To minivan or not to minivan?
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| Sat, 04-08-2006 - 7:26pm |
Soooo... Dh and I are still debating the minivan question. We will have three children as of November of this year. We currently drive a Subaru Outback, which technically has room for three carseats in the back seat.
I found some carseats that sort of fit, but it means the two children on the outside are sitting in seats that lean inward (because the seats have cushy bumps on the outer edges), so they don't actually sit up straight. And it's CROWDED. Oh, and it's hard to buckle the booster child, because you have to reach between two very tightly fitted carseats to get to the buckle (of course, the other two seats have harnesses, so this is a problem for them only upon installation). It's possible that once the baby graduates to a convertible, that they won't fit at all, seeing as the outer two would be leaning into the upper space of the middle one.
We're looking at the possibility of getting a Dodge Grand Caravan (reviews, anyone?), which we test drove today. It's a very nice vehicle upon first inspection and oh so roomy. Gas mileage is a little worse, by about 5 mpg. Insurance would be the same, roughly (already checked with my insurer). We really want the additional cargo space of the Grand Caravan versus any other makes or models we looked at (I'm always hauling stuff, and we take frequent car trips to visit family).
By my best estimates, which may be high or low but I think are pretty close, we would probably spend about $2000-$3000 more on this vehicle (including transfer costs like detailing our existing car to sell it, and tax title registration, etc) than we would get for our existing vehicle.
I checked on financing, and we could take out a two year loan for about $50 more per month than our current loan, or a three year loan for about $60 less than our current payment. Basically this means that we would probably have the car paid off in about two and a half years (as opposed to the two years in our current plan). This would represent a final, complete debt-free date of about six months later than our current estimates (two and a half instead of two years). The interest rate would be 1.5% higher than our current rate, because we financed our current car during a low rate period.
I would be very grateful for ya'll's feedback on this issue. I'm leaning toward getting the minivan, but I realize I may be feeling an emotional attachment based on the test drive and the newness factor.
By the way, we wouldn't buy the actual car we saw today. Instead, we would try to get our car sold, and then shop around, probably for a private party sale, which tends to be cheaper than through a dealership (we went to Carmax for the test drive). Otherwise, the difference between the trade-in of our existing car and the retail of the new one would be much greater.
Thanks for any thoughts and advice on the matter. It is greatly appreciated.
Blessings,
Heather
P.S. In the interest of being positive--I am EXCITED about the baby, and I'm not stressed about the car. I'm just grateful we're in a position to be making this decision at all. The loan officer at USAA told me I was pre-approved for a vehicle loan up to $50k!! I laughed really hard when he told me that. Then I asked him if I could just get $8k instead, lol. It made me feel good to know that our credit situation has improved so greatly in the past few years since the time when they wouldn't even refinance my $8k car because our credit rating was so abysmal. :)

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UPDATE:
I just did some more research. Based on my initial calculations, buying the minivan would cost extra. But I just looked at Kelley Blue Book values, and discovered that a Dodge Grand Caravan with the same miles and the same year as our Subaru Outback is actually worth *less* than our car. That means, we should be able to get a comparable value, including the transfer costs, without increasing our debt much if at all.
If in fact we can do that, I think it becomes kind of a no-brainer. But I still strongly welcome input, thoughts, ideas, cautions, experiences, etc.
Thanks!!
Heather
I would definatly go for the van, but then again I have a van and I think it adds greatly to my comfort of having to drive 4 kids around plus all their stuff. it's especially nice to have a little room between kids, because they grow so fast they do need a little more room, not just for the car seats but to keep the contention down :P
Good Luck,
Cristin
Heather
2 years ago we had a "surprise" adoption....we were planning on stopping at 2 and a 3rd girl came into our lives that needed us and we wanted to be her family!! That being said 2 months before we had gotten rid of our paid for mini van and paid cash for a family sedan to save $$ and be a little more ecologically friendly(having kids turned us a little green). Instead of turning around and buying a mini van right away we crammed 3 car seats into the back of the accord for 14 months. It wasn't easy. They all had to be in harnesses because the snapping of a booster seat just isn't feasible. We had to buy 2 new car seats because we needed ones with narrow bases. Thankfully our children are very petite and the streamlined ones didn't hurt them.
On the other hand, it wasn't terrible. I would ask how soon your oldest will be out of a seat..will it be just a year or 2 or longer? How much long distance travelling do you do? We did do one trip that was 14 hours but there isn't a lot of space left over for stuff for the kids...or legs for Papa. We did buy a van finally last summer because our oldest was just too big for a harness. We thought asking a 7 year old to wear a harness was just too much.
I would suggest before you buy a van to do your research. We bought a Toyota off of EBAY(i buy EVERYTHING off ebay) and got a great deal. We paid to have it shipped to us site unseen. for $8300 we got a toyota that had 63000 on it and was almost exactly what we wanted. I would have liked that 4th door on the other side but it saved me $$ at the time and is a minor inconvenience. Alot of vans dont have great residual value so think of that when you are looking. Your current car will probably depreciate less over the years than your van. We also got financing through capital one auto before we even started looking. It saved us the hassle at the end and took some of the fuel out of their negotiating fire. We also love their rates, but you have to buy from a licensed agency to get the best rate. www.cars.com has lots of stuff listed....
We are not van people and are just counting the 4 more years I have to own it until we buy something different(we are planning on a hybrid of some sort) that we will pay cash for but we are VERY happy with out toyota as far as quality and the deal we got. People are amazed how cheap we got it and we marvel sometimes that we were able to get such a great deal. Just make sure when you are ready to buy you have the time to not rush and get exactly what you want...
If you have any questions about working out the 3 car seat thing let me know, I would be happy to answer them....though if your seats are at an angle I would be concerned about the safety of your children which is a deal buster...I did see a Ford Focus at the store yesterday that had 3 carseats in the back(can't imagine how) so it really depends on the seat type....
PS we also took our car we wanted to sell to carmax to see what they would give us as a cash payment and they paid us a couple of hundred more than we thought we would get on the street so it is worth checking into...
Well, I say if you already have a car payment then selling it & getting another one for the van is the way to go.
Pumpkin
&nbs
Heather,
I would definitely go with the van, if you feel it won't cause much disruption to your financial plans, especially if you are all out together frequently. We were looking into this a few months ago too in anticipation of having baby #3, and my research led me to the Toyota Sienna. I know some people still prefer to buy American, but I have two Toyotas now which have never given me a bit of trouble.
Now is a pretty good time to buy a car, too... anyhow, best of luck with whatever you decide.
Heather
I think you have answered your own question.
Lara
On the one hand, my MIL is on her 3rd or 4th Dodge Caravan, and she loves them. On the other hand, we know lots of people who adore their Honda Odysseys. Since you have already had an import in the Subaru, it would be worth checking out, I think.
Just a question: is the 5 mpg differnce in mileage comparing the 2 EPA ratings, or your actual Subaru mileage to the Caravan's EPA rating? I ask because the few times we've borrowed MIL's van to haul stuff, we've been floored at how much it costs to fill up. Van mileage in general is pretty icky, IMO, so you may just be looking at the least of the evils, so to speak, in looking at MPG on vans. However, checking out some other models wouldn't hurt. Just my 2 cents.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
-Sarah
Sarah
Mom to Gina & Tony
We have the regular Dodge Caravan and honestly I KICK myself that we didn't get the "Grand" version because let me tell you the regular one does NOT have any space in the back whatsoever.
Becky
CL of 4th, 5th & 6th grade Scoliosis
Thanks for your terrific perspective on this. We are pretty green too, and I worry about the gas mileage. What kind of mileage are you getting in your Toyota minivan? What year is it (if you don't mind my asking)?
My kids tend to be pretty small, so the streamlined seats work for them--but the downside is that they take a long time to grow into the next stage. So oldest ds is 5 and will probably be 8 before he could go without a carseat at all. I really don't think I can put him back in a harness seat--he would be SO unhappy. He loves his booster seat and just learned to buckle it himself. We also take regular trips to Alabama, about six hours away (longer if we make frequent stops). Dh is leaning heavily toward getting a minivan. I wish there were a hybrid option. The safety issue is a concern too, though I've wondered whether we could use towels to get the seats to sit level. But I don't know what the safety issues are with that, either. Also, by the time the baby gets in a convertible seat, there wouldn't be room across the top for the convertible, because of the way the other two seats lean inward.
So, it's looking like minivan time, though, like you, I'd rather be driving something small and efficient. Our city is soon getting green fuels, though--B100, B20, E10, and E80. I'm wondering--I'll have to do the research--if any of the vehicles we're looking at can be run on E80 (a lot of modern cars just need a new O2 sensor to use it). If that were possible, and provided the biofuels are not too much more expensive than the fossil fuels, I'd feel a lot better about the whole thing.
We bought a car off Ebay one time and had such a horrendous experience that I am extremely gunshy. Still, I guess I might do it for the right deal and under more cautious circumstances. In fact, though, there's a little Toyota Siena we're looking at tomorrow through a private party that's asking $2000 under loan value, and they are open to negotiation, so we may be able to get a good deal there--more on that in another post, actually.
I'm pretty good at finding good deals once I've done my research. Thanks for the reminder to really look into this more carefully.
Oh, and thanks for the tip on Carmax. I think we're going over there tonight to test drive a Sienna, and maybe we'll have them look at our car while we're there.
Thanks again for all your thoughts and advice. It's good to hear.
Blessings,
Heather
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