"I find you last post the most pleasant and agreeable - what happened ? LOL I see nothing to argue about and I would agree with most..." You agree with what, me buying the beer? Cheapskate. Since there's an open invite to post pics I figure I would do so. I knew there was a rock on the side hill of my driveway that was fairly large and buried just below the surface so I set out to see how big it is. Here's my rig: http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r97/johnstem15/445ldrbb.jpg I'm working uphill to dig it free: http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r97/johnstem15/digrock1.jpg Now in the driveway working it out. I ran out of traction before power: http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r97/johnstem15/digrock2.jpg And here's the beast up close: http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r97/johnstem15/bigrock.jpg I didn't take it all the way out, I reset it so it slants into the hill a little more. Right now it's playing an integral role in keeping my driveway from eroding. Retaining wall may be on tap for the spring so I might just tangle with him again. Apparently I'm too dumb to post pics inline so all you get are urls.

That is true, although it did do quite well in the full-frontal crash test. However, the Previa has been around long enough now for a good deal of real-life safety data from actual collisions to be collected, and it has faired quite well. Actually slightly below average for minivans, but since minivans as a group protect their occupants much better than cars, you're still better off getting hit in a Previa than in, say, an Accord or Camry sedan. And I don't hear people calling those cars unsafe. If safety is a high priority though, best to pony up the dough for a new Sienna or Odyssey since they are more crashworthy than older designs (or the current Chryslers), and also have features that help prevent accidents in the first place (like stability control, etc.) Another old 4WD minivan I forgot about is the Ford Aerostar. I can't remember when they stopped making them. They are based on the Ranger pickup truck platform, but not as tall and trucky as the Chevy Astro, and not as unreliable.

Have a 2013 Ford Escape, Eco Boost (love it), actually love the entire vehicle. Formerly purchased a first year of the Ford Explorer model (was pregnant with DD), lived rurally and have always had labradors. Was a great SUV for loading lots of kids, dogs, luggage, etc. Good for running around town, long drives, or for vacation destinations that didn't require air travel. For OBX & other similar beach locations, 4WD is great since you can take your vehicle onto the beach. Taking small children to the beach takes alot of effort, along with many cumbersome necessities that are easier driven to the beach, than hauled over large dunes wilst walking with the little ones. I do not have the 4WD on my new Escape. Don't currently have the need for off road driving, although I considered continuing with the 4WD option for driving in the snow. Depends on your lifestyle. I've had 2 Explorers, then went with the "mini van". HATED every minute of driving that, and returned to the Escape, purchased the hybrid model which I loved, and is currently driven by my college-aged DD. When DD went off to college, I purchased the Ford Edge, Loved it, but DH hated it and never drove it because there were alot of blind spots. I adjusted to the blind spots, but not DH. It had a big (by today's standards) engine, but I liked the pick-up. I don't like 4 cylinder (the smallest?) engine vehicles since I just feel like they take too long to get from 0-60 mph. FF to January, 2013, and I am back to an Escape. Looked around from October 2012 until January, and nothing else really thrilled me among my options. So, once again I am driving the Ford Escape. I would suggest purchasing the Eco Boost if your budge allows. An absolute pleasure to drive. Haven't calculated the mileage, but I believe it is on par with the Honda CRV (DH vehicle). Seems that all of the new model vehicles offer the computer screen which I thought would be hard for me to get used to, but in reality, it took all of a week to have it down pat. I opted for leather interior (dogs) and remote start (love getting into a warm car when it's cold outside). The model is a bit smaller than the other Escapes I've owned. Less cargo space, etc., but from what I looked at over a few months before deciding on the Escape, the cargo area isn't any smaller than the back of the CRV or other manufacturers' comps. I am completely satisfied. Until I buy my BMW 7 series, I will continue to be a loyal Ford customer, lol. Happy shopping!

Golddust- We just have waaaay too much in common. I will watch for you on the road. I don't see too many Insights out there, Prius is everwhere. I think they are just more wellknown. I am amazed at just how similar the two are, really similar. We did think the Prius has a bit more umph but when you are in a hybrid it is not how fast you get there but how well you drove getting there. It was just the extra dollars that swayed us. We were really worried that both cars would shoot up in price because of Japan's earthquake and the gas prices going up. We just figured it was the right time. Actually Faron I mentioned you because I knew you were a car enthusiest and did not want you to think my poor dh lost his man card. My dh loves jeeps. Loves, loves, loves. He got his 4door wrangler a few years ago when they were offering a lifetime warranty. Yes, lifetime. Jeep realized they made a huge mistake and have lost several lawsuits where they tried to deny warranty work. So a precident has been set. DH will never part with that baby. Besides, he has too much invested in it. Years ago dh purchsed a 1972 Cutlas Supreme convertible with a factory hurst. I believe only a few hundred were made that year. He got it from a little old lady on Valentines Day. He cleaned it up and drove it while we dated and were first married. While living in an apartment waiting for our house to be built we had it parked in the apt lot. One day it was gone. Someone had flatbed towed it as we had drained fluids and such so it could not be driven. It was found a few months later in a vacant lot with grass growing in trunk and an old tv in it. The thieves literally picked her clean. They even scraped out the deteriorated weatherstripping! The only thing left was the 8track player. Looked like a pirannah picked her clean. DH was so sad, he loved that car. I can still hear that engine purrr. So when he saw the mustang on the lot I told him to take it for a drive. It was lowered with fancy rims, really hunky looking. The dealer had a specialty shop do this work. DH told me "looking leads to lusting, lusting leads to touching". He looked, lusted, touched and drove her home. We have never regretted the purchase and enjoyed all the rides, just time for someone else to enjoy her. But there came a time after my cancer diagnosis when we started looking at things so much differently. We could do so much more together with the money. And we already have the jeep for 4xing, snow, towing. Having 3 cars is certainly a luxury so we thought having the other 2 be hybrids made us feel more responsible. So next year we will go to Moab in the jeep and not worry so much about the cost of gas because we saved so much in the meantime.