Bunnspeed wrote:

Any good choices out there that have 3 rows of seating and could fit a wheel chair behind the third row? A coworker is similarly conflucted: she doesn't want a minivan but needs room for her family and her handicapped daughter's gear.

Used, or new? Utilizing 3 rows simultaneously with storage space gets tricky- will all of the seats be filled, or will there be space for groceries / luggage etc up front? If the latter is true, then she just needs a cargo space that is tall/wide enough for the folded chair; depth won't be an issue and most anything with 3 rows in this thread will work. Otherwise, it may come down to Expeditions or Suburbans. The picture below shows a great view of what I'm referring to- remove the cargo cover, and there is space for a folded wheelchair (and not much else, though some items could be packed around the chair on the floor). As such, vehicles already mentioned in this thread with 3 rows all should work: OG SRX, Outlook / Acadia / Traverse / Enclave, Flex, potentially the Mazda 5 but methinks that might be tight. Vehicles not yet mentioned which Geoff may want to consider as well:

Mazda CX9 (sloped hatch may not provide the wheelchair width + height)
Chrysler Pacifica- not my cup of tea but it also might be just the trick for the space challenged. The image is from the Pacifica, btw.
GMC Envoy XL (not the XUV with the Avalanche-like rear, though that might work for Geoff quite nicely- the dogs would have a great place to nap)

Don't feel too bad about minivans...a bunch of your friends drive station wagons.

Question for those who've had experience with Mazda 5's: Do the back seats fold all the way flat into the floor or are there gaps?  I'm liking this option more and more but the rear seats are questionable.  My great dane is dumb and any gaps around the side may = him getting hurt.

My grandma has a Mazda 5, very base model, that I've had to drive a few times to Houston and back. Talk about the most uncomfortable car that is completely hideous and unfunctional. It's bad.

We drove a Grand Caravan from a rental company once and thought, interior wise, it was the worst minivan we had ever had.

The Kia Sedona we had for a few months was honestly our favorite minivan.

Homyality wrote:

My grandma has a Mazda 5, very base model, that I've had to drive a few times to Houston and back. Talk about the most uncomfortable car that is completely hideous and unfunctional. It's bad.

We drove a Grand Caravan from a rental company once and thought, interior wise, it was the worst minivan we had ever had.

The Kia Sedona we had for a few months was honestly our favorite minivan.

So many conflicting opinions here, care to elaborate?  What didn't you like?

Bunnspeed wrote:

Couldn't you buy a big, heavy carpet and cut it to the shape you need, and put it down on top of the folded seats so there isn't anything that could cause Fido to get hurt? Roll it up or put it in the house when the dog isn't with you.

The black areas next to the tan folded seats are what worry me, if they're gaps I'm thinking he might step through.  He's big (150 lbs) so carpet won't cut it, it'd have to be a custom cut piece of plywood or something.  I'm fine with that, just need to know if it's required.

Are you sure you're thinking of the same car?  The Mazda 5 has the gauge cluster At the same spot as almost any other car out there.

Also, do you know where I can buy any janky paintball gear?

I'm looking at their web gallery right now and I don't see how the speedo is any different from any car I've driven.

Oh, I played competitive for a few years. My father and I played on a D3 team that was going to play Division 2 XBall at World Cup.

The sport is way too expensive to play, though. I mean, let's assume you have all the gear, you're usually driving an hour-three hours to make it to practice, you miss church if you're Christian, you will eat all three meals out, you will buy 2 cases of paint at ~50 dollars a case, entry is about 20... The gear is pretty expensive too, though.

I miss it, and it was the most fun I've ever had in my life when playing.. But we can't afford it.


I can give any tips if you need any on gear or anything. I know everything you could need to know about the sport.

It's clear that the OP should buy a K5 blazer

Used Safari or Astro ftw. It'd be fun, not emasculating, it'd be practical and reliable...and it'd be relatively cheap. Try it out for a few months and then sell it for exactly what you bought it for if you don't like it. 

hyperboarder wrote:

Bunnspeed wrote:

Used Safari or Astro ftw. It'd be fun, not emasculating, it'd be practical and reliable...and it'd be relatively cheap. Try it out for a few months and then sell it for exactly what you bought it for if you don't like it. 

Thinking bigger, like Express or Econoline territory.  Something with 2 benches and 2 captains in the rear.

I drove Econoline vans back when I was a sped teacher doing a lot of community outings with my special lads. Be aware that the pedal placement is terrible, or at least it was terrible at the time that I was whipping these passenger beasts around town back in the early Oughts.  The gas and brake pedals were mounted so high off the floor that I had to pivot my foot at a sharp, weird angle to depress the pedal with my heel still on the floor. The crazy foot angle made my foot fall asleep every single time I drove one of those vans for more than 15 minutes. It was an extremely uncomfortable vehicle even for local driving. Over all they were ultra-crappy to drive in every single respect. Shitty switchgear, shitty handling, ok-to-shitty power depending on which van/ engine I was using. All of them oozed cheapness and poor build quality from every pore. You might have better luck shopping a full-sized GM or Dodge van product.

Last edited by Bunnspeed (2012-06-09 15:16:22)

n_r_child wrote:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2059441/2002-ford-econoline-e150-passenger

Love the Quigley conversions.

Further updates: Checked out the Mazda 5.  Really not bad, fairly comfortable, usable (with kids in the middle row) 3rd rows, but not big enough.  With the 3rd row down it was just too small for the dogs.  Checked out the Sorento too, which was pretty nice.  Lots of features, comfortable, great mileage.  Also a tight squeeze in the back, but this one seemed doable.  Looking at the numbers, the 5 has more cargo room with the 3rd row down, but it didn't feel like it, I suspect much of that is vertical.  Still no idea what we're going to do.