Voices of MainStreet: Scott Serene

If the Car Fits, Drive It

Jan. 14, 2011

I have never been to the car shows. Actually, the only reason I know about the Detroit Auto Show is from reading about the cars online and then looking at pictures of them. I am always interested in the new stuff that comes out but it hasn’t been that much of a big deal for our family. And being that we won’t be shopping for a vehicle any time soon, I am not sure if we would look for a “green” vehicle or not.

First of all we have four children and we need something big enough to fit everyone in, like the minivan we have now or a SUV like a Chevrolet Suburban. As far as qualities that a vehicle has to have in order for us to even consider it, like I said: First thing is the room. Need to have room. Four kids, a stroller and whatever else needs to go has got to fit.

Carmakers need to remember that there are so many different kinds of people out here. Not all of us drive sports cars. Not all of us drive trucks. Not all of us drive little electric cars either so they need to just keep doing what they are doing. Make something for all of us. Yeah I am all for having “greener” vehicles but they need to remember that we need to afford them also. I do think that the auto industry is a bit out of touch. Seriously, do we really need Ford to make all these different Mustangs, or Chevrolet to make all these different Camaros? Just make the cars that make sense: Cars with good gas mileage, trucks with better gas mileage.

I mean we have a minivan and we love it. It has room and it drives well. We got a great price and interest rate on it, so that helps too. Would we be better off with something bigger like a Suburban or Denali? Sure, but the costs are too high. The cost outweighs the effectiveness. Me, I drive an Impala. I would love a truck. A truck to me seems to be a must if you own a home. You need to be able to get stuff home from places and get stuff out of the house. You can’t do that in a car or a minivan. Can we go out and buy one now? No. But a lot of families can’t get the vehicles they need due to cost.

On a personal note, there are things that we love about our Chrysler Town and Country. Aside from the financial points I mentioned, it has a great storage system called “Sto and Go” which is underneath the seating, and it really helps a lot to keeping extra clothes for the kids and supplies on hand. It is also great on trips for packing stuff you won’t need until you get to where you are going.

The van also has push-button auto doors. That is something we didn’t want at first but it has proven to be a huge helper for my wife. Loading four kids and groceries and whatever else she has in her hands is made much easier by pushing a button on the remote or on the console and having the doors open automatically. And being that I am in love with trucks and that is my dream vehicle, the only two things that I love about my Impala right now are a) it’s paid off and b) it has heated seats.

Until I get my truck, I will drive my warm-seated, paid-off Impala while the wife loads the kids into her awesome van.

—Scott is a dad of four who blogs about everything from being a daddy to his love for his wife and normal issues in his everyday life. You can check out ThisDaddysBlog.blogspot.com for more.