Thinking of buying a LARGE car.... | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Thinking of buying a LARGE car....

Had a Montana for 10+ years, put on around 150k kms...nope didn't drive it much more than average. Worth almost nothing after 10 years and falling apart. If I paid a few grand more for a Honda, the used prices at the time were more than the difference, about $5k+ IIRC.
 
2011+ Odysseys and Siennas selling for $15k or more.

2010 and earlier are the older generations of both vans and both are selling for $10K if clean.

Wha? The mind boggles if this is true. Who pays 10K for an 8+ year old vehicle (that isn't a weekend toy)?
 
Wha? The mind boggles if this is true. Who pays 10K for an 8+ year old vehicle (that isn't a weekend toy)?

I’m honestly shocked as to how the Honda and Toyota retain their values. 25-30k for a low mileage 2015 and up if it’s clean. Saw the Caravan yesterday and they’re way less on the used car lot.

I love the Mazda5 and it’ll do 90% of what we need but wife thinks it’s too small. Still early stages though so she still needs to drive them all. Can’t remember when I started to hate car shopping....used to be a blast!
 
I had a 2016 Mazda5. I had the GT with leather and auto trans.

Very reliable with over 145k since new.

Drawbacks.

Needed new rubber fairly quick. Stock tires didn’t make it past 40k before needing replacing. Apparently common to the 5 and it’s recommended to get the alignment done when changing over to winter tires.

There always seems to be a compromise for space.

It’s a 2 plus 2 plus 2 seating configuration.

We did pop one of the rear seats and keep one down for trunk space when traveling with 5 passengers.

So you are always shifting stuff around depending on the need.

The 3rd row would be a bear to deal with a car seat. Maybe a booster is ok? We didn’t have the issue. However, there was always an argument as rear seats would have to slide up to allow leg room for the 3 row.

When you are used to having the rear seats all they way back when the 3rd row isn’t in use, you’ll see everyone behind the front feels like they are in a penalty box.

We got roof rails and cargo bag to help with space.

Fuel efficiency isn’t that great. Even on my own, generally averaged 10L/100 kms. Worse with the rails and cargo bag.

You can find them in a 6 speed manual but only about 10% come equipped this way.

Leather was nice for clean ups after children.

Front space is a little limited. I was ok at 5’8”. Any taller and you might find it a cramped driving experience.

Found it fairly loud at speed. Road noise from the tires. However, I will say I thought the ride itself was very planted.

Keep in mind, it was a company provided vehicle and it was the largest option available to me.

If it was my money and could choose myself, I’d go to a full minivan.

The Caravan does the job. Most have the stow n go seats and not that comfortable for longer road trips. Kids and car seats can get away with it.

Look for vans with rears seats that can do 3 passengers.

Even with all seats in place, a minivan has room for cargo/groceries etc. That Mazda has very little room.

I know many with Chrysler products and love them and have been bulletproof.

Another friend has an Oddessy and find its well worth the premium cost over a Chrysler. Especially if you’ll own it and drive it awhile. It just drives nice for what it is and the fit and finish are better.

When I was shopping I tried Toyota and didn’t find it appealing. If AWD is a consideration, that would be the only reason I’d go down that path.

Good luck!







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A bit of a tongue in cheek comment, but how about a Dodge Sprinter or ram equivalent?
Tonnes of space for humans, tonnes left for non-animate objects, good on diesel, can come in 4x4, and best of all, TRACK DAY HOTEL and bike transport.

Big toyota vehicles are like the Jeeps and WRX's in some ways.. people way over paying, but fwiw, no other manufacturers proliferate the road with pre-Y2k vehicles like Toyota does with their never-die Corollas/Vans/SUV/Trucks
 
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The passenger versions of the full-size vans make for good airport shuttles, but not good family vehicles. The usual trouble is that the seats are "there", they don't fold easily, they don't come out easily, they don't move easily. Seat-belt and child-seat anchor points aren't designed into the vehicle (if present, they might be attached to the seats, which isn't as good). And with the size of these vehicles, parking is a chore. I have a cargo van that I use as a bike hauler ... I have a different and much smaller vehicle as a daily driver.

Off the wall ... There is a passenger version of the Ford Transit Connect. It comes as a passenger vehicle from Ford, so the seat belt and child seat anchor point situations should be sorted out. I don't think they sell many of them, and finding one used (in original poster's price range) is probably not going to happen.

A three-year-old off-lease "certified pre-owned" Grand Caravan is the best tool for this job. Let someone else take the depreciation hit, but it's new enough to still have warranty left.
 
Had my fair share of wagons back in the day. Many of them end up in the crusher after a demolition derby.

Vista Cruisers and Caprice Classics and Buick Road Masters. Some beautify big V8 and smooth sailing cars back in the day.


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Had my fair share of wagons back in the day. Many of them end up in the crusher after a demolition derby.

Vista Cruisers and Caprice Classics and Buick Road Masters. Some beautify big V8 and smooth sailing cars back in the day.


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lol, saw a buick roadmaster wagon on the road the other day, that mother is huuuuuuge.
 
Wow thanks everyone for the suggestions! Definitely some good points out there...

Mazda5 - my favourite but my wife still isn't convinced due to lack of space...thanks Nakkers for the write up. I enjoyed driving it (5'7 here) and cousins had it for years so I spent many days with it....would still be around but met an unfortunate end with a TTC bus...

Odyssey - currently top running but ... price...

Sienna - 2nd place currently but ... price

Grand Caravan - wife likes the interior...hates the exterior

Pacifica - 3rd place, I'd love the hybrid model as it's similar to my Volt....but 60k+ is way out even after all the rebates when I ran the numbers

Ford Transit - honestly I love it, thanks for the suggestion BrianP. When I showed my wife the response was 'sell the Volt and you drive it if you like it so much!' LoL

And yes...I think after I got rid of my Genesis Coupe and went to the Elantra Touring...the joy of buying cars left with that sweet 3.8L engine and RWD... :(
 
Figure out which car based upon how big the kids will be when you need to get rid of it.

If you only expect to have it for three years, it could potentially be much smaller than one you need for ten or fifteen.

We had our three in the back of a Subaru Legacy for a couple of years.
If we needed to take anyone else we'd make two trips.

p.s. If you do look at Montanas/Ventures make sure the brakes lights work as the circuit board is partially exposed to the elements.
 
Montanas and Ventures all have see-through rocker panels by now. The multi random function tail lights were hilarious.
 
Montanas and Ventures all have see-through rocker panels by now. The multi random function tail lights were hilarious.

Wife had a Montana when I met her....fairly comfortable until the engine imploded. Funny enough her old school Pacifica failed catastrophically due to some oil issues....

her father enjoyed buying cars for 2k or less and killing them...
 
my father in law used to have a Chevy Venture.


Until he purchased a Honda CR-V, he never knew what it was like to be gloriously free from a mechanic's grip


Honestly, the Venture was always in the shop constantly for a host of issues. What a horribly engineered vehicle. GM blew it on this one.
 

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