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Input please... LONG
To make a long story short... my van (Honda Odyssey) went bad. The repair would be just short of 5K and the car is only worth about 8K. So we will trade it in.
We are sure we want to get a Toyota Sienna. Dh and I both looked around online for new or 2011 Sienna's. There is not much out there. Seems like people buy mini vans to keep. The few there are are either base models without powered doors and that is the one thing that is important to me or they are older. The new cars are obviously above out budget.
I found one on carmax that was what we were looking for and I test drove it and liked it. The thing is, that we will need to get my van towed to carmax so they can appraise the car for us. The good thing is, that even if we ended up not buying the car from them that I test drove... they give you a check and you can walk away.. however, we of course don't know how much they will give us until the van is there. And once it's there we do not want to tow it anywhere else.
Generally I guess that sounds like an easy solution... I liked the van they have, its the right price and what we wanted and they will buy our defective van (for I don't know how much). We have to buy quickly as I am driving a rental and I can't do that for a long time .. it's simply too expensive.
Our worry is that we are jumping on the first car I saw and test drove. On one side I say it is what we want and I liked and I saw that there is not much out there but on the other I worry that I am jumping on it too quickly. David can't do much as he is stuck in Europe.
Sooooo folks... I would like to know what you would do in this situation. Would you go for the car you liked or would you wait and look at more at the chance to loose the one that was in your range? I just would like to get some outsider views.
Thanks in advance!
Re: Input please... LONG
I am sorry about your van, that sucks. What is wrong with it?
What year is the one you found at carmax? How does the report on it look?
Have you checked out any Toyota dealers to see if any of them have dealer demos available? Dealer demos are typically the newest used cars.
It can be tough to find used cars less than 2-4 years old- look at the length of leases/financing terms and people often turn in/sell the cars then, so 36-48 month range.
From everything I have read/heard carmax pays more than typical dealers do for cars, but I don't know how that generalization applies to cars that have to be towed in.
When you are shopping for a used car you do have to take the plunge and buy one that seems to be the right fit and then stop looking, because another car that is a better price/fit will come along.
I can never recall what all is wrong with my van but something about a coil of a cylinder broke off (it was a V6) and wedged and welded itself into some part around it and cant be taken out. It has to be completely replaced ($3300). And because the car was running on 5 cylinders, the excess gas damaged another part which would be over another 1K to fix.
I did go to a Toyota dealer there and the only thing they could offer me was 5K over our max budget. That or the base model that does not have the power sliding doors. But with kids that is the one thing in a van that I REALLY want.
I did like everyone at toyota carmax, felt well treated (which I did not at the other toyota dealer and did like the car.
The car at Toyota Carmax is a 2011.
So all in all I say I want it. But after my husband mentioned how much he dislikes that we are jumping on the first car, now I am completely worried. Ugh
If you can find an '11 in your budget, I would say go for it. Yes, a better deal may come down the road - and maybe even in just 2 weeks, but you need a car now- not 2 weeks or a month from now.
We bought our wagon in Jan. 08- when I went to the dealer for service a few months later I looked at their board and of course they had a newer model of our car w/ less miles listed for less, but DH really wanted a family wagon before DD was born.
It doesn't sound like having your car repaired, driving it for a while longer, while you do more shopping is an option.
Thank You. I think I just needed to hear this from someone else. I think both mine and dh's brain's are too stressed at this point to think straight.
Today on top of it all, on my way home from Carmax my frikkin rental shut off on me in the middle of an intersection and wouldnt start. I had to wait 2 hours before Enterprise came to get me. I swear I am so done with this.
I'm sorry about your van. I agree with Daisy, although normally you want to keep shopping around that isn't really feasible when you need one asap. There are many Toyota dealerships in the area and they all pretty much have their inventory online though so you could at least do searches to see if there is anything else currently available that you could check out quickly and compare.
We liked the Sienna too (we test drove SUVs and minivans) and probably will buy one of them when my Camry dies (which hopefully isn't for awhile). When DH's car transmission went in the summer we had to buy a new car pretty quickly but thankfully we were able to find the configuration of Toyota Highlander that we wanted that was scheduled to be delivered so we didn't have to wait. It's not easy having to do such larger purchases in a hurry but sometimes you don't have a lot of choice.
I understand the hesitation to buy the first car that you test drove, but if it has the features you want, and you know you want a minivan, and you know you want a Toyota Sienna..........what's the problem? If you were all up in the air and couldn't decide between a Sienna or a Pilot or a Highlander or a Venza, then I'd say take more time looking. but you know you want that particularly model of minivan, you know you have X amount of money to spend, and you know CarMax has it.
I think CarMax can be kind of pricey for used cars sometimes (we definitely overpaid there for our Vue) but the overall buying experience there is so painless that I think it can be worth it, and it sounds like it'd be worth it your situation.
I'm so jealous.........I want a Sienna.
DE IVF #1= 04/11 - BFP
BFP#1: 01/10, M/C 6w -- BFP#2: 06/10, M/C 5w -- BFP#3: 09/10, DS born June 1, 2011
BFP#4: 07/12, M/C 5w3d -- BFP#5: 12/12, EDD 08/18/13
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I agree with all of the above.... It is like shopping for a wedding dress, once you find something you liek in your price range you need to pull the trigger on the purchase and then STOP looking!
I TOTALLY thought of this analogy- of course I bought 2 dresses, so I couldn't exactly use it!
lol
I doubt you will get much for your car that does not run at carmax. I used to work there and driving the car is part of there appraisal process.
Sorry