Location: Right where I wanna be- south bay area of sunny CA
Posts: 13,631
What van would you buy?
Out of the blue my ILs have offered to help buy a van for us (the locks went out and that was the straw that broke my FIL's back as he is the one who fixes our cars). He wants us to find what we want with about 60,000 miles on it and a year 2000 or newer. I know he won't want to spend an arm an a leg so I have to keep that in mind. In our home safety comes *first*.
So what would you pick and why? Is there a van you wouldn't pick?
For safety ratings I am using http://www.iihs.org/
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KD
newly single mom to three awesome kids
We have a Honday Odyssey and LOVE it!!! It's safe and it's a great vehicle. Ours is a 2003, but I've heard great things about them for a long time so I'm sure an older one would b e great too.
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mama to 2 princesses, le petit prince and a wee little member of royalty to arrive in early 2008
with 57000 miles on it for $4600 cash. It runs great and has not needed any expensive repairs. The rear seat folds down to be a bed and it's roomy so an adult can stand in the middle hallway as I call it unlike in a minivan. (Ours is a shorty.) It also has room to haul stuff and load groceries. It holds 7. It's a conversion van so it only get 16 mpg however. You may prefer the look of a minivan to a conversion van but you can't beat the price!
We bought this van when my fourth was 1 month old since we couldn't all fit in our 5 passenger wagon anymore!
Best wishes! Consumer Reports said the Honda Oddessey and the Toyota are the best minivans safety wise but they are also very expensive.
Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
Posts: 12,988
Stay away from Fords. Actually I think they are made better now. We joke that the Freestar was so named because their tagline should be, "Get a Freestar, and be FREE of all the problems of your Windstar."
We had a lot of issues with our 98 Windstar and we were one of the lucky ones. They are rated very poorly in Consumer Reports for reliability.
__________________ Be realistic: Plan for a miracle. ~Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
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I'm really happy with our Sienna. It's 3 years old, has about 70,000 miles on it and runs perfectly. My IL's have a Honda and love it, but I like my toyota a little better .
I think they are both rated very highly for safety and longevity.
I really like our Pontiac Montana. It's much better on gas than some of the other American-made minivans I've driven. I think it rates pretty well too. And alot cheaper than a toyota or honda.
kerri
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Mama to Cole (9), Naomi (8), Adam (7), and Noah (4)
All adopted - All breastfed
Wife to David for 12 years!
Breastfeeding Counsellor and Doula
Accepted into midwifery school for February 2009!
We are moving to New Zealand on January 29th
Yikes, there is TONS to do before then. Gulp.
We bought a 2000 Toyota for $11500 a year ago and sold it for $10500 last Nov.
It was a great van. We loved it and only sold it because we got the opportunity to get a car with no monthly payment.
What van would you buy?
Actually I think they are made better now. We joke that the Freestar was so named because their tagline should be, "Get a Freestar, and be FREE of all the problems of your Windstar."
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to Ryan ('98), Alex ('99) & Caroline (11/7/07) 
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