I figured I might as well ask here because I have exhausted a lot of other searches and Word of mouth/ networking can be powerful.
Our little family is growing come Monday- Baby #2 is on his/her way! My little civic coupe can't handle car seats at all and we thought it would be best to get a minivan. I have preached minivans to a lot of people with kids and now it's time to get on board too. My wife is so excited about this hahaha.
We have looked all over locally and in state but I figured I would ask to see if anyone here was looking to sell their minivan or was planning on trading theirs in or possibly even turning in a lease that we might be able to buy out.
Hoping for something without huge miles or too old but open to anything.
Anyone here selling a minivan?
Thanks guys/gals
Early congratulations on #2.
Sorry I don't have a minivan to sell you. Free bump.
Good luck on your van search, and family.
I went looking for a decent minivan the end of last summer. I finally decided to jump on the dream of making a VW Westy type weekender. I found a 2015 Grand Caravan with 39K on it for $15k. At the time Hertz was selling used 18-19 GT versions for 19K.
My van is now worth what I paid as a trade in, and the same vans at Hertz are around 25K
TGMF
HalfDork
2/18/22 9:03 a.m.
Just bought a '11 Sienna limited myself. I've got baby #3 due this summer and couldn't fit the car seats into the Rav4. Obviously car prices are insane right now, so if you're looking for a cheaper entry fee, pick the best maintained version you can find and run with it. Miles and age alone aren't that big of a deal. Mine's got 150k on it, runs and drives great. everything works, and is extremely clean.
It was also cheap enough I won't loose my mind when the kids leave gummie worms or something on the floor in the middle of summer. Why drop 30k plus on a car that's going to see this type of use?
BTW- Vans are awesome at hauling the fam. Really really awesome.
Prices have definitely gone up. Do a search for Enterprise Car Sales. The local network in my region (Philly) has some 500+ minivans, although as mentioned above, most are in the mid-20K range. I do see a 2016 GC with a $17K price.
I will eventually sell my 2017 GC GT, but unfortunately I don't really have an estimate on "when." I have to get a few more ducks lined up first.
When I had my kids we had an El Camino and a Camaro. I immediately sought the safety of Volvo's.
For various reasons that never happened. And here they are all grown up with children of their own.
Car guys obsess about this sort of thing. It's our nature. Whatever you buy or don't buy you'll still obsess about it.
Congratulation's. Try to remember to spend every moment you can with your kids. It's over before you know it.
As a recent owner and convert, the Mazda5 might fit the bill. SWMBO calls it our microvan because she loathes minivans, feels like she's too cool to drive one. :D . But the sliding doors and bucket seats in the middle look like they'd be perfect for child seats.
Just a quick CL search shows one in your neck of the woods with low miles (68k) and leather.
-Rob
I have 3 kids and the Mazda Cx-5 and Cx-9 have been great cars for us. The Cx-9 with the captain chairs, 3rd row is great. I found that the Minivan lease prices were significantly more expensive then SUV's plus you get AWD.
I am indeed selling my Grand Caravan (posted in the 'Cars For Sale' board here), but have a local sale pending.
Unfortunately with prices the way they are, I see comparable '13-'15 Grand Caravans with 110-150k miles listing for between $9k and $11k at dealerships.
You should include your locale.
C/L near me has a really nice full power astro van that needs a motor for cheap.
For cheap you could be surrounded in GM luxury for many smiles with a brand new motor.
It's not a new car, but if it has power windows steering brakes with cruise and AC, you can add some tunes and drive the crap out of it.
Also RWD & you can tow with it.
I had 10 year old minivans on my shopping list at the end of last year, because it would be nice to have something to camp in at the track. But any vans with lower miles or non-sketchy history was crazy $$ so I ended up buying a Mazda 6 hatchback.
But: While I was looking did find a couple nice Mazda 5s that were priced more reasonably so I think those might fly under the radar in the current market. My wife drives one and, while smaller than a full size minivan, it's perfect for driving two kids around town.
rob_lewis said:
As a recent owner and convert, the Mazda5 might fit the bill. SWMBO calls it our microvan because she loathes minivans, feels like she's too cool to drive one. :D . But the sliding doors and bucket seats in the middle look like they'd be perfect for child seats.
Just a quick CL search shows one in your neck of the woods with low miles (68k) and leather.
-Rob
Another vote for our current van, a Mazda 5. Before ours, we had a Sienna and two Odysseys. I like this one best.
Not a bad price for Mazda5 w/ 87k asking $5.5k
The very overlooked bigger Chevy Tracker might be interesting But check. Not all of these were 4wd. Standard was 2wd...rwd.
A little more than 2 hours from you but so overlooked: 2008 Taurus X w/88k asking $7.5k
I would love to never see our 06 odyssey again after the electrical issues we had a few weeks ago. I would feel bad about it though!
We made due with sedans until we had our 3rd. Once one is front facing on the drivers side, and the one kid in the reverse bucket on the pass side (my wife isn't tall and can pull her seat up). Once we had the 3rd it was vantime. Earlier than that it didn't quite make sense, even with the bigger car you get locked out of the back with the two car seats in it anyway. We used to leave half the back stowed and the older one would get into the back that way instead of pushing past the "babies."
I bought a 2019 Sienna SE - AKA: the only minivan you want - last year for $28K with 19,000 miles on it. Looking at Carvana, that same van is now $40k. Ouch.
In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :
...wow.
In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :
Not to play "one-ups" but...
Yours went from $28k to $40k = $12k
My Grand Caravan went from $15.1k to $29k = $14k. Shop at Avis and that could be closer to $25k
It's insane out there!
Simultaneously, I think the marketing of minivans is being taken way upscale. The Sienna you bought was never cheap but the redesign that came the year after was a big leap in price. The Kia rebranding to Carnival also is a push upscale. In Asian countries, the big minivans like these are seen as executive travel. Nearly like owning a limo.
Thanks for the support and input guys.
As much fun as a project would be, this has to be a plug and play vehicle. No engine swaps or major work.
We looked at sedans, big sedans. Avalons and Accords. Tried to check out Subarus but im not sure i wanna get into those.
I have seen the Mazda 5 and for a while we pursued it. With the exception of price, we just figured the minivan route was better:more room, same MPG, and millions of minivans, less so Mazda 5.
The Astro did come up a lot as its a lot of van. We dont need towing capability so thats not much of a plus. Again though, a minivan has more room, TWO sliding doors and gets better MPG. Secretly I still like them but my wife, lukewarm at best.
You are right, the minivan prices have gone nuts. Crazy. We even have a list of minivan alternatives but keep coming back to them.
Now I wish I'd bought javelins Ford Flex so I could sell you my grand caravan. Sigh.
I have looked at police Tahoe PPVs which kinda fit the bill but even those seem to be pretty clapped out. However its just a GM truck so stuff will last a while.
Still its not a minivan which is what I KNOW will be the best tool here.
I checked out a 2012 Sienna XLE loaded, AWD with 45,000 miles at the tippy top of our price range. Actually over our price range but I was hoping to talk him down a bit. It had a minor accident 2 years ago where it was rear ended and the seller showed photos and it didnt look bad at all. Plus its been used for the time since so I feel like any issues would be sorted by now? I dont think we need AWD but i saw it as a low mile van we can keep for a longggg time. We shall see where that goes.
We are trying to stay under $20k which has been challenging. You guys both help and hurt here. I like the attitudes that an older van will work just as well and be less expensive. On the other hand, the Caravan for example its best to get the newer one with the better brakes oh oh oh and get the newer newer one with the better engine if you can. Newer tends to be more cash.
Its been an interesting car search this time 'round thats for sure.
I saw that one. What kills me with a lot of these is the mileage. The last couple cars we have had we're all high mile cars and it seems like we always are doing something to fix them and always chasing clunks and rattles and a worn out bushing and a worn out mount in this and that. I'm hoping to get something lower mileage to just have for a while without worrying about all the other stuff
In reply to CarKid1989 :
buy that 04.. i had an 04.. It was actually way better built than my 2013. The 2013 is a coarsely screwed together junk box.. Transmission, coarse... Engine, coarse.. Random rattle that noone can find.. (it's one of the seats latches..) already been through two wheel bearings and the rear A/C lines..
My 04 minivan didn't have any issues until it hit 200k miles.. then it was just that the power sliding doors broke... So I cut the cables and drove it.. It was still running great, but needed a timing belt, so I traded it in instead of fixing it.
Way better van than my newer one...
CarKid1989 said:
On the other hand, the Caravan for example its best to get the newer one with the better brakes oh oh oh and get the newer newer one with the better engine if you can. Newer tends to be more cash.
You can go as old as 2013 with the GC/T&C and get the modern everything. Supposedly some low trim early 2013s still received the small brakes, but that's easy to avoid.
