[dlh2]

It's been said that the reason so many people are buying SUV's is because they really need a station wagon or mini-van but just can't bring themselves to stoop that low. The Ody continues to chip away at that concept. We took off on the 5 hour drive up to North Alabama this past weekend where we picked up two other couples and headed to Lake Guntersville. Rather than caravanning in their two SUV's, we put two coolers and everyone's luggage behind the third seat and all pilled into the MINI-VAN. Like we used to say in the Army, one grenade would have taken us all out. It's down right amazing how much stuff can be loaded behind that 3rd seat! With 6 adults and a load of luggage, she was down on the bump stops. I really don't know of another vehicle that we could have done this in that would have been as comfortable for all the passengers and as economical. I ran about 85mph with the AC going full-tilt-boogie on the way up (I know, that's too fast) and then polished off the rest of the tank hauling that load around and got 20.4 MPG. Can't complain! Only problem was the occasional buzzing noise caused by a loose section of the rubber windshield trim.

 

[gfxguy]

That's just plain cool.

I love putting these SUV people in line.

Oh? You need to carry a lot of people? Here you go...[pulls up the third row].

Oh? You need to carry all that stuff and still have lots of room for four? [drops the third row]

And then you get the comments:

- Hey, this has a lot of room!

- It's pretty comfortable back here! (and that's before you say - "yeah, let me switch control of the A/C back there to you so you can set it how you want.")

- You know, this has pretty decent acceleration. (I love this one, because that's where you can tell SUV posers that your mini-van has more HP - it's not always the case, but often enough to be amusing).

And the bottom line:

- Hey, this is pretty convenient!

 

[mrmiata]

sorry. Double-tap.

[This message has been edited by mrmiata (edited 06-30-2001).]

 

[mrmiata]

My brother-in-law was going to take the 5 members of his family to Virginia Beach from here in Knoxpatch. They were going to take his Explorer. We offered the minivan and they didn't hesitate. When they got back they had nothing but praise, swore it was the most comfortable trip they had ever made and then proceeded to detail our Ody like it's never been cleaned before. It looked better than when it left the dealership the first time.

We loan the van out on a regular basis to friends and family. We have yet to hear a complaint. Usually the praise is effusive. We have to agree.

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'00 Ody EX Navi