Daniel Neuman said:
Hello All,
Well after another trip to one of the local home improvement
mega-stores (it
was lowes this time) and trying to get half a houses worth of lights
home in
my roadster we have decided that we need to break down and buy a
sensible car.
We need something that will seat 4 people and be weather proof. We need
something thats not too fancy that Irene can drive around Oakland and
park
it places without feeling like a target. We also want something that
can
carry home improvement supplies back to the house. I want to be able to
lay a 4by8 sheet of plywood-wallboard decking lumber etc. down in the
back
of the car. Seems like we need two cars. A sedate four person people
mover and a medium size pickup truck. Or waht if we got one of those
mini-vans
where you can take the back seats out and then have room for some
lumber. That
was my idea anyways...Irene thinks that a hearse would do the same
thing...
except that they are way long and not so easy to park.
Anybody have any mini-van advice??
Daniel 69 2000
SF CA
A couple of thoughts.
I agree with all who said that you can fit 4x8 sheets in a minivan.
I agree with all who said or implied that it is the first step down that
slippery slope.
And yes, I'm about 95% of the way down it!! 1 wife, 3 kids, 1 mortgage,
1 minivan. ZERO regrets.
But: unless you really plan on hauling crap from home depot on an almost
daily basis there is no reason to buy a hauler for that purpose. 2x4s
and other sticks fit just fine in a topless roadster. And for those
times you need to carry plywood or a hot water heater you can rent the
home depot truck for about twenty bucks. You can do that every weekend
forever for the amount you'd pay in additional insurance. Same holds
for the now and again use of a pickup: get it for $19.95 from Uhaul for
those fairly rare times you need it. And then you won't have people
asking to borrow it or even worse: for help moving 'just a couple of
things'.
Keep the roadster. Forget the minivan. Buy a cool 4 person car. 510?
Saab? 928? old BMW?
And if you really do want the minivan: don't get a Windstar. We have
been very disappointed in the way Ford (both dealer and corporate when
we had to escalate) treated simple problems that they refused to cover
under warranty. We plan on dumping the van and replacing it with a
Honda as soon as they become more readily available. They are currently
going for $1000-2000 over sticker. I have a problem with that. But the
Ford does carry tons of stuff or people. And sometimes both.
Mark Miller
Alameda, CA
95 Windstar
and a few more that are more fun:
69 RHD Fairlady 2000
64 Dart GT convertible
00 Saab 9-5 SE turbo (wife's mid-life crisis car)
/// datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net mailing list
|