[manimal]

well, for those of you that know about my car dilema, i think i may have found the cure. my caravan is still running but i can hear the timebomb ticking. I have to refill the radiator almost daily (replaced it 2 weeks ago :mumble: ) and the belt keeps fraying (pulley problem). that combined with the 151k miles and all the strange noises makes me very uneasy. oh yeah, and the transmission is going too.

so anyway, after a thread about a '99 Yukon and the possibility of a subaru outback and today's find of a 98 4-runner.....and test driving and car-seat fitting them all; my uncle calls me out of the blue and tells me that he's selling his van. '01 Ford Windstar loaded and only 65k miles. he bought it for his wife and she has been ill for a while now. so anyway, blue book is over $8k, and he's selling it to me for $6k.

so i guess that works out better than the '99 yukon for $8k and the 4-runner (can't fit 3 child seats in 4 runner).

anyway, anybody have any dealings with these vans? 90% of the reviews i read were good and my uncle has meticulously maintained his van. it's bound to be better than my POS caravan :mumble: i'll never buy dodge again. i'd be in a 4runner right now if i could fit my kids in it

 

[Wumpus]

i'd be in a 4runner right now if i could fit my kids in it

http://www.littlepassengerseats.com/toyota_4runner.htm

 

[Kopiklokoli]

This might anger people, but i would never buy an American made car if you are expecting it to last.

 

[NovatoSCFR]

Well being the teenager that I am, minivan's are deffinitely a no-no in my world. However that is unfair, because my family's windstar has served us beautifully for 4 years. Roadtrip to Vegas and Bootleg, and countless trips to Tahoe, during summer and winner. We even managed to get it stuck in the snow trying to shuttle downieville another time last fall. We haven't had a single major mechanical problem with it,and we've put it through hell. I've thrown my muddy bike in the back one too many times, but hey, it adds character. Any specific questions feel free to shoot them out and I'll do my best to answer them, or find someone slightly more educated than I to answer.

 

[manimal]

http://www.littlepassengerseats.com/toyota_4runner.htm

interesting.

i'm not a huge american vehicle fan either, however....

$6k (about $4k out of pocket after the sale of my current van) for a van that comfortably fits my whole family with 65kmiles, is NADA valued at $8.5k and gets 24mpg on the highway/18-20 in town.

-or-

$8k for a SUV that barely fits my family, has 120k miles and gets noticeably less mpg.
i LOVE toyota, heck, my old pickup lasted over 300k miles, but right now i'm pissed that i'm even having to finance a car at all. i plan on having this paid off this year then saving to buy a nicer used car with cash in about 2-3 years. i'm pretty sure that the van will last that long and i'll still be debt free, unlike if i bought the more expensive 4-runner.

 

[Curb Hucker]

This might anger people, but i would never buy an American made car if you are expecting it to last.

So true. My dads 2005 Chevy Silverado has more problems than my 2000 LR Discovery and our 2003 BMW X5 combined. Its less than one full year old, and already has more underbody rust than my 6 year old Land Rover

 

[Changleen]

Save the money. Spend it on a skate ramp for Lil M.

 

[lovebunny]

This might anger people, but i would never buy an American made car if you are expecting it to last.

i dunno my rangers holding up and its at 105k. i must say the last 10k miles i havent been very nice to it

 

[chicodude]

i dunno my rangers holding up and its at 105k. i must say the last 10k miles i havent been very nice to it

I think its all about luck with these cars.


My s-15 is 16 years old with 149k on it and it still runs great, and I have been trashing the **** out of it lately....

 

[bikenweed]

I think its all about luck with these cars.

I think you're right. I've seen plenty of Asian cars fall apart, and plenty of American cars self-destruct. It really is just luck. That, and any driving in the mountains, especially as a teen ager, will ruin any vehicle. My 1988 Pontiac died with 160k. That's not too bad for a car that was given to our family because it was worth so little it was silly to actually spend time to sell it.

Good luck with the Ford!

 

[N8 v2.0]

MizN8 had a 98 Forn Windstar.

The engine siezed two years ago. Stuff quit working on it at around 10k miles but it still ran.

It has a HUGE amount of room in it though. She used to shuttle it full of her white water kayacks and kayakers in Arkansas all the time.

She could easily carry her boat inside and all her camping gear and passengers too.

But it was a POS... My 97 4Runner has 210k miles on it and still looking and running good.

 

[manimal]

i think it's luck of the draw. my s-10 is 18 years old with 130k and is still running strong. it looks like crap from all the paintball wars it's been in but the engine is running strong. if the 4 runner was just a tad bigger.......

 

[Angus]

I just traded in a 01' Windstar, she was a decent vehicle but started to running a bit rough before I traded her in at 88K, there is a ton of room inside, the rear seat is heavy as all get out, so once I took it out it stayed out for 3 years. One of the reasons i got rid of her also was when we bought her we lived in the flat lands of Chicago, after moving back to Arkansas were the roads are anything but flat and straight, she wasn't all that fun to drive, felt real spungy, also the vehicle is heavish and Ford puts light rotors on the Windstar so everytime you need Pads you need rotors. Like i said it wasn't a bad vehicle, but I wouldn't buy another one either.......


his the pic I took on trade in day.....

 

[blt2ride]

This might anger people, but i would never buy an American made car if you are expecting it to last.

It will probably anger some people, and it hurts me to say this, but it is reality. Almost all of the cars I have owned were imports, but I did buy a Chevy truck 2 ½ years ago, and had regrets with less than 3000 miles on my new truck. My truck is a major POS, and I get no dealer support. Apparently, my problems are “normal,” or so Chevy says…

My Honda, Toyota, Acura, and Nissan were all trouble free cars/trucks and I drove most of them to well over 100,000 miles and never had ANY problems! As a matter of fact, I drove my 2-door 1994 Honda Civic Coupe for years and to well over 150,000 miles; I would probably still have it if it didn’t get stolen. That Civic was just as reliable with 150,000 miles on it as it was when I got it after high school with 22,000 miles on it.

Bottom-line, if your current Dodge product was, say, a Honda van or a 4-Runner with 150,000 miles on it, you wouldn’t even be thinking of getting a new car.

I was tired of owning imports; I wanted an American truck—now that I have one I want my import truck back. It’s a terrible thing to say, but American cars aren’t built to last and the dealer support is horrible.

 

[N8 v2.0]

if the 4 runner was just a tad bigger.......

Yeah I hear ya... the Windstar had tons of room and comfty seats too. My 4Runner has crappy seats and no where near the same amount of space inside.

 

[N8 v2.0]

I just traded in a 01' Windstar, she was a decent vehicle but started to running a bit rough before I traded her in at 88K, there is a ton of room inside, the rear seat is heavy as all get out, so once I took it out it stayed out for 3 years. One of the reasons i got rid of her also was when we bought her we lived in the flat lands of Chicago, after moving back to Arkansas were the roads are anything but flat and straight, she wasn't all that fun to drive, felt real spungy, also the vehicle is heavish and Ford puts light rotors on the Windstar so everytime you need Pads you need rotors. Like i said it wasn't a bad vehicle, but I wouldn't buy another one either.......


his the pic I took on trade in day.....

MizN8 gives you an "AMEN" on the brake issue! She was always having to change her pads & rotors on hers. On the other hand my 4Runner had the same brake pads on it for 135k miles before I needed to replace them.