Considering buying a minivan as a gift, but have some mileage concerns

My mother is a professional photographer and would love to have a minivan to haul her photography equipment around. My parents put me through college; now it's time to start giving back. She particularly likes a Honda Odyssey that a relative has, but it doesn't get driven much, and it's a low milage 2000-2002 model. In order to buy her a similar model, I would be looking at higher mileage (150k+) examples. A newer model can also be had for not too much more, but only if it has similar miles. I have a $10,000 budget, and I'm starting to think a <100k mile Odyssey can't be done for that.

Advice?

Should be VERY do-able. This is just one example of many in my area that's under 10k. Granted the miles are a little over 100k, but that's going to be the norm for cars of this age. Keep looking!

http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/3812998513.html

Just as I say that, good example:

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/cto/3834057504.html

I guess my main concern is buying a higher mileage vehicle as a gift.

You're a good son. That is all I have to add.

High mileage isn't what t used to be. 150k used to be the death knell for a lot of cars, these days, it's barely broken in. If you can find one that has around 100k on the clock that's had all its p's and q's minded, you should have no issues getting another 100-150k out of it.

I would be wary of a higher mileage Oddity of that generation because of the transmission. If that checks out, great vehicles.

That generation of Odyssey likes to grenade transmissions. At your budget you can get a much newer, more fuel efficient, and slightly smaller Mazda5...

Well, berkeley. Seems as though '99-2008 all have transmission issues. Before that is too old, and I can't afford quite that new.

Time to cross-shop.

10k can get you a decent Kia Sedona. I would say it would be easy to find a 2007 to 2009 in range of 40-60k miles for that price. Just note it will need front sway bar bushing every 20k.

First, as has been said, what an awesome son. Hoping my 3 kids will consider buying me a tow vehicle to support my racing hobby when they get older.

As for the vehicle, I don't know that all Odysseys had the problem, but it was a known "issue" for that transmission. One alternative I'd highly suggest is the '06 Kia Sedona minivan. I've owned one since new and it now has 87k miles on it. Bullet proof so far, can carry tons of crap. It's been the primary transport for 3 kids and all their junk, pulled landscape trailers and towed cars on a dolly. You can get a nice lower mileage one for under your budget.

Klayfish wrote: First, as has been said, what an awesome son. Hoping my 3 kids will consider buying me a tow vehicle to support my racing hobby when they get older. As for the vehicle, I don't know that all Odysseys had the problem, but it was a known "issue" for that transmission. One alternative I'd highly suggest is the '06 Kia Sedona minivan. I've owned one since new and it now has 87k miles on it. Bullet proof so far, can carry tons of crap. It's been the primary transport for 3 kids and all their junk, pulled landscape trailers and towed cars on a dolly. You can get a nice lower mileage one for under your budget.

So the Odyssey is probably "nicer," but I can get a newer Sedona for the same price? Got it. That might work out better, since she's not taking road trips or hauling around people that often, just camera equipment.

Find a mint Mazda MPV-ES. 2005 was the last of the breed. Other than coils, mine has been great. You can probably find the nicest example on the planet for well less than $10k.

My neighbors just sold a Toyota van with no where near those miles for $7200.

She says a built-in GPS would be great.

A Mazda5 with 60k miles on it should run less than 10k. Should have more than enough space for photo gear, and get a little better mpg to boot. I'm sure some models came with GPS.

OSULemon wrote: She says a built-in GPS would be great.

No, it wouldn't. Most OEM GPS units are garbage and are losing support quickly. The best GPS units are going to be portable/stand-alone that can be updated frequently. Garmin has the run on stand-alones, but a good smartphone (Droid + Google Maps) will match those. Finding a yokel on a porch who'll tell you to hang a left at the old Pappy's station is going to be more reliable than any OEM unit more than 36 months old...

In reply to bastomatic:

The Mazda5 Grand Touring has power sliding doors on both sides. All Mazda5's have 2nd row buckets that fold flat with storage under them and a perfectly flat folding 3rd row. The lower liftover height compared to a normal minivan will be a boon for cargo loading the camera equipment.

Ya the mazda 5 is pretty sweet

In reply to Javelin:

Actually you can't buy any model Mazda5 with power sliding doors or liftgate in the US market.

In reply to bastomatic:

Whoopsie!

The Mazda5 definitely looks good on paper, but oh boy is it ugly from the back. Dunno whether she'd like it or not.

In reply to OSULemon:

If it's the lights, you have options. The original 06-08 models have the spaceship looking ones in either chrome (like mine) but you can buy black/fakeCF/smoked/red ones on FeeBay. They are pretty wild.

The redesign brought much more subtle LED taillights in a smoked look. Those tend to "blend in" a lot more. Again, there's additional aftermarket options available.

Javelin wrote: In reply to OSULemon: If it's the lights, you have options. The original 06-08 models have the spaceship looking ones in either chrome (like mine) but you can buy black/fakeCF/smoked/red ones on FeeBay. They are pretty wild. The redesign brought much more subtle LED taillights in a smoked look. Those tend to "blend in" a lot more. Again, there's additional aftermarket options available.

I'm keeping it on the list for sure. She does not know that I am thinking of buying her a van, so I'm being as discreet/subtle as possible. It may turn out that I need to tell her before the actual purchase, just to make sure it's something she absolutely wants. My plan was to take her car shopping "for fun," and possibly buy the one she likes the best and surprise her with it.

However, she expressed a desire for a vehicle less than 5 years old, so that further narrows down my search...

"I'll help you pay for a car" is a lot less satisfying than buying it by yourself. Damn.

Honda Element? Not sure on prices or if they use the same trans as the Oddity, just another thought.

Are you sure she wants a Mini Van?

My father is a professional photographer. Lots of lighting equipment to haul around, etc and gets it all done with an Audi wagon.

Wagons might also have a lower deck hight, little easier to load at the end of the day.