I love vans! I do generally prefer them to SUV's sometimes even considering myself an SUV hater, even though I do like some SUV's for certain applications.
I often ponder over the idea of getting a van to replace our +500,000 miles 1985 VW Golf diesel, our current long distance companion to our Nissan Leaf. With a van I could not only go long distances on those once in a while occasions, but also haul stuff or people that won't fit in the Leaf. I might even be able to tow the Leaf with a van. Or get a camping van, sell the house and take the wife to wherever we want to go!
Some notable vans I've been interested in have been (not a complete list.)
- Toyota Previa. Fair fuel mileage, short body, mid-engine and supercharged. What's not to love? I've always wanted to swap a manual transmission into a supercharged Previa. But I've also wished the second generation and diesel variant Previas would have made it to the USA.
- Mazda5, the "mini-mini-van". I wished cars had more seats. What happened to those front bench seats? I hate having to take two cars just because there's that one extra person.
- Ford Transit, Dodge Promaster, Chevy Express... I've also thought of getting a BIG van. Something with 15 seats. I've got plenty of friends to take places. Why not all together? I wonder what kind of fuel mileage the new 4 cylinder diesel Chevy Express and GMC Savanna get?
The way I see it a van holds more stuff and/or people, costs less and gets better fuel mileage than a full sized SUV. For a smaller crossover I'd prefer a station wagon, which also have more space, cost less and get better fuel mileage. After living in the mountains of Colorado only all of my nearly 40 years of life I've decided that AWD and 4WD for the most part are overkill, unless you have a long driveway you have to maintain yourself. Plus there are FWD versions of mini-vans and vans if you look out for them. I once had an AWD Chevy Astro. However, I did hate the poor fuel mileage. I went from $200 per month in fuel to $15 when I got the Leaf.