South African Caravelle Advertisement

[Red Baron]

Now here's a more appropriate caption for this ad.

"What the hell's that smell?   Smells like........sniff..........sniff..........s#!t. No.......wait, it's just the Routan Minivan."

[MrLiMBO]

I printed off the spec sheets for both the Routan and the Dodge Grand Caravan.  It looks like the Routan get the engine of the high end Grand Caravan but after that, its hit or miss whether you get Grand Caravan SLT items or just the Caravan stuff.  Definitely no 'stow and go' seating.  You get something called 'uconnect'  Which seems to be a infotainment system.  It all seems like crap.  The Grand Caravan with 'stow in go' starts at 28K and the Routan starts at 25K.  Right now with employee pricing, you can get a Caravan much cheaper than a Routan.

Definitely NOT one of VW"s better ideas!

[Bradleyvw]

Sure we would have liked a T-5 here, but the Routan is a start in the right direction. Honda started thier minivan with a re badged Isuzu van and now they dominate the market.  Hopefully some aftermarket companies will make some camping accessories like pop tops(like they make for the Honda element) or raised roofs or complete camping conversions. If I was in the market for a minivan, the Routian would be my only choice. (Although if I were to buy a camper, it would be a Sprinter). Remember, something is better than nothing.

[Vanagonjr]

"Honda started thier minivan with a re badged Isuzu van and now they dominate the market."

Other way around - the Isuzu was a re-badged Honda Van.

Perhaps you were thinking of the Honda Pilot SUV which was a re-badged Isuzu Rodeo.

JR

[Bradleyvw]

Other way around - the Isuzu was a re-badged Honda Van.

Perhaps you were thinking of the Honda Pilot SUV which was a re-badged Isuzu Rodeo.

JR

 :oops: oops! I must be dyslexic.  I Knew it was something like that.
I wouldn't mind taking one around the country for my next VW roadtrip. More power, comfort, MPG,and dependability than a 20 year old Vanagon. Just no COOL factor. The Concept van would have been the answer.

[Vanagonjr]

Yeah the concept van aka new Microbus would have been great. I think that could have been a real surprise for VW. They figured people wouldn't pay more than a regular minivan price and killed it.

Hello have they seen what people pay for SUVs who don't want to be seen in a minivan?  

The Mini is hi price for its segment but it sells well because it is cool different and is fun. Hmmmm? Sounds like the new Microbus could have said the same.