Pathfinder SL 2013

Honey, we have to go back.  We forgot the sleeping bags.

You can call it a minivan.  But because it's 4x4 you can also call it an SUV.  Mostly you can call it a hauler.  I don't have kids and I am paring down on "stuff", but I do haul six or seven bags to upstate and then back down to the City––like every week.  It sounds crazy, I know, but I've got the gym bag and work stuff and food and a suitcase.  So I appreciate the availability of access and storage in a vehicle.  Sure, the minivan lacks sex appeal.  And I know women who feel a little bit oppressed by having to drive a minivan because it lacks sex appeal and I totally sympathize with that.  But at the start of the day, in the middle of the day, during that 4 o'clock slump when you have to pick up the kids, get stuff at the grocery store, drop off the dry cleaning, pick up the dry cleaning isn't it rewarding to have a vehicle that is more of an assistant than a paradigm of sensuality?  I know nary a harried woman who would disagree.

The Nissan Pathfinder SL is a well-appointed, 7-passenger seat van with leather seats and a Latch and Glide system that lets you move seats up and back easily.  The seat split in the rear is 60/40.  It's refined interior won it a place on WardsAutoWorld's ten best interiors for 2013.  It also made Kelley Blue Book's Ten Best Family Cars list (KBB.com).

My vehicle cost $37,945 with about $1,000 worth of options and an $825 destination charge.  Gas mileage is 19 city/25 highway/ 21 combined.

The 2014 model year introduces a new  hybrid powertrain system designed to enhance fuel economy and reduce CO₂ emissions with no reduction of driving performance, passenger roominess or capacity.

The Pathfinder's new Hybrid powertrain option will be available in three fully equipped trim levels – SV, SL and Platinum – when it joins the lineup in late summer 2013. It is expected to be priced at around just $3,000 more than Pathfinder 3.5-liter V6 models.

I didn't get any extra attention in the Pathfinder (as in I wasn't driving a yellow Camaro), but it was comfy and roomy and I enjoyed being in it the whole drive.

2013 Nissan Pathfinder