Laugh all you want but when I pass you in my mini van with my machines in out of the weather and your nice pinball machine is sitting under a tarp on the back of your pick up truck in the rain I'll surely be think "that guy is the smart one - ain't he cool"!

I've owned muscle cars, big 4x4 pick up trucks, dump trucks, and just about anything else on the planet with wheels on it including national record holding drag cars and a Class 8 motorhome with a trailer big enough to put you bad ass pick up inside of it and I have yet to find a better way to move pinball machines than a van. I have owned full size (mostly 1 ton) vans for over 30 years but now I am thinking smaller so I am buying a new Kia Senoda this week. Laugh at Kia all you want but it is hard to beat 10 year 100,000 mile warranty and our local dealer doubles that to 200,000 miles.

I'll still keep my full size van to tow some of my bigger trailers but 25 MPG compared to my 13.7 MPG really sounds pretty good right now for when I don't need a one ton van.

I drive a 2500 Chevy express full size van for my business so yes, I will continue judging any man I see driving a soccer mom mini van.

At least your smart enough to own a van. But I still don't quite understand judging someone by what they drive but to each his own.

What I don't get is the guys using pick up trucks & tarps to move machines just to think they are something special driving their big bad pick up truck. Why use an open truck to move something worth thousands of dollars when there is a smarter way? When I had my big bad 4x4 pick up I found people loved using the bed for a dumpster when I parked it. I can't tell you how many times I found trash tossed into the bed of my truck.

I'll be a mini van driver starting next week. Not really my first choice in vehicles but even at $2 a gallon I am getting tired of 13.7 MPG and $100 a week fuel bill with my 3500 series Chevy 1 ton van. And I think I am going to be able to get over driving the little girls vehicle very quickly while I am enjoying heated seats, heated steering wheel, lumbar support, cooler in console, and all the other neat stuff the Kia offers next time I am taking a 10 or 12 hour drive to pick up another toy which seems to be happening every couple weeks these days.

Anyway back to the OP who has not had much to say lately. Best of luck with the addition to your family - as long as you have a happy wife & a healthy child that is all the really matters. Best of luck getting the vehicle thing figured out!

I don't really judge, it's just fun to joke about. It's been a longtime running joke that I tell my wife I'm buying her a mini van for her next vehicle and she says "oh, hell no!"

I didn't wanna loose my man card (no minivan for me)....

ended up with a 2014 Dodge Durango... the family loves it, I dig it, and have fit a pin inside the back nicely.

We looked at the Durango but the safety rating and deck height both pushed me away. I am 61 years old this year and prefer lower deck height of a van when moving machines - that way I can just tilt them and slide them in instead of lifting machines. Most weeks I am moving at least two or three machines so the last thing I really feel like doing after dragging one out of someones basement is lifting it into the back of a high vehicle.

As far as the "man card" at this point I am getting to old to give a dam anyway but I really never worried about being a real man. I have yet to meet a "real man" that can do half of what I do in a week so I have never really cared all that much about driving manly vehicles. I have always been a college educated rough & tough red neck that never backs down and never wears a suit. To me the "real girls" of the bunch are men that get all prettied up and wear fancy jewelry and smell pretty.

I have a Durango, and my wife has a Town and Country. Honestly, hers is a lot more versatile. I wouldn't own a minivan if I didn't have two other cars I like to drive, but I can't deny that it's our most practical vehicle for kids, dogs, trips, or pins; and also a hell of a lot cheaper.

I owned a small SUV (GMC Terrain). It was a fine vehicle, but I don't think I'd go the small SUV route again.

Honda odyssey works great. Remove the middle seats, then i slid the game while still on the dolly into the back. Used the hooks where the seats mount to the floor for strapping down game..

Works great as a pin mover. Rest of time awesome people mover for my family of 4 our gear and even the grandparents

I've used a 2001 Ford Explorer to haul with my 5 month old daughter. It works out great for pin or arcade game due to the 60/40 split back seat. Baby gets a car seat on the 40 and fold the 60 down. Pins are easy, but you can only carry 1. I'm not sure about anyone else's baby, but mine is addicted to the mesmerizing lights....but then again, so am I haha.

We just got a Dodge Grand Caravan with stow and go seating, it amazing. It's like it was made for hauling games. No more taking rows of seats out of the in-laws mini van, renting a truck or begging someone to pick up something for me. You can pick something up on the spur of the moment too since the seats go right into the floor by pulling on a couple latches. Couldn't be easier. We used to haul around our 4 and 2 year olds in a 2002 Saturn SL1, so this is quite the step up room wise. I absolutely love it. You can actually fit 2 modern pins inside the van, but it's got a hitch too if I ever really want to go hog wild.

I'm 39 and married with two little kids, I'm not super concerned with looking cool while driving. That said, mini vans are not the simulated wood siding covered boxes on wheels they used to be, ours is actually pretty sporty looking. I'm not embarrassed driving it at all.

Buy a suburban

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The CR-V is a great vehicle. Expensive, but still good. Good luck!

Wow. I have a 2014 CRV and I never considered whether a pin would fit. Good luck! I'd like to see some pics cause I might use mine for pins too!

Astro/Safari make for good family/pin haulers. The trick is to find one that isn't too ragged out (assuming a 11+ y.o. mid-size van works for you). Lots of cargo room even with the seats in plus you can use a decent size trailer for hauling even more pins (or video games/slots/bowlers/ect..) should the need arise.

Drove a 2016 Jeep Cherokee for the day. After awhile I felt like I was driving a minivan. What's the difference? Same driveline, boring and didn't seem ready for the off-road. Surprised Jeep abandoned the rear wheel drive. Don't get duped, the Cherokee is a minivan in disguise!