Need ideas for a new vehicle

So about a month or so ago my parents gave us my sister's minivan ('00 Windstar) and we sold our car ('09 Vibe) to eliminate a monthly payment plus with two little ones it gave us a lot of extra space. Anyways the minivan is now going to car heaven because the transmission is gone on it :( so we are currently looking into buying another vehicle (secondhand '07 and up)

I'm looking for opinions on a good vehicle to buy based on one you currently have or have had. Right now we are leaning towards a Grand Caravan.

Any ideas on the best minivan/suv?

Thanks!!
Angela

I have had 4 Caravans and the last one I had before I traded it in was an 07 and no word of a lie I never had it in for service except for brakes and the usual oil changes etc. It has a good enginie 3L V6 lots of power which did not diminish over the years and we do a lot of mileage. It can carry quite a load also because we do a lot of renos and we haul everything ourselves.

I currently have a 2011 Grand Caravan which was a deal I could not pass up on otherwise I never would have traded in the old one.

I got it for $14,995 after trade in($5000 for my old one). + tax

One drawback it is heavy on gas especially in city driving.

Second vote to the Caravan! We have one (though it's older), and so many of our friends do as well. Just a great family vehicle.

we used to own a dodge product.. whenever we took it in for a simple oil change, our mechanic used to greet us with "oh... it's the dodge :neutral:"
lol
we'd never get another chrysler vehicle again.. hate hate hate.. we have two toyotas now and we've never been happier

I have a grand caravan as well (bought in 2005), its still running great and with a family you cant beat the space you get (love the stow & go feature on mine). My next vehicle is gonna be a SUV (DH is pretty much sold on the dodge Journey, we are gonna get either the 7 seater or 8 seater - depends on what kind of deal we can get). We are not trading in our van - I want to keep it as I have a long commute to work and dont want to run up the mileage on the new vehicle. But I cant say one bad thing about the grand caravan - if we were in the market for another van, I would get another grand caravan.

Thanks for all the info!!! I think we have decided to go with the Grand Caravan now it's just to find one that is within our budget, lol....

I test drove a Chrysler PT Cruiser while on the hunt for a new car. It broke while we were driving it. Apparently they're just sucky.

Dodge and Chrysler are really cheap brands of cars.

If you want a van, get a toyota or honda. I've heard way less complaints about those than I ever have with dodge vans.

I personally bought a 09 Hyundai Accent sedan for just under 8k last year, love it. I was very surprised that I got such a new car for such a low price, but it's doable, and nobody even died in it.

im a little biased as ive worked in the parts dept at a toyota dealership for the last 9 years but toyotas go forever. i personally have a 2001 lexus rx300 (toyota product) that was a hand me down from the in laws and i love love love it!

i also have a vw jetta diesel thats pretty awesome too but seriously expensive to maintain.

yep windstars sucks. my parents gave us theirs too.. we put $1000's into it.. then had to junk it months later. not impressed.
my parents also bought a dodge caravan recently after giving us the van. then when it ended up smucked in an accident they ended buying a ford. big suv type van.

I'd invest in the latest copy of Consumer Reports Cars issue. They tell you info on used vehicle as well. It would be the best $10 you'd spend.

Wealth of auto information website:

http://www.edmunds.com/

p.s. I'm partial to anything "Toyota". Have been driving for 49 years!!!!