Northern Virginia Roll Call

just gonna toss this out there......

 

ANyon

Looks like someone jumped on an N-Fab sale...

 

If I find the right place if/when I move to Colorado I'll probably pick up a Tundra so I can tow stuff. As it is now though I'll most likely be living in the burbs, much like I am now.

 

haha fact.

still looks pretty cool though.... but I think for DDing, I'd just toss some Bilsteins and some 35s on and (dare I say it) some 20x12s and leave it alone so I can dump all my money into the Tacoma

 

Just going to put this out there.

I bought an 05 Prius for $500 with a bad hybrid battery, fixed it and a few other small maintenance items. I'm in it for a little under $2k total now. 49mpg. Don't give two fucks about it getting door dings or worse. Fits in all the parking garages and parking spots downtown. Swallows up Costco trips. Makes me drive all slow and calm like the boring old man I've apparently become. You can put 8' long copper pipes and 2x4's in it. It makes a fantastic beater.
I hate how much I love it. I really do.

 

the way you feel about a Prius is how I feel about minivans....

remote control doors, 8 god damn passengers, power everything, heated front and rear seats.....flip down blu ray player.......soooooo dope.


if Karen ever sells the 4Runner (which she wont) but if she ever did.... I'd want her to get a brand new minivan. haha

 

Yes

Same model.

 

Where do you source the batteries from? That is one thing that has made me hesitant of getting a used hybrid as a beater in the past, the cost of the batteries. Way before the VW fiasco, I was thinking of getting a tdi and using that as a DD, but decided against it.

 

Most of that our Pilot had. It could only seat 7, and not as comfortably as a minivan, but it also wasn't a minivan haha. Didn't have heated rear seats, but fronts were. What I want is air conditioned seats. Cooling my swamp ass after working hard and sweating a lot on a hot summer day is what would sell me. When buying the pilot, i was looking at odysseys, and the top of the line model was more expensive than our touring model pilot with 4wd

 

I didnt know all that... that's pretty awesome!

 

I am loving that

 

I rebuilt it myself by balance charging individual modules I bought on ebay. That first fix only lasted 3 months because I wasn't as thorough as I should have been. But it can be done on the cheap if you are willing to put in the time to do it correctly.

I bought a refurbished pack from the guys at Autobeyours.com in Scottsburg, Indiana for $750. The dude is pretty well regarded on the forums and his price is great. Catch is you need to drive to Indiana. If I wasn't already out there a few times a year to visit the future in laws I wouldn't get it from him. But you can get a Dorman remanufactured battery from Advance Auto Parts/Car Quest etc. I think they're about $1,300 with a decent warranty?

Do all the work yourself of course. It takes less than an hour to swap a pack.

 

Maybe it's just me, but I don't want all these seats to carry people. Then I have to give rides because I have 4 doors. Could be that im young and no kids.

Even when i had my Element, i took the back seats out so no rides to be given

 

haha I havent had someone ask me for a "ride" in about 10 years. haha... but then again, I'm also the guy that will tell them "no."

but I'm thinking space for me, wife, kid (and 1 more hopefully soon), and a big ass dog (and 1 more hopefully soon lol) and gear

minivan + roof rack = plenty of room for 2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 adults, and gear.

 

and that may be a little weird..... you wouldnt think just 1 kid needs so much.... but just to go down to the 757 for the weekend, I have to bring Allison's pack n play, a high chair, a bag of snacks, a bag of toys, a bag of clothes for her, and a diaper bag.....

not to mention clothes for the weekend for us, laptop etc...

it's a lot more than you would think for 3 people. haha

 

That list gets smaller as they get bigger.

 

not gonna lie.... that's dope.

 

Well I'm only a few months older than you and also without kids. But I'm surrounded by them between my friends/sisters/neighbors all having kids now. I definitely get the appeal of a minivan, my parents always had one when I was growing up, and I wouldn't be ashamed to drive one. Fuck it. I'll be a dad one day, and I chose to live in the suburbs. It's the best option for a suburban family. Just is. Can't argue it.

That said, I'd love to put all the kids/dog/gear on a 200 series Land Cruiser and take them all offroading.

 

but we are also trying to have another one... so that will be the list for the next few years. haha