time for a new car-mini-van, grand caravan, or town and country

[laila2]

Well our car needs major repairs. It is time to think about maybe getting a not so expensive mini-van in liu of the repairs.

Our dream is an Odyssey, but it does not fit our budget at this time. We are even thinking a 1 year old certified vehicle would be good.

I want to ask you moms if you have experience with either of these cars.

Thank you

[catters]

Don't give up on the Odyssey! It's wonderful. My brother just bought one that was two years old with low mileage and still under warranty for well under 20K. It is also loaded with all the automatic doors and DVD players, etc. I'm sure the T&C or Grand Caravan are fine, but if you look you might find a great deal on what you want. We've purchased cars at Carmax before with great success. They will ship a car down to you if your local one doesn't have what you want in stock. Anyway, sorry! Just want to be supportive of your dream!

[Storm Bride]

We just (last week) bought a new 2010 Grand Caravan. So far, I'm really happy with it...but I will admit that my old car was a '96 Grand Caravan and it had a new master brake cylinder, a transmission flush (and the transmission was still starting to slip), and a couple other things that I can't even remember at the moment all done just in November. It wasn's starting reliably after I stopped and the wipers had stopped working. So, my satisfaction with the new GC may not mean much, yk?

Ours is the most stripped down basic model available. I'd have ideally preferred a different seat configuation (we have the middle bench, which means my access to the rear seat is only from one side), and we may get roof racks at some point, but other than that, I'm totally happy with everything else about it, though.

I won't even touch prices. There's such a difference between costs in the US and Canada that our numbers mean nothing.

The Odyssey looked really nice, but the best deal we found would have meant spending about $5k more than we did...and that would have been for a 5 year old car...no warranty, and about 50,000 miles (no - that's 80,000km....maybe it was 45,000? something like that) on it already.

[sewchris2642]

The Grand Caravan, Town and Country, and the old Voyager all the same car with different names. Some have bells and whisles not available in others. Outside styles are different but the same underlying GM minivan. Joy got the Town and Country Touring because she liked the bells and whisles on it.

[Juvysen]

I like the idea of the caravan or t&c that recently came out (maybe within the last couple years) where the middle seats turn around and little tables pull out so kids can interact/play cards, whatever, on long trips...

[Red Pajama]

We drive a Pontiac Montana, a van I didn't even know existed before we went shopping. I like it quite a bit. My sister and a sister in law both drive the caravan. Both seem to like theirs. My van has more interior room, however, which was a plus for me.

While you didn't ask for advice, I'll give you a bit.
Do your research. Look at vehicles you like, and then walk away with information in hand. Go home, and look up at Edmunds.com with vehicle specefics. You'll get reasonable prices for your area with wich to go back to the dealer and negotiate. If you're lucky, you might even find your exact car listed online. We got the van I drive for 4,000 off list price because it was listed for that much less on line. They were obligated to honor the online price.

[Jenifer76]

We have a 2008 Chevy Uplander -- my husband's company is a steel supplier to GM so we wanted to support them (and in turn support his company). Otherwise, I desperately wanted an Odyssey. I do like my van but having never owned one before I have nothing to compare it to -- plus Uplanders are discontinued and difficult to find.

My husband has concerns about some structural issues with the Caravan -- I believe it was rusting along the bottom. Not an issue if you are not in a heavy snow/salted road area.

Edited to add my DH said all of the Chrysler cars have rust issues because they all have the same inferior corrosion resistance on the rocker panel. Gotta love a metallurgist.

[Sweetiemommy]

I got the VW Routan when they had 0% financing, which was a great deal. We also were able to do a great job negotiating the price, because the economy is so slow. Check out the deals that car dealers are offering, sales are still really sluggish and winter is the best time to buy. Go during a snow storm

[Jenifer76]

Originally Posted by sewchris2642

The Grand Caravan, Town and Country, and the old Voyager all the same car with different names. Some have bells and whisles not available in others. Outside styles are different but the same underlying GM minivan. Joy got the Town and Country Touring because she liked the bells and whisles on it.

Actually those are all Chrysler, not GM cars. The companies have completely different space frames for their vans. But I agree with the statement otherwise.

[Katie T]

I have a 05 town & country touring that Ive had almost 2 yrs & Love! It has great features like leather, stow n go, & auto doors. I say test drive them I liked the t & c best.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Juvysen

I like the idea of the caravan or t&c that recently came out (maybe within the last couple years) where the middle seats turn around and little tables pull out so kids can interact/play cards, whatever, on long trips...

Swivel'N'Go. I thought it looked neat, but most reviewers said that it's really not very comfortable with the table in, because it's cramped. We really wouldn't have used it much, though. Long trips don't happen much around here.

Originally Posted by Jenifer76

My husband has concerns about some structural issues with the Caravan -- I believe it was rusting along the bottom. Not an issue if you are not in a heavy snow/salted road area.

Edited to add my DH said all of the Chrysler cars have rust issues because they all have the same inferior corrosion resistance on the rocker panel. Gotta love a metallurgist.

That's interesting. Do you know how long that's been the case? Our last one was a '96, and we had no rust issues anywhere, except where we didn't get the side panel fixed after someone smashed it in last year (hit us in our own parking space). Some rust started appearing there a couple months ago, but we do live in the Pacific Northwest, so our van spends a lot of time in the rain.

[Jenifer76]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

Swivel'N'Go. I thought it looked neat, but most reviewers said that it's really not very comfortable with the table in, because it's cramped. We really wouldn't have used it much, though. Long trips don't happen much around here.



That's interesting. Do you know how long that's been the case? Our last one was a '96, and we had no rust issues anywhere, except where we didn't get the side panel fixed after someone smashed it in last year (hit us in our own parking space). Some rust started appearing there a couple months ago, but we do live in the Pacific Northwest, so our van spends a lot of time in the rain.

I asked him and he said because there is no salt on your roads (assuming that is true -- do they salt the roads in the PNW?). So if you have salt on the roads, it pops up and chips the paint and then rust happens.

[LiLStar]

We're looking around at minivans over here too. dh is being really picky and not wanting anything but an odyssey or a sienna. He says he's l;ooked at lots of reviews and too many people are having problems with transmissions needing to be replaced or things like that..(on anything other than odyssey/sienna) idk, i figure people are going to go out of their way to post reviews about products they had bad experiences with and not so much the good. we're wanting to stay under 6k but new enough to have LATCH (i absolutely HATE doing seatbelt installs) so theres not very many odysseys or siennas with those parameters!

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Jenifer76

I asked him and he said because there is no salt on your roads (assuming that is true -- do they salt the roads in the PNW?). So if you have salt on the roads, it pops up and chips the paint and then rust happens.

That makes sense. They salt in the winter, if conditions warrant it, but it's not a regular thing. Chrysler offers a paint protection thing - chemical treatments, etc. - but we opted out. The new van was at the edge of our ability to afford as it was, and we already had to up our insurance payment, and chose to pay a one-time fee for replacement insurance.

[OboePlayerMom]

We bought a used 2008 Grand Caravan for a really good price from a dealer a year ago. I had been watching prices for quite some time, and finally saw a price we could afford. It has no extras, but I didn't really want them. I love the space we can get with the stow and go seating. My DS loves to sit in the back row, and my DD sits in the captain's chair behind the driver seat. We stowed the other captain's chair on the passenger's side, so we have all kinds of room for kids and their stuff. And I can get in and out to help the kids without feeling like I'm in a clown car. I traded up from a '97 ford contour, so it's been a great change for us. So far we haven't had any trouble with anything, other than the sensor going off constantly for low air in the tires (but they're fine). The sensor makes a light on the dash board light up, that's all. I really like my van!

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by OboePlayerMom

We bought a used 2008 Grand Caravan for a really good price from a dealer a year ago. I had been watching prices for quite some time, and finally saw a price we could afford. It has no extras, but I didn't really want them. I love the space we can get with the stow and go seating.

I don't know about the US, but here, at least, the Stow'N'Go in the middle is an extra. We only have the stow feature for the rear seats. We think that's adequate, and if we really need to carry something big, and don't have the kids, we can borrow my mom's van for an hour or two (she's got an '05 or '06, with the Stow'N'Go).

[MommaKitten21]

Go for the Odyssey!! I too, knew a semi-new to new one was wayyy out of my price range.

I just found a 96 odyssey with no rust and in great condition with 170k miles and I've had it for two months, and it's been a major blessing!! I love love love love love love love love it!

The funny thing is, now that I am driving my older Odyssey, I am noticing a lot of other older ones out there.... so they are there! Just everyone likes to hang on to them until they crap out!

[darcytrue]

I wouldn't get a Dodge or Chrysler. I've had both Dodge caravan and currently have a Chrysler town and country. We have had issues with the brakes needing to be replaced very often with both. I wish I had a Toyota or Honda minivan.

[plantmama]

We have a '00 odyssey which we bought for about $7K. After doing research I decided I wanted a toyota sienna or honda odyssey since we had to buy an older car and $7K was really pushing our limit. I at least needed something reliable and older caravans have a pretty poor reputation online.
Even the older odysseys and siennas get snapped up pretty quickly and I do think they last a very long time.
If you're buying a new car, I don't think it will matter as much. I don't know that newer caravans will have the same issues (bad transmissions after 100K miles and engine problems.) But I chose an odyssey over even a newer ('05ish) caravan.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by plantmama

We have a '00 odyssey which we bought for about $7K. After doing research I decided I wanted a toyota sienna or honda odyssey since we had to buy an older car and $7K was really pushing our limit. I at least needed something reliable and older caravans have a pretty poor reputation online.
Even the older odysseys and siennas get snapped up pretty quickly and I do think they last a very long time.
If you're buying a new car, I don't think it will matter as much. I don't know that newer caravans will have the same issues (bad transmissions after 100K miles and engine problems.) But I chose an odyssey over even a newer ('05ish) caravan.

From what I've read about the Odyssey, I totally think it's the way to go, if someone can afford it. They're just way too expensive for us.