Is driving a van considered "uncool?" (Austin, Orange: home, purchase)

[Westover]

My husband and I have lived overseas (various places in the former USSR) for the past 16 years and are returning permanently to my native Texas (Austin) this summer. I am excited about moving to my home culture, but know that the transition will not be an easy one at first. While living an expatriate life overseas, we have had three wonderful children who are now 13, 11, and 6. While they are all excited about little things like Old Navy, Pizza Hut and Dr. Pepper, they are also quite anxious about this life change. We are doing a lot of reading to help all five of us anticipate some of the complexities of identity and culture change we will face.

I have looked online at cars and have decided to try and find a slightly used RED Toyota Sienna, which is a minivan. My parents live in Austin, and my dad has volunteered to do some car shopping for us ahead of time. But my mom wrote me today and said I should be aware that driving a van is considered "uncool" by the younger set, and that my kids could end up feeling embarrassed if their mom is picking them up in a minivan from school every day. (This is the same woman who I made park around the corner in 6th grade because she was still driving the same yellow station wagon she got when I was in preschool!) My mom has taught in Eanes for years, but we are looking to move to NW Austin, heading to either Westwood or McNeil high school.

It seems like a ridiculous question to even post on this forum. I'm not so concerned with being a "cool" mom, but I don't want my kids to feel like their family stands out a weird, just because we drive a car that no one else would be caught dead in. So my question is this...even if moms in Eanes don't drive minivans, do any of you have an idea of what the perception of a Toyota Sienna-driving-mom would be in NW Austin?

Thanks so much for any input you have. The threads on this site have been so helpful to me already as I've been reading the past several months.

[neddy]

I live in the NW area and see plenty of people driving minivans. I think the kids might be embarressed no matter what by their parents (that's what my boys tell me) if it fits everyone it will work.

[chickenfry]

It doesn't matter what you drive or how you look or what you think or what you say or what kind of music you listen too cuz you are doomed to be "uncool" by virtue of your kid's ages. do what works for you and be constantly trying to find ways to really truly embarrass them!!!

[Raskolnikov]

I think most people who saw you with 3 kids in a minivan would just think it made perfect sense. People in Austin are understanding and take things like 3 kids into consideration before deciding to 'judge'. I that mini vans are stigmatized only by people who don't have kids, or just have 1 kid. At this point you aren't making decisions based on what people will think is cool, there are other kinds of calculations you have to make in your life that makes a mini van make sense. However your 13 year old might have friends who think a mini van is uncool but I can't think of a car you could fit three kids into that would be considered 'cool' by anyone in that age range.

If you personally don't like mini vans, maybe look at a Toyota Highlander? Or Pathfinders have a nice third row of seats too. Or an oversized truck or suburban..

[achtungpv]

you are required by law to turn in your punk rock card when you purchase a minivan.

[gigi927]

I live in NW Austin and have a minivan, as do plenty of my neighbors. While I'm about to move to a small SUV, that minivan has been a lifesaver and I haven't felt weird driving it around. Now, if you drive a minivan in Scottsdale, AZ (as I did) or Orange County, CA, there is much more of a "must.drive.luxury.vehicle" mentality. I haven't noticed that here at all.

[jhwest]

Your kids will probably think a minivan definitely is less cool than a big black escalade or a range rover. However, you may think a minivan is cooler because they get better mileage and have so many great features. So, who gets to decide what's cool in your family?
There will be a ton of kids, I promise, who are also driven around in minivans. I'm guessing, since they are expats, they will have a different idea of what's cool than will their fellow students.

[mimimomx3]

As IF you could do anything right by a 13 year old??
I did turn in my minivan, but mostly because I hated the sliding door.
Welcome back!

[hts]

i would think there must be about a gazillion more important things in life to worry about. btw, my wife totes our boys around in an '03 ody.

[Raskolnikov]

Since they lived in former Soviet republics for their lives, your kids are going to be a hundred times cooler than all the other kids around them, anyway. A mini van is not going to be able to detract from their inherent ex-pat coolness.