Vibe vrs. Mini-Van

[E.M. For G.M.]

We chose the Vibe because we needed a vehicle that could keep up with two boys and their growing legs. We also needed something that could haul all our gear. A mini-van was out of the question because of the gas mileage (and looks). I'm wondering who else found the Vibe a perfect option in place of a mini-van?Sara Ann

[keithvibe]

W e L c O m E !!!Sara Ann.You will love the ride

[jake75]

Best of all worlds - one of each! Chrysler T&C SWB got 25 mpg on a recent trip to NC. The Vibe is typically 32 mpg but with 3 grandkids needed the added room of the T&C.

[WaveAction]

welcome to the forums, i've never been a mini van and would never get caught dead in one either, the vibe is a perfect replacement, that has not quite as much cargo room, but the gas mileage makes up for it, and as you said, the looks, vibes look much better then a giant box on wheels

[tribalman]

Quote, originally posted by WaveAction »welcome to the forums, i've never been a mini van and would never get caught dead in one either, the vibe is a perfect replacement, that has not quite as much cargo room, but the gas mileage makes up for it, and as you said, the looks, vibes look much better then a giant box on wheelswelcome, and having driven both an 04 vibe and a 98 dodge caravan, i gotta say i love the wagon more.its lower to the ground so i don't feel like tipping when taking a turn at 20mph. and it is so much more comfortable. and when you need more storage, just drop the 40/60 back seats. i always hated to have to take out both rows of seats when i need to carry anything. i purchased a 32inch tv(standard, none of that lcd crap, cathodes frw) . i dropped both seats and had room for both the tv, sub and case, and more room if i needed to carry more stuff.plus the vibe looks wayy wayy waaaayyy cooler than a minivan.edit, you say you need room for growing boys? i'm 6' 4" and most of that hight is legs. i have really long legs. even with the driver's seat all the way back, i have leg room in the back. and btw, you can totally sleep on the seats, i did it when i first got the car. that bench is comfy.

[ramenboy...]

before i got the vibe, i had a 1992 isuzu rodeo. granted it isn't a minivan, but i'd haul all my climbing gear and stuff around in the rodeo. it was getting old and 15 mpg. got the vibe, and could fit the same stuff in it! and i get 30+pmg. i miss the 4wd, but not that much.and the vibe just looks betteroh, and welcome to the family! post pics when you can

[jwalcik]

Welcome aboard! My Vibe was actually a compromise to get better gas mileage than my old truck, but still be able to carry a reasonable load.

[Digger]

I have both. a 98 villager with 130,000 + miles on it. Two Growing boys. We take the vibe whenever we can but back in the car seat days the vibe would not have worked. Now the vibe meats the bill unless one of the boys or both want to bring a friend. Also the old van is great for school trips ( We drive on field trips) Taking the muddy boys to football, baseball practice. No sense in putting a muddy kid in a clean vibe In the end we love the vibe but still need a 7 passenger ride to do all we do.

[kunkstyle]

Quote, originally posted by Digger »but back in the car seat days the vibe would not have worked.Why not? (I only ask as we're planning to have kids while I still own the Vibe...)

[NascarXprt]

well before i got the Vibe i was driving my moms Mazda MPV, alittle tooo big for me but i liked it (V6 ) but the vibe was a perfect fit, great milage since i started college, room for me and a few others, and reall comfortable inside.

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by WaveAction » i've never been a mini van (fan) and would never get caught dead in one either, vibes look much better then a giant box on wheelsI must be a modern day Dr. Jekyl & Mr, Hyde - so cool when driving my Vibe, and so uncool when driving my T&C. Actually I'm probably pretty uncool no matter what I'm driving.

[binary]

I found the one downside of Vibe'dom vs. a Mini van...A rear facing car seat... it requires the front seat to be pretty far forward in order to fit.

[tribalman]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »I must be a modern day Dr. Jekyl & Mr, Hyde - so cool when driving my Vibe, and so uncool when driving my T&C. Actually I'm probably pretty uncool no matter what I'm driving.na, you found yourself to here, you are at least decently cool. Quote »I found the one downside of Vibe'dom vs. a Mini van...A rear facing car seat... it requires the front seat to be pretty far forward in order to fit.really, never knew this.

[Digger]

Quote, originally posted by kunkstyle »Why not? (I only ask as we're planning to have kids while I still own the Vibe...)I guess it would have worked after thinking about it a bit. We just liked the room and extra seats is all.

[prathman]

Quote, originally posted by binary »I found the one downside of Vibe'dom vs. a Mini van...A rear facing car seat... it requires the front seat to be pretty far forward in order to fit.Probably depends on the model of child seat. It's been a long time since we had to deal with them, but we didn't have any problems with the fit in the VW Rabbit we had back then. Can't imagine that our child seat would cause problems in the Vibe since there's much more fore/aft room than we had in the Rabbit.

[808 Vibes]

Quote, originally posted by kunkstyle »Why not? (I only ask as we're planning to have kids while I still own the Vibe...)+1 to this, and I'd also never be caught dead in a minivan! The planned family (and business) is the reason why I didn't get the Solstice.

[futureviber]

I hate minivans, I vow to never own one. It seems like all my bosses have owned minivans and i, at one point or another had to drive their kids around or run errands in their minivans. I will get some kind of hybrid SUV or something before I get a minivan.

[kunkstyle]

+1 to the SUV over minivan.

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by kunkstyle »+1 to the SUV over minivan. My new 2007 SWB T&C Minivan pretty well loaded MSRP $23,105 cost me $15,517 - total of $17,160 with taxes and doc fees. No trade as sold prior vehicle myself for $11,500 - an identical 2004 model. (State of Ohio makes us pay sales tax on rebate amount - two years free LOF made up for their state sanctioned $250 doc fee).+$$$ to the minivan over the SUV 25 mpg on recent 1,300 mile round trip to NC. Comfort level A+++.

[futureviber]

Quote »25 mpg on recent 1,300 mile round trip to NC. Comfort level A+++. ya but -10 to looking coolJust kidding.I think its more individual preference than anything. perhaps one day i will turn into a minivan loving soccer mom (pray that I don't). But for right now, I'm content being an anti-minivan PR professional. you never know what the future holds though.I heard in my environment class a couple years ago that if car manufacturers would just make every car they make each year get 1mpg better gas mileage we wouldn't have a fuel shortage. And I definitely dont want them to dig on the Alaskan wildlife preserve...but thats another discussion altogether.

[Whelan]

I wasn't in the market for a mini van or like vehicle when I shopped. I moved up from a 2-door coupe and needed/wanted the extra room, something sporty looking, and AWD. So the 05 Trix XR AWD was my choice. Fit me and my budget and my style. I get compliments on it everywhere, even from my buddy with his 67 Camaro SS and 328ci coupe. I figured since I am getting married soon, I was gonna be lugging things around, not just for the one move to our home when we get one, but also for other things, like taking out friends (couples things), going to events, grabbing a table from them or a piece of furniture from a hand-me-down.

[ToolGuy]

I will never drive a mini-van! I just looked at the sticker of a new Chrysler minivan last Friday. 16 miles per gallon city! (removed)! I was expecting at least it to crack the 20's for city! Load the van up with people and stuff and I would expect even less in the city! Not impressed at all! UPDATE: Seems the Chrysler mini-van is on par for fuel mileage since all get around the same 16-17 city. Honda claims 19. So all are not great but considering the vehicles shape and purpose, I suppose 16-17 is what it would get. The alternative would be an under powered 4-cyl van.

[Kamikaze]

I'd take a minvan with a blown 454 and drag tires... Otherwise... no, no minivan in my future.

[joatmon]

I had a full size van, and when it died I had a Dodge Caravan, which served me well, although uncool, and definitely the vehicle to drive if you don't want to be noticed. If you and a family spend a lot of time in the vehicle, it is nice to have plenty or room to spread out, and carry all kinds of stuff. There are people who have circumstances that make a minivan better for them than a Vibe would be, and I used to be one of them, but circumstances change, and now I have a Vibe. I no longer need a minivan so I wouldn't buy another, but it was the right thing for me at the time, no regrets. What worries me is wondering what the next car will beVan -> minivan -> microvan -> ?

[E.M. For G.M.]

Thanks so much for all the welcomes and ideas. I've been reading several of the threads and trying to catch up. Someone gave me the idea, that we could camp in the Vibe. I've got an event coming up and I think I'll skip the hotel and bring the 20 degree bags, sleep in the Vibe. Concerning the car seats . . .We still have one boy in a car seat, forward facing. There is plenty of leg room, but the seat belts are set closer together and he went from being able to buckle himself up to not being able to keep the buckle out from under the seat himself. Now he's starting to get the hang of it -- after a year of owning the car. I think the newer car seats have the lockdown option, so the car seat won't slide around as much. Not sure though.

[blue_can]

I just read on MSN autos, the consumer reports reliability rating. The Vibe makes it as very reliable in the Wagon/Mini-van category. LOL.

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by MiVibe-ToolGuy »I will never drive a mini-van! I just looked at the sticker of a new Chrysler minivan last Friday. 16 miles per gallon city! (removed)! I was expecting at least it to crack the 20's for city! Load the van up with people and stuff and I would expect even less in the city! Not impressed at all! The new 2008 Chrysler vans are all the heavier long wheelbase. My SWB 2007 with the 3.3L gets maybe 18 mpg city. Doesn't seem to vary much even when loaded with people/luggage. No worse than most SUV's of comparable size. I have been driving this same basic SWB Chrysler designed minivan since 1996. I replaced my idential 2004 with a 2007 because it was the last year for this SWB. It is amazing that on an apples to apples basis the 2007 T&C cost me significantly less than the 1996 Plymouth Voyager. My well equipped 2007 6 cyl T&C was just a few hundred more than the stripped 4 cyl 1996 Plymouth Voyager. Even as empty nesters we find it to be very comfortable, versitle and economical transportation. A perfect compliment to our Vibe. Having 2 cars each driven about 6,000 miles/yr each is a luxury but I buy them right so it's not too bad. Evidently the 2008 T&C's are not in high demand - saw the entry level advertised with a $1,000 rebate and $2,300 discount for a net under $20,000. That's a lot of vehicle for that money. It has side air bags, antilock brakes, and stability control standard. Comparatively the current Vibe is way overpriced. No wonder it is not selling that well as of late. After rebates and discounts my 2003 Vibe was about $13,650 plus tax.

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by blue_can »I just read on MSN autos, the consumer reports reliability rating. The Vibe makes it as very reliable in the Wagon/Mini-van category. LOL.While I don't put a lot of miles on them, I have had no problems with my last three Chrysler minivans either. And now they have that lifetime powertrain warranty. I just retired and I plan on keeping my 2007 T&C for a long time. The only unusual porblem I have had with the Vibe is a bad light switch on the rear view mirror. Bought a replacement mirror assembly cheap on eBay.

[ToolGuy]

UPDATE: Seems the Chrysler mini-van is on par for fuel mileage since all get around the same 16-17 city. Honda claims 19. So all are not great but considering the vehicles shape and purpose, I suppose 16-17 is what it would get. The alternative would be an under powered 4-cyl van.

[michaelgt]

My Vibe was a good alternative to a minivan, but I would have never got the Vibe if I did not have the minivan. Actually, I kept my minivan for my 17 year old daughter, and sold the Vibe. There is much more utility in the minivan. She has been averaging over 25 mpg for her driving. It is a Venture with the 3.4l V6. I have achieved 28 mpg for highway driving.