The biggest thing to look at is power to weight ratio and gearing. A modern mini van is heavy enough that a 4 cyl engine would be about maxed out with just the weight of the vehicle and passengers and would get poor mileage. To the best of my knowledge none of the current minivans get much more than about 25 MPG. A lot of the Chrysler mini's had tranny issues. In the last few years they seem to have gotten that fixed. Most of them have little of no cargo space when all the seats have got someone in them. My son had one that had about 6" of cargo space behind the rear seats. His new one has about 18".
If safety is a concern then steer clear of the minvan market. About 3 years ago none of them passed so they created a "new" set of test for them. Just like the "in the class" rating for cars. 5 Star in a little car is not the same as 5 Star in a full sized car.
Now I know that you are concerned about mileage and don't need 4X4 (few people really do) but I would not discount the bigger SUV's. We have a 98 Suburban with the Vortech 5.8. It gets about 20 at 55 and 18 at 70. Even with the 3rd seat the cargo area is about 4 feet deep. With the rear seat removed and the center folder up it will carry 4x8 sheets of plywood. Now I will admit that ours is having mechanical problems......at 260,000 miles. We are going to replace it in the next couple of months.
As far as the Trailblazer and like sized SUVs they really don't get much more in mileage than the full sized ones. It's really only 2-3 MPG at beat and some get less than that. We traded a 2000 Explorer on the Suburban. It got 21 at 55. 1 MPG better.
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Today's Featured Article - New Hitches For Your Old Tractor - by Chris Pratt. For this article, we are going to make the irrational and unlikely assumption that you purchased an older tractor that is in tip top shape and needs no immediate repairs other than an oil change and a good bath. To the newcomer planning to restore the machine, this means you have everything you need for the moment (something to sit in the shop and just look at for awhile while you read the books). To the newcomer that wants to get out and use the machine for field work, you may have already hit a major roadblock. That is the dreaded "proprietary hitch". With the exception of the
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