Found a van

Well, today my wife & I signed to buy a used van. Stepping up to a 2010 T&C touring edition. Got more than I expected for trade with her LeSabre (it was a LeSabre limited which helped) and got what I feel was a pretty good deal for the van.

I test drove 4 different vans and they all felt the same, ranging from 2008 to 2011. Some had less options and still priced higher than what I did on this one. I learned that the VW van is indeed a Dodge/Chrysler with different quarters on the front and a few other minor differences. Can't say as to the Kia vans (someone on here said both VW and Kia were Dodge's) I stopped at the Kia lot in town and right away the salesman starts with the dirty tactics of the safety of the kids in the back seat and all that. We looked at the 1 chrysler on their lot and promptly left. Didn't look at the new ones as I've been in a few Kias and they all felt incredibly cheap.

Gotta call the insurance man on Monday and my wife's gonna go to the bank to get the title for the buick, and then I'll have her pick me up at work and we'll go take delivery on the van. Overall, pretty happy with the deal.

I really would have considered fixing the buick a little bit if I didn't just deplete my repair funds to fix up my truck I just bought a few months ago. The option left was to charge the repairs to my credit card and then I'd be paying more in interest on the credit card for a repair than I would be on a loan for a van we were looking to buy within 6-8 months anyway.

Donovan from Wisconsin

Good deal. I think you will like the van. We keep a running our 1997 Grand Caravan with 206,000 on the clock.

Best of luck with the new van Donovan!
My family has driven them since the mid 80's.
They have their issues as other vehicles do, but
overall they have treated the entire family very well.

Have a 05 T&C, 3.8 engine , stow and go seats are
great.

Youll really love it when you have a flat tire, and realize that the spare is under the middle of the van, in some kind of plastic spare tire fortress. It really looks to me like they forgot about the spare tire when they designed the stow and go seats, then just put it wherever there was enough room for it.

Don,
Wasn't planning on trading either but this 2006 with 12--- miles caught my eye and so now the 2000 with 239--- will belong to someone else. We sure like the van. It seems like we are constantly hauling stuff and the stow n go will be an added feature. Bud

What vehicle would you have other than a Dono-VAN.

To bad the Kia dealer didn't do a better job. I just bought a new Sonata last week to replace our 2011 that we have been driving for three and a half years. These all wheel drive cars are great and we had zero problems with ours. Got a great trade in price for the old one.

Don't know where you got the idea that they are cheaply made but I guess that is just your opinion. I looked at other brands and they all looked pretty cheaply made to me. They don't have the great warranty either. Kia cars are made in Georgia, USA.

The real mileage on the old one was between 28 and 30 MPG. they are fun cars to drive and comfortable too. Made a couple of 900 mile, one day trips with the old one and they were easy trips. Hope you like your new import.

Yep......Found that out the hard way when we got a flat tire on a rented van in Salt Lake City. Of course it was in the middle of rush hour too. I was NOT impressed with that arrangement. Other than that though, they seem to be nice, solid vehicles. Another couple, along with my wife and I, put over 3,000 miles on a 2010 while taking a road trip out west.

Be glad you didn't get the kia. My wife has a Sedona that has
been nothing but trouble. It leaks so bad it fills up the overhead
console display until it just reads 8888 and sizzles. We have had
no luck with any of the kia dealers around fixing it. The front
wheel bearing went out at 40000 and the dealer tried to tell her it
wasn't covered by warranty and it also needed front struts. Kia
might be a quality product but from our experience they have no
customer service.

Yep Kia, VW, DOdge/Chrysler are the same vans. Think there is someone else who badge engineers them as well. Some of the Chrysler/Dodge smaller cars (200 and it's Dodge counterpart) are Kia-based cars.

If Mitsubishi has a minivan that's probably it. Chrysler's small cars for years were built on Mitsu technology and chassis. All their 4-cylinders are/were Mistu-built, with different ECM and harnesses.

VW getting the vans was part of the deal when M-B wanted to share diesel technology with VW/Audi. They claim VW did spec some suspension geometry changes and the ride and handling is somewhat improved.

(quoted from post at 10:20:24 12/29/13) Yep Kia, VW, DOdge/Chrysler are the same vans. Think there is someone else who badge engineers them as well. Some of the Chrysler/Dodge smaller cars (200 and it's Dodge counterpart) are Kia-based cars.

If Mitsubishi has a minivan that's probably it. Chrysler's small cars for years were built on Mitsu technology and chassis. All their 4-cylinders are/were Mistu-built, with different ECM and harnesses.

VW getting the vans was part of the deal when M-B wanted to share diesel technology with VW/Audi. They claim VW did spec some suspension geometry changes and the ride and handling is somewhat improved.

Click to expand...

VW van is built by Chrysler, KIA is not.

I second that on the stow and go seats.

My wife drives an '07 T&C, and my work vehicle is an '05 Grand Caravan. They both have them. We like the completely flat areas to haul stuff in the rear with the seats folded down.

Fortunately, I haven't had to try to access the spare tire in either, yet. (Knock on wood).

Be glad you didn't get the kia. My wife has a Sedona that has
been nothing but trouble. It leaks so bad it fills up the overhead
console display until it just reads 8888 and sizzles. We have had
no luck with any of the kia dealers around fixing it. The front
wheel bearing went out at 40000 and the dealer tried to tell her it
wasn't covered by warranty and it also needed front struts. Kia
might be a quality product but from our experience they have no
customer service.

I hope you have good luck with your HUNDAI
engine. Chrysler had so much trouble with their
4 cylinder engines, in vans, that, several years
ago, they quit making those 4 cylinders, and are
now buying engines from Hundai.
(Per an article in "4 Wheel & Off Road" magazine)

All Chrysler 4-bangers were Mistubishi engines up til a few years ago.