Buying a minivan for a family member. Looking for something fairly reliable, budget is 3500 to 4000 max. She lives in the middle of nowhere and mechanics are few and far between in them parts.
I was thinking 05+ how odyssey. What should I look for on those other than timing belt and motor mounts?
Any other suggestions?
2006+ Kia Sedona
Decent handling and ride for a minivan, available with power sliding door option, and uses a timing chain.
Check for rust and recall completion to avoid issues down the road.
on edit: prices are all over the place so find the best condition/mileage I'm your budget.. You could get into the 2010-2011 range with careful shopping.
Avoid 2005 and older, those used a timing belt and weren't as refined.
If not a rusty climate, the lowest mileage 2007 and older Chrysler. The reason I choose this is that in her few and far between area, any mechanic can fix it and any auto parts place will have the part in stock.
I think it was only '06 and '07 of this body that offered the stow and go. The other years had seats that don't fold but if the vehicle is for people hauling, those non folding seats are more comfortable.
Buying in Central Texas so there better not be any rust. Yup people hauling, herself and 3 kids + her parents.
Not what you were asking for, so apologies ahead of time, but if she's that rural, what about a full size Chevy/Ford van (maybe a conversion van)? Only recommend it because if she does need to take it to a mechanic, practically anyone can work on/get parts for a full size truck. You can almost buy Chevy truck parts at a quicky mart and parts are usually inexpensive. I always joke that if you see ads for things like "rotors starting at $19.99", most of the time, it's for a GM truck. Same thing would apply to a Suburban. Example
Not as fuel efficient or easy to drive as a minivan. So, may not work, just thinking outside the box a bit.
-Rob
I voted with my dollars on this one. But it was partially a labor of love (got it for $300 and put $1000+ and a lot of work to make it worth <3k) . And they're slow.
I 2nd the Kia/Hyundai suggestion. They're not as common, as cheap, as easy to fix, etc, but they're more modern and have 6 gears and a lot more power.
I would go with a Sienna or Sedona. The Odyssey transmissions were better in '05 and '06, but I would want at least an '07, when they switched over to the Ridgeline transmission.
We owned our '05 Odyssey from 36k to when the transmission started to slip at 164k. I did the 3x drain and fill religiously with Honda's own ATF every 30k, and the transmission still went out (never towed anything with it). And I've towed with 4L60Es and never had a problem!
My Mazda5...
The one in the best condition.
In reply to Vigo (Forum Supporter) :
Wanna make a profit? LoL
The nicest Mopar or Sedona/Entourage you can find.
The Toyota’s and Honda’s are nice, arguably better for the years you’ll be looking at, but your money will go much farther with the Chryco or Korean product here.
Another vote for Chrysler, in an area were mechanics are few and far its a lot easier to find one that knows there way around a Chrysler product.
My experience with an 05 Odyssey was not good, lost of expensive maintenance and Honda is very proud of their parts.
We've had two Odyssey vans, a 2000 and a 2005. Went with a Sienna for the next one, done with Hondas in that price range.
We bought a hard used Sienna that had a fresh Jasper transmission and all caught up on preventative maintenance.
Friend's son is still driving it.
In a Mazda 5 now. Just polled my wife, she likes the 5 but said she wouldn't have liked it when the kids were small, since there's more stuff with little kids.
We bought a used Sienna with 125k miles on it. Now at 193k and we've only had to do consumables.
Found a really nice 2007 odyssey touring. Kinda high miles but maintenance ce records from 2008 to last year. And it isn't trashed like every other one I've looked at. It doesn't look like kids took it over. $2600. Windshield has a crack and might need a front passenger-side wheel bearing. The most up-kept Van I've found so far.
There was 100k mile vans that look like they gone through hell and back. Especially Toyotas and Hondas. I think people assume you can neglect them and they'll run forever anyway.
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