I think you'll love the utility of a van. Storage and access is great, and there always seems to be room for "one more thing".

And that's important to me.... My wife has been throwing adds for Civics and Focii at me for days, but I keep explaining that with 4 folks who like to do things, this will be inadequate and regretted.

I fly RC planes, need 50" of clear trunk width... Also like to be able to take my telescope on occasion.

With a van, I can forsee car camping and being able to take a plane or telescope, destination depending....

Just hope such a beast can be reliable for us. Time will tell.

I'll be having whatever we look at checked by a mechanic I trust.

J

As I said earlier, I love(ed) my vans. Here in Michigan the front wheel drive proved valuable, and probably more reliable than 4WD. I had no major mechanical problems with all three of mine, with the exception of a bad intake water leak on the GMC.

I think the newer models are more "car" like, and it seems I see less and less regular sedans on the roads. Since all the downsizing, even four doors are cramped for interior space.

I also found myself removing, and finally discarding the third seat. (more room for large, rowdy dawgs.)

That's the first thing I did with the 2 Chrysler company vans I've owned. The Odyssey third seat folds down completely and I removed one of the second row seats to provide very good access through one of the side doors for loading, etc.

Just went through car shopping with Daughter...

DO Google Kelley Blue Book for ideas on pricing and reliability and customer reviews (I love reviews)

I love Msn Auto Look towards the "mid left" and click "research cars".

Feel lucky you have time to shop. Daughter and I had one day, but she has one of those fancy phones to look those sites up while at the car places

(Focii? Like Focus? Mine is a hatchback with fold down back seats and has lots of room! It is "narrow", though)

Liz

yup, focus. We've got a Camry now and wouldn't like to get much smaller....

Otherwise, thanks for the info on MSN cars... I'll have a look!

J

Well, spent much of Friday and Tuesday test driving and hunting for cars in my range.

Tried a couple vans, but they either possessed scary mileages or were in poor condition in this price range. Rotted rockers and random weird (Cryslerish) failures... Windows that didn't close properly, etc.

Eventually, we began finding a fair selection of Subaru's, and test drove an Outback and a Forrester. Finally settled on an '02 Outback with 260Kkm on the clock, for $3K. Picking it up after work today.

Lost plenty of sleep last night second guessing myself... Hopefully this is a car we can get 2-3 years from.

J

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I hate car shopping. Rather get a root canal and colonoscopy at same time...

So wife's friend mentioned that her gold-digger to be is playing the divorced parental thing and managed to get her father to buy her a car...a used car...a 2006 Acura and I was gagging at the price a 2006 Acura can bring...16K???

and I looked and yes, they can bring that kind of money...

isnt an Acura an overbloated/overpriced Honda on steroids?

like a Lexus is an overbloated/overpriced Toyota on steroids?

Or am I wrong...?

Nope, y'ain't wrong. It's easy to spend alot of cash on a very used car. Few lots here show any cars under 5K, which makes it all the more fun.

That said, the last Acura I was in was a very nice vehicle... But that's a hell of a premium....

J