Hi everyone! I'm new to posting but have been reading and lurking several weeks. Here's my situation. We are coming into some money (around 7,000). We've been looking to buy a minivan for several months now. We have an 01 impala and love the car, but with two kids and I babysit my nephew and niece, it's hard to get out of the house. We are still paying on the impala (we owe 4400). The options my husband and I thought of are:

1. pay off the impala for now, try to sell it and use that money and what's left of the 7,000 to either buy a van or have a big down payment. The impala has been having some mechanical problems and we are worried it will take a long time to sell. So our next option is:

2. Trade in the impala and use the 7,000 for a down payment on a minivan.

3. Use the 7,000 to buy a van, while keeping our car until it sells. The only problem with buying a van for 7,000 is my dh doesn't want to buy something with a ton of miles and worry about having to fix it. He wants option 2, to trade in the car, put 7,000 down on something that's only a few years old and have a payment. We are currently looking at honda odyssey's and toyota sienna's. My friend owns a kia sedona and is heavily pushing that type of van on us. I know I've wrote a lot, but it's a big decision and I don't take payments lightly. If you own a minivan, what do you have, what's your payments a month and what do you love or hate about it? Thanks for reading!

I would say pay off the impala or try to sell it before buying something new. In my experience you will likely get more $ for a private sell than a trade in.

You could always advertise the impala for sale and see what happens. Remember just because someone makes an offer doesn't mean you have to accept it. You never know someone may offer you more than you owe so you would be ahead on the deal. Make sure you price it over what you want so you have room to bargain. People will almost always make a lower offer and that way you have room to negotiate with them.

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Proud mommy to adorable Kinsley

MY BLOG!

We bought a Toyota Sienna 2005, in 2006. It was their LAST 2005 model and they wanted to get rid of it. It is fully loaded and would normally run about $38,000. We got it for about $28,000. We have no payment because we paid it off with the sale of our house. I LOVE my Sienna. I have a Dodge Grand Caravan from 1999 that we bought new way back then. WONDERFUL van. We have just started having issues recently that you would expect with an older vehicle and NOTHING terrible. We have to replace some lightbulbs and such.

You may want to try some internet searching. I checked toyota.com and honda.com and contacted several dealerships to see who would offer me the best deal. They have special people set up to do just that. I would be reluctant to trade in your vehicle because you do not get as much as you would get selling it on your own. That being said, I have traded vehicles in because I have not had any other money to put down. I think you are going to have to do some research on this. I would suggest going and driving several of the vehicles and seeing what you like. Remember also, that some dealerships often offer free oil changes or tires or something like that...

Good luck in your decision. It is not easy to make because it is such a large purchase!

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Theresa
Mom of 3 boys and 1 girl

We just purchased a used Chrystler Town and Country for $9000 with 66,000 miles on it. So far, I really like it, but it was kind of rushed purchase as our other car was undriveable and we needed something quick. Parking the van takes some getting use to. We combined our loan with what we owed on our car (about $5000), so our payments are $290/mo. I also would suggest selling your car privately, because dealers don't give you much if you trade it in. Best of luck! I know how big of a decision these things are.

We have a 99 Odyssey and LOVE it! It has almost 140K miles on it and has given us no major problems. We did get the 100K mile maintainance that was recommended. We bought it used in 2001 with about 25K miles on it and I think paid around $20K. While we don't have the perks in it that I would like to have it still has been a really reliable car and that is important to me. If and when we need a new vehicle I would really like to get a new used Odyssey.

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according to my dh the type of driving and the age of the vehicle are more important than how many miles. we have always brought cars with higher miles. that also means lower price, b/c people are scared of high miles. My dh can fix anything so that is never a concern of us as it is for others. we have a Town and country and love it. we will buy another one after we pay off the car within the next two years. we usually go about two years without any car payments to save up for a newer vehicle and the cycle starts over for the second vehicle.
Be aware that if the car needs any repairs people will expect a good deal for their going through the trouble of fixing it. I would expect the price to reflect the cost I would need to pay to have it repaired.
I personally would trade in car and put the 7000 down on the van. you can always ask them to increase trade in value if u think it's too low.
HTH
allgirls

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

I own a Honda Odyssey and my girlfriend owns a Toyota Sienna. Both are great vans. They are the only two I'd consider. The Kia Sedona IS a nice van - with lots of bells and whistles. It has a great warranty, good safety rating and very small price tag. It isn't the van for me but I can see lots of reasons to buy it.

I would sell the Impala privately either before or after you buy your mini-van. I'd hold onto the $7K and the money from the Impala sale. I'd buy a mini-van for zero down, a decent term (like 60 months) and a nice low interest rate. I'd then try to pay-off the loan as soon as possible. If you need to withdraw money from the $7K+ savings account to make the payments for a while, that is fine. Just make sure when that money runs out, you have a way to make the payments! Once you get the loan balance down low enough that you can pay it off with the amount in that savings account, do it.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

I would do whatever I could to avoid having a car payment. We were able to buy a Toyota Sienna used, with low mileage, and we own it. (DEFINITELY SUGGESTING YOU GET A TOYOTA SIENNA--THEYRE AWESOME!! )

But if the payment isnt a big deal, then go ahead and trade the car

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“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.”

Trade in the impala and get a newer used vehicle. You do not want insurance payments on both vehicles and you do not know how long it would take to sell your vehicle. Last year around this time, we were in your situation. We got an "early inheritance" and wanted to get a mini van. We chose a Grand Caravan - dh HATES foreign cars (he is 6'4" and has trouble having head and leg room). I have loved it. We got one that just came in from being a rental vehicle and was still under warranty. We were able to pay for it in full.

What you could do is put a for sale sign in your impala and see if you get any bites until you have found the vehicle of your choice and if you haven't been able to sell it by then - trade it in!!

We plan to keep our Grand Caravan until it dies.

I would also trade in the car and use the money for a down payment. In 2004 we were looking for a used minivan, our 97 Chrysler Van didn't do too good anymore. We tried to find a used van, because why buy new?
We ended up buying a brand new 05 KIA Sedona EX, because of the great warranty plus we got it for 17 K and that was a great price, we couldn't find any good prices on the used ones.
Up to this day I don't regret it. I absolutely love my van and (knock on wood ) we didn't have a single problem with it yet.
It will be paid off in a year and with the 10 year warranty I think we will keep it for a looooong time.