Getting a new vehicle ... ???

[KerriMc]

Hello

We currently have a Montana van and the lease is up in two months, so we now have to look at getting another vehicle. We have looked casually at websites in the past year, but nothing serious.

We don't know if we want to walk into another GM lease or if we want to buy something (Honda, Toyota, Hyundai). Our lease has been very affordable for us for the past four years ($330/mos) and I would love another payment like this, but know that is unlikely with a purchase especially. We don't have a lot to put down and of course nothing to trade in. Our lease was only for 80,000 km and we now have 1700k left, so we have worried about our the mileage for the last year because we didn't want to go over.

Anyways, I guess my questions are ....

1. Do you have a mini van from Honda, Toyota or Hyundai? Did you purchase it? Likes, dislikes? (the reason I ask about the Entourage from Hyundai is that an uncle who is a Toyota salesman says they are equivalent to quality of both the Odyssey and the Sienna...true?) Interest rates really vary with these companies though ... from 0% to 5%.

2. We've really had nothing go wrong with the Montana, but don't know if I want another GM. We'd probably be more inclined to go with the Equinox or Torrent if we did another lease. This is probably the easiest option. Does anyone have one of these vehicles? Likes, dislikes?

3. Is now a good time to buy / lease a vehicle? Should we wait until the whole lease is up?

I don't know any other questions to ask ... I just thought that maybe some fellow Canadian dis'ers would be able to provide some info on their vehicles and their experiences. I'm feeling very confused and somewhat overwhelmed about the whole process, whereas I thought I would be excited to go out and pick one.

Any help is appreciated

Kerri

 

[A&CsMom]

We have a 2004 Honda Odyssey and love it! It is so much nicer than our 2000 Caravan was, even when the Caravan was new. We got the Honda when it was 2 years old. However, these are really expensive vans and if we hadn't gotten a good deal, we wouldn't have bought it because it would have been out of our price range. I find it drives like a car and is very solid, whereas the Caravan always felt "floaty", especially when turning.

That said, I drive a Hyundai car and it has been great! It will be 5 years old in April and no major problems. Hyundai (and Kia) are good value for your money, IMHO. Something to note, Kia (their van is the Sedona) provides a 5 year warranty for their vehicles, I'm pretty sure (looking at a Kia Rio5 when my lease is up in April).

My parents drive an Equinox and really like it, no major problems either. I've driven it and it is nice, though way smaller than a van.

I've noticed interest rates are really good right now. I think January is a slow time and there will be interest rate deals. I am hoping for some luck in the interest rate dept. in April!

We went through the minivan search thing in January 2001, and what we did was make our list of must haves, such as air and cruise control, then went to each dealership and found out what we could get for our money, and test drove each one. We had it narrowed down to the Venture and Caravan, but the Caravan came with standard cruise control and the Venture didn't (CD instead), so that decided it for us.

Good luck with your search!

 

[dancin Disney style]

I'm a former Toyota employee(new car sales and leasing) and with Toyota and Honda you truely get what you pay for in terms of quality. They cost more for a reason. The Hyundai would most likely be also a very safe purchase.

My DH is also in the auto industry and has worked for Toyota, Lexus, Chrysler, and now with Nissan and Infiniti. He says avoid all Chrysler products like the plague. However, the new Caravan has been produced by Mercedes so they finally have a hope of a decent vehicle.

DH agrees that Toyota, Honda and Hyundai are great products. He also love all GM products. GM's are inexpensive to maintain and repair (that's all he thinks about...he's in parts and service). I have recently had a chance to look over a Kia Sedona and IMO it was very cheap in terms of the fit and finish. The sliding doors felt like they were made of tin. Kia will tell you that they don't even put them selfs in the same category as the other imports. Personally, I would not even consider a Kia.

On to GM... If you intend to lease again you will have more leverage as a repeat customer and the deals they are offering now are far better than any other manufacturer out there. If you lease again they will most likely forgive the extra mileage on your current van as long as you are not too far over ( like 20,000 over). GM is rather forgiving in general about things like scratches and minor dents as well as mileage.

Hope that helps

 

[KerriMc]

Thanks for those replies. We were going to head out today and do a couple of test drives, but not sure if I want to be dragging the kids around with us today. It is so cold out here and they are a little bit, um ... energetic .... right now!!

If I could pick anyone right now it would probably be the Sienna. I really love that van, but of course so much more has to be taken into consideration ($$$ being pretty high on the list ).

The GM option seems the easiest, as like you said we would be a repeat customer and that would help. They are getting out of the van market though, so that is why we were considering the Equinox / Torrent (same vehicle, different styling).

Sadly, I am an indecisive person though, so this could be a long process

Kerri

 

[trivial]

This is pretty basic, but if you're considering buying a new vehicle, keep in mind that its value will drop by about 30% the second you drive it off the lot. Buy used.

 

[yanjan]

i bought a 07 hyundai tucson v6 2.7l fwd in dec06 (2 days after xmas)

if was going for 26500 and got it for 22000$ with a 5 year 0% interest on it.

so i think i got a good deal. quality is pretty good. pretty expensive on gas tought.

i've change car or suv 10 times in over 10 years and this is the first one that i actually have more then 12 months.

nick

 

[F4disneyfan]

Hello

We currently have a Montana van and the lease is up in two months, so we now have to look at getting another vehicle. We have looked casually at websites in the past year, but nothing serious.

We don't know if we want to walk into another GM lease or if we want to buy something (Honda, Toyota, Hyundai). Our lease has been very affordable for us for the past four years ($330/mos) and I would love another payment like this, but know that is unlikely with a purchase especially. We don't have a lot to put down and of course nothing to trade in. Our lease was only for 80,000 km and we now have 1700k left, so we have worried about our the mileage for the last year because we didn't want to go over.

Anyways, I guess my questions are ....

1. Do you have a mini van from Honda, Toyota or Hyundai? Did you purchase it? Likes, dislikes? (the reason I ask about the Entourage from Hyundai is that an uncle who is a Toyota salesman says they are equivalent to quality of both the Odyssey and the Sienna...true?) Interest rates really vary with these companies though ... from 0% to 5%.

2. We've really had nothing go wrong with the Montana, but don't know if I want another GM. We'd probably be more inclined to go with the Equinox or Torrent if we did another lease. This is probably the easiest option. Does anyone have one of these vehicles? Likes, dislikes?

3. Is now a good time to buy / lease a vehicle? Should we wait until the whole lease is up?

I don't know any other questions to ask ... I just thought that maybe some fellow Canadian dis'ers would be able to provide some info on their vehicles and their experiences. I'm feeling very confused and somewhat overwhelmed about the whole process, whereas I thought I would be excited to go out and pick one.

Any help is appreciated

Kerri

I would look at the new GMC Acadia this is a terrific vehichle with 3 rows of seats ala the mini van without the soccer mom mini van look. It has come down in price with the advent of the price drops due to the US dollar etc. This is the way we are going in Oct when we can get rid of our Montana (it has been a wonderful van) we just do not want another minivan. I have looked at the Honda and the Toyota etc but the cost was way to much for what we were looking at. The comparable equipment in teh Odyssey was going to be a lease payment of 700+ the Toyota was 600 and change. So we stuck with the Montana and were very impressed. The wife uses it to tow her tent trailer etc and it has been used to drive to Florida numerous times and not one single problem with the vehichle.

 

[minnie56]

Agree with the above Post. The GMC Acadia is a great vehicle, though I am not sure in your price range? My GM lease ended this past Oct. I was driving a GMC-EnvoyXL...was thinking of the Acadia...ended up with the Buick-Enclave which really is the sister to the Acadia though better appointed inside..I LOVE IT!!!!!!! I am a GM gal..from waaaaay back.

 

[F4disneyfan]

Agree with the above Post. The GMC Acadia is a great vehicle, though I am not sure in your price range? My GM lease ended this past Oct. I was driving a GMC-EnvoyXL...was thinking of the Acadia...ended up with the Buick-Enclave which really is the sister to the Acadia though better appointed inside..I LOVE IT!!!!!!! I am a GM gal..from waaaaay back.

I agree the Enclave is great but just not to our taste we prefer the Acadia LOL mind you teh Saturn Outlook is also really nice but even more expensive with the features we wanted in it that the Acadia is going to be. Our lease price on the Acadia is around 430 a month. This is with the preffered package and the towing package and the captains chairs in the centre row.

 

[minnie56]

I agree the Enclave is great but just not to our taste we prefer the Acadia LOL mind you teh Saturn Outlook is also really nice but even more expensive with the features we wanted in it that the Acadia is going to be. Our lease price on the Acadia is around 430 a month. This is with the preffered package and the towing package and the captains chairs in the centre row.

WOW good deal..we got the base price down by almost $3,000 and my total lease pymnt is still $888 per month! The Acadia was what I actually went to get...loved the look of it. Until I saw the inside of the Enclave, then I was done.

 

[F4disneyfan]

WOW good deal..we got the base price down by almost $3,000 and my total lease pymnt is still $888 per month! The Acadia was what I actually went to get...loved the look of it. Until I saw the inside of the Enclave, then I was done.

LOL ya the Enclave is to upscale looking for me LOL don't now why I just love the plain look inside the Acadia. I am not big on the wood trim etc I like plain lether etc. The Enclave is very nice looking inside and it appeals to so many people I am aparently just not one of those LOL.