It all depends on lifestyle, Sports/ travel. Maybe op heads to the cottage every weekend. You are correct though, It's all about wants and needs.....but that's everything in life.Kiraly wrote: ↑Do you really need a minivan? Our kids are 15 and 16. We started out with a VW Golf in 2001, then had a Mazda 3 from 2007-2018. We currently have a Kia Rondo. We'd still have the Mazda if it weren't totaled. It did the job just fine; we never wished we had anything bigger. "Families need minivans" is largely marketing.
3 kids and grandparents (who can't drive) visiting/staying for long period of time (not in days, but couple of months here and there), so yeah minivan will be much better.Kiraly wrote: ↑ Do you really need a minivan? Our kids are 15 and 16. We started out with a VW Golf in 2001, then had a Mazda 3 from 2007-2018. We currently have a Kia Rondo. We'd still have the Mazda if it weren't totaled. It did the job just fine; we never wished we had anything bigger. "Families need minivans" is largely marketing.
As a parent of 4 ( 2 booster and 1 infant car seat), who has taken both sets of grandparents on road trips, the minivan is the ONLY option.boyohboy wrote: ↑ 3 kids and grandparents (who can't drive) visiting/staying for long period of time (not in days, but couple of months here and there), so yeah minivan will be much better.
Sure *can* work without minivan, but then every outing when grandparents are here will have to be 2 cars. And actually even without grandparents, trying to stuff 3 kids in 1 car will be quite a bit of work.
No, you absolutely don't need a minivan. But it's not just marketing either.
I can confirm this. I currently have an SUV and it sucks with the third row. Hell it just sucks
+1 You cannot beat the value of a Dodge Grand Caravan. Even better value is to buy one 4 yrs off lease for half of that or less!!!! Take that $10k and upgrade every major appliance in your house and I think you'll be even happier.
I was thinking about this too but im scared to buy a used minivan, always bought new. any experience with it?gr8dlr wrote: ↑ +1 You cannot beat the value of a Dodge Grand Caravan. Even better value is to buy one 4 yrs off lease for half of that or less!!!! Take that $10k and upgrade every major appliance in your house and I think you'll be even happier.
For those who speak about resale...if you drive it for 15 yrs, there is no resale really so that doesn't matter. If you're not likely to keep it for that long, then yes you can consider resale.
No issues buying used IMO. If you've saved $10k or more you can afford a few routine "wear/usage" bills. If you buy used, consider getting it oil sprayed first year at the least.riseagainstthemachine wrote: ↑ I was thinking about this too but im scared to buy a used minivan, always bought new. any experience with it?
thanks, that makes sense. what about leasing? I travel about 100km a day for work, so I am out of the range for leasing I guessgr8dlr wrote: ↑ No issues buying used IMO. If you've saved $10k or more you can afford a few routine "wear/usage" bills. If you buy used, consider getting it oil sprayed first year at the least.
Just gotta get it checked out. Usually dealers who lease the vans get the vans returned to them. Those which were serviced by the dealer (they can supply service records) and well taken care of are usually kept on the Used Car Lot. The bad ones are usually sent to wholesalers/auctions.
My thought process...if you buy used and saved $$, if repairs seem high/unusual in first year or two, consider flipping a possible lemon. You'll still be ahead in terms of capital lost vs capital lost in buying a new vehicle....ie depreciation on a $12k used vehicle is going to be far less than depreciation on a $24k used vehicle.
