Buying a Used Minivan - Sedona or Caravan?

My parents owned a dodge caravan and now I own one. One lasted about 13 years. My mom bought a used '88 dodge caravan from an auction two years ago for $300 and it is still running. She put in about $200 worth of repairs in to it and thats it. I would buy any thing else.

I have not heard good things about KIA..something with their motors...not 100% about this though. I would go for the dodge.

Personally, I would go with the Honda Odyssey. From what I've heard, they are much better for reliability and safety, so I guess you get what you paid for! I'd also recommend looking at dealers out of state. I bought a Honda Pilot in Eau Claire just because they gave me much more for my trade-in than any place here.

I had a caravan a couple of times and I really liked it. Although I haven't had any experience with the Kia. I currently have a Toyota Sienna and I love it. My caravan had nearly 200k miles on it before it finally died.

I own a Dodge Grand Caravan and won't go back to Dodge. The van has been o.k., however, when we bought it new they falsely advertised 7 years of free oil changes (which turned out to be 3-1/2 years of free oil changes). We also bought an extended warranty but now have to pay a deductible to use that warranty---no one told us that and we apparently didn't read the unreadable fine print. I've written quite a few letters to the heads of Dodge and have gotten no replies. That tells me just how much they care about their customers. Next time I will pay the little extra (yes, money is extremely tight for us as well) and buy a Honda. I have yet to hear a complaint about Honda service or products.

First of all welcome to the US. I have know 3 different friends that have owned the Dodge Caravan, all different years, some have bought new and others used, they all have had to put money into to the mini vans, 2 out of the 3 had to replace the transmission. Just off of what they have told me I would not recommend ever buytin one. Hope that helps

Hi E.!

I'd like to follow-up on the last comment. I, too, previously owned a used mini-van - a Pontiac Transport (now called the Montana). I liked the van, but spent so much money on repairs each year, that I finally decided to buy a new used van. I researched the Kia Sedona (after having driven it while on vacation in Florida). I liked it, but found that it got poor reviews on durability. I ended up buying a 2004 Honda Odyssey with pretty low mileage from Richfield Honda and couldn't be more happy. It's got the best safety record and all the features (I still bought the basic model). Richfield Honda really cares about its customers, not only on the Sales floor, but more importantly in the Service department. I'd check out their internet sites to see what type of inventory they have. Also, one word of caution with minivans from Dodge, Kia and many other makers (including the Toyota Sienna) - they sell their cars to rental agencies, which in turn sell to car dealerships. This means you may be buying a used vehicle that once was driven by hundreds of different drivers and not really know the history of the vehicle. Frankly, that's what scared me away from looking at used Toyota Sienna's - which generally are comparable to the Honda Odyssey.

Good luck hunting!
A.

I have a caravan and love it. I did buy new and any issues have happened during the warranty period so I don't know what non-covered repairs are going to be like.