Feeling overwhelmed van shopping
@shaggin (74988)
United States
September 30, 2015 11:16am CST
I went today to look at a van on craigslist that looked great. 136,000 miles 10 years old no rust for just under $3000. We went to look at it and it was in real nice shape but the sending unit for the temperature needs to be fixed.
I talked to the guy who works on my vans and he said you have to drop the gas tank to fix that. Not only with the cost of the part that would be an expensive fix. Unless he was willing to take $2000 its just not going to be something I would buy and he said he would only take $200 off the price.
Just up the road at a mechanics there was a 2005 Chevrolet van I think a town and country. It was in excellent shape but was $4900. 75,000 miles. No rust. Excellent but price is too high for me.
So now I'm sitting here looking again on craigslist and my dad has been calling me telling me different ones he has seen. He keeps finding older vehicles and I'm not sure if I want to go older then a 10 year old vehicle.
What do you think is better and why... buying a newer vehicle with more miles or buying an older vehicle with less miles?
3 people like this
4 responses
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
30 Sep 15
Either way you'll run into problems. We've spent the past 10 years buying older vehicles and they'd last 2-3 years at most even if they were in great shape when we got them. We'd have to throw a lot of money into them each year to replace a few parts and then just go out and get another.
Last month we were finally forced to go with a newer vehicle because we didn't have the money to buy an older one. We had very little to put down so we financed the rest. I ended up with a 2011 with 60,000 miles. Only 1 owner. Granted I have a large monthly payment, but I know this one will last a good long while!
1 person likes this
@shaggin (74988)
• United States
1 Oct 15
That is basically the same thing I am doing. Buying cheap vans then having to replace them every 2 years or so. The one van I only paid $600 for it and it lasted me 2 years so I really was not upset about that at all. This one I have now I have had for almost exactly two years and bought it for $2500. Really that's not bad either. I haven't had to put much work into it.
I wouldn't like the high monthly payment you have but the vehicle does sound great!
The guy I am seeing gave me some tips on how to make this one less likely to rust as fast as my others have so I will be putting that to use on whatever van I get soon.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (74988)
• United States
1 Oct 15
@katsmeow1213 Wow that is really lucky that the extended warranty covers pretty much everything except brakes. I could use a warranty like that haha. I have never bought anything on credit before I save up the money as long as I can then buy what I can afford hence the reason I always wind up with very old vehicles.
My father said he found one I might like a 2003 van with 118,000 miles for $1000. I told him I have a 2003 van right now with the same amount of miles and its done for. I do not want to go lower then 10 years old.
I believe you and I live within a few hours from each other from what I remember and I'm sure the condition on the roads do not help preserve the vehicles around here.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
1 Oct 15
@shaggin My payment is so high because we couldn't do a big down payment, and our credit isn't great at the moment. We've already been working on fixing our credit. In February one big thing will expire off our credit reports, and we're working on paying some of the other things, so our credit will get a bit better. We plan to refinance the van and hopefully get a lower payment.
They also worked in an extended warranty for the van, and it covers almost everything except the brakes. So I won't need to get a new car for a good long time.
2 people like this
@rachelyoung13 (64)
• United Kingdom
30 Sep 15
I'd also take into account things like insurance, as certainly in England an older car often costs more to insure
@shaggin (74988)
• United States
1 Oct 15
It depends here on exactly how old the vehicle is. If it is an antique then it is very costly for insurance. If it is only 10 years old though it is very cheap for insurance where as a brand new car the insurance is quite high and if you have to make payments you have to have full coverage which costs a lot more then what I pay which is the basic state minimum.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (153544)
• India
1 Oct 15
You have to work out based on your own experience with the vans that you have so far bought
@softbabe44 (5815)
• Vancouver, Washington
30 Sep 15
i would think if you met in the middle it would be better older vehicles as well as the ones that have more mileage its hard to say which one would be the better meet in the middle
