heads. We got a great deal at Princeton Honda if you happen to be in the market… no I was not paid for that shout out.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been like a woman obsessed. The spaciousness inside, the doors that open and close with the push of a button, the sexy look… no wait.

Though I’ve always thought they were very practical, until recently, I’ve always maintained that I would never own one. Mostly because I didn’t want the stereotype that comes along with the van.

I don’t do well with labels.

Two years ago, when we moved to the country, we had one car after living in the more urban suburbs north of DC for 6 months.

NJ has a countryside, just take my word for it 😉

We needed a second car. Dylan was 1 year old and we knew we wanted to have at least one more child, if not more. It was the perfect opportunity for a minivan, but no. I refused. I adamantly insisted an SUV with a third row would be just fine.

I’m not really sure what changed.

Well, ok. That’s not true.

Andy had an accident with Dylan in the car two weeks ago. They were both completely fine and the car wasn’t totaled, though it is in the repair shop forever for a few weeks.

In the days before that we had discussed trading in the CX-9 for a small commuter car for Hubby. I was going to take his Honda CR-V.

After the accident, though, I suddenly found myself daydreaming about minivans. It wasn’t really rational I suppose. Sometimes it’s ok to go with your gut, though, right?

I found myself checking out every.single.minivan we passed and trying to figure out the model. So I started researching the best models and years and what it was going to cost to find that perfect middle ground between want and need. We knew we couldn’t afford a new one and, really, with depreciation and all that, we liked the idea of buying preowned as long as it came with a decent warranty.

The other day, before we bought the new car, as I drove Dylan to school and checked out all the other mommy cars, I realized something: most large SUVs are hardly different than a minivan AND the things that separate it are the features I want. With two kids and a dog, who generally all come along for the ride, AND all the gear that’s inevitably necessary, the ease and safety that the minivan offered trumped the sleeker style of the SUV.

I’m very happy with our purchase. Plus, the 10 hour drive we have coming up this summer doesn’t frighten me quite as much anymore!