For those who saw my other thread we are in the market for a new used car. Needs are: budget friendly (~9-12K), reliable, seating for 6+, comfortable. Wants are style, AWD, roomy.
We currently have a 1999 Suburban for family road trips but at 235K miles I'm starting to get nickled and dimed by it and want to take family trips with zero drama. We have been looking at newer Suburbans/Denalis/Escalades and they are certainly nice. But during our trip to the dealership Saturday TigerMom stopped in front of a Routan (she had previously said she didn't want a minivan) and went on for a while about how pretty it was.
So I guess my question is twofold: what years should I avoid in minivan land? (i.e. Early Hondas with their self destructing transmissions)
Secondly, what else am I missing?
Routan is a Caravan and we've had very good luck with our Caravans. Brake calipers may need slides lubed but they've never let us down.
RossD
PowerDork
10/5/15 9:44 a.m.
Pheww! I thought this was a Plymouth Horizon thread.
For the MY 2007, IIRC, you could get an extended wheel base Expedition as the Expedition XL. I don't know what they are going for with regards to your budget. They have 3rd seating. I'd imagine it would be similar to your GM vehicle but done in a Ford way.
tuna55
MegaDork
10/5/15 10:04 a.m.
If you're into Dodge minivans, point out to her that the Routan doesn't get the real stow n' go. That was a dealbreaker for us. Not sure if the AWD versions got rid of the Stow n' go though.
Also, get the pentastar and the new 6 speed transmission. That's 2011 and up.
We get darn near 30 mpg on the highway depending on speed/hills/A/C usage.
I would never buy the Routan because of what tuna said above. BUT I would swap a Routan front end on a Caravan - looks much better in my opinion. They didn't sell many though so I doubt they pop up for sale often.
The newer Caravans and TCs were not available with AWD due to stow-and-go limitations.
Really the TC/Caravan are the easy button here. Budget friendly, capacious, and reliable. I think the Toyota Sienna had AWD and has had its reliability praised many times, but you lose those sweet Chrysler seats, and they're much more expensive.
