Buying a new car...what a headache!

[MelissaTC]

AARRGGHH. We are looking at minivans. We know what features we want and decided to keep an open mind as we headed to the local auto expo at the convention center. One of the last vans on our list actually moved up to the first after seeing the re-designed 2005 model. We are in love. But to be fair, we headed to 2 dealerships to look at other vans we are very interested in.

The first place told us to wait and that a salesperson would return to help us. We waited. And waited. No one came. I became very poed and left. I guess the salesperson meant for us told the girl at the info desk that he was slammed and left. Bad for them. Very bad. Their van was at the top of my list.

The second dealership was ok but the poor guy basically told us everything that was wrong with their van in comparison to their strongest competitors. The funny thing was we are not interested in its competitors! We never mentioned another company at all! Poor guy must not do well in sales. He never asked us our names or even looked at me whie talking. Who is going to be driving this thing? Me! Who do you think has done all the reading and research? Me! AArrghh.

Third dealership was awesome. I am the daughter of a salesman. He can sell a woman in white gloves a ketchup popsicle in August. That's my Dad. I am not that bad in the sales department either. Well, this guy was awesome in that he was a good combination of shark and honesty. He also happens to have what we want. And we can get a corporate discount of 1% below invoice. And he knows that. Still treated us well and really hilighted the re-design, etc..

This is all just a big headache anyway. I *thought* I loved the first 2 cars but I am glad I kept an open mind. Anyway, just wanted to vent and I am sure looking forward to driving my 2005 in a few weeks!

[ismommy]

So which minivan are you getting. When DH gets back we will be staring to look at minivans - so any advice is appreciated.

Helene

[momathome]

Okay, dying of curiosity - what van are you getting?!?!? And what dealerships gave you a hard time? We initially had our heart set on the new Toyota Sienna but were completely turned off by the attitude of the dealership. We ended up getting a Mazda MPV and couldn't be happier. Are you getting a van with dual power sliding doors? That is by far my favorite feature on my van! And the dvd entertainment system, of course! Congrats on the purchase of your new car - details, girl, I want details!!!
-Lauren

[MelissaTC]

I think we are going to get the re-designed 2005 Dodge Caravan! Woo hoo! LOL...it is AWESOME ;) ALL of the seats fold in...the second and third row seats. It is awesome. I love the power liftgate, power sliding doors, and there is a lot of leg room. Also a lot of storage! We are crazy about the storage. We want it with a DVD player and leather seats...

Dealership #1 - Nissan...ugh

Dealership # - Honda. Poor guy was basically selling us a Toyota or a Nissan. WTF? Point out all the good things on your product, NOT what you don't have. It was just crazy.

Dealership #3 - Dodge

We looked at a bunch of vans at the car show. We ruled out the Mazda because of the leg room issue. My DH couldn't sit in the back. The Toyota was also a tight squeeze and DH didn't care for it or the new Ford/Mercury. We didn't like the Venture because we really want fold down seats. The Kia was nice but again, we want a DVD, power doors and liftgate. I like the Honda a lot but there is no power liftgate and we can get the Grand Caravan all supped up for what a comparable Honda will cost us. The guy at Honda was not really interested in talking price.

Anyway, we are pretty sure we are going to get the Dodge Grand Caravan. It wasn't at the top of our list but this new 2005 kicks butt. I really think that Dodge has an awesome van and I encourage anyone who is interested in vans to look at it. They went back and really surpassed the competition with the new features...

[jamsmu]

I'm surprised! I keep looking past the Caravan because its such a... well... van. I like the Sienna, MPV and Honda. But I haven't really started looking... I'm talking "looks" is what I like. I'm still having trouble getting used to the idea of driving an "m-word."

Thanks for all the info!

[MelissaTC]

Exactly my issue! I drive an Explorer and love it. But it isn't working for us. Check out the 2005...it is VERY cool. My list was Nissan, Honda, Mazda and Toyota. My list now is Dodge and Honda...still can't rule out that Odyssey...but Dodge has really stepped it up!

[egoldber]

I LOOOOVVVEEEE my Grand Caravan! The folding seats would be nice, but honestly I don't miss them at all. It is such a nice van, it has all the features I want, and it drives very smoothly. My dealership is incredibly helpful, extemely responsive, and VERY child friendly. And it was MUCH cheaper than the comparable vans out there.

I would buy the Grand Caravan again in an instant!

[Momof3Labs]

We bought a minivan a year ago (before the 2004's were being shown) and the dealbreaker was that we wanted one that could last for a decade. My dad has had Dodge minivans for as long as they've been making them (so 4-5 of them?), and he loves them, but none of them has gone more than 3-4 years without some major problems cropping up. But on the other hand, our family has had great luck with Hondas. They have more bells and whistles than the Honda (that we bought) but the reliability issue ended up being a deciding factor for us. Consumer Reports' data pretty much backed this up for us.

Just something to think about - but only if you are worried about this van being around for many, many years!

[MelissaTC]

Thanks for the heads up! We are thinking this will be our vechicle for about 6 years or so. I do have some neighbors and friends that have had them for a lot longer than that without ever having a problem (knock on wood!).

We still have some homework to do but we are definitely swaying in this direction.

Thanks L!

[MelissaTC]

I was thinking about you when I looked at this van...lol. DH just loves it to pieces. I think it is pretty cool as well, especially with the new features. I am glad you love yours! I know I had a LONG conversation with a former neighbor about her van (GC as well) and she can't say enough about it. :) You GC owners really seem to love your vans!

[MartiesMom2B]

Melissa:

Two words: ROAD TRIP!!

Do we have to bring the babies? LOL. Can't wait to see what you end up and what you like about the van, as we'll be shopping in the next few years for a van too.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

There must have been something wrong with the rental one we just had for 3 weeks, it only had 1,500 miles on it but I did not like it. It was bare boned...but I was happy to get my SUV back. There must have been something wrong with it...
Neve
http://home.nc.rr.com/ourbabytristan
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[egoldber]

Yes, the rentals are usually very bare. They are also usually Caravans, as opposed to Grand Caravans, so they are slightly smaller. We have the eX model with a couple other upgrades, so we have dual sliding doors, power rear liftgate and leather. Off the lot, including the in-car DVD player that we added as a $2K option, ours was (at the time) $3K cheaper than the comparable Honda Odyssey. Which we would have had to have waited 4 months for.

We also added an optional rear cargo gadget. DH installed it, so that saved us a few $$, but it was worth every penny.

[MinnieMouse]

Dh and I have had an ear open when it comes to mini vans...we will probably buy one in the next 2-3yrs when we have #2. Every person that I have talked to that has had a Caravan told me to RUN far away from it. The main problem from what I understand is the transmissions....my coworker told me that her tranny died at 15,000 miles and she later found out that it was a MAJOR problem with all the Caravans.

After hearing horror story after horror story the Caravan isn't even remotely on our list.

Just wanted to give you a heads up.

edited to add: I went to our local car show and after that...our short list is the Toyota Sienna and the Honda Odyssey. We had been thinking of the Nissan Quest but after seeing it in person I took it off. I really didn't like the shifter in the middle of the dashboard.

Christine

[MelissaTC]

Hmmm...that's interesting. From what I have read, the newer Caravans (2003-2004) are better made and haven't had the problems that its predecessors have had. Thanks for the heads up!

[Momof3Labs]

The transmission problem is old, old news from what I understand - my dad had a Grand Caravan with the transmission problem (when they all had this problem) and that was a good 11-12 years ago.

Again, Consumer Reports puts together some pretty thorough reports on sources of problems based on model year. In fact, I think that their latest auto issue is coming out any day now!

[MelissaTC]

Thanks for the heads up! I am going to keep a lookout for that. I want to make sure that I am buying something that fits all of our needs and won't fall apart on me. :) I will be sad to see Xena the Warrior Princess aka our 1998 Ford Explorer XLT go. I *LOVE* her but realize that it is time to move on. :(

[DDowning]

Christine - I have the Quest and I can tell you I was a little put off by the controls in the middle too. However, I love it now - its like using a keyboard - everything is right there and its so within easy reach. Its different, yes, but sometimes, different is good!

Melissa - sorry you had such a bad experience at the Nissan dealer. When we went to purchase ours, our salesman was great and very accommodating.

[MinnieMouse]

Deidra:

I guess we will have to go look at it again. On first glance we really liked what we had heard about it and I was eager to see it at the car show.

I walked up and they had ONE silver one on the floor....and it had like a burnt orange leather interior. Between the interior and the oddly placed shifter it really turned me off to it. Who knows by the time we are ready to actually BUY a minivan the entire thing will be redesigned :-).

Christine

[DDowning]

Oh, I know what you are talking about - the "rouge" interior really is a turn-off! DH kept referring to it as "Moulin Rouge". It really is hideous - it wouldn't have been so bad if just the seats where that way but having to look at that all over the dash - no way! Plus to me, it just reminded me of those old beat up chevy trucks with the red interiors. Ick! When we were looking, we kept finding silver vans too! It seemed like that's all that was made. We really wanted an SE in Smoke with Beige interior - it was like pulling teeth. One salesperson at a different dealership told us - "well Silver is shown to be the most popular color." Well Duh! If that's the only thing available, of course people will buy it. We had to wait 2 months to get the color/interior/options that we wanted but its worth the wait!

Anyway, if you look at it again, you might be right as far as model changes - I think the 2005's will be rolled out in July. Good luck!

[MinnieMouse]

If you noticed I didn't say that it looked hideous....I didn't want to offend you if you had it :-). But I agree it's hideous. One of the people I was with ran her hand over the dashboard and said...wow this feels weird, is it plastic? and the guy was standing RIGHT there....NO, it's leather. She felt bad, but it did feel weird.

I don't know what focus group is telling them that that color combination is attractive, but they need a new focus group!!

:-)

Christine