Tikkabik

After a one-week hiatus, the Friday Five is back.

1. What vehicle do you drive?

1989 Ford Aerostar. First minivan, certainly not the last.

2. How long have you had it?

Two years in January, IIRC. Hopefully it'll make it through one more winter.

3. What is the coolest feature on your vehicle?

Its capacious carrying capacity. It can hold seven people in comfort and still have room for a buttload of cargo. (It's the extra-long version.)

4. What is the most annoying thing about your vehicle?

There are three things that get up my ass about the Aerostar: A) Its lack of reliability. It's elderly and infirmed. I plan to get rid of it come Spring, good lord willin' and the creek don't rise. B) The A/C doesn't work and it's too damn expensive to fix or retrofit with the non-Freon refrigerant the new cars use. C) The display on the radio is burnt out so you have to guess what station you're listening to (and, for that matter, what time it is unless you're wearing a watch).

5. If money were no object, what vehicle would you be driving right now?

I'd be torn between a brand new full-sized conversion van or an SUV. After driving the Aerostar around for almost two years, I've grown from thinking a full-sized vehicle was a luxury to finding it very, very useful -- like the time I pulled out all the bench seats and used it to haul dozens of bags of leaves.

I'd probably look at the top-end minivans like the Toyota Sienna and the Ford Windstar, but I suspect I'd find them a bit cramped. After renting an Expedition one holidaya weekend I know I'd be just as comfortable in that as in the Aerostar, which is why I'm saying that I might like an SUV instead.

And preach not to me of fuel conservation and America's need for oil, ya fuckin' hippie. *You* try hauling around a wife and three kids and groceries for a week in a Ford Focus and you tell me how comfortable *you* are.