if you had 3k to spend on a car...

[serabi]

What would you get? and why? Minivan preferred but I'll consider almost anything.

What about the 6-8k range?

Thanks!!!

[occupant]

What would you get? and why? Minivan preferred but I'll consider almost anything.

What about the 6-8k range?

Thanks!!!

$3000 cash, no financing...

sedans (and for the Taurus-Sable, wagons)

1997-2003 Buick Century or Regal
1998-2001 Chevy Lumina
2000-2003 Chevy Impala
2000-2003 Ford Taurus
2000-2003 Mercury Sable
1998-2003 Olds Intrigue
1998-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix

minivans

1998-2000 Chrysler T&C or Voyager/Grand Voyager (late 2000)
1998-2000 Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan
1999-2003 Ford Windstar
1998-2000 Plymouth Voyager/Grand Voyager

SUV's

1998-2003 Dodge Durango
1998-2001 Ford Explorer or Mercury Mountaineer
1996-1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee

$6-8K? Look at newer years of the above, plus:

2005+ GM minivans with the 3.9 engine (Terraza, Uplander, Relay, Montana)
2004-2005 Ford Freestar or Mercury Monterey
1999-2002 Honda Odyssey
1998-2002 Toyota Sienna

I do not recommend $3000 foreign cars because for that low of a price, they are either broken or too old or high mileage for anyone but myself to be interested in. 1992-1996 Camrys and 1994-1997 Accords are great, any newer and they are more suspect. Also add the 1999-2003 Galant and 1998-2001 Altima to that list, because they are often sold to people who don't care about maintenance. A one owner example with reasonable miles might be fine though.

[Patriot201]

I am very much a fan of foreign cars, so I would look into Honda Accords, Toyota Camrys, etc. I am not sure how new you could get, though, for that budget. :confused:

[BW1426]

I'd encourage you to check out the mercury villager. It was a joint effort by Mercury and Nissan so you get the best of both worlds so to speak. We have a 1998 and it's still going strong. We've had to do very little beyond general upkeep to it.

[HEVY]

I always wanted a Villager. It was rated as one of the least repairs needed to maintain and one of the best at carrying heavy loads :thumbsup:

[lovinwaves]

4-door Honda Civic :)

[Patriot201]

4-door Honda Civic :)

Yeah. That would be good. :)

I love my Civic. :)

[serabi]

I'd encourage you to check out the mercury villager. It was a joint effort by Mercury and Nissan so you get the best of both worlds so to speak. We have a 1998 and it's still going strong. We've had to do very little beyond general upkeep to it.

Oh, that's good to know! I'm going to have to look for those.

Even '98 Civics are over 3k here...I wonder if our area is just inflated, cost wise?

We found a fully loaded '02 T&C for under 6k today. We might go look at it tomorrow...

[rodentranger]

1998-2001 Altima to that list, because they are often sold to people who don't care about maintenance. A one owner example with reasonable miles might be fine though.

Our 1996 ALtima was on kbb.com for ~$3000 early last year. It now has nearly 200K miles on it and is showing no signs of quitting soon. The check engine light is on, but when DH ran a code scanner on it, nothing came up so he keeps on driving it! LOL We did have an electrical problem that DH couldn't fix about 6 months ago, but that has been our only repair.

[emntheboys]

We bought a loaded '99 Explorer with 76k miles on it 3 months ago for $3000. Only drawback was that it is only 2 wheel drive:( But depeinding on where you live that might not matter to you!

[PinkSander]

Check out Vhix.com, dealer post their cars there all the time

[CPSDarren]

If you don't mind high mileage, I would pick something like this if safety is a major factor:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=255078228

In the 6-8k range, there are a lot of reasonable options.

[cpsaddict]

I love my 01 Ford Escape. It's been pretty good and has 126,000 miles on it. Runs as good as the day I got it. Unfortunately for me, since I really want a new car. :( Car seats fit great, the trunk is big enough and mine gets 22mpg. Granted, it is a 5spd with a 2.0L, but it works fine for me. Mine is also a 4wd. Blue book on mine is $5500, although I have seen them for a lot less lately. 2WD would be cheaper.