The fact that I chose a Noah after the E55 AMG

I have written about various things so far, but most of my history of beloved cars has consisted of vehicles with a sporty nature.
Among them, there was a period, albeit brief, when I owned a minivan.

After driving a Porsche, an Aristo, and an E55, I switched to a Toyota Noah.
Even before the Porsche, I had only driven sports models, but I let go of the E55 and chose the Noah, a family car.
That said, I was still single at the time, so it was not a car for carrying a family.
I decided to switch for complex reasons, and I would like to touch upon that a little here.

This Noah was a car I purchased from an acquaintance.
In fact, it was also a car that someone else had purchased from the same friend before me.
The person who bought it before me worked in electrical construction and used it for business, but they traded it in because they found it inconvenient.
Apparently, for those who use vehicles for business, something like a HiAce is more convenient.
That was the initial trigger, as I was approached with an offer to buy the car that had returned through that sequence of events.

At the time my friend made the proposal, the maintenance costs of the E55 were becoming a significant burden.
It wasn't that fuel prices had skyrocketed as they had at one point, but the maintenance costs—including electrical system troubles, annual automobile taxes, and consumables like tires and oil—were no laughing matter.
I had a lot of attachment to it, so I agonized over the switch.
However, around that time, a senior colleague of mine who loved cars just as much as I did passed away suddenly, and I began to question whether it was right to be so obsessed with cars.
My friends who were also preoccupied with cars and motorcycles were starting to settle down, and I think I was being influenced by various things.

As a result, I let go of the E55 and switched to the Noah.

Behind the history of moving from sports models to sedans and then to minivans, there was, after all, a change in my own lifestyle.
When I was young, I relied on youth and momentum, choosing cars without considering practicality,
as I approached middle age, I chose a sedan for carrying multiple passengers and for the external image it projected,
and now that I am middle-aged, I could no longer exclude the option of a minivan when considering having a family.
I think that is what it comes down to.

I plan to write about this from the next installment onwards, but
I don't think minivans are just about compromising for the sake of the family if you have ways to use them and put in some effort.
Since it is a type of vehicle that didn't become very popular overseas, I think there is a 'minivan culture' that was only possible because it was Japan.

So, from the next installment, I will delve a little deeper into the minivan I used in my daily life.