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Earl__

F*O*A*D wrote:
On 2/18/14, 1:50 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 17 Feb 2014 21:27:50 -0500, F*O*A*D wrote:

My daily driver is at the dealer's for some maintenance, and I was
"loaned" a new Toyota Sienna, an eight passenger mini-van. I've never
even been in a mini-van before, much less driven one.

I was pleasantly surprised. It's not a sports car, of course, but it
handles decently as a passenger car, and it is very roomy and comfy
inside. I loved the automatically opening and closing side doors.
Amazing legroom for those who sit in the middle seats.

The only odd thing for me was not being able to see the front
fenders of
the vehicle or, in fact, anything beyond the windshield. Parallel
parking the mini-van would be difficult for me without being able to
see
the front of it.

Gas mileage is pretty poor...only about 21 mpg at speed limit speeds -
55 mph - on the state roads around here.

I have driven a fairly large assortment of vans, mini vans, SUVs and
crossovers. You get used to them pretty quickly. We always reserve
some kind of crossover/small SUV on vacation but we did end up with a
Windstar in Alaska, a Jeep in California and a Suburban in the
Dakotas.
The worst "parking" vehicle I ever had was "Moby Dick" my big white
E-150 with the stretch box on the back. It is what you see carpet
companies using because you can get a 12' roll of carpet in the back
and close the door. There was about 5' of metal behind the rear wheels
and no windows.
Every E or F 150 I have owned (4 total) got 13MPG, going fast, going
slow, empty or towing my boat ... 13.

I was surprised the Suburban got 20-22 ... until I tried a tank of
E-85. That was more like 17-18.

The Sienna has an electronic MPG indicator. I zeroed it out and at 55,
only got 21 mpg and change. I do like the backup camera on the
mini-van, but the inability to see the front of the car would take
getting use to...and it would take me a long time.

Time you don't have. Thanks for the insightful post!