SUV or Minivan......

So..... I have been looking at Craigslist for about the last 30 minutes to an hour for an idea about what kind of SUV I would want come first of the year. I have found possibly vehicles that I am interested in. I have found 2 minivans, both Pontiac's & a Ford Expedition. They are both within my price range as to what we were thinking of spending. All say they are in good condition. Here are the listings.

1997 Ford Expedition:
http://bham.craigslist.org/cto/1439304807.html
I called about this one. It seats 8 as both rear seats seat 3. So 2 bench seats. It is also leather interior. I was kind of trying to stay away from leather, but will take it. I really like this one & it is at the top of my list. It does have a dent in the right front passenger side, but I am okay with that, My FIL could fix that for me if it needed to be fixed.

1998 Pontiac Montana
http://bham.craigslist.org/cto/1439877370.html
I like the looks of the outside. However I am not loving the color. However I can deal with it if it is a good deal & runs well. I may call about this one.

1996 Pontiac Transport:
http://bham.craigslist.org/cto/1440017592.html
I am thinking that the Montana would be a better deal as it is a little newer. However this one has less miles on it. It seems from looking at google that this is the older version of the Montana.

Anything we buy would be looked at by my FIL who is a certified mechanic. He would be driving it, looking the engine over & either oking or shooting it down. So I am not worried about getting a car from a private owner & it having alot of issues. So....Of the 3 listed above, what is the good, the bad & the ugly of each of them. If it were you, what would you choose??

If I'm remembering correctly the Montanas dont get good crash test ratings, so that may be something you want to check into before you commit to it:twocents:
We had a 1999 Expedition and I really liked how many people you could get into it, ect it was a gas hog If your going from a small car to a huge SUV you may be quite surprised by the gas consumption. I know I was. It was always super easy to install any seats I had into it though
Good luck!

kaysmom said:

If I'm remembering correctly the Montanas dont get good crash test ratings, so that may be something you want to check into before you commit to it:twocents:
We had a 1999 Expedition and I really liked how many people you could get into it, ect it was a gas hog If your going from a small car to a huge SUV you may be quite surprised by the gas consumption. I know I was. It was always super easy to install any seats I had into it though
Good luck!

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Yeah, I seen that some of the crash ratings on the Montana were not so great. I wondered what others thought about it.
As for the Expedition, I figured it would take more gas than my little bity car that I own right now. I firgure that it will shock me a bit. However at least it is only about a 18 mile round trip to work & back. So that will help.
Thanks for the thoughts on the car seat installation with the Expedition. I figured that it would be good for car seats. I just really want another car like ASAP! Now to talk to DH to see if he shoots me down untill the 1st of the year.

I have a 2002 Montana, with 65,000 miles on it and we LOVE it.

Yes, the ratings might not be that good but we do what we have to do. We can't afford to go and buy a 2010 minivan, with airbags in every conceivable corner. I drive carefully and just hope like crazy we're never in a position where it's safety ratings would be put to the test.

kaysmom said:

If I'm remembering correctly the Montanas dont get good crash test ratings, so that may be something you want to check into before you commit to it:twocents:
We had a 1999 Expedition and I really liked how many people you could get into it, ect it was a gas hog If your going from a small car to a huge SUV you may be quite surprised by the gas consumption. I know I was. It was always super easy to install any seats I had into it though
Good luck!

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There are some safer choices that aren't new vehicles. When we needed a new van ASAP, we chose a 1999 Ford Windstar. It had pretty good crash ratings, tethers in all seating positions and leather seats. Oh, how I miss those seats.

livsmum said:

I have a 2002 Montana, with 65,000 miles on it and we LOVE it.

Yes, the ratings might not be that good but we do what we have to do. We can't afford to go and buy a 2010 minivan, with airbags in every conceivable corner. I drive carefully and just hope like crazy we're never in a position where it's safety ratings would be put to the test.

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Yep, you do what you have to do, but because she hasnt bought a van yet, I thought I'd at least point it out, that's all:thumbsup: And I agree with Keri, you dont need something "brand new" to be safe.

kaysmom said:

Yep, you do what you have to do, but because she hasnt bought a van yet, I thought I'd at least point it out, that's all:thumbsup: And I agree with Keri, you dont need something "brand new" to be safe.

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Exactly. Ford's van is a good alternative that should be similarly priced.

She has a choice right now. Why pick the unsafe one? If you've already bought it, well, you deal with it. However, she has a choice so it's important to point out the safety issues cuz with that car, it's the primary reason it's not recommended.

Thanks Everyone. I think we decided to go the car lot route instead of a private owner. We also decided to try for a newer year model. I am looking at between 2000-2005ish. We are also looking to spend around 5-7K on it. This way I can get something a little newer that might possibly already have teather anchors. However if not then not to big of a deal considering Marcus still fits RF for right now.

I am still in the SUV versus Minivan right now. I will go whichever route we can get into that is still safe. At the car lot that I have applied at they have 2-3 options I am looking at. They also have a couple they have not yet listed that are within our price range that they talked to me about today. I am just waiting to hear back from them on my credit application to go any farther. Should hear back on it tomorrow. Here are the 3 I am considering that are listed. Tell me what you think & please be honest.

All of the cars are listed under this URL in their inventory. It will not take you to each individual car. Here is the link.
http://www.fultondaleautosales.com/inventory.htm

2003 Chevrolet Venture 7 passenger van (will this have LATCH?)

2000 GMC Jimmy SLE 4 door (I think I see TT's in the back on the back of the seats, however I am not sure if those are or not.)

2005 Mazda Tribute (if they come down on the price this is a possibility. If they do not come down then this one is out probably)

2000 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (not an SUV or Minivan, but my parents own a Crown Vic & my Grandmother owns one of these. I really like them both)

So those are the ones I am looking at that they have right now. I am also waiting for them to post two new Tahoes that they got today. They also got 2 other SUV type vehicles that I can not remember what they are. What are your thoughts on a Tahoe??

So...I am looking online & researching the safety ratings for the vehicles I am looking at. I am liking the looks of the Chevrolet Venture van, however I have NO clue what those numbers mean. Here is a link to the 2003 safety ratings for one. Can someone explain this to me??
http://www.automotive.com/2003/12/chevrolet/venture/crash-tests/index.html

There's probably an uber detailed technical explanation somewhere on the safercar.gov site (NHTSA's site) which isn't loading up for me at the moment, d'oh, but the numbers are measurements of potential injury/trauma, with higher numbers generally pointing to greater odds of injury. NHTSA's crash tests scores are on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with 5 stars being most optimal. It's actually the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) offset frontal crash test results and rating of "Poor" (on the crash rating scale ranging from Poor to Good used by IIHS) for the Chevy Venture and its essentially identical GM corporate siblings, the Pontiac Montana/Transport, and Oldsmobile Silhouette minivans, that's more cautionary than the NHTSA crash ratings. The IIHS crash rating and details for the 1997-2005 GM minivans are at http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=67 You can also look up vehicle models at the www.informedforlife.org website, which uses a scoring system that factors in both the NHTSA and IIHS crash ratings, to help compare different vehicle models safety-wise.

One to consider in your new price range would be a Ford Freestyle/Taurus X. Dh has one and it's so nice and he paid under $7,000 for an 05.

Here's the rankings from informedforlife.org.
Also check safercar.gov and IIHS.

It's a lot of work to find the safest car on a budget, but the car is your first line of defense so it is absolutely worth it. I'd rather the car do the job than my babies carseat.

Jeanum said:

Chevy Venture and its essentially identical GM corporate siblings, the Pontiac Montana/Transport, and Oldsmobile Silhouette minivans,

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I'm going to oversimply. Pardon any offense to current owners of this car.

For the GM minivans from years 1997-2005, just associate it with one word: DEATH.

Certain cars are famous (notorious is a better word) because of how poorly they fared in crash tests. The GM vans are one of them. If you've already about it, you deal with it as your finances allow. However, since this is about looking for a new used vehicle, they're the first ones you should immediately cross off your list.

also if you find First generation (1995-1998) Honda Odyssey
they are reliable up to 300,000 miles the 2.2 engine 4 cylinder engine is bullet proof as long as timing belt and waterpump, radiator hoses , engine oil and tranmission oil replace regularly

here is their crash test rating
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=63

this body style