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Old 01-09-2011, 07:52 AM
 
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I just recheck Mazda5 and you're right. There is DVD entertainment system as option. Regarding the 3rd seat, is there enough space and leg room for adult to sit?
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Old 01-09-2011, 09:06 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmc300 View Post
Just looked up 2011 Nissan Quest. Looks really cool with the top end LE model. This will be another good candidate. Nissan is a Japanese brand right?
I think a sliding door will be easier to get my 6 yrs old and baby in/out of the car. So, looks like we'll be buying a minvan too. It will be a tough choice between Odyssey, Sienna, Quest, and Mazada5. Mazada5 doesn't seem to have all the extra features as in the Odyssey, Sienna, and Quest, but the price is much cheaper.

Do kids really like to watch a movie or cartoon while riding in the car? I get car sick if I read while riding a car.

When you buy a car at the dealer, you drive it out the same day, right? What about the license plate? How long does it take to receive the license plate?

And do I need to have a car insurance before I buy the car? Or after I buy the car, I can go buy car insurance?

Do you guys buy extended warranty or it is not necessary?

We're moving from overseas. So, everything is new to us. When you buy a car in my country, you have to order it and take 1 ~ 3 months to get it. But the dealer will drive your new car to your house and deliver to you in person. And gas price is crazy. The cheapest gas is $7.20/gallon vs. $2.80/gallon in Katy. Imagine $7.20/gallon in the US.
YES YES YES! The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE the DVD system! It is a must and well worth the cost! We have had our mini for a little over three years now so things may have changed in the models but here are my cons of the other ones we test drove. The Chrysler minivan if they still make it looks nice and love the options but the van seems very cheap to us. It did not drive very smooth at all and we had one for a week after having body work done on our Expedition. It seemed short in the head room as well. The Quest we never really looked at because at the time the reviews were not all that great and the people we knew who had one did not like um. They traded to Odyssey. One complaint they had was the same I had with our Expedition. You had to reach around back and change out the DVD for the kids which is a major pain! Not sure that has been changed or not but I hope so. The Odyssey you can just control from the front. Really like the look of them though so worth a test drive. The Mazda five does not even touch the real mini van in anyway! It is not very roomy at all and all it took was sitting in the driver seat once and we got right out. No need to test drive for us. The Odyssey is a very smooth ride and very functional. Can not beat the automatic sliding doors! My kids get in and out on their own which is priceless. We were looking at cars yesterday and there were several like The Highlander that my youngest still needed help getting in and out. Not a plus at all.
Speaking of new cars the new Explorer has hit the dealerships and I am in LOVE! It is super sweet and once we get closer to purchasing a new car I will be getting one if I can get over the blind spots it seems to have. I am very particular abt those. That is why I can not stand the Equinox we had. I refused to drive it. Anyways, the Explorer is very comfy but the third row is small. I also do not like that the second row are not captains chairs like the Odyssey but maybe they will change that up in the next version. It is soo much easier to get to the third row with captains chairs rather than folding the seat up. The third row room is much smaller but when the grandparents come the kids can always sit back there. Now as for price it is completely way over priced!!!! I have no idea what they are thinking. The ones we looked at were $50,000 and did not even have a DVD player. My husbands 4x4 F150 Platinum listed just a few more than that so I do not see how they are reasoning the price hike on the Explorer. So given that we will wait till the dealerships are over whelmed with them and the newness factor has worn off. Ford is bringing back a minivan as well though I think in 2012. It is overseas right now and does well.
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Old 01-09-2011, 12:47 PM
 
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Originally Posted by tmc300 View Post
I think the Mazada will be good also and the price is great. But it doesn't have the DVD entertainment system in the back.
Get a portable dvd player for the back if you *really* must have one. I don't know why cars should have entertainment systems for the back seat.
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Old 01-09-2011, 01:14 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX (Bellaire)
4,900 posts, read 13,736,420 times
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The advantage of paying cash is the hour or so of time you spend dealing with the financing department and you have more ability to haggle if your not having to deal with additional factors of a trade-in and financing. I suggest you test drive all the models you are interest in first. Just go for a test drive and refuse to be drawn into a negotiation with the sales person or you might find yourself buying a car before you are ready. Save your most likely buy for the last test drive so if it is the one you really want you don't have to make a second trip. Make sure you know the price you want before you go to the dealership and check current list prices on autotrader.com. Also check out New Car Prices, Used Car Values, New Car Reviews & Car Buying Guides - NADAguides.com Official Site as many dealers use this website to base their prices.
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Old 01-09-2011, 07:07 PM
 
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I wrote earlier abt the new Explorer being an option as well but let me tell ya today we went and sat in a Flex just for fun and LOVED it all the way. It had all the bells and whistles. The Flex has everything we enjoy abt our Odyssey plus a lot more. The third row is smaller but very very easy to get to at least for our kids who are in pre K and 1st grade. They will easily be able to get back there when the grandparents are in town. It is far more roomy than the Explorer and equally as comfy at least from we can tell just sitting in it. May take it for a test drive tomorrow.
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Old 01-09-2011, 07:24 PM
 
2,548 posts, read 4,053,700 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmc300 View Post
I just recheck Mazda5 and you're right. There is DVD entertainment system as option. Regarding the 3rd seat, is there enough space and leg room for adult to sit?
You can put an adult back there for a short trip. It's pretty cramped. This car is best if you normally have 4 passengers, but want extra room for occasional extra people (one of the kids friends, visiting grandparents). In those cases, we move one of the kids to the way back, and mom sits in the way back (taking one for the team). You also have very little room for bags/groceries whatever when all seats are in play. But it works great as an occasional thing. We love being able to bring a friend along for the kids so easily.
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Old 01-09-2011, 07:26 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nana053 View Post
Get a portable dvd player for the back if you *really* must have one. I don't know why cars should have entertainment systems for the back seat.
I agree. Kids watch too much t.v. anyway. We put kids' audio books on the ipod for longer trips and let them listen to a story. Better use of imagination. For really long trips (like when we drive to Georgia) we use a portable.

These systems are popular for a reason, people must love them. But that's a hell of a lot of money for a DVD player.
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Old 01-09-2011, 08:56 PM
 
1,042 posts, read 3,264,547 times
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Originally Posted by houston-nomad View Post
I agree. Kids watch too much t.v. anyway. We put kids' audio books on the ipod for longer trips and let them listen to a story. Better use of imagination. For really long trips (like when we drive to Georgia) we use a portable.

These systems are popular for a reason, people must love them. But that's a hell of a lot of money for a DVD player.
You pay for it but I do believe ya get your money back from it for trade in.
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Old 01-10-2011, 02:00 AM
 
119 posts, read 504,910 times
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I'm more & more sold on the Odyssey. Looking at the specs carefully, only the Touring or Touring Elite can have the Navigation and DVD Entertainment together. Do most people buy the Touring or Touring Elite model?
With cash purchase, will I be able to negotiate more on the price?
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Old 01-10-2011, 06:50 AM
 
Location: TX
2,016 posts, read 3,523,041 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmc300 View Post
I'm more & more sold on the Odyssey. Looking at the specs carefully, only the Touring or Touring Elite can have the Navigation and DVD Entertainment together. Do most people buy the Touring or Touring Elite model?
With cash purchase, will I be able to negotiate more on the price?
I think you need to have an idea of how much you're willing to spend first. Do you want a $20K-$25K minivan, or a $30K-$40K minivan? Suggestions will be all over the place if you don't know your spending limit.

As said before, cash purchase probably won't make much difference in negotiated price. You'll want to negotiate the bottom line price for the vehicle, not "how much do I want to pay per month". If you were trying to hit a certain monthly payment with financing and then you brought up cash, you might get a better deal with cash vs. financing. Send e-mails to internet sales managers or use a car buying service, but whatever you do... don't talk to a salesman at a dealership. They'll start from MSRP and you'll have to spend hours battling your way down from that number, and the end result won't be as good of a price as if you had worked with the internet sales manager or a car buying service.
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