I have been shopping for an Odyssey but I just saw a listing for a Sedona that looks quite good. It is an LX listed for $15,995 with only 7,101 miles. The carfax report is clean. I am also considering a 2004 Odyssey EX/dvd with about 60k and a 2004 EX/NAV with leather and 64k miles. I hope to get both of these for $15k before tax ect. All vehicles have warantees (the Hondas are Honda certified and the Kia has the balance of the new car warantee.
If it is possible to get each for $15k, which would you get?
I am a little biased toward Honda’s reputation but I have heard goosd things about Kias and Huyndais(sp?) and this is basically a brand new car.
PS
Do these have some sort of “stow and go” method to fold down the rear seat? Do they have vents for heat/AC above all seating areas? I guess I will find out tomorrow but I want toknow as much as possible before seeing it. Iknow it won’t be loaded but with that low milaege I don’t care.
“The carfax report is clean”
Rely on Carfax at your own risk. A number of people have reported to this forum that they purchased a vehicle with a “clean” Carfax report, only to later find out that the vehicle in question had previously been (pick one or more):
**“Totaled” in an accident
**A “flood car”
**Driven for many more miles than were indicated by Carfax
so is there any way to tell if a vehicle has been totaled, ect?
Also I had another “?” about the Odyssey - do the leather seats hold up well under heavy kid use? My brother is discouraging me from getting leather seating because he thinks it is not as durable as cloth (cracking, staining, ect)but I thought it might be easier to wipe off spills. He had a Cadillac with leather seats so the honda may be a lot different.
There does not seem to be a foolproof system to verify a car’s history.
Your best bet is a solid warranty and/or a examination by a trusted local mechanic, which you will end up paying for.
Just as your own mechanic can detect mechanical defects before you purchase a used car, he can also examine the chassis and other areas not usually visible in order to see if there is evidence of collision repair. Anyone who purchases a used car without having it thoroughly inspected by his/her own trusted mechanic is being extremely naive.
Additionally on those '04 Odysseys, I would not consider them for purchase unless they came with documentation of maintenance. Failure by the previous owner to properly maintain a vehicle can lead to problems that would not necessarily be detected by a mechanic’s inspection.
Also–Don’t you wonder why someone would get rid of a car after only ~7,000 miles? Could it have been a lemon? Was it in a major accident? Was it repossessed? Owners who cannot afford to make their car payments are also unlikely to be able to afford to maintain the car. Of course, there is not a whole lot of required maintenance in the first 7,000 miles, but I would still be concerned about the real reason for someone dumping a car that quickly.
so even with the Honda certification I should still take it to a mechanic? I am so intimidated by the pressure they are putting on me to decide right away. It doesn’t seem likely that I’ll find an Odyssey in my price range with the features I want AND all of the maintenence documentation. I’ll ask from now on. Is 20k miles a lot on a 2007 Entourage or Sedona? I saw some like that. I hate that I am in a hurry to find the right one because I don’t feel safe in my Caravan.
Why don’t you feel safe in your Caravan? Is it rusting out? Is it more than 10 years old? Is it falling apart due to negligence of maintenance(you need to change more than the oil)? Need maintenance/repairs that exceed the value of the vehicle itself?
NEVER be in a hurry to buy something, the salesmen can sense this and will try to dump something on you that you’ll come to hate a week/day down the road.
Figure about 12 or 15k miles per year for average driving. More miles will usually indicate highway miles on a newer car
All things considered, I’d go for the 07.
My Caravan has a 4" diameter hole rusted in the mounting site of the front driver’s side strut and the front passenger side is showing considerable rust, but it does’t have any holes yet. The van has been in the shop every few months, last month to the tune of $3000 (the blue book value then was about $2300 so my husband clearly believes in paying for maintenance that exceeds a vehicle’s value). Someone told me that when the strut mounting goes, the strut will blast through the windshield and dash - is this true? The brake lines are all coroded and last week one broke and I lost the brakes and went through a 2 way stop. My husband can drive this to work because his commute is <10 miles and on all low traffic residential streets ( I have to drive freeways a lot) and he won’t have 3 kids with him it it breaks down. He is driving a full size truck now so he should be happy with the gas $ savings.
So how do I take a vehicle from a dealer to my mechanic? Do they expect a deposit? How much can they tell me about the condition?
I don’t know much about either vehicles qualities and downfalls, but I agree that I would rather deal with a Honda’s reputation. I also agree with all of the caveats about carfax and having a local wrench inspect the vehicles. Car fax will reimburse you for 110% of th cost if at a later time (don’t know how long) it is found that there was something fishy with the vehicle. However…Most rental comanies underwrite their own insurance, and don’t report damage. Some states don’t Brand or recognize Branded titles (the practice of buying a car and registering it in different states to clean the title is called ‘washing’). Because something doesn’t show doesn’t mean something didn’t happen.
I recently had a vehicle that was bought at an auction by a nation wide used car chain, and it had more issues than Brittany Spears. I found evidence of a lightening strike (transient) by the elecrical burn marks on the wheels from a close strike in standing water. I ran a cafax on it, and it was still clean. Having a friend look up the VIN on his network (won’t say what he does for a living) I found that the car was owned by a customer whos house burned down from an electical storm about 100 miles from here.
Anita - Does your brother have kids or leather? Leather cleans extremely well. Spills wipe right off. I’ve even been successful in getting black sharpie off of cream-colored leather. Leather is several times more durable than cloth. Cloth will show the spilled juice/milk/choclolate etc and can be very hard to clean. Leather wipes right off.
no. He doesn’t have kids and I did get tired of wet-vac’ing my cloth van seats every month or so. The kids won’t be allowed to eat much in the new van anyway, but it is good to know that leather will stand up to some abuse. I feel like I could go either way on it as an option in a vehicle.
well, in your case I definitely see a case where you’d want to replace the vehicle.
I would ask the salesman if you can take the vehicle to a local mechanic(not chain store) and have them give it a once over. If the salesman balks at this, walk away. Just get back inside your car and leave for the next dealership. Also, newer Honda minivans have had some transmission issues to be aware of, Toyota has had some too, but I’m not sure if it’s their minivans or other vehicles.