Did you find the ignore feature? Ignore is the second option from the bottom on the left when you click on "User CP". If you chose to "ignore lakedude" you would not see any of my regular posts. I think quotes would still show up because the post a quote would be contained in would be made by another member who would presumeably not be "ignored". I don't know what would happen to PM's.....However you can elect to not recieve any PMs if you chose.

We can test it if you like. Ignore me and send me a PM and I'll send you one back.

Actually I don't know for sure if you can ignore mods at all since we are mods and all.....Try and see.

 

You may want to give a serious look at a MiniVan. If you are looking for people and cargo capacity (Home Depot Trips) with today's fold flat seats, you can't beat them, even with a Suburban. Depending on your time frame for doing this, I think Toyota is talking about a Hybrid Minivan being released in the US some time soon.

 

I tried to ignore you and this is the message that I got:
I guess I'm stuck reading your posts.

(I don't really want to ignore anybody.)

 

I'm really not sure what I'd get at extended 60 or 65, I drive to Denver from Boulder and might get 33 with mostly 65 but somewhat downhill, and I might get 31 on the way back. I overestimated my FE to Red Rocks and back there is a 700 ft elevation climb on the way with lots of ups and downs and I only got 27.2 there, too much traffic in the afternoon, wasn't able to conserve momentum, and seemed to hit every light. On the way back I pulled off 36.0 with no one in my way and fewer lights.

 

Looks like you guys will just hafta ignore me the old fasion way.....

 

Chilly-right about Minivans-they have as much flat space behind the 2nd row as the best of the big Suvs(with the exception of the Surburban).I measured full sized minivans and full sized SUVS-They have -on average-about 55" behind the second row-with at least 48" between the wheel wells.If you dump the second row-or flatten it-you end up with 85" flat-you can usually prop 4x8' material-plywood/paneling- on the top of the front seats and still close the tailgate.
The Suburban has close to 6' behind the second row-if you remove the 2nd row, you can actually lay 4x4' material flat.Of course, you pay a huge FE penalty vs a Minivan(3-4 city 6-8 hy) for that extra room. I really don't understand why anyone buys a Tahoe. The MPG is identical to a Suburban-if you are going to pay that huge penalty, you might as well get as much capacity as possible(essentially the same price-used anyway).
I wonder if Dodge Minivans have improved in respect to reliability.They were notorious for eating transmissions at low miles(50,000-80,000 miles).The 2000 Dodge vans are very cheap-maybe $5000 for a fairly low mileage one?
I need to get something big,cheap, reliable.I can give up mpg because it won't be used much.
Worthywads-27.2 mpg is pretty decent with any pickup-36 mpg is GREAT!I checked EPA-I think the 2.7 mt EPAs 20-27 or in that range, so you are doing very good.I also checked the older 4cyl MT-.The EPA was about the same as the new 500 lb heavier model.Toyota must have worked overtime to manage that.I think the Ranger is the only small pickup that beats the Tacoma, and the Ranger is much smaller now(looks that way anyway).Thanks.Charlie

 

I live in drippy wet Seattle and love going to Home Depot with my Honda Odyssey: 10' 2x4's fit between the seats and a stack of 4x8 drywall will slide in and the tailgate will close. Love it. (By the way, I've heard the newer Odessey's won't do this fantastic feat.)

Interestingly, the Honda Odessey replaces a Dodge Caravan that ate its tranny at 48,000 miles. I told Dodge I wanted them to pay at least 1/2 the cost to replace the tranny, they said no way. So, I now say no way to them and will continue to buy Honda or Toyota.

 

Freeze-what year was your Dodge Minivan~2000 or so? Dodges are famous for doing just what yours did. I hope the newer ones are better-a lot better!How hard can it be to build an auto trans that can last 100,000 miles?Every company manages to do just that, but Dodge just seems to be cutting it too close with their minivan trans. They have been notorious for 10+ years on that score!!Duh Dodge-wake up. No wonder they are sooo cheap.
Good to know that the older Odysseys have better "big building material capacity" than the newer ones.Not that it directly effects me- I'm fishing waaaay downstream of a new Odyssey, or even a 2002 Odyssey.
I have stumbled into another possibility for evac capacity-Home Depot runs-and $$ in my pocket. The young guy next door has a functional,but very dinged up 1998 S-10 with a 5 speed manual and 4 cyl-68,000 miles.Yes, it is a POS, but it also has a camper top.He wants $1800 for it.I could sell the Prizm(maybe $7500-it has just 28000 miles) and buy it. I suspect I can manage to make it reliable enough for occasional evac duty.It can hold the ice chests-MTBs-misc stuff etc during an evac.The Pilot will have my son and -4 cats-.Wife can drive the Prius- with the greyhound in it(Phoebe) sure not leaving a $20000 vehicle for the water.One reason we chose the Prius is the carrying capacity(dog-cat-stuff) vs the HCH2.You can fit a fair amount of stuff in it for such a small car.
Thanks.Charlie