My sad story, advice needed...

[sherwin]

I am looking for some advice on buying a used vehicle as our toyota van was totalled in an accident. We are in rough financial shape, likely will not qualify for a loan, and will have approximately 8 - 10 thousand with which to replace the van.

I am considering buying a used Suburban or similar vehicle, rather than another minivan. Do you think a Suburban in this price range would be more reliable and more safe than a Toyota, Honda, or similar style van? I am looking at vehicles that will seat six, as we have four children.

For some reason I think a Suburban or similar type vehicle will be safer due to it's size/weight and more reliable, as well as easier to make repairs on. I also like the idea of four wheel drive, living in MN, although we had no snow to speak of this past winter.

Regarding repairs, I want to be able to pick up a manual and do some of the basic repairs myself, rather than rely on a shop. This is because we are very limited financialy.

So I'm just looking for opinions I guess, most of you folks on the forum seem to know a lot about such things, where as my circle of friends are pretty limited in their knowledge of cars/trucks/motorcycles and their maintenance.

I have three XS650's, two of them run but I sold the carbs to get money for parts for the third XS650 that I am slowly turning into a bobber. The back story to my financial situation is that we had our fourth child born this winter, three months premature, he was in the hospital for four months, we have missed a lot of work and have just sunk ourselves financially so have little resources to spend on a vehicle to get this family around. On the plus side our new son is doing great, and despite the stress and financial difficulties, many more great things have happened that are worth far more than money. But it would still be nice to have a reliable, safe, vehicle

Thanks for reading this long rambling post and please throw in any comments you may have, if you have to rip on me that's fine too.

Thanks again,
Sherwin

Also, I really don't want to sell the XS650's, I wouldn't get enough for them to make it worth while, besides they are content to sit in the garage for years until I have the time and resources to do something with them

 

[1974jh5]

Glad that your newest is doing well!

About the vehicle: I am not really sure that a Suburban in that price range is going to be in decent shape. If I were in your shoes, I would see if I could find one of those AWD Chevy Astros or its GMC Safari van equivalent. That should fill both the 6 passenger and AWD requirements plus you'd probably have some cash left. If you know someone down here in the South who could check one out for you, you could probbly find one for about half what you mention without having to worry about salt rust etc.

For instance, here's one in Atlanta, no affiliation, not mine, etc etc etc:
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/ctd/3092219977.html

Just my

 

[ReycleBill]

A little known fact: The Surburban, being built on a truck chassis, does not meet as strict FMV Safety Standards as do cars and mini vans. SUV's also have higher rollover rates. Statistically, Surburbans and other SUVs are no safer than mini vans and are less safe than some full sized cars. You're probably just as safe in a mini van and the better gas mileage will be a plus for the mini van.

And when it comes to reliability... as much as I hate to say it, GM cannot match Toyota or Honda.

As to 4WD... well, living here in central NC that is simply not something of concern nut having briefly lived in Minnesota I'm sure you'll want to take it into account. Are you talking about being stuck at home for a day or weeks on end? Kinda depends on how far out you happen to live, I think.

Good luck with that growing family and keep those old bikes in the dry as they'll only go up in value.

 

[jd750ace]

a 4WD (2500) suburban is pretty expensive to repair, and gets about 13 miles to the gallon on good days. I realize that Hondas can be expensive to repair as well, but if I were you (showing my ignorance here) if there is such a thing as a front wheel drive Honda Oddessy, that's what I would be aiming for. Safety, reliability, mileage, family friendly adds up to the minivan in my book. My younger brother got rid of his suburban and got a minivan. I'm not knocking old chevys. got a 98 1500 extended cab outside with 216,000 miles on it, just the 4WD costs a lot to own.

 

[tonyc]

He lives in Minneapolis and may need four-wheel drive.

 

[daroberts3]

I live near Buffalo NY. We get a fair amount of snow, not having 4wd has not been an issue as long as I keep good tires on my '07 Caravan. I would recommend a Dodge Caravan as I have found them easy and inexpensive to maintain. Loads of good aftermarket parts available and local bone yards have a good supply of used parts. Better gas mileage than a Suburban and in my opinion built more for safety. Great features such as stow and go seating and dual doors for easy loading/unloading of kids and cargo. Very versatile. With your price range you should be able to get a nice Dodge or a Chrysler T and C.

 

[Purplezinger]

Even if you found a decent Surburban for that price, in the long run you can't afford to feed it gas.

 

[jd750ace]

My older brother has a Town & Country and is very pleased with it. Front wheel drive, so goes well in the snow.
On that issue, I did the last part of this winter in Maine, with my 2wd Chevy, and everybody teased me about keeping my tow strap handy and putting a bajillion pounds of sand in it, just to get to work, but I never put a single puond in it, and never lost control of it at all. I grew up driving 2wd trucks in snow, mud, ice, and pig shit, so I got a pretty good idea how to get around on a slick surface. If you think you need a 4 wheel drive, then fine, just advise here. I don't know if MSP is flat or hilly (I think it's relatively flat) but I know a little gal that lives there who drives a 2 door Accord with no problems.

 

[xjwmx]

If you're in a crunch for money you don't want to be spending 10,000 for a vehicle or you will stay in a crunch for money. Get an old Cherokee for $1000. No problem if you're mechanically inclined.

 

[Phail]

Toyota 4Runner's are easy to work on and pretty reliable. Better than a Cherokee. AWD van is a good choice too. Good advice in this thread.

I agree with most here. Don't get a Suburban. You can total a lot of cars before you scratch it, but that thing is huge and really burns the fuel.

 

[nj1639]

Why is the rich man rich?
He pays cash for his cars and drinks cheap wine.
The 4 runner or a jeep, 6 cyl. The wife has a '96 Grand Cherokee, V8, and the way she drives it, it should last forever. The thing has some great acceleration when I'm behind the wheel but it sure drinks up the gas. I've got a turd '96 Nissan Sentra 4 cyl. 4 door.....totally out of character but 30 bucks fills the tank for 350 miles. Both vehicles have over 100,000 miles.

 

[avenue]

the early 90's toyota previa has about as big of a cult following as the xs650, and for good reason. They made an AWD version and a supercharged 4 cylinder version. I think the designers were going for the looks-like-a-spaceship-made-love-with-a-minivan-sized-egg look. My highschool friends and I made a few cross country roadtrips in one of our buddy's parent's loaner. It was a damn fine roadtrip car even though it didn't impress the local ladies much. If I recall correctly, that same van had well over 250k miles when it was totaled by another driver. sad day.

 

[1974jh5]

Previas around here carry the Mexican tax: the Mexicans love 'em as painters/drywall installer/etc vehicles. Honestly, if Mexicans like 'em they are tough and reliable because that is what they want. Those folk are not known for being wasteful, they know what lasts for little $. They drive a lot of Astros too. OBTW: if you decide to go Astrofari go for 2000 and later, much stronger transmissions. Otherwise they are tough, cheap to fix, parts available everywhere.

I worked for a Jeep dealer and the Cherokee (not Grand Cherokee) is a tough little POS. The 4.0 six banger will run forever, the Aisin Warner transmission will still be working when the sun decides to explode. The lower end Grand Cherokees with the 4.0 and manual A/C (avoid the automatic temp control like the plague!) have a different (Chrysler made) transmission that's nowhere near as tough. They also eat window regulators like they are made of cotton candy. Otherwise, they hang together OK. They are common enough to be pretty cheap, usually cheaper than the Cherokee. If you can find a six cylinder GC with manual windows and manual A/C you would probably be very happy with it.

I also worked for an Isuzu dealer and I still drive a '97 Trooper because it's a hella fine vehicle. I you can find a '92/'97 Trooper or Rodeo they are strong dependable rigs. Avoid '92-earlier with the GM V6, they are turds. '98-'00 had some engine issues. '01-'04 were pretty damn tough but right toward the end of production the GM sourced transmission had some serious problems. (For that reason, for the last 6 months or so of production Isuzu used the same Aisin Warner that's in the Cherokee.) They are a bit more difficult to to work on than the old cast iron 4.0 six banger, though.

 

[FrkyMnky]

I wouldn't try to limit yourself to AWD or 4WD simply because you are up north. A set of tire chains will get you a long ways and if it gets to the point you need 4WD, you likely will not be going very far anyways as half the other idiots don't have it and will be all over the road. I would also agree with the cherokee to fill your needs. Parts are cheap and easy to find, stupid easy to work on and upgrade should you ever need or want to. Cheap insurance, decent mileage and you cannot kill the drivetrain. It will also pull decent as well. Might need to throw a bench in the front for packing in 6, or you could fab up some brackets for a rear seat.

 

[xjwmx]

The Cherokee I had was great except it had rusty floorboards and especially in the hump right behind the engine; there was a big rotted hole there. So examine one carefully for that. There was no rust on the visible part of the body at all. Mine was a 2D which made it more rigid and rot tolerant.

The speedo said 180,000 and the 4.0 didn't use a drop but of course it could have been rebuilt or replaced at some time in the past. For changes I would use the cheapest Family Dollar 10w-30 I could find.

 

[Royboy]

+1 on the jeep. They take alot of abuse and keep on coming. One of the few remaining vehicles you can fix yourself most of the time.

roy

 

[MTcycle]

Heard of a guy who was apparently pretty short on $$$ so he would just load up the Cherokee with the five kids and tie the pooch up on the roof! That's brand loyalty.

 

[sherwin]

Thanks everyone for the great advice, I will pass on the Suburban. Going to try to stick with the Toyota or Honda vans, will also check out a Previa. I'm also very tempted to look into the Jeeps suggested, and will keep the other suggestions in mind.

Thanks again everyone

Sherwin

 

[sherwin]

So I ended up with a Chrysler Town and Country van at a reasonable price. I was really pushing for a very nice Previa I saw on Craigs list for a great price, but the wife wasn't into it. Anyway thank you all for the input and for steering me in the right direction.

Thanks,
Sherwin

 

[ReycleBill]

You'll do well with the Town and Country. Parts interchange with the Caravan, a whole host of other Chrysler lines and are plentiful. They're dependable and about as easy to work on as anything made these days. Not to say that they're easy to work on but as easy as anything made these days.