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Proposed Budget: $15k-22k New or Used: Used, but would do new if we can swing it. Body Style: Minivan/SUV. Needs 3 rows of seating basically. How will you be using the car?: Shuttling around town, couple small freeway trips on the weekends. Probably a 800+ mile trek out of state 2 or 3 times a year. Do you prefer a luxury vehicle with all the gizmos? I've become attached to the Ford Sync stuff, but it's not required. What aspects are most important to you? Reliability and utility. This will be the family car for the next 10+ years probably, we have a second car for commutes and long trips. We're looking to trade in one of our sedans for a new family hauler around February or March. We're looking at minivans and SUVs. Trips are mostly around town and to places like Costco, grocery store, etc. We'll be keeping one of our existing sedans for my commute and other quick trips. My wife will be also be visiting relatives out of town a couple times a year, probably about ~800 miles round trip. We'll be hanging onto this car for 10+ years so reliability is #1 priority. As far as Minivans, we've been looking into the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey. These 2 cars seem to be fetching a premium however so most of the ones in our budget are over 75k miles or so, which isn't too bad but I'm just wonder what else is out there. The other 2 cars I've looked at is the Ford Flex and Mazda CX-9. My wife an I absolutely love the styling of the Flex, it's my wife's "dream car". The Flex is pretty pricey however, hitting the top of our budget. I also like the CX-9 but haven't looked too much into it, but it seems like it would fit our needs. We've got a natural aversion to GM cars and our mechanic uncle said the same, but nothing really appeals to us there anyways. We'll have a mix of approximately $8k down, $8k trade and finance the rest. We can wait another 6 months and get more down but with another kid on the way we'd like to get something going sooner rather than later.
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Sep 17, 2012 01:20
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We ended up going with a Ford Flex over the Odyseey/Sienna and really like it. It's probably not going to be a cheaper option however. For $20k you can get a base Flex with 40k miles or a base Odyssey/Sienna with 30k miles. Dodge/Chrysler can be found with less miles for cheaper. Flex has a very polarizing look but my wife and I both liked it. It also means she doesn't have to say she drives a minivan and I don't have to say I drive an SUV (even though both are partially true).
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Nov 11, 2012 06:55
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I want to do a straight trade of my current compact car for a light duty truck. I don't want to put any cash down, just a trade only. How does this affect the purchase of the new car from a dealer? Would i be better off selling the old car private party and just paying cash instead?
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Jun 26, 2013 03:49
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Wife got into an accident today and totaled our 2009 Ford Flex SEL. We'll be shopping for a another car once the insurance check comes and want some opinions. Proposed Budget: $15k - $25k New or Used: Probably have to be used to be in that price range. Body Style: SUV/Anything with 3rd row. How will you be using the car?: This is the stay-at-home wife's errand and kid hauler. No commuting but she takes a 1000+ mile road trip to see family a couple times a year. What aspects are most important to you? Needs to have a 3rd row. Have 2 kids and 2 extended family members we drive around pretty regularly. Wife doesn't want a minivan, I'm indifferent on the idea. I like the sliding doors but I think with only 2 kids it may be a bit too much. We've looked into the following: Ford Flex Toyota Highland Honda Pilot Mazda CX-9 When we bought our Flex, we looked at the Maxda CX-9 but the 3rd row was laughably small. We liked the Flex we bought, but my wife is more partial to the Highlander now. I think the highlander looks bland and boring as hell and like the Flex or Pilot better. Good MPG would be nice but as little driving as it gets it's not a concern, I have my own commuter car for that. SO really what I'm looking for are any reviews or other vehicles I haven't looked into yet that I should consider.
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Oct 6, 2015 17:50
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Yeah, honestly I really dig minivans. We debated the Odyssey or Sienna when we went to the Flex but it's that drat minivan stigma. As far as I can tell the Pilot is the same car as the Odyssey, except up higher and less interior space as a result.
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Oct 6, 2015 23:58
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Suggestions on where to get a loan from? I've generally gotten from the dealer and last time I got a pretty good rate, but I'm assuming I should be talking to by bank/a credit unions as well?
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Oct 9, 2015 21:54
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Man, I'm getting nowhere emailing for quotes on used. Only thing they'll tell me is "we've market it down from $XX,XXX retail already!" and tell me to come in for a test drive on a car 75 miles away.
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Oct 12, 2015 22:13
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Can i just sign over my insurance settlement check to the dealer for a down or do I need to deposit it first and wait for it to clear?
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Oct 13, 2015 18:12
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50 mile commute in a truck seems silly to me.
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Dec 6, 2015 17:44
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There's a guy on Youtube called Alex on Autos and he has a segment where he reviews how well car seats will fit inside various vehicles. He has around 70 cars and SUVs he's reviewed by now. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdmWqCdsjCu50RxrEOlPZJLi8E-xolDWJ See if anything in there is helpful.
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Dec 11, 2015 02:16
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Smart Car is a particular car company. Does she actually mean smart car, or is she thinking of those electric golf carts that are street legal that retirees like to putter around in? Smart Car:  Gem Electric vehicle: 
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Aug 10, 2016 21:54
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Zosologist posted:Also I can buy a Ford Flex and pretend it's a station wagon, right? I'm on my second Flex after the wife totaled the first one and I loving love it. The second row is like sitting on a sofa, it's so roomy!
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Nov 2, 2016 17:38
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Mother-in-law wants to get a car because she's sick of borrowing ours to make trips around town. She's on a fixed income and lives with us so her budget is tight, but she won't be putting much mileage on it. Plus our uncle is a mechanic and can inspect/repair anything that comes up at cost. Proposed Budget: $2500 New or Used: Used Obviously Body Style: Mid-sized sedan. She's a big lady so compacts are out How will you be using the car?: Strictly to go from house to grocery to church and back. Less than 1k miles/yr, no freeway driving. What aspects are most important to you? Cheap and semi-reliable. Looking at used the Hondas and Toyotas have a minimum price floor above our range so they're probably out. ~100k miles we're seeing some early 2000s Ford Tauruses in our range that seem like decent buys (she had one previously), not sure what other models we should be looking at.
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Nov 2, 2016 17:43
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Picked up a clean single-owner 01 Ford Taurus with <100k miles for a good price. All the toyotas and hondas were trashed for the price range we were looking at. Small coolant leak but nothing looks major.
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Nov 9, 2016 16:30
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Throatwarbler posted:The transmission is on its last legs. Probably. Mechanic uncle looked it over and for the <1k /yr of driving mother-in-law will do it seemed fine. She also strictly wanted a Taurus, she wasn't even considering Honda or Toyota  Michael Scott posted:What was the price?? $2k
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Nov 9, 2016 17:33
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nm posted:That seems like a grand too much.  not my money, all hers.Every single Toyota or Honda was starting at $3 for 50k more miles and a tore up interior.
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Nov 9, 2016 17:54
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If you're looking and giant SUVs like the Pilot (definitely not a CUV) then the Ford Flex has a square arse as well
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Jan 7, 2017 17:10
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Fitzy Fitz posted:I don't. I had just already informally agreed to the thing before I realized the title would be an issue. He's taken it in for additional servicing since then (there was an AC leak), and now I'm in an awkward position of telling him I can't buy from him. He would have had to get that leaked fixed anyways if he sold it to you or another guy.
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Sep 11, 2018 21:52
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shovelbum posted:Can you get two rear-facing kids in the back of a Crosstrek, I wonder? It does pretty well! https://www.cars.com/articles/2018-subaru-crosstrek-car-seat-check-1420697597565/
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Sep 19, 2018 04:48
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shovelbum posted:Do people actually use backup cameras every time I try to use one I almost hit something because all you can see is like two square inches of pavement and some on screen lines My Flex has an 8" screen and the backup camera has a wide enough FOV where you can see cross traffic when backing out of a parking spot. It's pretty nice.
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Oct 3, 2018 03:01
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Just curious why mileage is such a big sticking point for you if you don't have a commute?
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Oct 9, 2018 04:36
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 oh baby!
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Dec 22, 2018 03:48
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zapplez posted:Its going to be tough to find any CUV/SUV at that price point in good condition. If you give me your zip code I'll take a look. I love my Flex, it's like driving around a couch it's so drat comfortable. My grandma's retirement community uses the Flex exclusively for taking their residents around town because the second row is huge and has tons of leg room to get in and out of. It's a pretty big car though.
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Jan 6, 2019 18:37
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mariooncrack posted:There's rumors it's going to die in 2020 but Ford hasn't confirmed it yet. The Flex doesn’t sell well and lots of people hate how it looks. It does numbers in California but pretty much is nonexistent elsewhere.
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Jan 7, 2019 17:09
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Kin posted:edit: on the keyless features. The dealer did mention keyless entry back when i was first looking into the car but didn't mention it again today. It sounds like a nifty feature but what's the range of it and can it be turned off? I'm just a little paranoid that the distance between my driveway and where i keep the keys in the house isn't far enough and someone might be able to just get in and drive off. The keyless start should only be able to start a car if the key is inside the vehicle. They can measure the radio waves and how the strong the signal is when inside vs. outside the car. Insurance standard wants no more than a foot outside the vehicle to be considered secure. Even if something like a replay attack was possible the car would become immobilized the moment it was turned off because you could never turn it back on again.
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Feb 20, 2019 01:23
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Jiminy Christmas! Shoes! posted:What is the saddest convertible ever made? A car that should never have been? 
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Feb 28, 2019 22:57
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I thought the $35k Model 3 didn't exist but it looks like they finally brought it back to the website today. They removed most of the premium features and gave it a smaller battery, getting a range similar to a Leaf or Bolt. Personally, I read the Elon Musk thread so I often see so many people with assembly issues with their Model 3 and people who need service on them taking weeks or months just to get basic parts that I would never buy one. But that's also just selection bias and me personally hating the man.
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Mar 1, 2019 17:09
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Something Offal posted:Nah it was in the plan and in this case was never thought to be Tesla vaporware. Their plan was always to sell the more expensive one first, although I expected them to bring the cheaper one to market faster than they did. The $35k Model 3 was on the website from the beginning but was unable to be pre-ordered. When they started their ramp-up of production the $35k model disappeared completely and no one knew if it would ever come back. As far as build quality, I like to post this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCIo8e12sBM Again, I'm no fan of Tesla however so don't put any stock into my opinions. Cascadia Pirate posted:If you're looking at EVs go look at the Bolt, the new Kia, and the Leaf extended range. You also should be aware that the tax credit is ending on some of these at various times over the next year. The Hyundai Kona Electric is supposed to really good too, but I'm not sure if it's been released to mass market yet. Also starts at $36k before credits https://thenewswheel.com/2019-hyundai-kona-electric-named-edmunds-editors-choice-for-best-ev/
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Mar 1, 2019 21:25
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Mar 16, 2019 05:57
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I feel like a rental minivan would be OK to buy
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Apr 25, 2019 18:46
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Jiminy Christmas! Shoes! posted:Is it my imagination or has the Outback ballooned in size in the past decade? It got about 3" wider and 5" taller but that's it.  https://www.cars.com/research/compare/?acodes=USB90SUC022A0,USC90SUS311A0
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May 1, 2019 21:36
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Dietrich posted:Any advice on getting a 2017 Ford Flex? Meets my criteria pretty well but I'm not sure about reliability or maintenance. I've owned a 2009 and currently own a 2014 Ford Flex and haven't had any major issues. My most expensive repair was when our kid put change into the CD slot :/ That second row is a dream to sit in.
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May 21, 2019 17:52
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Uthor posted:It would have taken me years to notice. Not if it's clicking constantly, trying to eject a disc that isn't there! 
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May 21, 2019 18:15
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Geico is owned by Berkshire Hathaway and are the second largest insurer in the US. They have a lot of money to play with. Does Geico do homeowners policies yet? Last I checked they still moved you to 3rd parties.
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May 26, 2019 17:47
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Dang, I wish I could find a $2k Ford Ranger
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Jun 2, 2019 17:15
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Hyundai Kona is 164in long and has AWD available for all trims as well.
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Jun 5, 2019 00:59
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He doesn't even necessarily need to learn Uber/Lyft, many communities have dial-a-ride services for seniors. This was a problem long solved before ridesharing apps were a thing.
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Jun 6, 2019 17:49
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fknlo posted:I've said this in other places, but I can't recommend lightstream for car loans highly enough. Especially if you have good credit/income. They'll throw an unsecured auto loan into your bank account(with that good credit of course) and they apparently have a rate matching thing as well. That's kind of a pain in the dick to deal with but it's going to knock over a point off their rate. I used Lightstream for my last auto loan a few years back. Got a 1.99% unsecured $12k loan wired right into my bank account the day after approval. I was shocked how cheap and easy it was.
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Jun 13, 2019 19:29
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FogHelmut posted:Any tips for selling a car? It's cleaned, generally repaired, paperwork is in order, and I've researched pricing and have a good idea of what I want for it. I will only accept cash or bank check. Any reason to take PayPal or Venmo or whatever? If they want to have someone inspect it, I guess I'll get a copy of their ID and who they're taking it to beforehand? Paypal can be charged back, Venmo cannot. Once a Venmo payment is sent that's it. Same with Zelle. I would still only take cash/check though.
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Jun 21, 2019 18:07
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Zelle is a PayPal competitor that was created by a group of banks so yeah, I’d say they’re safe as a wire transfer. Apparently Venmo transactions can be reversed if paid by credit card or some funding source that allows chargebacks.
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Jun 22, 2019 22:47
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