When this was taken in June 2007, my Subaru station wagon of 21 years was counting its final days as a member of the Beedon Motor Pool. On June 29 I drove home its replacement: a Toyota Sienna LE mini-van. I call it the Green Weenie.

Everything in life is a trade-off. I lost these assets of the Subaru:
1. four-wheel drive (good for snow, sand, and gravel)
2. decent ground clearance
3. the ability to park in my garage: the van is too long, too wide, and too tall)
4. room for a full-size spare tire (the Sienna has a "temporary" spares,
so I bought a full-size spare for road trips)
5. the ability to go through car washes without removing the radio antenna
6. windshield that was narrow enough that I could easily
reach to the middle of it for cleaning
7. good visibility out the back window
8. rain gutters (made it easy to attach and remove a roof rack).

But I gained these assets in the mini-van:
1. much more interior space, meaning I can haul even more unnecessary
stuff on road trips and sleep in the car with room to spare
2. more headroom
3. automatic transmission
4. adequate power for entering freeways and climbing hills
5. a telescoping steering wheel column
6. power steering, power windows, power sliding doors, power driver's seat
7. stereo system controls on the steering wheel
8. a quieter and smoother ride
9. remote door locking and unlocking
10. ten cup holders (Subaru had none)
11. better cruise control
12. much better interior lighting
13. better forward road visibility (sitting higher now)
14. a bigger gas tank
15. three 12-volt outlets (Subaru had one)
16. air conditioning.

Toyota calls the paint color “silver pine” but my wife calls it "baby shit green."