Heffley family's minivan

The Heffley family's minivan is the vehicle primarily used by the Heffley family throughout the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The vehicle appears to resemble a 2003 Ford Explorer XLS Sport in the first 3 movies, but it is changed to a 2011 Toyota Sienna Limited in the 4th movie and the animated movie. In the online book, a station wagon was rented for Gary Heffley's wedding.^[1]

History[]

Prior to Cabin Fever, the Heffley family's main vehicle was a sedan.

Cabin Fever[]

At first, Frank had got a sports car, but Susan disagreed with the sports car and was disappointed that Frank bought a car without her permission. Frank said that this was the car he always wanted, so Susan let him keep it. Greg got the best student of the week award from school. Greg wanted Frank to put it on the car, but Frank said it would mess his car up, so Greg gave it to Manny so he could put it on his wagon, but Manny put it on the door of the sports car instead. Greg ripped the bumper sticker off with some steel wool, but the paint was scraped off and Susan told Frank that the Sports car was not good, so she made Frank exchange it for a minivan, which already had a bumper sticker. This happened in Cabin Fever.

The Long Haul[]

In The Long Haul they take it for a family road trip, towing a patched up boat with them loaded with gear. Greg is forced to sit in the back seat with lots of stuff there and since the windows there couldn't open, he would get no ventilation. Later, due to Rodrick's chewing gum, the sunroof stops working. Frank uses a chewing gum to make his own sunroof, but due to rain it gets destroyed. Later, the mechanic tells them that they would need to have the heater at full temperature so that the engine doesn't overheat. They later escape from the Beardos, forget to turn it on and the engine overheats and they later run over a bottle and punctures a tire. Later some Spanish guys give them a lift. It is later sent to the mechanic, meanwhile Greg's parents both try out for new driver licenses.

Appearances[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

According to Greg, the vehicle has Cheerios all over the seats.
The Heffleys often borrow a station wagon if they have to carry a lot of cargo, extra passengers or for longer trips. However, in The Long Haul, they use the minivan, despite carrying a lot of items.
Susan also has a car, which is also a minivan or SUV. It appears in a few of the earlier books. It was most likely sold at some point.
In the first three movies, instead of a minivan, the Heffley family drives a silver-gray 2003 Ford Explorer XLS Sport.
- This was replaced with a silver-blue 2011 Toyota Sienna Limited for the fourth film and for the animated movie.
The vehicle has a trailer hitch, as seen in The Long Haul.
Frank Heffley also owned a sedan (with 5 seats). He bought the minivan the Heffley Family currently uses, after Susan complained about him having a sports car and wanting a bigger vehicle.
The minivan used in the later books is based on a second-generation Dodge Caravan, implying the fact they had to buy a pre-owned vehicle.

↑ Diary of a Wimpy Kid (online), page 972

[1] Diary of a Wimpy Kid (online), page 972

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