I went with the mini-van for the combo of space and economy. First of all, I get about 23/25mpg of the freeway compared to 32 from my Tracer. However, its a more comfortable ride and very spacious. QUOTE]
Speaking of chase vehicle, I just bought myself a "new" used MiniVan.
I bought a 2002 Dodge Sport Grand Caravan. It has only 65000km on it and I still have a 1 year bumper to bumper warranty from Dodge. Basically it just look brand new!!!!
I'm totally happy, it's my first vehicle with such low age and mileage....
Here's a pic:
Back in 2004 the Weathervine crew rented a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country. Brand new. It had the new (then) Stow-n-Go seating. We folded the center seats down to allow for room for the tripod and cameras during active chasing. With the doors on both sides it was really easy to pull the doors open and spread the tripods without having to extend the legs.
I also found that driving the Dodge/Chrylser Minivans with the center seats down much more stable than most of the SUVs we've rented, used, or owned (included the Jeep models), even on the dirt back roads of the Great Plains and especially at high speed. Unfortunately they didn't offer AWD with the Stow-n-Go seats (but did offer it with the regular seating). There still really expensive used ($15,000 for average to low mileage unit), but that's what I'm going to aim for next when my 1996 Caravan is ready to be retired.