Purchasing a used van, need advice

[LovetheMouse12302]

We are currently looking to purchase a used van sometime this month. I'm currently pregnant with baby #3 and our current vehicles wont accommodate our growing family. I currently drive a newer Toyota Corolla (we still owe on it for 3 more years) and DH drives an old Ford Taurus (it's paid for).

We test drove a Sienna and I really liked it a lot. It felt safe and made well, but the price in comparison to a used Dodge/Chrysler is almost twice as much. I'm wondering if it's worth the extra cost. If we would purchase a Toyota or Honda, we would need to trade in my Corolla and finance some of the van. We've ran the numbers and our payment would be slightly less, but we would be trading in our newer car with less miles for an older van with more miles. We would be looking into a 3 year loan, so we would still have the same length of payments.

Our other option is to sell DH's car and pay cash for a cheaper van. I'm just worried about the age of the vehicles in our price range and the mileage. I don't have the patience to frequently visit the mechanic with 3 small children. We have been fortunate that DH's car has been very reliable. This option is what we've been leaning more towards, but I don't want to make a decision we will regret.

Thanks in advance!

 

[of2dbeach]

You will loose money when you trade in a can , you always do. The payments left over will be rolled into the new van amount and then you will pay off both vehicles. I would drive the one you owe payments on sell it outright and then buy a van with cash. Thats how we did it and I think every time no car payment and no high insurance. i was worried about the van breaking down also. I have 3 kids one which is Autisitc/Epileptic and we are in south fl. Luckily it only left me stuck once and my neighbor came and got me and hubby fixed what was wrong. get AAA if your worried. We have a 2001 Chevy Astro we bought off a neighbor. he needed the money, we needed the van.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I would say go with a Toyota van. Toyota have a good rep for be reliable. We have had 4 Toyota's and never had any issues. My husband currently has a corolla that has 140,000 miles original brakes and muffler. Never been in the shop.

He heard a news story that mechanics hate Toyota because they rarely get to work on them because the hardly break down. With a kid on the way you want something reliable.

 

[wendow]

We went through this back in 2008 when I was pregnant with #3. We did not have a trade though as we owned our vehicle so we just sold it to an individual rather than trading. but we really debated whether to buy a used Honda vs a used Dodge/Chrysler.

We ended up going with a Honda Odyssey. It was a couple of years older and had a few more miles than the other brand but I have every confidence it will last way longer. We bought it at 7 yrs old, 58k miles. It's now almost 13 yrs old, 105k miles. We have done nothing to it other than regular oil changes and the rare check-up. It's such a fabulous van and Honda has a great reputation for their vehicles going a long time.

Not trying to sell you on a Honda. I think Toyota's are pretty good also. And just for the record, dh & I have owned several Dodge/Chrysler vehicles and after about 4-5 years, it just always seemed like they needed MORE THAN regular maintenance.

Congrats on Baby #3

 

[bigbabyblues]

We bought a 2004 Sienna in October 2006. It was a lot cheaper than a new one, and we got a decent deal on it, it had about 58,000 miles on it. It is now 10 years old, and we have done nothing but regular maintenance on it, and we have had no problems out of it. It has 120,000 miles, and we drive it to FL from OH with no concerns.

 

[tvguy]

He heard a news story that mechanics hate Toyota because they rarely get to work on them because the hardly break down. .

My friend has been a mechanic at the Toyota dealer since 1969. As he puts it, he wouldn't have had a job for the last 45 years if Toyotas needed as few repairs as some people seem to think. He says the big difference is, when Toyota discovers a problem, they are much much more likely to fix it for free after the warranty period than other auto makers. From about 1988 to 2005 Toyota had huge problems with blown head gaskets on their V-6 engines. So did Ford on their V-6 engines. Toyota extended the warranty on the head gaskets for the life of the car, Ford extended their warranty to 6 years of 60,000 miles. THERE, is the Toyota difference.

To the OP, I am not a fan of Chrysler products, but if you can get a similar age/condition/mileage Chrysler van for half what a Toyota van costs, I would consider the Chrysler. It may need more repairs, but not enough to offset that price savings.

 

[dprincessmom]

We are happy with our used Dodge Grand Caravan. We bought with43k miles and it currently has 179k. Still running well, we don't take it on long trips anymore but put at least 55 miles per day. if you can find a good used one I would highly recommend a Dodge Grand Caravan (this one has the stow and go seats, quick and easy)

 

[seashoreCM]

It should run perfectly, flawlessly, when you test drive it. If it doesn't and the seller gives some excuse like it needs a tuneup, then get out and walk away. (Why didn't the seller tune it up first?)

Try everything, even rolling the windows up and down. Don't laugh. Some years ago I read someone's sob story about a used car; he paid for it, got it home, then a few days later rolled down a window and it would not roll back up. (I shouldn't go way off on tangents about the thunderstorm.)

 

[Nintfamily]

We are on our third mini van. Our first was a Dodge Caravan. Ran a ton of miles on it and it finally needed a new transmission and head gaskets. Loved it, it ran beautiful and up until the end it didn't need anything but regular maintenance.
We got an amazing deal on a Ford Windstar. UGH, we had terrible luck with it. Although I knew we were going to end up with a payment (hadn't had a car payment in years, normally paid cash for cars) I was happy when the darn computer brain starting dying.
We now have a Honda Odyssey. Absolutely love it. Toyota's I have heard are good too. Good luck.

 

[mum2simon]

We also went through this when pregnant with #3...our options were newer American van or older Toyota or Honda....we test drove them ALL!!! Longest few months of my life....lol!

We ended up buying a Honda Odyssey (it was 6 years old at the time), it has 125K on it now and is running strong. We love it, I really liked how the Honda drove over the Sienna, but that is just my personal opinion We also wanted a van with 8 seats instead of 7, so that limited our choices a bit...

 

[DSNY4ever]

We just did the great van hunt and bought a new Honda Odyssey. We thought we could save by going used, but the used honed and Toyota vans were really only a couple thousand cheaper and then we were getting 35k+ miles on it already which didn't really seem worth it. We did see the used Chryslers and Dodges that were cheaper, but we had to get a really old one and they didn't meet all the needs of features we wanted (the eighth seat and the back up camera, automatic doors etc).

If you go w/new there is a site called Truecar dot com that my husband used to find out good prices and negotiate online and over the phone with the dealerships. We were able to get a great price and a no haggle purchase- it was awesome! It was a close call between the Honda and the Toyota, but the Honda just had a few more features and a way bigger back up camera that we liked. Good luck with your decision- we are happy van owners so far!

 

[sksjasams]

We had to decide on which van to choose this past May. We ended up with a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT.

We looked at Siennas and Odysseys but truly could not come to grips that we would have to get a much older model, with much higher mileage, and fewer options for a much higher price. We simply couldn't justify it.

While I have no doubt we would have been happy with with the Toyota or the Honda, we are equally happy with the Dodge, and feel better about the financial decision we made.

We have been very happy with the Grand Caravan SXT. We have only had regular maintenance and I have been putting on way more miles than I anticipated, which makes me even happier we went with the lower mileage vehicle. It has been completely reliable and handles great in the snow.

One tip I will give you, if you decide to go with the Dodge or Chrysler...we initially began looking at Town and Country's, but found the price was even better on the Grand Caravans. No idea why. We have the SXT model, which has dual sliding power doors, power liftgate, stow-and-seats...everything you could want. Plus ours happen to come with a dvd player which was just a bonus.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

We ought a Toyota Sienna used. It is a 2008. It no has 95000 miles on it and has been to Florida twice from Indiana. We have a 7 seater. We do regular maintence on it and purchased the Toyota Gold warranty. It is essentially bumper to bumper coverage. We have had bad luck with Chevy and Chrysler (breaks down with some major part just after the warranty expires and final payment is made). Just our experience. Dodge caravans felts cheap to me. My perception but that's how we felt.

 

[Jeff_G]

You didn't say what year or miles, however I would go with the Sienna over the Dodge any day. I have a 2004 sienna which is now 10 years old with about 65K miles. It runs perfect, doesn't loose a drop of oil between changes, gets the same gas millage as the day we bought it.

I would not trade in the Corolla, you will get hosed at the dealer. Sell the Corolla outright then pay for the Sienna.

When I traded in my Corolla to purchase the Sienna they gave me about 1/4th of what KBB / Edmunds said it was worth. I couldn't get them to budge and I should have taken the car home vs trading it.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Coworker has an older Sienna. She raves about its reliability, but she also spends a LOT of money on preventative maintenance - things a Dodge owner would call "repairs" LOL. It's also had some unusual things go wrong with it as well.

 

[Narnia_girl]

If you can, check out an April issue of Consumer Reports. They give you a number on what you can expect to pay for a certain used vehicle--and which ones to avoid. They also give repair history, from actual car owners.

We are on our second Honda Odyssey (got the first one in 2000) and my next van will be a Honda.

My friend has a Toyota Sienna and it has well over 200,000 miles.

 

[mrodgers]

Toyota or Honda, the only two cars I'll put in my driveway from here on out. Been through pretty much all the manufacturers. Always problems except for my Toyotas or Hondas.

 

[Pooh2]

We went with a brand-new Honda odyessey back in 2004. It has never been in the shop except for routine maintenance. The body, engine and interior are still excellent at 10 years old.

A family member bought a dodge the same year. She has had the transmission replaced as well as other major engine work, and the body is rotting out. She is hoping to replace it this year. I am going to shoot for at least 13 years out of my Honda! You get what you pay for.

 

[cravingacruise]

We are a family of 6, so a mini van is important to us. Besides that, we live on a lake approximately 15 miles from town, schools, etc. so we put a decent amount of miles on our vehicles.

In 2006, we bought a used 2004 Toyota Sienna and drove it for almost 8 years (220,000 miles so we definitely got more than our money's worth). We loved our Sienna and contemplated purchasing a 2011 (we always buy used vehicles approximately two years old) this fall while van hunting. After pouring through the consumer reports and reviews between the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey, I was leaning towards the Odyssey.

We test drove both the Sienna and Honda, and although they were both amazing, we chose the 2011 Honda Odyssey. We've had it for about 4 months now and absolutely love it! We found the EX 8-passenger (middle model) was reasonably priced and very comfortable (Feels more SUV-like from the inside than a Sienna). I don't think you can go wrong with either one!

 

[Egdisney]

I am looking for a new, or new to us minivan. I have been finding that there doesn't seem to be a lot of savings in buying used. A used van with mileage that I would consider purchasing(50,000 or less) is not very much cheaper than a new van and often when financing your interest rate is higher. Anything I have found with less than 50,000 is still above 15,000, more than 20,000 in most cases.
I haven't driven anything yet, but when I know I can get a 2014 dodge caravan for 17000 after dealer and manufacturers rebates or a 2014 town and country for less than 25000, it is hard to justify spending that much on a car with any miles. My research has told me that Chrysler and Dodge have greatly improved their vans that are 2011 and newer. Reviews say the same. My parents found when they were buying a car that it also wasn't it worth it to buy used. They hunted for a long time trying to find a used car(SUV in their case) that was a good value, and they found that buying new was the best deal. I have been looking online for months,so my conclusion isn't a snap judgement.
Just something to think about.