New van shopping, advice appreciated!

[Jenni]

Well, it's time to get a new ride. Right now we are looking at a 2002 Nissan Quest from the local dealership. I wanted blue, this one's forest green metallic, which is ok. BUT, it doesn't have leather interior, which I consider a BIG plus with 2 small kids. This one has cloth, YUCK!

I got a quote from a Mazda dealership that is about 2 hours away an a nice MVP with leather and everything I want, except the "entertainment" system. No tv for the kiddies. The Nissan has it.

I really think I should drive the 2 hours and look at the Mazda. My husband isn't gonna appreciate it (he's been driving the Nissan all day...and he knows the owner of the dealership), he really likes the Nissan. But it's supposed to be "my" van and I'm the one that's gonna be cleaning the milkshakes and Oreos out of the interior, and I think leather would make that SO much easier. I also know that this is the last year for the Nissan Quest because it has been such a poor seller. It's a nice van, but not any nicer than the rest of the $27k vans.

Any advice? Any owners of either van? Or mazda's in general (we have owner 3 Nissan vehicles, and all have been great, other than my husband's piece of junk Altima), I don't know much about them.

[HAL9000]

I don't have experience with either of the vans in question, but one of my friends had an older MVP, traded for the Quest, drove it for a year, sold it off (didn't hold resale value too well either) went back to owning a MVP and says he'll stick with them.

You can add an entertainment system, and yea, the leather will take a lot of abuse and be easier to clean than the fabric (although you could get the scotchguard treatment).

The Quest as far as I'm concerned is too closely related to the Ford Villager which are total pieces of junk that focus on gizmos rather than quality. That alone would push me over to the MVP.

[Jenni]

Only drawback I see so far with the Mazda is the it has a 3 year, 50,000 mile warranty versus the Nissan's 5 year, 60,000 mile warranty. Which, if this really is gonna be "my" van, the years will come before the miles. He puts 15k+ a year on his. Mine got 8k on it, and that was with him driving it when his was broke.

[WJWheels]

HERE (http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~zaphod/pics/vw/misc/hippie.jpg) is a nice one if yur into the "classic" look.

[Moth]

I don't know if it's still the same, but I sold cars (Ford) for a couple of years, although not since '97. At that time, the Mercury Villager was actually the same vehicle as the Quest (Villager being made by Nissan - but dressed in Mercury emblems, of course). The Merc sold for a couple of thousand less, which seemed odd until you noticed that the Nissan standard waranty was worth about a couple of thousand more (judging by the price for optional extended Ford coverage).
So in essense, one deal was about as good as the other, but having both available did offer some additional choice. Plus there were more dealers competing for the sale, which is nice for the consumer.

[HAL9000]

Villager... that's the name I was thinking of... not Windstar.... edited my post above.

[Computer Hobbyist]

Isn't Mazda owned by Ford? If that's the case you will be getting Ford influences if you buy either van. I have owned Mazda cars. Loved a Miata and hated a 626. My only problem with the Miata was with the Leather Seats--premature wear. The only minivans I have owned were a Ford Aerostar and a Dodge Caravan. Both were great, the Ford had a truck feel, and the Caravan was more like a car.

Since I did not have a good experience with Mazda Leather Seats, I'd vote for the Nissan--better warranty.

My oldest son added a tv to his Pontiac minivan.
The kids are happy.

CH

[glc]

I'm gonna throw a monkey wrench at ya here - I think the best minivan is still the original - Chrysler/Dodge Voyager/Caravan.

[HAL9000]

Yes, Mazda and Ford are related too, but it's the Mazda in my friends opinion is superior to the Ford or the Nissan.

I tend to agree with GLC though, If I were looking at a new one, I would go with the Chrysler/Dodge first. Every minivan is based on their design. Apparently at the Detroit auto shows, the other manufacturers can be seen at the Chrysler/Dodge minivan display not just checking it out, but in and under it measuring it up and taking lots of photos.

[Jenni]

Well, I gotta admit, my mom rented a Dodge Sport minivan for a trip, and I got to drive it home. It was nice, real nice. It felt even "peppier" than this Nissan (I finally drove it this afternoon). I haven't really loked into the Dodges locally, but I might check them out too.

On a plus for the Nissan, I found out that it is a 2001 with 5,700 miles on it, and I think we can talk them way down on the price, so that would be a nice bonus.

[crufe]

Jenni,

My wife works in a Mazda/Dodge dealership as a Customer Satisfaction manager. She drives a 2001 MPV and I would have to pry the steering from her hands to get her to part with it. She loves her Mazda .

[WJWheels]

I vote for the Dodge/Chrysler, though I have a Windstar - only because one of my best buddies is a Ford Sales Mgr. The caravan/voyager is also quite a bit larger inside than the Nissan.

[Mr N8]

I would have to agree with looking into a Dodge/Chrysler. They have all the gizmos, but they didn't add them until they had a good track record with the reliability of the vehicles. And, as WJW said, the Dodge is roomier inside.

[LawyerRon]

My opinion is the two best minivans are the Toyota and the Honda. Honda is the top rated van by Consumer Reports. The Caravan is nice too (we just sold one) but it can't match the reliabilty of the other two. You couldn't give me a Ford.

[trulad]

I had 4 Dodge Caravans, a 1987,1991,1995,1997 ( I drive 25K per year) and each one had a transmission problem. After numerous fixes and two transmission replacements Dodge finally admitted there were several defects. I bought a 1998 Chev. Venture and when I traded it with 77K it never had a problem, only routine maintenance. I now drive a 2000 Pontiac Montana and at 45K we still have no problems of any kind. I will probably get another Montana next year.
By now, you can see that auto preferences are much like AMD vs P4 only there are more choices to argue about.
Trudy

[SARGE]

Originally posted by glc
I'm gonna throw a monkey wrench at ya here - I think the best minivan is still the original - Chrysler/Dodge Voyager/Caravan.

Yup, the wife has and has had 3 or 4 (lost count). That's all she's driven for years.

[Christoph]

I own a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport right now and really like. Very reliable! I think Dodge has some great rebates right now (if you're in the US). Also had 1994 Plymoth Grand Voyager before (which is the same as a Dodge) and that vehicle was also very good.

Christoph

[SARGE]

Only snafu we've ever had with the Dodge's is using oil. I've always had to add oil between changes on every one, and I don't mean rarely. We shoot for 3500 miles between changes and inevitably it needs 3 quarts between changes. I've always used Valvoline 10w-40 so maybe that's it.

[Christoph]

Mine does not use oil at all (27K miles driven now since november 2000) and I do an oil change every 6 months. We only had to recharge the AC this week but we're using it a lot (300 sunny days a year here) and we just had day 13 in a row with temperatures above 90 degrees F. So, that is not a surprise to me that the AC needed a 'refill'.!

I just wish it would have more cupholders (like the newer one) - I would then be able to drive more often thru the drive-trhu to get drinks without cleaning up. :D - Just kidding! I heard the newer version has 18 cupholders or so.

Christoph

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by SARGE
We shoot for 3500 miles between changes and inevitably it needs 3 quarts between changes. I've always used Valvoline 10w-40 so maybe that's it.


Sarge, I commented about that in your thread about motor oil. I had that happen with my first new car, a 1987 Chrysler Daytona. It would use a quart of oil on highway trips (never noticed it in the city). I switched to Quaker State and it stopped using oil.

[Jenni]

We went back to the Nissan dealership this afternoon, and they are working out the financing now, BUT, I'm having HUGE second thoughts. So much so that we are driving 80 miles to a Mazda dealership in New Orleans to look at the Mazda MPV. The Mazda has everything I want and then some, whereas the Nissan doesn't have what I really want, and they would only come down about $2700 on the price. The sticker price on the Mazda I want is $29,707, and the quote I got via email is $26,753, which is only $1700 more than the Nissan. And I haven't even haggled with the Mazda dealership yet, that's just the initial quote.

The warranty difference bothers me, but really and truly, I think unless you just get a bad one, and then it will happen within 3 years anyway, you won't need the warranty anyway.

[alexmacdonald]

buy a porsche

[HAL9000]

Jenni, go look at the Mazda, it will haunt you if you don't. While you're at it, for that kind of money, take a look at the Chrysler vans too. If you're the one driving it, get what you want.

I tend to agree about the warranty. If you treat it good with regular maintenance, and it doesn't show any signs of being a lemon in that first couple years, it's more than likely not going to be a problem. When I bought my Sunfire used at a Chrysler dealership, the first thing I did was walk across the street to the Saturn dealership where a friend of mine is the service manager. He looked up the history of the car. It had regular maintenance, 1 minor recall that had been taken care of, no evidence of being in an accident, and had not been in for any warranty repairs. That was good enough for me.

[lil Jimmie]

If I were to buy a mini van it would be the Mazda MVP, but I wouldn’t have a mini van I prefer suburbans.

[dan3223]

Isn't the Mazda MPV rear-drive? Might get a bit squirelly in the rain and snow if you're not careful. I might be mistaken on that fact though...... someone know for sure? Myself, I prefer rear wheel drive, but some don't.

[Jenni]

The older model MPV's were RWD, however, starting in 2000 (I think, might have been 2001) they are FWD now.

I've been everywhere on the internet comparing all kinds of vans, lol. I should be some kind of minivan expert by now I think.

[GaryRouth]

Glad you started this thread, Jenni. My wife and I are considering going for a van (our Honda Civic & our Saturn are really hard to get the kids in and out of, even if they are 4-doors)

My wife's cousins in Sacramento (who are physician assistants and drive a ton) liked their Dodge vans . . . which were available at much lower prices than their competition (because they could order them with less accessories if they wished). My brother likes his top-of-the-line deluxe Nissan van, but wow that's out of my price range.

I was hoping for a Saturn van, but they went with an SUV idea instead.

. . . Gary