Uncoolness is a bigger factor than people give credit to. I remember when I was about ten years old my parents having a conversation with the new neighbors about cars which bled into how they'd "never ever own a Station Wagon." I remember the conversation because the neighbors had not fully moved in and the following day pulled up in their 80s (was it a Caprice Classic) Station Wagon complete with that weird wood door stripe (later making an appearance on minivans!) It even had a Barry Manilow bumper sticker on it!
My folks didn't do the Minivan, either, but it was just the 4 of us. Growing up, everyone I knew spoke about minivans like the Station Wagon. Ironically, all buying up things that are generally classified as Station Wagons, look exactly like station wagons but are now marketed as "crossovers." I doubt that would have worked in 1989, but style is fickle.
All of my data is anecdotal, but everyone I know that "chose to get a car that a Minivan would have served better" did so because "they hated minivans." Sure, they'd usually come up with a reason or two beyond "they're uncool" but the reasons were superficial and usually came with more sacrifices on the crossover/SUV side (not the least of which was fuel economy).
But one of the better driving experiences I had was in a fully loaded Chrysler Town and Country Anniversary Edition (the last year they made them) which I owned for a few years. It had a lot of power, reasonable fuel economy, was incredibly comfortable and had every convenience gadget you'd expect to find in a solid luxury car and then some. Plus, the kids can't slam a sliding door into a car or pole in the parking lot.
When I was a kid, I thought my friends with giant SUVs were sooo cool. But those kids thought my mom's minivan was cool, too.
Now I have kids and they are begging us to buy a minivan, but as another poster pointed out, the price premium for a minivan is extraordinary. We're going to make it work because we have to, but it isn't going to feel good on our budget.
I definitely heard similar disdain for the minivan. But the other day I was really looking at cars going by in traffic and realized 90% of people are driving the same oblong crossover thing in the same 3 colors, popular because of their blandness. I never cared much about coolness of a car and it looks to me like most actual car owners don't either these days.
I skipped minivans because they're actually quite expensive.
My folks didn't do the Minivan, either, but it was just the 4 of us. Growing up, everyone I knew spoke about minivans like the Station Wagon. Ironically, all buying up things that are generally classified as Station Wagons, look exactly like station wagons but are now marketed as "crossovers." I doubt that would have worked in 1989, but style is fickle.
All of my data is anecdotal, but everyone I know that "chose to get a car that a Minivan would have served better" did so because "they hated minivans." Sure, they'd usually come up with a reason or two beyond "they're uncool" but the reasons were superficial and usually came with more sacrifices on the crossover/SUV side (not the least of which was fuel economy).
But one of the better driving experiences I had was in a fully loaded Chrysler Town and Country Anniversary Edition (the last year they made them) which I owned for a few years. It had a lot of power, reasonable fuel economy, was incredibly comfortable and had every convenience gadget you'd expect to find in a solid luxury car and then some. Plus, the kids can't slam a sliding door into a car or pole in the parking lot.