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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

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. 

Used car market is weak now, it's a buyers market because it's a buyers market for new cars. Dealers have too many trade in's for values to hold. Same for private sales. If they try to get prices on used, people buy new. They're buying new anyway right now.

Don't expect much on trades. Kelly and NADA  is a joke, even trying to sell it yourself, the market won't bear their prices.

The saving grace for selling a used car is the old addage, "there's a butt for every seat". Just try not to be the butt they hold a party over after you leave.

Thanks Marshall for the info. 

It amazes me that dealerships even try to quote NADA...after all its in NADA's best interest to push the prices sellng sky-high and trade-ins as low as they'll go. 

Mom is in a better position as she won't be trading anything in so its an outright purchase which the dealerships, especially with the glut of trade-ins, would favor, I think. 

Paula

Thanks again folks for all your help. 

It looks like she is going for the 2000 Toyota Sienna with approximately 56K miles.  I think she will be happy with its performance and durability.  It has all the maintenance records with it and they took meticulous care of it with oil changes, scheduled maintenance program, etc. so I find that very encouraging. 

Forgot to ask her the two most important questions about it though...what color is it and what kind of stereo does it have?!!

Paula

I always figured your mom as a Camaro type woman, having you as a daughter of course.

Marshall wrote:

No, her Mom is more of a Mustang chick and she takes after her mom - Camaros - pooey, not with the metal.  Sorry to all the poor Chevy fans out there.  Had my fill of them and when I had to spend more time fixing then I did driving - well I'll take my oval any day of the week.  I know the sayings - but they've never left me down in the middle of winter, never in the pooring rain and I have never had to walk anywhere for a phone with my ovals, the reason I have a cell phone summed up in one word - CHEVY.

Sherri

Actually, Sherri, as much as I hate to admit it, Marshall hit it right on.....Mom did have a Camaro  until it recently bit the dust.  And, as painful as it is for me to admit it, she got a lot of miles out of that car without having to put too much into repairs, until the end....of course, I'm sure that much have been a fluke. 

She used to drive an MG until someone got a little creative in the rewiring of it and that was pretty much the end of that.  She likes her sports cars and, when she no longer has the need to do any hauling, she will go back to a sports car, though hopefully her taste will have improved by then.......to a nice 66 'Stang or maybe a Stingray. 

She isn't too excited about purchasing the minivan but knows she needs it for a while at least and needs the durability and reliability. 

Marshall wrote:

And what do you mean...having ME for a daughter??!     

Oh I just figured with your sporting personality she had to be the source.