2003 Dodge Grand Caravan SE SPORT vs 2006 Kia Sedona (or Nissan Quest) - What would you do?
Here is my dilema - My husband and I just had our first baby Christmas Eve. We decided that I would be a stay at home mom, so we've gone from 2 incomes down to 1 (so we're on a tight budget). We currently have a 2003 Nissan Pathfinder (owe $9500 on it still), a 2001 Dodge Neon, and a 1993 Pathfinder that we want to sell.
We've found a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport for $12000, and a 2006 Kia Sedona for $17000 (both low miles) (Also found a Nissan Quest 2004 for $17000.
- Hoping to get $6000 after paying off Pathfinder on trade in.
We would only need to finance 8k on the Dodge (lower our current monthly payment & allow us to replace husbands car with a truck sooner)
We would need to finance about $13k on the Kia, with about the same payments as now.
We would need to finance about $14k with the Nissan.
I think the Kia has better safety features, and I love the fact that the sliding door windows open.
My question to you - what would you do and why??
dodge man2007-07-13T11:17:46Z
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id go with the Nissan because some of the KIA.s are giving problems,and Nissan has always made and sold a good vehicle,it sounds more like a good choice for what you wanting to do,good luck with it.
I would not do any of the above. Chrysler products are frankly junk. The Caravan will fall apart around you and give you a lot of problems. The Nissan Quest has also had a lot of reliability issues. Kia Sedona's are pretty nice, but again, the quality is not there. All of your choices will also depreciate pretty quickly. Even with your fairly substantial downpayment, becoming upside down on the loan in a few years will happen.
With one child, why the need for the soccer mom van? You have a perfectly good vehicle that is almost paid off. Money is tight, so why throw it away on a car you do not need. People did manage to survive without Minivans prior to 1984. Let him drive that Neon til it blows up (which will be soon), and then get him a decent commuter car. Sell the 1993 Pathfinder and keep your Pathfinder and pay it off and drive it til the wheels fall off. You made a good choice buying the Pathfinder, while not the roomiest or thriftiest vehicle, it holds it value and has been reliable. Do not buy some money pit minivan you do not need.
If you still have your heart set on a minivan, get a Toyota or Honda.
Personally I would go with The Dodge Grand Caravan, your financing less so you will be paying less interest overall, Secondly, I know 2 people who have bought Kia Sedona's and they have bothe traded in for eithier Chev or Dodge, I was told that they start out nice but decline steadily and that there is always some little problem. I have a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport not Th se model but basically the same thing and my Sister in law drives one too and Never have had aby probs with them! Thats just my humble opinion!
How are you going to handle birthdays? My son was born on Christmas:) We've been giving him 1/2 birthdays in June and taking him somewhere special on Xmas eve.
Anyway, I think the caravan would be good if you feel comfortable with the reliability of the Dodge you have. And it's affordable. You could be preggo again soon and not want to worry that you spent too much. I've been researching minivans and haven't found too many negatives about Quest so I'd say that's 2nd choice. People seem nervous about Kia's and are the parts easy to get if it breaks?
Personally, I'm not a big Kia fan, but I have friends and family who have raved over theirs. I hear that they have good safety features and other great features. I know Caravans are very good vans too, but the Kia is 3 years newer and that is definitely a consideration. I love Quests, but again you might get more current features with the 2006 Kia.