Minivans? (Not for me, duh.)

"mazda616" (mazda616) 11/10/2015 at 11:11 • Filed to: Minivans

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My friend and his wife wrecked their car the other night. I went to the accident site and took them home. They had a 2004 Taurus. My friend’s wife was driving, didn’t stop for a light, and an F-150 hit the left front of the Taurus. The impact tore the left front wheel totally off, and sent the car down and back up out of a ditch. The Taurus has broken axles and a bent frame. Not to mention it was a piece of crap to begin with.

They don’t have a lot of money. They’re looking for a van to replace the Taurus, as my friend’s wife has some mobility problems and getting her and their 2-year-old son in and out of the Taurus wasn’t fun.

They only have a budget of like $5,000.00 or so since the Taurus only had liability insurance (it wasn’t driven often since it was troublesome).

I don’t know much about minivans. I know that Honda Odysseys had the automatics from the Accord that like to quit a lot. I know that the Chevrolet Venture/Pontiac Montana/Oldsmobile Silhouette did laughably bad in crash tests. I know Dodge/Chrysler transmissions have been troublesome as well. But, that’s about it.

Any shining stars in the minivan world y’all can reccomend for a family with a fairly limited budget?

CB > mazda616 11/10/2015 at 11:15

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We had a 2003 Town & Country that worked great. Made it to 330,000 kilometres before the engine began to shit itself. Although we were told by the mechanic that this was unheard of, since many of the vans apparently had to undergo engine and transmission replacements well before that, so your mileage may vary.

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > mazda616 11/10/2015 at 11:24

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With their price range, I’m honestly not sure how new of an Odyssey they can get. My sister had a 2004 Kia Sedona that she liked quite well up until she sold it a couple of years ago when she no longer needed it. I’d probably also look into the Mazda MPV or Toyota Sienna

Tekamul > mazda616 11/10/2015 at 11:35

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With the Odysseys, many that will be in the age range they are looking at will have already had the transmission fixed. If not, the life can be stretched with a little effort (usually it’s the torque converter, and you can skip over the ‘shimmy’ by keeping it out of overdrive until up to highway speeds).

If they do look that way, make sure to get at least a 2005 (3rd gen). I have a 2006, and it has held up pretty well. I replaced the torque converter last year, it wasn’t a terrible bill, at $1200. Again, you know it’s coming from a long way out.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > CB 11/10/2015 at 11:40

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Our family had the same model year Caravan, and it does the trick - no issues until I left the house and my dad finally traded up to a Lexus.

I think Caravans are the best bet since they’re so widely available that even if something does go wrong, I can't imagine it being too expensive to fix (unless the engine/transmission grenades itself).

Thunderface > mazda616 11/10/2015 at 11:42

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Do not let them get a dodge or Chrysler. At all costs.

yitznewton > mazda616 11/10/2015 at 11:42

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We’ve had a 2006 Toyota Sienna for five years, from 63k to about 88k miles so far. Great car; the Achilles’s Heel is the damn sliding doors. We haven’t had the blockbuster main motor failure (~$1200), but we have had $800 or so of other stuff break, in two separate incidents. One was motor-related (again not the main motor), one was a hinge that broke and caused a bunch of peripheral damage.

TheHondaBro > mazda616 11/10/2015 at 11:59

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By now the used Odysseys should have new transmissions. I wouldn’t worry about that.

That was the case with my Accord.

Kofi > mazda616 11/10/2015 at 12:10

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Chevy uplander, new enough to feel baller, old enough to be cheap.

Chariotoflove > mazda616 11/10/2015 at 12:54

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The Chrysler T&C is a good value. The Dodge version is even better if you don’t mind the styling. Odysseys and Siennas are to pricey in my opinion. I don’t know if you would find anything worth owning in the sub $5K market. We shopped recently, but looked mostly in the $20-25K used market, and the Hondas and Toyotas just weren’t well-priced for what we saw. Take a look at the old Kia Sedona or Nissan Quest. As dark horse picks, they could be well-priced, but I can’t say from experience. Also, don’t forget the Mazda 5. They’re bare bones, but reliable and very affordable (and with huge interiors for their size).

for Michigan > mazda616 11/10/2015 at 13:15

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My parents’ 02 GC had over 200K miles on it when my brother totaled it recently. It had minimal preventative maintenance done over their six years of ownership. The lack of maintenance caught up with it over the last 20K miles or so and the trans was giving us trouble for the last year or so.

On that budget, the Chrysler minivans might be their best bet. If I remember correctly, imports in similar condition tend sell for nearly twice as much. So even if they ended up having trans issues, which don’t seem to be as bad/common as people say, they’d still be below the cost of a Toyota.