Yeah, it’s a pretty great rental in that regard. Also pretty handsome for a GM product. 

Had one of these as a rental.  That car is a sleeper...handles well and the V6 had a ton of power.  I opened it up on a long straightaway on US 50 in Nevada and I went from 75 to 120 mph in a flash.  Awesome car at the wrong time...deserved a better fate than being passed over for SUVs.

Couldn’t agree more. Minivans are cool too. 

The Mazda 5 was perfect for our family of four.

If everyone is going to recommend sensible options I’ll go with something else. There are multiple AMC Eagle Wagons for sale ranging from $7-12k. They are all V6 automatics but that’s a lot of money leftover for mods. Imagine this:

We did minivans from 1998 to 2015 and it was exactly what the family needed at the time. I still think minivans are a much better alternative for most families than crossovers. We regularly used seats 6/7/8 and hauled a lot of stuff in those things. Screw cool, sometimes you just need to get what works for you.

The minivan. When we finally had enough money to buy a vehicle in 2005, I needed something that could haul: kids, diapers, wipes, home improvement, family, non-family, road trips. Maybe splurge on the flip down DVD player.

Two wipers at the same time, man.

If we’re gonna bring on the flaming, let’s do it right:

And there is so much room in that engine bay! The tiny rotary engine looks lost in there. They could have just put the engine out of the Mazdaspeed 3 into the RX8 and it would have been a perfect RWD sports sedan.

Minivan minivan minivan. Or if you must crossover, a Mazda CX-5.

It’s not me that doesn’t want to hear minivan, it’s my wife. Still, I’ll keep an eye out. Who knows, stranger things have happened.

Seriously, go put stuff in a minivan vs. an CUV and then see which suits you better. I fretted over a minivan when my kids were little and really the van was so much better for so many kid things.

Any other good recommendations out there?

As oppose to an American motorcycle and diesel pickup which equates to no sense of humor

Naw, Corvette guys will defend any Corvette to the death. What you need to do is buy a Corvette then drive it in the rain or something, and forget to clean it. Then go to the show with dirt and maybe a couple of bird turds on it. They’ll go ballistic.

I like your friend.

To be honest, seeing the C8 around... if I weren’t a car fanatic, I’ve probably honestly think it’s a Ferrari.

If you ever see someone standing beside their Ferrari, casually say “Awesome Corvette! What year is it?”