ktgrok Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Ds learned to drive in our Toyota Sienna minivan. He's also not the only one in our group of friends who learned on a minivan. Parallel parking is rare in Florida - it's not even on the test anymore - but I'd rather learn to drive on a large vehicle than a small one. It's easier to go down in size than to go up. To be fair, minivans are MUCH easier to drive than a Suburban. Night and day. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 To be fair, minivans are MUCH easier to drive than a Suburban. Night and day. I have to agree here. My mini-van is MUCH easier to drive than a Suburban. And being a Toyota Sienna it has a fantastic turn radius. In fact, I've never had another vehicle, including a car, that has a better turn radius. I don't really have an opinion regarding learning to drive using a Suburban vs. a car since I grew up driving pick up trucks but I do agree there is a difference between driving a Suburban and driving a mini van (at least a Toyota Sienna or a Honda Odyssey...haven't driven any others). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busymama7 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Ds learned to drive in our Toyota Sienna minivan. He's also not the only one in our group of friends who learned on a minivan. Parallel parking is rare in Florida - it's not even on the test anymore - but I'd rather learn to drive on a large vehicle than a small one. It's easier to go down in size than to go up. Yep I have taught two teen boys to drive in our 15 passenger van. It's what we drive and what was available. Switching to a smaller car is a breeze. The reverse isn't. It's worked for us. Dh does have a four door that they drive occasionally but they needed to drive daily so 15 pass van it was :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Is the make/model only available in right hand. This is really too impractical. If it were not a primary vehicle maybe. If the price were significantly less than similar left hand vehicles (half price or more)--maybe. One day the suburban will be in the shop. One day your DC will be driving. One day you might want DC to be the primary driver and have a third vehicle for him. Are you going to get a new car because the suburban and dh vehicle are impractical for DC to drive to work and college in. How long does your family keep vehicles. We drive ours until upkeep is problematic. We have a 10 year old car and a 15 year old car. We just bought a used year old car. The 15 year old vehicle is getting some put off repairs and then DD will be the primary driver. We purchase cars based on reputation of the model, knowing we want them to keep going a long time. For a right hand vehicle in the US I could see parts getting expensive and resale being impossible. So then you will just be stuck. This is why upfront cost needs to be extremely low to make this even a consideration. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xahm Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 If your husband is the guy people ask to help them park in a tight spot, that is, he's a good driver with great spatial awareness, and this car is so significantly cheaper that it will really help your family financially, it might not be super terrible. It would limit where and how he could drive, but there could be situations where that is an acceptable sacrifice. It would not be my first, or even tenth choice, but I understand being in a tough spot and needing to make sacrifices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 To be fair, minivans are MUCH easier to drive than a Suburban. Night and day. Totally! I have been driving for a hundred donkey years. I'm a confident driver, and I hate driving Suburban-sized vehicles. Minivans are built on a car chassis. Large SUVs cause much more damage in accidents too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I learned to drive in a 9 passenger van. It was the only vehicle our family owned and we didn't give it a second thought. That said, I think a right hand drive car on the US is a bad idea. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 What is weird about this is that there is no upside. None. it is like he said, "I think I will start playing golf with one hand tied behind my back. It is possible, I saw so-and-so on the golf field do it because he lost an arm. Yeah, it is slightly more likely that I'll hit someone else or myself with a golf ball and someone will get injured." 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjffkj Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 What is weird about this is that there is no upside. None. it is like he said, "I think I will start playing golf with one hand tied behind my back. It is possible, I saw so-and-so on the golf field do it because he lost an arm. Yeah, it is slightly more likely that I'll hit someone else or myself with a golf ball and someone will get injured." I believe the upside in his mind is that it is a cheaper upfront cost than the equivalent vehicle that has driver on the left. Since finances are tight it is easy to just want to look at the initial cost. But it's generally not wise to not consider future costs and the future sale of the car. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Any updates, Jane? I know you said you were going to talk to your dh about it last night, and I'm hoping you talked some sense into him! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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