ok ladies - im going to be buying a minivan by memorial day weekend (my deadline) and by then i should have close to 11K saved up.

my hub and i have always bought used and never had car payments. but we can afford to have a smaller car loan and just pay it off quick.

here's my question - we are either going to get a honda or toyota, which are pricey. im looking to get an older one that i can secure for 11k (which will most likely get me a 2000, 2001) **OR** get a 2004/2005 newer used one but that will cost me 18-20k. since this will be my main vehicle and my kids are young (3&1&not born yet) i will have this until it dies.

so, would you spend the money and get a small loan to get the newer vehicle (and get exactly what you want (like leather seats, power doors, etc)) or just buy what is out there for the money you have??

oh, by the way, i will have 11k saved by may, and with my budgeting, i am able to save $500/apply $500 per month to the payment if we go with the small loan.


so, what would you do?

I would get what you want. IF and only IF, you can comfortably afford it, which it sounds like you can. I get the whole being frugal thing but a car is something you use A LOT and at least for me, I want something I know I can enjoy and rely on. It sounds like you could pay it off in a year or so, which is the comfort level for me. I can't image anything worse then breaking down in a car with little kids! Thankfully that has never happened to me.

let me just add one more thing...

the reason why i have till the end of may is because i have already "sold" my camry to my niece who is going to be a junior in college...and she begins an internship in june so she needs my car mem. day weekend. so normally i would just keep saving ....

I agree, it's totally up to what you think you can afford. If you do go with a small loan, putting 11K down with a total cost of 20K, your payments of $500 a month should be able to pay off the loan within about 2 years, give or take a couple months, and also depends on the interest rate you get. Can you afford $500/month for 2 years? If yes, I would go with exactly what you want, so you are happy with it.

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Frugal is being wise with your money and resources and cheap is forcing everyone else to.

I totally agree!!!!

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Jodie....Wife to Andrew (1995)
Mommy to Riley (2000) and Wyatt (2003)

If you can afford it comfortably I would get what you want. We have a 2001 Honda Odyssey van & we love it. If it is within your budget I would get one w/a DVD player. It is great for the kids especially when you go on long trips! Good luck!! Let us know what you get!

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Mommy to Ariana 8/11/01 & Davis 4/11/05
I love my kiddos!

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If you have an emergency fund set up and you're not sky high in debt with credit cards, then I would say go ahead with the loan to get what you really want.

But still keep your eyes open until then- you may very well find exactly what you want for a cheaper price.

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Devin

David 6, Alexis 2

Kelly,
We were in the EXACT situation right at Christmas when my Explorer decided to blow it's engine on December 23rd. I even had a similar dollar amount in mind to spend...it was within $1,000 of yours. We were also looking at used Toyota and Honda Minivans and small-midsized SUV's. The problem we were finding at that time was that even used, the models we were looking at were still asking around $16,000-$20,000...and they were 5 or 6 years old and some had as many as 79,000 miles on them!

We didn't find anything in our original price range within 200 miles of our city.

We also buy cars to drive until they die so we ended up buying a 2007 model and paid more but in the end, I think it was the right choice when you factor in mileage and how old the used cars were. We wanted to be sure that it would be reliable and get us through until dd was driving herself.

We ended up paying cash for a 07 Honda Pilot and LOVE it. One thing we found when comparing the Hondas to Toyotas is that the Hondas have more features on their basic models than the Toyotas.

Good luck, it was a hard decision for us as well, but I know we did what was right for us.

Yes. I'm surprising myself with the answer!

I would under your circumstances because your family is really young and with a 3rd one on the way you will need a van for the next 15+ years. With that much to put down on it, if you got it new and took very good care of it, regular oil changes, coating the underside yearly if you are anywhere near salted roads, getting spring tune ups, etc, this van could last you a long time.

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I just wanted to add that we got our 07 for a better price than we were seeing on used 05's and 06's.