My dad thinks we should get his 2000 Dodge Caravan fixed up and made road worthy. This vehicle has sat for 2 years. It needs some serious body work (it’s rusted around the doors), massive rust on the undercarriage (to the point where the rim of the spare is rusted to the body), the brakes are downright frightening (and that’s even when it was roadworthy… The brake lines have been replaced twice and the ABS never worked properly), the transmission has already been replaced once, it has an appetite for serpentine belts (supposedly they problem has been rectified) and the A/C has never worked. This has 117,000 miles on it. I also know that a vehicle that sits is a very unhappy vehicle (even if it’s only for two years)… I get the feeling this is going to need a ton of work to make it reliable… Even then I still don’t trust it… And I have a 3 year old to think of here.
I agree that Dad’s old Caravan is a liability for you.
Tactfully, try to let him know that you don’t want his old cast-off minivan.
I concur w/@VDCdriver, the 2000 Caravan isn’t going to work for you. Since he doesn’t want it, tell him you’ll take it off his hands so he doesn’t need to think about it, then you sell it, and use the money towards something better for you, like the Toyota.
BTW, just thinking about your prior comment, w/a 3 year old in tow, are you sure a convertible is the best choice? Maybe just a plain vanilla 4-door hard topped Camry would be better, and you’ve have a better selection to choose from. Seems like it would be safer.
Just remember this:
Carfax can only report stuff if there are records
If my car is crashed or flood damaged and I don’t get the insurance involved, there will be no paper trail and Carfax will have no record of those “incidents” . . .
@GeorgeSanJose I agree totally agree on the 'vert. That was more or less me dreaming… I wouldn’t touch the one they had (hole in the top). I actually would feel safer with him in a 2 door hard top only because I have a fear that the child safety lock would be accidentally unswitched by someone and he likes to play with the door handles, but I will look into a Camry nonetheless. As for the van… I just may do that… Put it on CL possibly… Anyhoo… On another note, I just ran the VIN of the Solara at Carfax, and it has not been in a flood or had any storm damage, but it has been in an accident. Damage to front of vehicle it says, but no airbag deployment. Unfortunately there are no details of what or how bad the damage was. As far as service records go the owner did okay to 41,028, but for the last 34,000 miles nothing but renewal of registration. So I’m wondering if he/she simply stopped maintaining the car or he/she took it to an independent mechanic who didn’t report regular services. The accident happened a little more than a year after the title was given to the owner (I’m assuming that’s when the car was paid off), but he/she kept it another 5 years afterward… I’m thinking “no” for now.
Ok… I just spotted a 2005 Mini Cooper with 103,568 and the asking price is $8,640. They had the carfax for free there so I looked it up and she looks pretty clean. I also looked up the NADA value and it looks pretty even for what thay are asking, but the internet pics can be very unrevealing so I am going to go take a look at it this afternoon, and maybe even give it a test drive. To be continued…
@Stratman67 RUN AWAY FROM THAT MINI COOPER
They are considered . . . less than stellar when it comes to reliability
And that was being nice.
Not to mention the fact that at 100K miles, it might have been thoroughly romped on by now.
As db4690 says, best to take a look at the Cons Reports reliability ratings for mini-Coopers as used cars before signing any checks.
@db4690 @GeorgeSanJose I didn’t go for the Mini. My son wouldn’t be able to fit into it, and the interior quality didn’t look that well done. I didn’t even bother giving it a test drive. I did, however, spot a 2006 Camry with 101,000 miles at $8500. It seems to have been fairly well taken care of (didn’t have enough time to take it for a drive by then). I checked the free carfax when I got home and this car has been very well taken care of servicewise. So, this one may very well be in the running here.
I’d advise you to stay away from the 4-cylinder Camrys from 2002 - 2006
They tend to develop problems with the engine block. The threads for the cylinder head bolts will strip out of the block. Owners usually notice coolant and/or oil seeping out. Upon removing the head for inspection, it is discovered that the threads in the block are no longer there!
There is a 29-page Toyota technical service bulletin T-SB-0015-11, dated March 2, 2011 that addresses this issue. In the worst case scenario, the engine block is supposed to be replaced. There are aftermarket repair kits available, but I’d suggest that you steer clear of that car. Statistically, you probably won’t have this problem, but why take the remote chance? The fact that Toyota has published this information means they admit to a fault.
If you want a 2006 Camry, I recommend the V6 models. They have no mechanical problems with the engine.
CR Used Car Guide (2012 Edition) says the Camry 2006/4 cyl has much better than avg reliablity for engine-major repairs, likewise for engine-minor repairs. Avg for cooling, which along with paint/trim appears to be the weakest spots for the 2006.
Overall the 2006 Camry 4 banger is rated much better than average reliability. $8500 appears to be a mid-range reasonable price.
Yours isn’t a super low mileage car, but I think the more important parameter is how old the car is these days, not so much the mileage. I wouldn’t discount it for the mileage, esp at just 100K. If it has been at least reasonably well maintained, it should deliver another 150K with proper ongoing maintenance. Best of luck.
I’m obviously advising you to be careful with that Camry you mentioned.
Nevertheless, if you’re seriously considering it, have it checked out by a mechanic that has no relationship whatsoever to the seller.
Well… That’s good to know… My dad is insisting that I take the Caravan… By the time we make that thing safe, roadworthy and reliable (and I don’t think the third part is possible) we will have spent a) more than the vehicle will ever be worth and b) enough to have put a down payment on a better vehicle. Plus I figure with the size of the gas tank and the horrible MPG rating the thing may as well sprout 2 more cylinders, horse and GT emblems and morph into a 2 door… At least then I’ll be blasting gas in style.
A little more info on this. I happened upon the 2013 CR book last night, so I took a look, and the cooling problem suggested in the 2012 ratings becomes even more apparent in 2013. It become worse and extends to more model years. There’s a hint it is infecting the Corolla line too. It’s possible the cause is actually the problem db4690 has already mentioned. Usually if the head has to be removed that problem would be rated – according to CR definitions – a “major engine” problem. But it may well be that this problem is first noted by the driver as a cooling system problem, so even tho to fix it requires major engine repair, it shows up as a cooling problem in the reliability ratings instead. Just speculating though. It may just be a relatively minor thing like a balky water pump or sticky thermostat or something, and have nothing to do with the problem db mentioned.
@GeorgeSanJose
Here are the models affected by that TSB I posted. The models affected have the 2.4 liter 2AZ-FE
engine
2002-2006 Camry
2001-2007 Highlander
2004-2005 RAV4
2002-2006 Solara
I’m not sure what engine the Corolla has. I believe some of the model years also had the 2AZ-FE.
It was one of Toyota’s bread and butter 4 bangers for a number of years.
A cooling system problem – possibly unrelated – appears to be showing up in the 2007 Camry model for some reason too.