For me, the deciding factor on the barn door / lift gate decision was the rear window visibility. Backup cameras are great but when you learned to pull out of parking spots by looking out the back window, that small camera screen is hard to rely on. And a test drive on a van with that big double pillar dead center in the rear view limited visibility too much for my tastes. After the fact I've also come to appreciate the shield when you come out of the grocery store to find it raining. It'll cover both you and your cart so you can take your time loading.