Rent an Explorer or a Caravan?

[Maniak]

I have a question for those of you that have been in a 4th Gen X.

We need to rent a vehicle for a 500 mile drive (each way) plus 4 days of 50 mile drives. There will be 4 of us. At least one of us is "Large" (not me)...

In addition we will have 300 or so lbs of "stuff" not including each persons bag of clothes.

I've been in a Dodge grand caravan and it will have plenty of room and gets > 20mpg. Heck one person could sit in row 2 and another in row 3. There is storage in the floor for stuff and the bags could go behind the 3rd row.

We have the option of renting an explorer (I'm assuming 4th Gen) or the grand caravan but I don't know how big an explorer really is internally.

I know a 1st gen X and an Xterra are too small for all the stuff and people. Things are just too tight.

I'd appreciate anyones opinion on this. We have to secure our rental next week.

thx.

~Mark

 

[Joe Dirt]

Honestly? It kills me to say it, but I'd rent the Caravan. The Ex's useable space isn't going to be much more (if really noticeable at all) over your standard fare Gen 1 or 2 4-door (at least I didn't see that in my 2003...) and don't count on using the 3rd row for an adult unless they're a.) 5' tall or under, or b.) fun to piss off.

We rent both at work, and the GC seems to be easier to just toss stuff in and go, where teh Ex needs more care in packing to save space, if that makes sense...

 

[lynchy wa]

X2, I just needed someone else to say it first. They do have their uses.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Wuss!

 

[lynchy wa]

I have a very fragile ego.

 

[A Wise Guy]

Throw and go with the caravan. See what it feels like to be a disgruntled dad in a minivan for a week.

 

[waskly]

Throw and go with the caravan. See what it feels like to be a disgruntled dad in a minivan for a week.

LOL i support this comment 1000%

 

[Joe Dirt]

Hey- Mark, you'll appreciate your Ford much more after that exercise anyway...

 

[thebrakeman]

The Chrysler minivan will give you better gas mileage, a more comfortable ride, easier access to all seats, and the ability to fold any of the 2nd or 3rd row seats into the floor. We used to remove one of our 2nd row seats (prior to stow-n-go) and put a cooler there. Now you can just fold the seat right into the floor. This would let your "larger" passenger sit in the 3rd row, and you can pack stuff in the middle (so you aren't dragging the rear bumper).

Unless you need the towing ability of an SUV, a minivan is a much better all-around vehicle. We used a '97 Chrysler Town & Country and a '00 Chrysler Grand Voyager to tow our 3000 lbs popup camper for 8 seasons. The '97 got totaled (so we purchased the '00), and we traded the '00 for the Mounty only when we decided we wanted a larger camper (currently in the market).

Don't get me wrong: I love the Mounty's AWD with the snow now in season, and it's a beautiful truck. But we have lost interior space, there is very little room between the front seats for STUFF (we have to keep more stuff in our laps), it's much harder for the girls to get to the 3rd row, and with the taller load floor, you can't get tall items inside. My vans would haul 3 sheets of plywood on tip of the seats and still be able to close the door. Also could haul 10-ft lumber between the seats. Twice I hauled a full sized sleeper sofa and a rocker-recliner (upside down) at the same time with the hatch closed. You just can't do that with the Mounty (unless you use a utility trailer!).

But that's the tradeoff. If you need towing/hauling ability beyond a minivan's 3500 lbs (which really means about a 3200 lbs trailer at most), you need a truck. But otherwise, a minivan will serve you better overall. Most people just can't get past the "soccer-mom" thing, which is unfortunately. SUV cost more to purchase (on average), and cost more to operate.

 

[detroitrw21]

I own a Caravan and an X... and if I want to haul a bunch of stuff.. I drop the seats in the caravan and go. The X can't touch the storage. And I again the van gets better gas mileage. And I would hope the van has 4 captain's chair, much better comfort and personal pace vs. a bench.

On a side note... any time the entire family (me, wife, 3 kids, & dog) go any where for any time... we take the X... cause well... its the X

 

[thebrakeman]

I will say that with a family of 5, it's been nice to have room for our 5 girls in the middle row. For short trips, even when they get bigger, they can use the middle row, and the rear seats can remain folded for stuff in the back. Even for our Thanksgiving trip to Arkansas (from Michigan), we put them in the middle row. They are still young, and they preferred to be there to all use the head-rest-mounted DVD players.

So for now, access to the 3rd row isn't an issue, since we only use the 3rd row if you have other family or friends with us.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Do you have a creative way to strap 5 girls into the middle row?!?

 

[thebrakeman]

Do you have a creative way to strap 5 girls into the middle row?!?

Good catch!
3 on their butts, and 2 in between those, sitting on their heads!!:scratch:

Yeah, make that "3 girls" in the middle row.

 

[jad2411]

do you have a creative way to strap 5 girls into the middle row?!? :d

lol

 

[F15E_WSO]

Sounds like an excellent chance to really test drive a GC?

4 people is not that many, the gear doesn't sound excessive, the mileage is not that excessive either. I would go with the New Explorer as it looks cooler and you ride up nice and high to see.

 

[Maniak]

We reserved the minivan. Enterprise gave it to us for < $450 for the week after all the fees. Best we could get the explorer for was another $100+.

I've rented a GC before and I really like the storage in the floor. That one didn't have stow-n-go seats though (was a few years ago, at least) and I have no idea if the GC from enterprise will have it either.

I do remember quite a bit of room behind the 3rd row. Even enough for a cooler and all the bags etc. That would be good. I also like the lower floor. That should make it easier to load the heavy boxes (4 wooden crates) that will weight about 60+lbs each plus the cooler and stuff.

~Mark

 

[Joe Dirt]

Caravan- excellent choice.

Does it have *****in rims like this one?

 

[Maniak]

I sure hope not . It should be a 2010 GC with alloy wheels . I think its actually an SXT version. Of course, they do state "or similar" so who knows what else we could end up with.

We don't pick it up until March 9th and we will have it for a full week.

~Mark

 

[Joe Dirt]

We rent from Enterprise a lot, at least they give you the Satellite radio. I like that stuff!

 

[Maniak]

We rent from Enterprise a lot, at least they give you the Satellite radio. I like that stuff!

I like them since they say they will beat anyone elses price. I went through AAA, got a good price from dollar, did a screen capture and then enterprise came back with a much better price (took almost $150 off their rental).

~Mark