Buying a new/used car need suggestions.

[xFatcatx]

So as life changes very quickly sometimes I am in need of a used car to fit the whole family in. My wife and I have 3 boys, 9months/3/5. We used to have a 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport, which was very nice but it made us feel old.....im 25 and my wife is 26 now.

I am looking for something pretty cheap, 7-passenger or a wide back seat to fit 3 car seats side by side, around $7500 max but would rather get something around $5000 as we are moving at the end of the month to. I would like to stay under 80k miles.

I saw plenty of Dodge Caravans I could afford in the 00-02 years with 60k-90k on them, but would rather have a minivan as a last option.

I was looking at the Dodge Durangos because they have the 3rd row seating but have never owned one nor do I know anyone that has one. I read some great reviews, and some horrbile reviews online but who knows what these people acutally know about cars that write the bad reviews. One guy said he was on his 3rd transmission at 50k, for all i know he got ripped off twice at a tranny shop when there was nothing wrong with the original one.....Looked like early ball joint wear, etc. etc. nothing to major except for a bunch of transmision complaints, and also bad gas milage complaints. We do really like the look of them though and from what I hear they are quite roomy. Not stuck on a durango, anythign like it would do.

The third option I though might be an older truck, like a quad cab dodge ram or ford, not really sure. My buddy has a 05' Dodge Ram that is very nice, quad cab with short bed, but not sure if I could find anything in my price range like that. I did here they were selling new silverados for like 12k here in portland somwhere because they couldnt get rid of them, I am jsut so sick of car payments and for once in my life I do not have a car payment since the age of 18....

Any suggestions or ideas would be great, thanks.

p.s. if this is the wrong forum sorry, mod could move i wasnt sure where to post.

 

[mrboyle]

I can tell you from working on vehicles for a living that Durango's are not the best vehicle out there. The early ones have issues with the front suspension and brakes warping rotors. The later ones seem to be a little better, but I'm still not impressed. Caravans aren't bad, but like you said, its a mini van.

 

[Willard]

I'll say one thing, every Dodge truck I've encountered, whether it be a 5.2, 5.7 Hemi, or 5.9 got rotten gas mileage. My brother had a 5.9 Dodge 1500 quad cab and never got above 12 or so, my friend owned a 5.2 Dodge 1500 sport and never got above 15, and he now owns a 5.7 Hemi and never sees about 13 or 14. I swear dodges are just bad on gas.

 

[xFatcatx]

I can tell you from working on vehicles for a living that Durango's are not the best vehicle out there. The early ones have issues with the front suspension and brakes warping rotors. The later ones seem to be a little better, but I'm still not impressed. Caravans aren't bad, but like you said, its a mini van.

Ok, what about the Ford Windstars? A coworker of mine got a Ford Windstar from an auction and had a lot of problems with it so far, than again it was an auction car.

Or maybe the Ford f150 crew/super crew cabs compared to the dodge ram quad cabs?

Just not really sure where to start, and I buy most of my cars privatley as apposed to dealers.

thanks

 

[yellowford]

The Durango's ride pretty nice and there is decent room but the third seat is kind of hard to access and it is deffinetely for people under 5 foot, I had to ride in the third row and it was way un-comfortable.
You could also look at the Expedetion with three rows or a Tahoe/Suburban. I have seen some full size super cabs going for around $5000 with 90K miles on them.

 

[toypaseo]

A co-worker of mine is looking for a 00-02 Tahoe/Yukon/Suburban. His mechanic buddy told him that 03's have electrical issues from GM over-engineering some electrical. He is currently low-balling a couple local dealers, and BOTH of them are biting. One of them told him that if the vehicle is still on the lot after two months, they'll take his offer. I think his MAX offer was $5500 for a 80K 00-02...

 

[xFatcatx]

The Durango's ride pretty nice and there is decent room but the third seat is kind of hard to access and it is deffinetely for people under 5 foot, I had to ride in the third row and it was way un-comfortable.
You could also look at the Expedetion with three rows or a Tahoe/Suburban. I have seen some full size super cabs going for around $5000 with 90K miles on them.

I figured we could just stick the two older boys' car seats in the back and not have to move them and they could just climb back there, not really planning on other adults sitting in the way back, but if they have to well....sucks to be them. I didnt see any super cabs/quad cab trucks under 100k that werent really old in my budget, so I think those are out. My wife really has her heart set on a durango now i think after looking at them. If i make her drive another minivan i wont be a very happy man. Looking at the 00-02 durangos, maybe 2wd with the 4.7L engine. We dont need much for city driving.

A co-worker of mine is looking for a 00-02 Tahoe/Yukon/Suburban. His mechanic buddy told him that 03's have electrical issues from GM over-engineering some electrical. He is currently low-balling a couple local dealers, and BOTH of them are biting. One of them told him that if the vehicle is still on the lot after two months, they'll take his offer. I think his MAX offer was $5500 for a 80K 00-02...

I did not see any other bigger suv's in my budget with the miles I am looking at, but I will check these out to.

Thanks for replys.

 

[xFatcatx]

Update with Pics.

So I ended up buying a 1999 Dodge Durango SLT+. It has the 5.2L(318) Magnum V8, 4wd, 80k, all stock, $5300. Very nice rig, I got it from the original owner (woohoo a 1 owner sale) on a private sale off of CL. The guy took really good care of it, and all though he didnt service anything himself or know anything about cars he always kept up on the maintence through shops. I am very pleased with it and my wife loves it. I knocked on his door when we went to look at it and he just tossed me the keys and said go for it......then went back inside lol. 31's were stock on this, tires are in great shape. I already got the build sheet from dodge to, its nice to have the exact info.

Doing a complete tune up on it, so far this week I have already done:

-Oil/filter- Mobil 1 full synthetic and Mobil 1 filter
-PCV Valve
-Plugs/Wires
-Cap/Roter
-T-case fluid change-Valvoline ATF+4 full synthetic
-Coolant change (Prestone)+Prestone super flush
-Thermostat-180degree Fail Safe

All the fluids looked pretty good, I could tell he did in fact have it serviced. Except for the fact that I was able to remove 2 of the plugs by hand........and it still had Mopar (im thinking original wires) wires and non stock plugs everything looks good so far oil pressure/temps/sounds.....

Next weekend I am going to change the oil in both diffs with a 75w90 Mobil 1 full synthetic, then last but not least I will do a quick at home tranny flush/fluid filter change/and adjust the bands(<first time so hopefully that works out ok). After that everything will get greased up and I figure Im good to go for a while until something breaks.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

nice looking durango my uncle had one too but in black but it was a lease and it had the 5.2 liter one as well.

i have driven those durangos and also i have driven the durango r/t thats my favorite durango model the r/t.

i always was wondering what the r/t means in the durangos i thought it meant something like road and track but do any of you guys know what the r/t means in the durangos.

 

[xFatcatx]

nice looking durango my uncle had one too but in black but it was a lease and it had the 5.2 liter one as well.

i have driven those durangos and also i have driven the durango r/t thats my favorite durango model the r/t.

i always was wondering what the r/t means in the durangos i thought it meant something like road and track but do any of you guys know what the r/t means in the durangos.

Thank you. I didnt want the R/T with the 5.9L/360 (Racing Technology for suspension/engine differences) due to the gas milage. Originally I wanted a 2000+ for the 4.7L but this turned out to be exactly what we were looking for. Right now 13mpg city and 19mpg highway. If gas was a buck a gallon Id have 2 of them....