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Location: When things get hot they expand. Im not fat. Im hot.
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I dont want to buy a new minivan. But soon I will have to put my old 96 to sleep. Its making wonky noises. The garage said it will cost way too much to fix it. Sooooo. Id like to get some imput from you guys. Which ones do you like/not like and why. When I say new. I mean new to me. Im thinking 2005 2006. Used but still under warranty. Also I usually keep my vehicles for 10 years +.
Im not a fussy person. I usually take out all the back seats so I can haul more stuff. Seems like Im always hauling stuff. Im open to other suggestions but Im thinking a minvan is a good fit for me.
Id like the usuals AC automatic and Id also like traction control. Oh and someone told me Dodge has a lifetime warranty on the powertrain. Is this true.
We just bought an '04 Honda Odyssey, with 25K miles on it. Honda has an awesome certified warranty, so it carries it until something like 110k miles! Checked it first with the carfax history, shopped around lots online and in person. We narrowed it down b/w toyota and honda, since those tend to last much longer (and we wanted something dependable for frequent 500 mi trips). Liked the toyota style a little bit more honestly, but honda's warranty was better.
So far, it's awesome. The trip in my passat wagon that was HORRID was FANTASTIC in the Honda. (we have a 2 and 4 year old). The tires on it were cr@p, so we'll have to replace them before winter. But, I am SOOOO glad we bought used, a new one similar would be 10K more. (and, finally, I can have someone else in my car other than my children)
My husband never thought he'd have a mini-van, but he's actually happy we got it!
(and don't forget all the storage with the stow-n-go seats!)
We have had a Dodge Caravan and a Plymouth Voyager. Both were excellent vans, easy to drive and comfortable seats. When the Voyager finally had to be put out to pasture (needed a lot of tinkering and absolutely had to have a new paint job with close to 200,000 miles on the speedometer) we had a really good deal on a used Chevy Venture. It's not nearly as easy to drive, and the seats don't fit me as well as the other two. I can live with it, but I miss the Chrysler style of van better.
Location: When things get hot they expand. Im not fat. Im hot.
2,515 posts, read 6,325,190 times
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Vetegnc
Thanks I hadnt considered a 2004. How much of the waranty is still left and what does it still cover.
Padgett2
Thats something to consider too. Im 5 10. I cant sit up straight in some cars so I have to lean the seat way back and drive like a player. Im old. I prefer to sit up right.
Location: Ohio, but moving to El Paso, TX August/September
434 posts, read 1,653,175 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cecilia_Rose
I dont want to buy a new minivan. But soon I will have to put my old 96 to sleep. Its making wonky noises. The garage said it will cost way too much to fix it. Sooooo. Id like to get some imput from you guys. Which ones do you like/not like and why. When I say new. I mean new to me. Im thinking 2005 2006. Used but still under warranty. Also I usually keep my vehicles for 10 years +.
Im not a fussy person. I usually take out all the back seats so I can haul more stuff. Seems like Im always hauling stuff. Im open to other suggestions but Im thinking a minvan is a good fit for me.
Id like the usuals AC automatic and Id also like traction control. Oh and someone told me Dodge has a lifetime warranty on the powertrain. Is this true.
I have a 2004 Odyssey. It's the best thing I've ever driven.
One thing I really like about it is I'm short (5 feet) and hubby is tall (6 feet) and we both can drive it comfortably.
I like that there are multiple ways to open the sliding doors (keychain, pulling on the handle, or a button near the driver).
I wish we could have held off for the newer Odyssey (but we needed it when we did because we were having twins and no way would they fit easy in our Nissan Sentra) because I'm pretty sure those have the stow under seats whereas in the 2004, the captain's chairs are removable, but not stow away.
When we bought it, I did a lot of research on quality and it came down to the Odyssey and the Toyota Sienna. There were some things I liked better on the Sienna, some things on the Odyssey, so we decided to go with who gave the better price and Honda really made us a very good deal.
We did also check out the Nissan Qwest back in 2004, but if you are short, it's too hard to see over the dash and the layout of the knobs was not intuitive. I don't know if their newer models changed that.
One thing we were told was the Chrysler was the same as the Dodge, so if money is an issue, go with the Dodge.
The dealer that we went to sold Chrysler, Dodge, Honda, and Nissan. I asked our salesman about the warranty differences, and he said there's a reason the Dodge and Chrysler had longer warranties..according to him, they tended to have more things go wrong. Don't know if it's true or not, just what I was told by a dealer.
There actually can be some good reasons not to go that route.
In my non-professional/non-mechanic understanding, when you drop in a new engine, it can "upset" the balance of the the other pre-existing parts (the transmission for example).
I've done it when I felt it was the only option, and it bought me a bit more time with the car, but I would avoid going that route again in the future - it ended up not being cost effective in hindsight.
We had an engine pulled from a wrecked car (where the damage was not to the engine area) so we were able to get a used engine with 60k miles on it. We saved a bit of money that way.
Im not a fussy person. I usually take out all the back seats so I can haul more stuff. Seems like Im always hauling stuff. Im open to other suggestions but Im thinking a minvan is a good fit for me.
I'm a Honda lover too, like some of the previous posters. I drive a Pilot, but we are in the midst of deciding on another Honda.
We looked closely at the Element, and you might want to give it a look too. It's lower priced than the Odessey, so you might even be able to spring for brand new (if you wanted). The interior is really flexible and it is great on gas, etc.
Location: When things get hot they expand. Im not fat. Im hot.
2,515 posts, read 6,325,190 times
Reputation: 5317
Thanks muchly everybody for your help. Guess I need to add more info. This beast has already had a new transmission in 99 under warranty and a new engine in 2005 by me. A new transmission isnt the only thing it needs. I wont bore you with a list but the bottom line was $6000.
More questions.
Im a DIY person. Been known to haul lumber, plywood etc. How much stuff can you haul in your minivan.
Do you think a REALLY good warranty would balance the equation.
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Honda Element
