We are in need of honest and unbiased information from reliable sources and current/previous minivan owners. We are in the market for our next baby, a minivan :). We were wondering if you have any advice if you would share it with us. I would only like first-hand knowledge from actual sources. Please no "I have a good friend" or "I heard"... kind of information. Other first-hand source material if you have it would be great, especially regarding Toyota's recall info.
Facts:
Fact 1: We have had two Dodge Grand Caravans.
Fact 2: The price was nice, although no bells and whistles.
Fact 3: Both had fan problems in which the fan sensors or the fan itself stopped working and therefore stopped cooling the engine. In turn it made it closely overheat many times. This provided us twice with multiple hours at a service station trying to diagnose and fix the problem. One time in which I was on my own with the two little ones, no cell phone, and not a delightful experience. At the time I vouched not to get another Caravan.
Fact 4: My faith in the Dodge Grand Caravan doesn't last past 100,000 miles :) I am grateful we had the foresight to buy the 100K mile super warranty. It did give me piece of mind.
Fact 5: We are in no way car novices. We try to take care of the vehicle, get the oil changed and serviced regularly. We let Les Schwab do its magic.
Fact 6: We want a reliable vehicle.
Fact 7: We have 5 children and I have one hot husband, fact!
Buying profile:
1. We need 7 seats. We could do 8.
2. We will not buy anything bigger than a minivan.
3. We are fuel conscience.
4. I don't care about how much "power" it has. A V6 is sufficient. It needs to get onto the freeway like any other reasonable vehicle. It will not be towing much of anything. Maybe a cartop carrier.
5. It needs to be comfortable since we do roadtrips lasting more than 8 hours at least twice a year.
6. Our children are growing. Although they measure on the smaller side of the scale, our family is not made up of all toddlers anymore. We have 2 in boosters and 1 in a car seat currently. They need leg room. Also, we like trunk room.
7. We would like to buy a used vehicle (07-up) with/less than around 20,000 miles.
8. Price around $20-22K.
The two vehicles that we have the most delight in are the Nissan Quest and Toyota Sienna. We have/had Nissans and have been pleased with the vehicles. We have test drove them the Quest and found them comfortable and roomy. We have felt Toyota's are reliable vehicles (in the past) and can feel comfortable in knowing that it would go past 150K miles. However, the new Sienna van style I am not completely sold on yet with a smaller window visibility and huge-tall dash board. It does not seem to be for vertically challenged individuals. However, we do like the 8 person style.
I think that is about it! Thank you!!!
Love,
Candace
2 comments:
We have a Grand Caravan and have been driving it for 10 years with no major repairs. I love it! We are up to 130,000 and it's doing fine. I'm sorry that yours hasn't worked as well. Dan drives a Toyota truck with 150,000 miles so I know Toyota is a good manufacturer. Good luck! I pray every day that our van keeps going because it is so nice not to have a car payment.
I bought my Chevy Astro with 70k miles on it and it has over 150K now. I have beat it up, but it has run well. It has 8 seats, but still does not fit our family of 10. They are mostly older children, though and there is plenty of space for their legs. Mileage is not great, but it has the tow package on it. It is actually not a mini-van but a mid-size van. It is on a truck chasis, not a car's like the Dodge Caravan that was our first minivan.
I have also had a Pontiac transport, but it did not last long. It had auto close doors, which I hate because they break and slamming the thing is so much faster for those few extra seconds that make the difference between getting to church before or after the song starts.
I have still not had one with the sliding doors on both sides. We will probably look into the Sienna on our next buy.
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