I'm 35 years old and I've never.....

[Oliviasmom72]

Leading is only good if you drive very little and want a new car every2 or 3 years. You have to still put Down a couple Grand usually to get your payments low

Carmax is no better than any other dealer but they buy high volume and most dealers can get you financing but the problem is you will pay a high interest rate and probably never pay the car off before 6 or 7 years.

Buy a less expensive newer model car under $10k and clean your credit up. Honestly you should never pay more than 5 or 6% interest at the most. If your credit is that bad but cheap and when your credit score is good and you can buy at 2-3% it makes s huge difference.

[anonforever]

That stinks. You're going to end up with a car payment AND repairs simultaneously.

The thing is, the $10-13,000 range is indicative of the time cars start needing work. You're looking at vans with higher miles/years at that price point.
If it doesn't have to be a minivan, you're bettter off getting a brand new cheap car, like a Nissan Versa or something. They start within your budget and you'll have a warranty.

It has to be a minivan. We are a family of 5-- + 2 biggish dogs--who camp and take road trips often. We pack a minivan to the brim

That's not necessarily true. We bought our van outright with 134k miles on it and we had it for 6 years before we had to drop big cash into it. And the big cash we spent wasn't even what was wrong it was a 50 dollar fuel pump that we had just replaced a year prior lol... Hubby was doing all the work though with guidance from his friend whos a mechanic. So it was a well it could be this or this or this or that kinda thing. Now I have a van with 198k on it and all new exhaust, new computer, new sensors, fuel pump, distributor, plugs, fuel injectors lol the list goes on and on of things we bought trying to get it running and it turned out to be the stupid fuel pump. My point is the previous owner took really good care of it and we continued to do the same so we haven't had to do anything major most of the stuff we did do although it did cost us several grand over the course of a few months didn't really need to be replaced. We have had it 8 years now and never had to do any major work engine, tranny that kinda thing. While it's very possible she might have to it's not a sure thing.

[Guest]

That's awesome.
And no, it's definitely not a sure thing. But it's probable.

That stinks. You're going to end up with a car payment AND repairs simultaneously.

It has to be a minivan. We are a family of 5-- + 2 biggish dogs--who camp and take road trips often. We pack a minivan to the brim

That's not necessarily true. We bought our van outright with 134k miles on it and we had it for 6 years before we had to drop big cash into it. And the big cash we spent wasn't even what was wrong it was a 50 dollar fuel pump that we had just replaced a year prior lol... Hubby was doing all the work though with guidance from his friend whos a mechanic. So it was a well it could be this or this or this or that kinda thing. Now I have a van with 198k on it and all new exhaust, new computer, new sensors, fuel pump, distributor, plugs, fuel injectors lol the list goes on and on of things we bought trying to get it running and it turned out to be the stupid fuel pump. My point is the previous owner took really good care of it and we continued to do the same so we haven't had to do anything major most of the stuff we did do although it did cost us several grand over the course of a few months didn't really need to be replaced. We have had it 8 years now and never had to do any major work engine, tranny that kinda thing. While it's very possible she might have to it's not a sure thing.

[Guest]

You can lease certified preowned cars and at a better rate than new ones.

Usually the financing through the dealership is going to be at a high interest rate and for those with especially poor credit. I wouldn't want that if I could help it.

I'd have probably 3000 or so for a down payment, depending on the car you get.

$3000? I'm only looking at a $10-13k used minivan

First, you cant lease used cars.

[Mammagoose]

I'm not sure I'm 37 and we've always bought our cars outright.

[Mammagoose]

That stinks. You're going to end up with a car payment AND repairs simultaneously.

The thing is, the $10-13,000 range is indicative of the time cars start needing work. You're looking at vans with higher miles/years at that price point.
If it doesn't have to be a minivan, you're bettter off getting a brand new cheap car, like a Nissan Versa or something. They start within your budget and you'll have a warranty.

It has to be a minivan. We are a family of 5-- + 2 biggish dogs--who camp and take road trips often. We pack a minivan to the brim

We sold our last van at 250,000 miles and it was still running strong. We did very little into it besides routine maintenance.

[Guest]

That's great. But anecdotal.

That stinks. You're going to end up with a car payment AND repairs simultaneously.

It has to be a minivan. We are a family of 5-- + 2 biggish dogs--who camp and take road trips often. We pack a minivan to the brim

We sold our last van at 250,000 miles and it was still running strong. We did very little into it besides routine maintenance.

[Mammagoose]

That's great. But anecdotal.

That stinks. You're going to end up with a car payment AND repairs simultaneously.

We sold our last van at 250,000 miles and it was still running strong. We did very little into it besides routine maintenance.

As is your experience. I'd like to see some proof that she will have constant repairs. My grew up in an auto repair shop and minivans weren't more likely to break down than other vehicles. Sometimes they could be worse to repair like when they decided to make the engine and transmission one piece.

[Guest]

The average car is on the road 11 years a/o 150,000 miles, according to Time magazine. That's not anecdotal. She'll likely be buying a higher mileage/age van in order to stay within her budget. Constant repairs aren't a sure thing, but she seems to have unrealistic expectations based upon her OP.

That's great. But anecdotal.

We sold our last van at 250,000 miles and it was still running strong. We did very little into it besides routine maintenance.

As is your experience. I'd like to see some proof that she will have constant repairs. My grew up in an auto repair shop and minivans weren't more likely to break down than other vehicles. Sometimes they could be worse to repair like when they decided to make the engine and transmission one piece.

[Mammagoose]

The average car is on the road 11 years a/o 150,000 miles, according to Time magazine. That's not anecdotal. She'll likely be buying a higher mileage/age van in order to stay within her budget. Constant repairs aren't a sure thing, but she seems to have unrealistic expectations based upon her OP.

That's great. But anecdotal.

As is your experience. I'd like to see some proof that she will have constant repairs. My grew up in an auto repair shop and minivans weren't more likely to break down than other vehicles. Sometimes they could be worse to repair like when they decided to make the engine and transmission one piece.

And consumer affairs says its possible for today's cars to make it to at least 200,000 miles with proper maintenance.