Community Discussions

Now Mom is no soccer mom....she is going to do some heavy duty hauling, though no towing, with whatever she buys but doesn't have a lot of extra money to throw into the vehicle once she purchases it and she will be purchasing within the next couple of days.  I would very much appreciate any opinions/experiences you could give me with the following vans (ads I could find locally within price range):

1.     2000 Toyota Sienna

2.      2000 & 2001 Nissan Quest

3.     2000 & 2001 Mazda MPV (under powered seems to be a common complaint)

4.     2002 Kia Sedona (gas mileage seems to be pretty poor on this)

5.     1999 Honda Odyssey

6.     1999, 2000, 2002 Chevy Astro (reliability seems to be a common complaint with these)

7.     2000 & 2001 GMC Safari

Thanks in advance guys for your opinions/experiences with these.

Paula

snowshoveler wrote:

Shoveler

Hey...where's my ring?!! (And ring around the collar or out of a bubble gum machine doesn't count..LOL)  (thought I would try another tactic...scare the bejeebers out of you...)

And I NEVER put the meat grinder away...never know when it'll come in handy...

Wisconsin is only concerned that we will choke each other to death with fumes (car exhaust...Windy...car exhaust...)....not concerned if we kill each other off with unsafe vehicles (I am sure there is some logic in there somewhere...) so we do not have state inspections, only emissions.  My mom does have a good mechanic whom she has gone to for years and he will cut her a deal on checking out her vehicle (something to do with a 12-pack of wobbly pop ..hopefully AFTER he inspects it....) but I know from personal experience with my MPV that, even with a decent check by a good mechanic, there is no guarantee. 

I've been trying to read up as much as I can on the reliability and safety of the different minivans, using several difference sources for each make (epinions, MSN autos, cars.com, etc.) and the foreign just seem to fare better although the safety ratings are not always the best.

Mints

I know that new is generally better but she just cannot afford that kind of payment.  I was impressed with the Kias in terms of bumper-to-bumper warranty of 5 years or 60,000 miles and 100,000 drive train...I don't know of any of the other auto companies that offer that anymore...and that leads me to believe that they believe in their vehicles if they warrantee them that way.  However, on the other hand, I did read that Kia was tough as far as getting the actual service...not sure if they nitpick you to death on it or what. 

Ajace

I would throw Kia in there as well and possibly take out the Nissan Quest....heard a while back they had a few problems (can't recall what...I'm going to check them out more).

Thanks again for all your time folks!

Paula

Given those choices, I would pay the most attention to the Honda Odyssey and the Toyota Sienna. Be especially mindful that the Toyota has had regular oil changes. I would hesitate to recommend the Nissan, and I agree with previous comments about the Astro/Safari. I've never owned or driven any of those on the list, but my job is in automotive marketing research. If you've ever bought a car from a dealer or had one serviced there, they may have sent you a satisfaction survey. I read them...over the last five or so years many hundreds of thousands of them. At one time or another I've done GM, Nissan/Infiniti, Lexus, a few others and now Ford. This is not to say my opinion is better than anyone else's....I've just seen a lot of comments from a lot of people. And as with OPE, the quality of the service you'll receive is just as important, sometimes MORE important than choosing which product. I wish Mom luck in her search. Let us know how it turns out.

AZ  

Paula wrote:

Paula,

The vehicle safety inpection is just that:  a check that the vehicle is safe to drive. It doesn't check for mechanical fitness.

If you could get the maintenance history and see that the owner did the regular maintenance and repaired items, then you would at least have a warm and fuzzy feeling that the person cared enough to take care of it. 

A mechanic who works a lot (dealers for example) on the type of vehicle want to buy, with his knowledge of the repair history should be able to look for typical problems. However, it is difficult for them to tell what will go wrong with an individual vehicle and when.

 

Paula.
Is leasing an option?
Driving around the city (Detroit) all available storage lots are filled with new vehicles.
Most of my shop rat friends are laid off because of overstocking. (We got cars coming out of our butts around here.)
I have never leased....or know the pros and cons.....but I am hearing that it is a dirt cheap option right now.

Leasing, on this subject I will try to be brief (it's a struggle). Although there are exceptions, you are almost always better off to buy something you can afford and owning it rather than paying someone else for the use of a vehicle that you will not own. Please learn all the pros and cons before you consider a lease. There is a reason that leasing is being pushed so hard these days. It's because it's generally a good deal, for them...not for you.

AZ 

Thanks so much guys...this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for.  I will post more in a minute after I get the munchkins in bed. 

Paula

I'm with AZinOH on the lease thing.

The last time I bought a car the weaselly salesman tried to get me to lease. Asked him what I had at the end of the lease and he referred to "residual value" of the vehicle which I understood to mean that if the vehicle was worth more than the agreed purchase price at the end of the lease then I "had that value." Fine as long as I then turn around and sell it to get that higher worth. Gambling that the vehicle value will be more than the purchase price at the end of the lease, and I never win on gambles.

Overall, unless your mother and you are both into oriectomy as a business and can write off the lease payments, you won't be gaining much. Does your mother like to trade in her cars every three years for a nice shiny one with lots of bells and whistles? Then leasing might be fine. If she hangs onto her vehicle for many years, she is better off buying.

I look at leasing as an opportunity for you to pay off the depreciation and then some so the dealer can sell the car and make something on it when you return it.

    AZinOH wrote:

Az

Why would you hesitate to recommend Nissan?  I do remember hearing some negatives a few years back but can't remember what (darned memory aint what it used to be.).

I will definitely tell her to check service records....regular oil changes and other maintenance.  

Have you read anything on the Kias?  I know the vans, at least here in the U.S., have only been around since 2002 so its hard to know about their longevity.

Thanks again...your info was great!! I can't think of a better way to judge vehicles than by satisfaction surveys (out of the horses' mouths), other than maybe the car service techs. 

Paula

buttlint wrote:

Lint

I actually did the lease thing with a Honda CRV....i would never do it again...learned the hard way that at the end of the contract you  have nothing to show unless you want to buy the vehicle for a ridiculous price on top of what you've already paid (wind up paying 1-1/2 to 2 times than what the vehicle is worth if you do the buy-out at the end). 

I definitely think its a buyer's market.....theres a huge glut of cars out there, however, the popular brands still seem to hold their price but I think it does make it easier to deal (cars AND lint coming out of there? ...ok, couldn't resist...)

Another thing I learned is that the Kelley blue book is nothing more than a selling tool for the dealerships....was messing around with it one day, checking out prices on a vehicle - retail (what I would expect to pay the dealership) and trade-in (what the dealership would give me for it)....HOLY COW!  Many times there was at least a $5000.00 difference!  Talk about scam.   I'll be dam*ed if I'm handing any dealership a $5k mark-up! 

I was ready to buy a bicycle after that! 

P.S. I hate hearing about lay-offs...that is so rough not only on the guy getting laid off, but also the family.  Does it look like a continued trend for these guys or just temporary? 

Hey Windy

How did you know what my mom does for a living?  Its a skill thats been passed down for generations...and to thnk it all started with the sharp edge of a rock...

Seriously,

She will keep whatever she buys for a while....and whatever she buys will probably take a bit of a beating, interior more than exterior...which is another thing that would rule otu leasing....they tend to dock you for things like rips/scratches, etc on the inside of the vehicles...want them returned in near pristine condition. 

I will definitely remind her to check maintenance records and see if she can call the former owner. 

More than anything, I am trying to save her the time of looking at a whole bunch of vans by narrowing it down to, or ruling out, certain ones.

I really do appreciate all of the help guys.  You're really a terrific group (and you if tell anyone I said that, I'll develop Alzheimers...)

Paula

P.S. I'll defnitely let you know  what she buys.