In a message dated 9/7/99 3:24:26 PM EST, drj9009@... writes:
<< While at my FLVWD today (my breakaway mirror broke), I noticed a slightly
used '99 MV on the lot. It had the two rear facing middle seats.
Not wanting to be bugged to death by a salesman, I peered inside solo.
Does the rear seat fold down into a small bed on an MV? It also looked
like it had a nifty storage compartment behind the rear bench, a la the
Camper set-up.
This model was not a weekender version, but looked like curtains could
be added. I'm curious to know from current MV owners whether the
rear facing seats are useful or a novelty. The little table was handy,
but again, is it useful? My wife has a Honda CRV which has a small
folding table and cooler under the rear deck. It's a clever idea,
but we've only had the table out once since we bought it (a demonstration
to my in-laws). Sometimes clever ideas exceed practicality.
Is the MV as versatile as it appears? >>
I have the 93 Weekender and for my use I find:
1) The rear facing seats are useful when you need to transport more than five
people. However, since our normal household consists of only my wife and me,
I have taken out those two seats to provide more room to haul "stuff." When
we have visitors, we put the two seats back in and use the EV to transport up
to seven people short distances (up to about an hour one way). When the rear
facing seats are in, the front seats cannot be reclined and often are better
suited if these seats are moved a little forward so that the middle seat
backs can be reclined from a straight up position.
2) The table is quite useful for meals and/or for a passenger to do paper
work. For safety reasons, the table is not supposed to be up when the
vehicle is in motion; however,....
3) The rear bench seat folds into a comfortable bed. I would not describe
the bed in the MV as "small." There is plenty of room there. This is in
contrast to the Camper version which has cabinetry on the left side impinging
on the bed's width. In the MV, when some sporting buddies and I travel to
races, we often travel with the bench seat made into a bed and we have two
guys resting while the other two navigate. Again, safety says the passengers
should have their seat belts fastened when the vehicle is in motion and the
head rests up but, here again, we do what we find is convenient.
4) If you have kids in the vehicle, I think you need to be very safety
conscious and ignore the above points.
Bob
