Seeking MiniVice (Minivan Advice)

[judecorp]

I am getting a new computer for the first time in many many years. It will be shipping soon. So exciting! I got an iPod Touch for Christmas and haven't been able to put any music on it because my old iBook can't run a new enough version of iTunes to sync up. Whoops. So it was time.

Financially, it was more prudent to leave the world of Mac for a while, although I am super sad to do it. I feel like I am cheating, ha. But this way I can get a bunch of software from Jen and can have Photoshop again, hooray!

I got one of those Dell Inspiron thingies that you can get in different colors, because I got in my head that I needed a smurfy blue computer. Of course. Of course.

My tax return - which was pretty significant thanks to Senor Cupcakey - is completely and totally gone now. Man, that was quick. Paid off both credit cards, got our heating system in the house fixed (it didn't have cold air returns, stupid prior owners), and now a new computer. Ch-ching!

Jen's should be coming soon, and is earmarked for getting the crack in the living room ceiling fixed, putting some away for the summer when I'm not working, a couple of flight vouchers to go to SC in the summer, and potentially paying off the rest of my car loan to get a jump start on replacing Jen's car. I was rallying for a Mazda5 but Jen thinks if we're going to "go minivan," we should go big or go home. So we might be getting a regular minivan and be a minivan family. EEEEEEEK.

Tell me your minivan stories and advice, please.

Being a grown-up is way less glamorous than I thought it would be. Whodathunk that spending all of that money could be so PRACTICAL and BORING?

p.s. Name my new computer

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

We've had a Kia Sedona for six months now and we love it. While driving off the lot in a shiny new car is amazing (I can now say I've done it once... with our Subaru Forester), this time we discovered the joy of saving a butt ton of money by buying slightly used. Our van was formerly a rental, which means that some tourist *might* have driven it 100 miles with the emergency break on, but also means it received weekly maintenance checks. Oh, and it was $8,000 cheaper than new, which made every one of its 8,000 miles of usedness juuuust fine.

My sister-out-law rode in it yesterday and declared it reminded her of her 'old' Honda Odyssey minivan. Doubt it. Those things are super cushy wonderful. Ours is more utilitarian. We (gasp) have to slide open the sliders ourselves, don't have drop-down movie players, and can't plug our iPods directly into the USB connector. But... love it love it love it.

[(Anonymous)]

(Again, forgot to id myself. It's Bree from Project Kjetil, mistress of 'can't log in as herself anymore'. ;-)

[dch4.livejournal.com]

Bonus + Tax Refund this year for me was paying off debt, paying for moving, and getting a couple of little things.

No advice on minivans (my next vehicle is likely going to be a smaller SUV when my current one dies).

For the computer, it has to be Smurfilicious. There is no other choice.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

We don't have much debt (well, aside from the biggies - mortgage and student loan, and no tax return can touch that!) and what was on the credit cards was minimal compared to "average," but I hate carrying a balance on credit cards so it had to go. Mostly stuff we needed while I was on mat leave like new tires for my car. Good times. I feel so OLD.

Where did you move? I saw that you were moving but... did you stay where you were and just move places, or did you make a BIG MOVE? So currrrrrrrious.

Jen ideally wanted a big SUV with third row capability but I can't in good conscience drive around in one of those. Too big. Too SUV. The smaller crossovers are cute and good on gas but they don't really provide any more space than my Toyota Matrix. Which I love, by the way, but by the time you put two car seats in and a stroller that's it, you can't fit anything else. And Jen's Ford Focus is such a piece of crap, it needs to go.

[dch4.livejournal.com]

Just a little move. Marietta to Kennesaw, so about 10 miles. It's closer to school for Bradley and Nikki, and since I'm working from home again, it doesn't much matter for me where it is.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Aaah, okay. :) Good luck.

[sandokai.livejournal.com]

Hah, yeah, I know, adulthood-- it's amazing how excited we get over things like fixing cracks in the ceiling! LOL

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

Kristine has a Mazda5 - we like it, and my sister-in-law bought one to replace her old giant minivan. It's smaller than a standard minivan, gets better gas mileage, and is a LOT cheaper. I would recommend looking at one and seeing if it is large enough for you. It actually has quite a bit of cargo space, but of course with two young children you need more than we do. (On the other hand, as soon as they're both out of the diaper/stroller stage, the amount of cargo space you need will drop significantly, and you'll still have the car.)

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

Chris and Jess also have the Mazda5 Wagon/SUV thingie, and seem to love it lots, and you know how much kid/stuff they have. It's serving them well.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

It's much more like a wagon than an SUV - it's either a small minivan (some people call it a "microvan") or a wagon with a larger rear than normal, depending on how you look at it.

[bloomchen.livejournal.com]

I call it a "tall station wagon". It replaced my old 196 Honda Odyssey, which was the smaller one with regular (not sliding) doors which I managed to fit a small pew into once. With the rear seat folded it has a LOT of cargo space - very deceiving. Our sister-in-law had the "new" Odyssey and I helped drive it once and it was like going from driving a car to a bus and the mileage wasn't great.

[bloomchen.livejournal.com]

Oh, and Dan has a Matrix so we are in that "lots of cargo" camp as well. Mazda usually has 0.0-0.9% interest on new, but buying used can be cheaper. We got Dan's Matrix at a year old from a dealer in Wellesley. Apparently the dealers around there have a lot of Japanese businessmen who are here on short-term work buy cars from them and then sell them back a year later, sort of like an outright-purchase-lease. So they have relatively low mileage and are in great condition when they're returned.

And I was leaning toward the Honda CR-V when I was drawn in by the siren song of the Mazda5 (which wasn't even on my list - Dan made me look at it and my first comment was, "It has sliding doors! I don't want a car with sliding doors!" I have since grown to like them). There were very few people with Mazda5s a few years ago so I could easily find my car in a parking lot, but suddenly a lot more people have them...

[gala.livejournal.com]

And we LURVE it.

I was just saying to Chris today how glad I am that we bought it.

It makes me so happy to drive, and the gas mileage isn't bad at all (especially compared to a full size minivan or SUV!). Plus, it's small enough that I can park it just about anywhere.

[bookgrrrl.livejournal.com]

Ok, we are samesies when it comes to cars. I have a Matrix, which I also love- and with the double stroller we're maxed out. We're looking at the Mazda5 mostly due to the gas mileage, and because we won't need to seat anyone else in it for the most part, except visits and things. I think we're actually waiting for a while though, but when we jump in, I think that's the direction we're jumping.

I wish I was rich and could afford a 3rd row SUV that was also hybrid, if they make such a thing.

[cfred.livejournal.com]

They do make high-end hybrids—Chevy Tahoe and Lexus—with the high-end price tags to go with. So, yeah, if you were rich…

Prius V will not be a third-row car; it'll just have expanded cargo area. (I had to look it up.)

Hybrid still has a big mark-up. I was trying to sort out what my next car will be, and if I buy new, it'll be either a Ford Escape or a Hyundai Santa Fe. To go with a hybrid Escape, it's about $10k more than the Santa Fe (which is only available with a gas engine).

[sarahaubry.livejournal.com]

honda odyssey.....you can move the seats all around in a million difernt configurations....the inside is roomy and super safe.

sarah aubry

[smurfbrother.livejournal.com]

+1 to looking for something a year old. Savings galore.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, the only reason we would get new is if we got a 2010 new and they were throwing it at us. But otherwise we won't be buying anything new-new.

[kinsey-six.livejournal.com]

this is copied/pasted from what i posted on another friend's entry three days ago...

"we bought our minivan in september and love it. it is a 2010 kia sedona and i couldn't be happier. we got good rebates because it was not the new model. i love the fold-in-the-floor last row seats like in the odyssey, but we could never afford the honda. it has automatic doors a back up camera too!

our salesman was great. i let him know that we were going to check out another dealership too, because they had a better rebate and would match any offer somewhere else, although i really didn't want to buy at the other one. he did what he could, gave us a good offer, and we left. he called the next day and offered us more for our trade in. i told him that was great news and we were still going to look at the other place. at that point, i just said "look, this is a big purchase for us, and we don't have a lot of money to begin with. i have to go where we get the best offer. i'm sure you understand." he called again a little while later and asked if we would finance through them if they could beat the credit union rate. i said yes, and i told them we would be down within an hour to get it and do the paperwork.

he camera displays on the rear-view mirror when it's in reverse. and it beeps if you get close to something.

a lot of people think kias are bad but they have come a long way. i love the safety features... if you go look at one, have them talk to you about the engine... if you get hit head on, it's designed to drop down before it can get pushed back, so that it doesn't crush the driver and front-seat passenger.

i love everything about it, including the stupid little things, like the hood stays up without one of those prop bars. it just stays up by itself until you close it.

check out the kia website. they are definitely worth looking at, especially if you plan on keeping it for a long time. a honda or toyota could resale nicely, but we plan to keep the kia for the life of it so that didn't matter to us. there were nice service incentives at our dealership, too."

[lelumama.livejournal.com]

I love my Chrysler Town and Country LXi A LOT, but I covet the Honda Odyssey for all the bells and whistles. The Toyota minivans are lovely too.

I have the older version of the T and C, mine is a 1999. I don't like the new body shape. I have a luggage rack on top which is nice for when we camp, but the LXi version is extended and I can fit a TON of stuff in the back even with the rear seat in the back position.

I think most minivans hold their value really well, especially if the inside is in nice shape. We bought ours used.

Go for an all-wheel drive version no matter what van you get. It will cut a tiny bit into your gas mileage, but it is so worth it. You will not get stuck in the snow in the winter, and I feel like mine handled incredibly well on the icy roads. Get one with darkened windows too, it really helps keep the thing cool in the summer, plus I like the privacy feature: no one can see my youngest with her finger shoved up her nose. I also vote for the auto doors option, it makes it lovely when you have your hands full of grocery bags and babies.

I love love love my leather seats because they wipe clean, and heated seats is a lovely bonus in the winter.

Downside to vans for me is they suck to clean because you have to crawl all the way in, but the seats come out easily which is nice for when I have to vacuum.

I love my minivan. It really made a difference for us. I drove a Dodge Intrepid before and it handled like shit, not to mention 2 or more kids in the backseat totally sucked.

[eight.livejournal.com]

Please forgive me.

I think you should name your computer after a supreme court justice. Personally, I would name it Sotomayor, John Roberts, or Scalia. Sotomayor is fun to say and she is pretty unoffensive judicially so far - plus, she's a latina so when your friends are wondering why your computer is set to spanish, just tell them it's Sonia Sotomayor. Also, your computer could be Soto for short. It's a cool name, right?

John Roberts, because I think naming a computer John Roberts means there is a high likelihood it will take over the world. Think about all computers-taking-over sci fi stories you've ever seen/read/heard about/dreamed of - replace the computer's name with John Roberts. Bam.

And Scalia. He's pretty offensive. I think Scalia would be a bad ass name for a computer, especially a PC, because every time it gives you a blue screen of death or crashes, or you have to restart it, you can say, "Scalia made a really bad decision" or "I really hate you, Scalia."

: ) You're welcome!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA SCALIA.

Oh, I am crying.

[twomomsarebetterthanone.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

As you know we got a Mazda5 many moons ago. It's been a very good car, but travel with two children is tight. There just isn't that much space. If we didn't drive long distance to visit family then we'd probably be very happy with it. But after four years we are getting ready to sell it and buy a minivan - first choice is the Honda, second is the Toyota- with plans to test drive this week.

[dollraves.livejournal.com]

Can you go big without going minivan? The Mazda CX-7 or CX-9 will haul plenty of kids and crap, plus they both have a 4 wheel drive version for those nasty New England winters you guys get.