Post by imimahoney on May 29, 2015 18:45:40 GMT -5
My sister drive one for 3 years because an odyssey was out of their budget. The van was fine at first but she drove it far distances for work and it soon needed a lot of money put into it. She finally traded it in for a pilot and she's so much happier.
Post by sallyowens on May 29, 2015 18:46:21 GMT -5
We don't own one yet, but this is what my H has been leaning towards. I like the Odyssey, too, but my H is all about the town and country. I'll be interested to hear other feedback. We need to get a move on with purchasing a van! We can't fit three car seats in either of our cars.
Post by Faevantastic on May 29, 2015 18:49:20 GMT -5
Dh drives one for a company car. It's great! The part that we really love is the stow and go where you can hide the seats to make more cargo room. It is sooo handy.
The only thing about it we don't like is the power doors, because, while they're wonderful when they work, the mechanism breaks down easily and it's expensive to replace.
I'm pretty faithful to Toyota and Honda at this point but I drove a t&c as a rental one weekend and liked it! Not my first choice (sounds like it isn't yours either) but I doubt it's a bad one.
MIL has a Dodge Grand Caravan, they love it. It has had minimal work in the seven/eight years they have owned it. If I had to have a minivan, I think the T&C would be a good choice. I will always drive an American-Made auto, though, when given the choice, FWIW.
Post by formerlyllizzyb on May 29, 2015 20:15:04 GMT -5
@tambcat I have a crv. I love it, but it does not have room for Anyone but our short family of four. We'll probably end up getting a pilot or highlander in five years or so. It is a great car, but not roomy, and I definitely wouldn't want three kids in it!
I don't have experience with that particular van, but I like my Toyota Sienna. It was a really affordable option for us and the space is so convenient.
I don't have experience with that particular van, but I like my Toyota Sienna. It was a really affordable option for us and the space is so convenient.
Really? It seems as pricey as the Odyssey! Maybe I don't know how to car shop online.
No, you're right. I lease it. I kind of forgot about that part! The lease is pretty cheap though, IMO but I know it's not for everyone.
We are planning on getting one this summer. The reason we are going with that vs others is the combination of the stow and go or whatever it's called and the option for leather - we have two big hairy shedding dogs and travel a fair amount so both of those are at the top of our must have list. I drove one a few weeks ago and loved it!
MIL has a Town & Country...it's a 2003, still runs great! I think it's a good option, I'd love a DVD player in my van.
We ended up with a 2007 Sienna since we didn't want a huge car payment. It's great but it's needed work a few times since we've owned it. I love it though!
I never thought I would either and I can't wait to buy a car when our student loans are paid off. So far, knock on wood, kids and a dog haven't caused any problems turning in my leases. I didn't even get to vacuum my last car when they took it back. It was so embarrassing. I was trying to quickly sweep off all the crushed goldfish with my hand. Lol hopefully my luck continues
My mom has the Dodge Caravan and hasn't had many issues with it, I don't think. She really liked the Stow-n-go seat option so she didn't have to physically remove the seats if she wanted cargo room.
When we were looking, we wanted either the Sienna or the Odyssey. They seemed to be similarly priced but were definately more expensive than the Dodge/Chryslers. We ended up with an older model Sienna ('04), it had about 90,000 miles - but I saw plenty listed with close to 200,000 that were still asking around $6000-8000 - so I figure they have to last awhile and hold their value. We've had ours about 3 yrs, put about 35000 miles on it and haven't had to do much to it other than general upkeep (well, until the repairs we had this week....)
Have you looked at a mazda5? It's like a mix between a van and a hatchback, seats 6 people in 3 rows. I haven't owned one myself but our old neighbors had one. It seems on the more affordable end. There is a 2014 with 30,000 miles near us listed at $17,000.
Post by sunshineluv on May 29, 2015 21:24:13 GMT -5
Have you thought about a nissan quest? You could probably find a low mileage one for about that price. I trust nissan a bit more than crysler. We considered the caravan for a bit before we bought our quest, I read something that made me not want it but I can't remember what I read, (helpful I know! Something about maintance. We love our quest.
Have you thought about a nissan quest? You could probably find a low mileage one for about that price. I trust nissan a bit more than crysler. We considered the caravan for a bit before we bought our quest, I read something that made me not want it but I can't remember what I read, (helpful I know! Something about maintance. We love our quest.
I am not seeing much on Edmunds (searching for used cars), but I will look into it!
I looked on auto trader a lot, it seemed like a lot of the dealers around here list their used car inventory on auto trader. Good luck . I tell DH all the time our next commuter car is a fit, I feel like I could actually park it haha. Dh's car has over 170k miles on it, but I am really hoping we can get a few more years out of it.
I love our Odyssey, but it was more than your price range. I highly recommend minivans once you're done looking cool. I don't bother with that anymore and I LOVE the convenience of my van. We didn't consider the T&C for reliability concerns, and only looked at the Sienna. But I see a ton of them around. We'll have this stupid car payment for four more years then I'm hoping for another 8+ without a car payment, but we'll see.
We were considering a mazda5 if we couldn't find a good wagon. They are pretty small for a van and relatively inexpensive!
Our next vehicle will probably be a minivan. Not because I plan on another kid but just the flexibility to have passengers as well as kids and the extra space in general.