It’s a 2012 and it’s paid off. While most people want to sell a car and buy a better one, we are trying to sell our Chrysler T&C because we need the cash. We want another mini van with stow n go seating. What are the most dependable minivans that we should consider if we only have $5000-$5500 to spend? And what should we consider to be the absolute highest mileage to accept?
What year is your current van? If you have a loan you might not even sell it for enough to pay it off. If your need cash spending 5 to 5 1/2 thousand on a used van will not help your situation and could make it worse.
Edit; There is no actual answer for what is the best used vehicle or mileage. If you have something you like then you have a mechanic look it over and hope for the best.
Only Chrysler and Dodge have ‘stow and go’ seating.
Chrysler and Dodge make the only stow and go minivans. Without knowing the age of your current minivan you might not be able to save any money at all. In NY State if you don’t sell your old one at a dealer and buy a cheaper one from the same dealer, you would have to pay 8 and 3/4 % sales tax on the new one and car dealers buy at wholesale and sell at retail. They make much more money buying and selling a used car than they do selling a new one.
I just looked at AutoTrader and a 6000.00 van is going to have at least 150000 miles and be around 10 years old. Maybe the OP needs to rethink the idea or at least do research as to what they can buy in their area for 6000.00.
Edit: The OP did edit their post to show a paid off 2012. If the thing is in good condition it might sell for 10000.00 but turning around and buying a 6000.00 used van with unknown problems could easily take most of the 4000.00 left.
You know the history of your van. Keep it and find another way to get the cash you need.
There is seldom any financial gain to be had by trading one car for another. It’s extremely rare to come out ahead by doing that unless you’re trading a low mileage luxury vehicle for a high mileage budget vehicle. Even if you find a way to trade down from a relatively new minivan to an older minivan, it’s really hard to see you coming out ahead. Maybe if you manage to sell the one you have in a private sale and buy a replacement in a private sale, you might come out ahead, but any dealership is going to want to make money on both transactions.
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Is there an impending–very expensive repair issue with the OP’s current minivan?
If there are no big repairs needed on the current vehicle, I’m not sure that I see the economic sense of trading one used minivan (with a known maintenance and repair history) for a different used minivan with an unknown history.
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