Minivan suggestions????

[chadly]

My wife is pregnant and we are expecting twins this time. I’m going to need to buy another vehicle for hauling around all four kids. I hate to admit to owning a minivan but it seems to be the best option as far as price, gas mileage and ease of loading.
I have about four months to look so I have time to investigate different models. I want to buy used and I don’t want any payments. I only have $16k now to work with however I could round up a little more if I had too. I like the Dodges as they are cheap but it seems they have never been able to make a transmission that can last.
Any words of advice or leads to a good review page?
Thanks Chad

 

[jpratt]

We have had a couple of Nissan's and like them a lot. We have 7, 14 and 17 year old and they are usually with us when we go out. Sometimes we even have the 17YO's girl with us, We have the Enclave now and love it. Almost as much room as the mini-vans. A coworker has the Kia and he loves it, brother has a Toyota and thinks it is the best thing ever made ( not a car guy at all.) Sister has the Town and Country and they wish it would get stolen, they go to the mall and leave the windows down and keys in ignition (no kidding.)

 

[GrnNatlFan]

I have the 07 Honda van....love it.....except for the road/wind/tire noise. Bought it new. Wife wanted the Toyota but I'm 6'4" and the Toyota's knee/leg room was too small for me. The Honda is always rated #1 on Car & Driver and has a sportier suspension than the others (in my opinion). Never had any problems except the brakes sometimes squeal when applied and turning into a parking lot and the power steering pump is starting to make some noise. About to hit 60K mikes.

 

[HUMBLE-U2]

2011cts-v wagon it hauls the kids, grocerys & azz!

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

My folks have a Honda and they really like it. All our sales guys drive Town and Country's and they love them. No problems with the trans. on any of the vans we have used but we service them every 50k.

Usually run the vans to about 150,000 (2-3 years) and sell them locally.

 

[SGRIM]

Ford's are the tranny eaters.... I have had to replace more windstar tranny's than I care to remember...

The Dodge GCV is a nice van. Keep them serviced and 100k+ is no problem.

I have sold them all, honda's, nissan's, even the toyota. They are all pretty nice...

I have had good luck with Chevy vans No, I am not joking:biggrin:

 

[Scott A.]

We went through the same process - didn't want a mini-van, but with the kids it made sense. We've had an 03 Honda Odyssey for (5) years now and still love it. The kids beat it to death...we've never had a problem with it. Even had the DVD entertainment system for that year, a big plus. The sliding doors are great, and can haul up to (7) and still get 21-22 around town. When it dies, we'll get another Odyssey, until the kids are bigger (ours are age 8, 5, and 2).

 

[DailyDrifter]

If you see anything with the words "Dodge" or "Chrysler" or "Ford" get the hell away from it FAST . Siennas aren't too bad, might want to check with the Hyundai's also.

 

[chadly]

thanks guys. I got time to look so I appreciate your imputs. I will keep looking and hopefully come up with a good solution.

 

[YouLikeThat]

16k will get you a super nice van. We have a 93 Honda that is a great van and we only have 6 grand in it. I think the dodges are decent but you will loose your a$$ when it comes to resale value.