So, are there any family-folks here who made the dreaded minivan purchase? Is the Honda Odyssey the one to beat? I'm really not wanting to spend over ~$22K on the next large family vehicle, which probably means a 2005 or so.
The reason I'm looking at minivans is for the 5-6 trips per year we take to visit family. Our little Mazda Protege gets pretty cramped, especially at xmas time with the 4 of us and presents for ~400 miles each way.
Maybe a decently large SUV with good gas mileage? I think I'm planning on buying next month sometime.
Open to any family vehicle advice.
[Update]
Well, we decided to push off a new car purchase until this time next year, when our budget will have a bit more flex. In the meantime, we still needed a second vehicle until then, for convenience's sake, so we started shopping for cheap used cars.
A friend of my wife's mentioned that they still had their old minivan in the garage, going unused. There's a bit of history as to why it's unused ( Short version - they lost a child to illness a few years back, and they used the van for taking him to doctor appointments and treatments. After he passed, they just didn't have the heart to keep driving it daily. ) They did keep it running, maintained, inspected, etc.
It's a '97 Doge Caravan with 112K miles. Pretty clean inside and out - doesn't look like a 10-year-old vehicle. Runs good - new tires, belts, brakes, filters, plugs, battery. Not the best gas mileage - we've only had it a day, but I'm going to guess it's getting about 18-20mpg.
Gave them $2K for it.
At the very least, we'll have something to trade in (or sell) for our new vehicle next year. Should probably pay for itself by then.
The reason I'm looking at minivans is for the 5-6 trips per year we take to visit family. Our little Mazda Protege gets pretty cramped, especially at xmas time with the 4 of us and presents for ~400 miles each way.
Maybe a decently large SUV with good gas mileage? I think I'm planning on buying next month sometime.
Open to any family vehicle advice.
[Update]
Well, we decided to push off a new car purchase until this time next year, when our budget will have a bit more flex. In the meantime, we still needed a second vehicle until then, for convenience's sake, so we started shopping for cheap used cars.
A friend of my wife's mentioned that they still had their old minivan in the garage, going unused. There's a bit of history as to why it's unused ( Short version - they lost a child to illness a few years back, and they used the van for taking him to doctor appointments and treatments. After he passed, they just didn't have the heart to keep driving it daily. ) They did keep it running, maintained, inspected, etc.
It's a '97 Doge Caravan with 112K miles. Pretty clean inside and out - doesn't look like a 10-year-old vehicle. Runs good - new tires, belts, brakes, filters, plugs, battery. Not the best gas mileage - we've only had it a day, but I'm going to guess it's getting about 18-20mpg.
Gave them $2K for it.
At the very least, we'll have something to trade in (or sell) for our new vehicle next year. Should probably pay for itself by then.