From One Minivan to Another Minivan: How does it feel after owning one for 12 years and saying Goodbye

I buy minivans for a reason.

I buy minivans for a reason, Hong Kong is a small place and often if we are lucky, we would get one parking space and that still costs more than a Ferrari, so we can’t possibly afford a second car or even a hobby car simply because the cost of a parking space is expensive. Therefore, I drive a minivan, to primarily take my parents and my cousins to and from work, and do some school runs in them as well, you know, big family, needs a big car, so I ditched the idea of having a saloon and went straight for a minivan.

In my eyes at least, the Toyota Alphard was, and still is the perfect car for me.

In my eyes at least, the Toyota Alphard was, and still is the perfect car for me. I once clapped eyes on the car in 2005, when the car had a facelift and was on a magazine, and saw it was actually spacious enough to put another human in between the 1st row of seats and the 2nd row, and it was like a lounge in there too, everything I would ever need in a car really, therefore next day the first thing I did was go to a Toyota dealership and get one.

For those who aren’t actually familiar with what is an Alphard, let me fill you in with some information, this is a car that was, and still is in production. Having gone through 3 generations, the newest Alphard has a 3456cc V6 engine, and mated to a 6 speed Auto, producing right around the 280ps mark, but the car weighs nearly 2 tonnes, so it’s not exactly a nimble or small car. The one that I got back in 2005 was a Gen 1 Alphard, that has a 3L V6 with a 5 speed Auto, making around the 220ps range, the most important thing that the 1st Gen has though, is a set of hydraulic suspensions, that let you fine tune the stiffness of the car with the touch of a button, just for reference the suspension really did bugger all if you were asking, even if you put it into Sport mode it still feels way too soft. So as you can see it’s definitely not made for performance, more for getting from A to B in comfort.

But then the car started to squeak, and clunk every time we go over a bump

12 years have gone by and many has changed for the car, we had Endless brake pads front and rear, K&N air filter and a set of BC coilovers (which were super bumpy if you were asking), the car has gained a few dings and scratches and the some dodgy patch jobs that were done by a person that knows nothing about painting, i.e. me, but overall the car held up well, it did had a few issues but overall the car held up well, and it’s still going strong, 170k km went by like a dream and nothing major really broke. Apart from a couple of radiators, which meant that the car had to be towed away, but the car overall has held up super well, and no major faults to be found really.

But then the car started to squeak, and clunk every time we go over a bump, which means the belts are failing and the suspension are shot. And having considered that a set of new coilovers would have cost half of what the car is worth, and the annual MOT is coming up, we really would not want to take spend more on the car so the idea was set, to upgrade from a 1st Gen Alphard to a 2nd Alphard/Vellfire.

A Vellfire, if you’re asking, is Toyota’s answer to the youth generation of the JDM market, that wants their car to be comfortable, and huge enough for all of their friends to hop in, and go for a ride. The underpinnings of the car is basically the same as an Alphard, so the same 3456cc V6 engine, gearbox and all the interior bits are the same. All that’s to differ is the exterior, which implemented a more ‘youthful’ look and that’s about it. So it’s kind of like the GT86/BRZ situation, where the car is basically the same and it’s a badge job, that’s what the Vellfire is.

The search went by quite smoothly really, after searching through the ads on the Internet, the perfect car was seen and the decision was made, we are buying a new car.

12 years is not a small amount of time, and frankly it did went by like a dream, many road trips were had, many ups and downs were had, and most importantly, many memories were had.

But really that makes me sad. 12 years is not a small amount of time, and frankly it did went by like a dream, many road trips were had, many ups and downs were had, and most importantly, many memories were had. I actually remembered that the day when my two sons all had fever and we had to go to the hospital fast, I hopped into the car in the middle of the night and shortened a supposedly 30-minute drive into a 15-minute one. The car never failed me, sometimes it even brought smiles to me, the days when mental breakdowns would kick in and I would hop in the car and floor it onto the highway and the sad face would turn into a grin. The Alphard was more than a tool to me, it was a friend, a companion, more importantly, a family member that served us for 12 whole years.

The feeling of actually knowing that your car would be gone and you might not actually see it the next day, makes me sore.

It might seem weird to talk emotionally about a car that seemed absolutely horrid on paper, but trust me, if you’ve owned a car for a period of time, the feeling of actually knowing that your car would be gone and you might not actually see it the next day, makes me sore.

it’s sort of like the old car is handing the newbie a mission, to safely deliver the family to anywhere safely, whenever and wherever you are.

D-day came and it’s time to hand the Alphard to the dealer that sold us the Vellfire as a part exchange. Seeing the cars lined up in a straight line, and wearing the same exact number plates, makes me emotional, it’s sort of like the old car is handing the newbie a mission, to safely deliver the family to anywhere safely, whenever and wherever you are. It feels as if they are talking, communicating to each other, it’s weird I know, but that is the feeling I’m getting when seeing them together for the first time.

After dealing with all the paperwork, I settled to go home in the new car, with the old car in the rear-view mirror, hoping that one day, that car would re-appear in our parking space once again, and be better than ever.