Tell it to me straight, 10k for a 7-8 passenger vehicle?

[bisous]

We need one. With our tax rebate, savings and the sale of DH's car we are thinking we could spend around 10K for a new vehicle. And it might be tight. Less would be even better.

WWYD? Would you try to keep in under that amount? Or get a bit of a loan and buy a better car--then drive it into the ground?

We have a bit of a time limit. Come November, we'll no longer fit in our current vehicle. I'm not picky about looks but reliable is important to me!

[codex57]

I'd see what kind of Sienna you could get. Just a LE 8 seater. If it costs a bit more, I'd be willing to take a small loan to get a lower mileage one and then just drive that sucker into the ground. Reliability wise, you've got a much bigger risk with the Caravan/T&C (engine and transmission) and even the Odyssey (transmission).

[Binkandabee]

I would get the very best, most reliable base model you can afford. If it meant taking out a smallish loan, I would definitely do it. Then drive it until you simply can't justify anymore....at least 10-12 years minimum.

Have you looked at Nissan Quests? We have a 2008 (base model) and it has 90,000 miles on it. We've never had a single issue with it and we bought it when it had 18,000 miles on it.

DH has said when it's time to replace the van, we'll look at a Sienna. It's a personal preference he has because he really doesn't like the looks of the new Quest at all. Otherwise, it would be another Quest for us for sure!

[bisous]

Thanks for the perspective. Glad to know Quest's are reliable too. I see lots of wisdom in purchasing a car that will last. But hate the idea of a monthly payment. I want to be wise over the long haul and it is tough to know what that will be. I appreciate your weighing in.

[AnnieW625]

A year ago if I knew you were looking I would have steered you the way of DH's uncle. He was trying to sell his 2003 Suburban with about 120k miles and a newly rebuilt transmission. It had leather seats, and overall it was in great shape and I believe he sold it for around $9-10k to a neighbor who was having triplets! It was the LT model, not the LTZ model, which was the top of the line.

If you can increase your budget a bit or just finance all but the $7k for the price difference, tax, license and fees you can get a 2006 Town & Country with 49k miles at Carmax in Buena Park.
http://m.carmax.com/vehicle/9392052

or this 2007 Sienna with 74k miles for $15k
http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/default.html?AVi=1&id=9391989&N=4294966921&D=50&zip=91502&sP=NA-16000&pD=0&pI=0&pT=400&pC=200&pB=0&No=0&Ep=homepage:homepage%20Type&Rp=R&Vp=F&PP=20&sV=List&CD=662+14+966+240+398+15+9&Q=dbf217c0-0bfe-40a3-b71d-b29e50cd8450

Here is whole list of mini vans under $16k in a 250 mile radius of a zip code about an hour (I think) from where you are, but the same vehicles came up in my area as well.
http://www.carmax.com/enus/search-results/default.html?AWc=1&ANi=0&AsP=NA-16000&N=4294966921&D=50&zip=91502&pD=0&pI=0&pT=400&pC=200&pB=0&No=0&Ep=homepage:homepage%20Type&Rp=R&Vp=F&PP=20&sV=List&CD=662+14+966+240+398+15+9&Q=dbf217c0-0bfe-40a3-b71d-b29e50cd8450

[bisous]

Annie! You are amazing!! Will be looking over this with DH tonight!!

[bisous]

What about other non-minivan options? Are they cheaper? Any "steals" out there? I'm okay with recognizing I'll be dealing with climbing over seats and non-sliding doors!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Financing rates can be so low that I was personally ok w a 3y loan. We could have paid cash but it was under 2% for the loan so we did it.

[jjordan]

I'd do a 2006 or newer Kia Sedona - IIHS top safety pick and in your price range.

[kbud]

Look on CL and try to buy private party it will be far cheaper.

I like CarMax but have found them a bit more expensive than other options.

I bought 2 mini vans in that price point. One I bought for $5000. It was 5 years old and had 36,000 miles on it, fully loaded Ford Windstar. I bought it from a transmission shop. the transmission was rebuilt and they couldn't pay the bill so left the van. We only kept it for about 2 years as it had issues warning lights on/off etc. although if we were more mechanically inclined I think we would have been fine with working through them. We only paind $5000 for it! I sold it 2 years and 30,000 miles later for $6500! So I essentially flipped it.

I replaced it with an 03 Venture for $8000 with 65,000 miles on it through a dealer. No problems at all with it. I only sold it because we got my parents Caravan with 17,000 miles on it when my dad died.

So it can be done. Just need to have patience. Oh, and this was a few years ago, they were about 5 -6 year old cars at the time.

Both of those vans were fully loaded, very clean (ok windstar was really dirty but just surface dirt from sitting at the shop for a few months), etc.

[AnnieW625]

I'll add another potential van to the list, the Chevy Uplander. DH drives a 2010 for his work trips and for not being a van person at all he doesn't complain about it, but then he doesn't have to pay for maintenence on the thing. I believe it was discontinued after 2011, but I will say one bonus for GM is that they never seem to discontinue their parts. My boss has a 2002 Oldsmobile Silhouette van and he has never had any problems getting parts for it. Same thing when my parents had their Chevy station wagons from 89 to 2005.

[Binkandabee]

Agree that you will find a much better bargain on craigslist than through a dealer. You do have to be patient, though, and when you find the right one, you have to be ready to act. Well maintained, used vehicles on craigslist go very, very quickly.

I just bought a 2009 Toyota Highlander and I spent a good 3 months scouring craigslist (and dealers) for just the right one. Made offers on many of them but couldn't reach an agreement on price (mostly through dealerships), a great number of them were already sold by the time I'd made contact, it was very frustrating. But I was persistent and found what I believe to be the perfect vehicle. It takes some effort, but you will find the right one!

[bisous]

Thanks, guys. I just realized that if I wait I few months, I can actually have a lot more saved. It is just a question of how we want to divert our funds. My entire salary (I'm part-time) is used towards paying down our debts (above and beyond minimum payments) and to accruing savings. If I kept plugging away towards a car, I could afford more without financing. Or I could save more, or pay off debts. So hard to know what to do!

I think I'm just going to get ready and be prepared for when a great deal comes around. I'm still awaiting my tax rebates and then I'll do as you guys said and scour craigslist. Is craigslist the best site for finding cars these days? Our last car we purchased from recycler.com in 2002!

[Binkandabee]

You can also try autotrader. I used autotrader mostly for price comparison, though. In our area, it's mostly dealers that have vehicles on autotrader, but you can limit your search to private parties only, which is helpful.

[AnnieW625]

One more thing used car prices from private parties here are really unreasonable based on my experience. People want the best profit for their car. It is very hard to find a used car in my neck if the woods for less than at the dealer. When we were looking at listing our 01 Corolla to sell I was finding people on Auto Trader or Craigslist who were trying to sell their 00-01 Corollas with 150k+ miles for $7k when they probably weren't worth more than $3500. Had my brother not bought it for $2600 I was going to list it for $4000, but would have taken $3000. It still can't look to hurt, but I wouldn't count on either CL or Auto Trader to find a great dealer, although you might find an honest deal on there, but they might be hard to find.

I might consider this Odyssey if you can get the price down to $9500 as it looks like it is a private party sale.
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cto/3734559918.html

This Yukon looks nice as well, but it is not close to you:
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/ctd/3718474323.html

Another Odyssey, which is close to $19k, but it has low miles.
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/ctd/3744701144.html

[Simon]

We bought a Honda Pilot with legal seats for 8 (more like 7 with car seats) for under $9k and its been holding up very, very well. We've had it for nearly 2 years now and have driven it back and forth across the country a few times, towed long distances and use it now for some fairly long commutes. Its not great on gas mileage, but its holding up very, very well to the abuse its taking.

I think there are a lot of deals to be had in certain niches, specifically, domestic cars with low miles but more years or Toyota/Honda/Subaru models 100k+ miles.

[kellij]

What about other non-minivan options? Are they cheaper? Any "steals" out there? I'm okay with recognizing I'll be dealing with climbing over seats and non-sliding doors!

Just remember to keep in mind gas mileage as well. I have an Ody now and it gets tons better mpg than my previous Suburban.

[niccig]

If you do decide to get a loan, I get an email from penfed for car loan of 1.9% that's REALLY low. I agree with weighing cost vs reliability.