How "Old" A Car Would You Buy?

[chely7425]

We will be trading in our car seat hating Jeep for a minivan/suv/crossover of some sort come tax time. Our price range is 15-18K and we want something that is going to last a long time! What model years would you be looking at? What cars?

[laughingfox]

I just wanted to say that if you have good credit and you plan on making monthly payments, you might actually wind up paying less for a new car than a used one, since the high end of your price range is somewhat close to the low end of the price range for new.
The higher interest rates some places charge for used cars can really add up over the years, and new cars often come with a lot more incentives, free warranties, etc.

[kittywitty]

When we buy a new minivan, we won't buy before 2006. I think the fuel efficiency standards were higher, but maybe that's just for the ones we were looking at. It wouldn't be worth our money to buy another older car with a lot of miles. I want something that will last awhile this time.

[chely7425]

My credit is pretty good (700-715) but DH's... well, not as much. His is around 600 but we should be paying off a pretty good chunk of debt between now and February so possibly it will go up. I will definitely consider new if there are vehicles that fit our needs with good rebates or interest rates.

[BetsyS]

Our last used car purchase was for a car to commute in. We set a budget, that sort of looked at what we could get for that money, instead of trying to get the best price on a specific car.

Our budget was small , and we ended up with a 1996 Volvo wagon. We have a trusted Volvo mechanic (who actually does several foreign makes), so that factored into our decision.

For a budget of $15-$18, I'd probably loook at 2005-2006 Honda Odysseys if I wanted a mini van. Very reliable, it'd be completely PAID FOR, and it gives you the room you want.

[chely7425]

How many years would we have left on say a 2006/2007 Odyssey? I wonder what safety features would be different on a vehicle of that MY...

[sewaneecook]

In a couple years we'll need a minivan and will likely have a similar budget to yours. We're thinking an Odyssey that's no more than 4 years old. We're hoping the Odyssey is similar quality to the Accord (we own one that's 11 years, 175K miles, and has needed nothing but routine maintenance!) and will last forever!

[surrogate]

the oldest car i will buy is 10 years. Which I usually end up buying something about 8yrs old for about 2k cash. With 15K i could buy 2 really nice cars lol

[BetsyS]

i guess how long a car has is up to your comfort level. we drive a 96 and 03 with no plans to replace either soon. i drove my last honda for 8 years (until it was 10 years old), and it was still going strong. I drove my first Honda to pieces, but it was 15 years old with poor maintainence.

[Drummer's Wife]

If I were you, I'd look into the Mazda 5's. You can get a brand new one for your price range. I'd prefer one over a used Odyssey, TBH.

[chely7425]

I wish we could get a Mazda 5 but I don't think there is anyway one would work for us... we need to fit 3 RF car seats for now (though my oldest will be forward facing soon) and we need to have space in the vehicle for random stuff and a double stroller. From what people have said there is no way all that would fit in a 5.

[lmonter]

Originally Posted by chely7425

How many years would we have left on say a 2006/2007 Odyssey? I wonder what safety features would be different on a vehicle of that MY...

I have a 2001 Odyssey with 114K miles (new tranny at 109K). I'm keeping it until 200K miles.

They haven't really redesigned their transmissions though. Typically the 99-04 ones have tranny issues if I remember right, and even the ones after that didn't have significant changes. So we'll see in a few years if those ones hold up. Our transmission guy has seen a handful of Odysseys, tons of Dodges and so on, but never, ever has he had to redo a Toyota transmission. In something like 15-20 years of business. If that may be a concern of yours. My "old" van looks just like the newer ones, except the center console by the driver is suckier than the new style ones. Auto doors, key fob, captain seats that come out, back bench that would fold flat if we didn't need it for all these kids, etc. Oh, I don't have a back hatch button on the dash or key fob - I think that's on the newer ones. Not as much a deal breaker for me.

My hubby drives my high school car - a 1995 Geo Prizm with... geez, maybe 150K miles now? We plan to drive that sucker into the ground, and it's basically a Toyota Corolla with less expensive parts. I bought it with 14K miles on it way back in the day.

One word of warning. Vehicles will need routine maintenance, regardless of what you get (sigh, like an oxygen sensor on a Subaru just months before trading it in...). Just make sure you keep some savings to ward off Murphy. We have zero car payments, so the $4K we dropped in maintenance between a new header for the Prizm (it's a little engine, it works hard, it happens) and transmission/cooler and spark plugs for the van, yeah. Hubby's coworkers were floored that little old one-income us weren't 100% freaked out during that month - it was more of an "oh, man!" kind of deal. A pretty groovy feeling I have to say.

[lmonter]

Originally Posted by chely7425

I wish we could get a Mazda 5 but I don't think there is anyway one would work for us... we need to fit 3 RF car seats for now (though my oldest will be forward facing soon) and we need to have space in the vehicle for random stuff and a double stroller. From what people have said there is no way all that would fit in a 5.

I had 3 Britaxes in the back of a 2008 Honda CRV (FF Frontier, FF Marathon, RF Roundabout). If you get the 2007+ body style, you can easily fit 3 decent carseats without smushing the front passengers, and still shove almost 200lbs of apples in the cargo area. Thought the CRV's 4WD was more annoying than helpful though, but I grew up in snow and know how to drive in it (having a vehicle react reliably is important to me).

In our Odyssey, we have 3 forward facing Sunshine Kids Radian 80's in the back bench seat (which isn't exactly roomy!) and a rear-facing Britax Roundabout behind the driver. Sometimes it feels like I drive a clown car. Sigh. But we can take Grandma to the 4th of July fireworks now.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Originally Posted by BetsyS

For a budget of $15-$18, I'd probably loook at 2005-2006 Honda Odysseys if I wanted a mini van. Very reliable, it'd be completely PAID FOR, and it gives you the room you want.

Yep.

Originally Posted by lmonter

In our Odyssey, we have 3 forward facing Sunshine Kids Radian 80's in the back bench seat (which isn't exactly roomy!) and a rear-facing Britax Roundabout behind the driver. Sometimes it feels like I drive a clown car

That made me laugh, Mama!

I'm right there with you...I have three Sunshine Radians in the back seat of a CIVIC. The circus will be calling ~me~ for tips on how to fit more clowns in there.

[sanguine_speed]

I personally would start browsing used car sites to get an idea of what kind of Honda or Toyota I could buy with that money that would fit us all.
My personal experience has been that Hondas and Toyotas have been saintly to us, and Fords and Chevrolets beastly. And perhaps most importantly, the service at Toyota and Honda has been very good, Ford horrrrrrible. But of course this is only my experience, and I've only owned one of each vehicle listed in my life, so I could have had lemons or just lucked out on the good ones.

What I definitely wouldn't do, unless I was financially independent, is buy a new car. If I spent $18,000 on a new car (which wouldn't be much of a minivan or SUV), next year it would only be worth, what, $12,000 maybe? A collision may be out of my control, as could theft, vandalism, etc. I wouldn't want to be left with an insurance payout of $12,000 on a car I *just* spent $18,000 on, and I wouldn't risk it. I'd rather buy the one-year-old $12,000 car in the first place.

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by lmonter

One word of warning. Vehicles will need routine maintenance, regardless of what you get (sigh, like an oxygen sensor on a Subaru just months before trading it in...). Just make sure you keep some savings to ward off Murphy. We have zero car payments, so the $4K we dropped in maintenance between a new header for the Prizm (it's a little engine, it works hard, it happens) and transmission/cooler and spark plugs for the van, yeah. Hubby's coworkers were floored that little old one-income us weren't 100% freaked out during that month - it was more of an "oh, man!" kind of deal. A pretty groovy feeling I have to say.

Yup.

Our 4-year-old bought-with-7000miles-car needed a new engine this year (thousands). In its first year, it needed a new power steering computer (thousand). And by the sounds of it right now, is about to need something else bigger than I care to discover.

[chely7425]

I know we will have routine maintenance no matter what we get I wish we didn't need a new car but once the kids outgrow the seats they are currently in (and the baby will probably have only a year tops in the infant seat) we are SOL because NOTHING else will fit in our car except a 3rd Radian and I am not buying a 3rd one to FF a kid. Not to mention our Jeep is so high off the ground that I can barely get a kid into the middle. It was definitely not a smart car for us to buy but oh well... this next one we will drive into the ground!