You know things might go well in a car test drive when before the dealer has finished describing what the car has and can do, you hear a low whistle come from behind the sliding doors.
“Saweeeeeetttt!”
Cameron, 7, and Ethan, 9, were already in the backseat and pushing buttons before Art, the representative at Woodbine Chrysler, had got halfway through the new 2013 Dodge Caravan Crew’s features. I’m scheduled to test drive the Caravan this month and see how the features add up for a family on the go. I’ll spend the month exploring the vehicle, testing it out on back to school runs, shopping trips and more as we return to life as a family living in one country and share my findings with you each week here in the Urban Moms space.
As someone who has never had a mini-van in the driveway I’m curious to see how it stacks up and to share which features I must have versus the ones I can do without. Clearly my boys had no such qualms. Within moments of being introduced to the black beauty, they were firing questions at Art about how to work the dual sliding doors (one button a piece), where to plug in their gaming system (an AV plug alongside the second row seating), whether it was possible to climb into their seats from the trunk (yup) and whether they could both use the screens at the same time with different things (they can).
While I’ll be the one testing the car’s maneuverability on the roads and the systems up front, it will be the boys who will be best suited to show you what it feels like as passengers with needs.
So after watching them bounce around and push every button, I sat them down to get their initial thoughts on the Caravan. Here’s what the two most enthusiastic members of our crew had to say:
Me: So boys what do you think of the van?
Ethan: I liked that Art opened the car doors without even touching it. I thought that was really cool. And then when I looked in the car I was surprised by all of the technology everywhere. It was amazing.
Cam: It’s great. I love it because of the TV screens. It’s cool. There are three of them! I like that my mom can listen to whatever she wants and we can put on our headphones (wireless) and listen to what we want.
Me: Do you have favourite parts so far?
Ethan: The thing that was most interesting was that you can hook up your video game and see it on one of the screens.
Cameron: So far I like the way I can listen to music on my screen and Ethan can play a video game on another one. Less fights that way.
Me: Which features do you think you’ll use the most?
Ethan: If I was in the front seat I’d use the navigation system because its interesting that it talks to you.
Cameron: Disney radio (It’s on the Sirius Satellite Radio)
Me: What do you think parents will like?
Ethan: It’s a comfortable car and it’s a 2013 and lots of people like me like the latest cars.
Cam: You can relax and not listen to what the kids are listening to.
Me: Anything you’d change?
Ethan: I wish it was waterproof and had autopilot.
Cam: More video games built in and a touchscreen in the back but leave the remote too. I like the remote.
There you have it. Stay tuned for next week’s post when I’ll share how the van holds up on our back to school adventures.
This post was sponsored by Dodge Grand Caravan. All experiences and opinions are my own.
Heather Greenwood Davis is an award-winning writer. Follow Heather on a yearlong journey around the world. Join the journey by visiting globetrottingmama.com, Facebook, and Twitter: @greenwooddavis
Knowing my son, he’ll be in touch with Dodge soon to discuss the details. 😉
Wow! Sounds like it has everything…except autopilot 😉