what would you do re: car purchase?

[zag95]

Our family is growning. With a car seat rear facing, I will not be able to ride in the front seat of our Subaru Outback (due to being too tall!!!!) and DH can't have his seat far forward either. We need a larger car.

We are looking at trading DH's car and will get a decent amount for our trade (on a 2005). Our budget is looking at about 23K.

We are looking at minivans. Yesterday we test drove a 2008 Toyota Sienna LE- it has 52K on it. Price is about 17K. I am really wanting something that has leather, if at all possible, with 2 kiddos and a dog. Also want to get low miles, if possible. We are looking at the Odyssey this weekend to compare handling, etc.

Would you consider something that has that many miles on it? Would you look at something newer or???

[KrisM]

I don't think 52k miles on a 4 year old vehicle is high at all. That's only 13,000/year. Does the Sienna you test drove have leather?

[AnnieW625]

I bought a used Honda Accord with 56k on it and I drove it about 15k per year. It worked just fine. I would probably offer around $15k for the car. If you aren't going to drive a lot of miles each year I would be fine with a car that had that many miles esp. if I knew I could get the car for a good deal.

[belovedgandp]

The mileage would not scare me away from buying a vehicle like that. I did buy a new van in 2007 and I'm shocked when I look down and it has 60K miles on it already. Still feels new to me. We put more miles on it in the first three years. The past two years have been a lower rate since DH has a bigger car now.

But, after having kids and cloth before and now having kids and leather. I'm telling you I'd never go back. I adore my leather seats. Power doors and leather seats were my two wish list items for my van when we went shopping.

[SnuggleBuggles]

That seems ok to me.

FWIW, my new Mazda5 was $21k. It is a nice middle ground size wise, imO.

[MommyAllison]

I voted Other. We're scouring CL for a used Odyssey right now too, with Siennas as our second choice. Definitely drive the Ody before you decide, and if you can drive one that is a comparable trim level, even better. We prefer the handling of the Ody, and the EXL trim vs the Sienna's XLE trim. I'd check KBB and NADA values on everything you're considering as well. I think their price is pretty fair on the Sienna, depending of course on what upgrades it has, if it is AWD, and the condition. I'm guessing it's at a dealer?

[wellyes]

I do not consider 52k a lot of miles on a Sienna. You should easily get 4-5 years out of that car, probably more.
In your shoes I'd test drive an Ody, a Mazda and - for much cheaper - a Chrysler or Dodge.
I've test drove a few minivans, it is worth comparing, the feel is very different.

If I had unlimited money I'd get the Honda, most fun to drive.
My DH would get the Mazda, smallest.

The only one I despised was the Kia.

[lhafer]

I would throw a Nissan Quest into the mix too. I had a 2006 brand new, and just traded it in in January for a 2012 model - I had 105,000 miles on it.

[ncat]

DH and I chose an Odyssey over the Sienna in part because the seating throughout the car fit us better. We are both tall, from tall families, and wanted to be comfortable if we had to sit in the back with the kids.

The minivan was a replacement for a Subaru Forrester that did not fit a rear-facing seat well.

[katydid1971]

Ok, have you thought of getting a new car? Hondas and Toyotas hold their resale value so well that new is sometimes only a little more than used and you can keep it 4 or 5 years longer (you would get to put the first 50k miles one). If you don't mind driving the same car for 10+ years I think you should look at what deal you can get for a new car. Honda is having a deal right now, it might be worth a look. JMO