Car Shopping
Well, with our income tax return on its way and our car’s carrying capacity filled with two car seats, we’ve decided to look at new transportation options. Our current Dodge Neon, though adequate for our needs as a three-person family, is a bit tight for a four-person family, and would never do for a five-person family.
So it is that we’ve started looking at minivans.
When I was in high school my family had a Ford minivan, and I remember liking it. Tarasine, on the other hand, had never really had any experience with one, and so was a little uncertain as to how one would “feel”.
On Monday we test drove a Kia Sedona. It’s a nice little minivan, with the key word here being “little”. It’s a tight squeeze between the second row seats to get to the back, and the cargo space is pretty minimal. Still, for the price, it can’t be beaten. They also have a pretty spectacular warrantee, and some nice financing options right now. It also drives very nicely, and even Tarasine said that driving it didn’t feel like what she thought a minivan would feel like.
On Tuesday we test drove a Honda Odyssey—pretty much the other end of the spectrum. It was much roomier (it could hold our double stroller, folded, plus a lot of other stuff). The model we looked at also had power sliding doors (very cool) and climate control (not as cool as it sounds). Driving it felt a bit larger, but not too bad. The drive itself was much like the Kia, to the Sedona’s credit.
After talking about it, we’ve pretty much decided to go with the Honda, in spite of its higher price tag, lower warrantee, and lack of special financing options. The extra space, increased resale value, and reliability are worth it to us. Also, the Honda sales rep that we spoke to said he could get us into an LX (the low-end Odyssey) for about $23,500, $1,000 less than the sticker price. That, combined with a 3.85% loan we found online, gives us a pretty reasonable monthly payment.
At any rate, I’ll be calling both the Honda and Kia reps today to let them know what we decided. Hopefully we’ll have a new car in the near future!
