So That Happened.
Got a new (used) car yesterday!
I'd been having my doubts about our aging minivan for some time--the A/C compressor has seemed like it wants to die before long, little things were starting to fail like the power side door and keyless entry, and at 116k miles I was starting to fear for the powertrain as well. The final straw, though: just lately it had been particularly noisy at speed in the front end, sorta like the usual road noise but much worse, so I took it in for an inspection and they said wheel bearings and lower ball joints all need to be replaced, to the tune of twelve hundred bucks. I could maybe have done the work myself, but really I felt like it would be a waste of money and effort. So I suggested that we trade it in before something really DOES go belly-up and it loses what value it does have. H didn't like the idea at first, because it was nearly paid off and she was looking forward to losing that monthly payment. But she liked even less the idea of dropping many hundreds on repairs right now, so she came around pretty quickly.
I looked around, and found a relatively new used-car dealership in the area with stellar reviews online. Really the only bad reviews I found were about speed of service--people who waited an hour before being helped or felt the whole process took too long--and frankly in my mind that's par for the course when it comes to car shopping. The place mainly deals in lease returns that have been in fender-bender accidents (without structural damage and cosmetically repaired, of course). So late-model, low-mileage cars at pretty decent prices. No haggling, low pressure, like CarMax but with better prices. And as someone who hates high-pressure salesmen and is not keen on negotiating, that sounded good to me.
So we all packed up and headed down there yesterday morning. I had been hoping to go alone, but we figured H might need to come along to sign some paperwork since the old van was in both our names, and that meant we had to bring the kids too. They were excited about climbing around in the new vans and taking a test drive, of course, but I knew the rest would be excruciatingly boring for them. But they stuck it out pretty well.
Anyway, I was sorta hoping to angle for a newer Toyota Sienna, which is what our old van was, and they did have some nice ones with great features and low mileage. But those were all a bit more than we were willing to spend just now. So we decided to go as cheap as we could this time, and then in a few years (as long as the potential merger here at work doesn't screw me over) we should be in a better position to upgrade. We ended up with a 2012 Kia Sedona, fairly basic, but in really good condition and with reasonably low miles. The girls really like it. I've been a little underwhelmed with it on the whole, but it's certainly more pleasant to drive than the rattletrap it replaces, and it does have some good features. The stereo is the high point: Bluetooth, Sirius and USB all built in, which is nice. It lacks some other things I liked about the old van, but nothing major and it will do for now as long as it stays reliable. I don't quite trust the Korean brands for longevity just yet, so we'll see.
It does put my mind at ease to feel relatively certain that we shouldn't have any major vehicle problems for the foreseeable future, though. Plus we're planning to drive to meet the in-laws in Myrtle Beach again this summer, and I really wasn't feeling good about doing that in the old van. So let's hope this turns out to be a good purchase!
I'd been having my doubts about our aging minivan for some time--the A/C compressor has seemed like it wants to die before long, little things were starting to fail like the power side door and keyless entry, and at 116k miles I was starting to fear for the powertrain as well. The final straw, though: just lately it had been particularly noisy at speed in the front end, sorta like the usual road noise but much worse, so I took it in for an inspection and they said wheel bearings and lower ball joints all need to be replaced, to the tune of twelve hundred bucks. I could maybe have done the work myself, but really I felt like it would be a waste of money and effort. So I suggested that we trade it in before something really DOES go belly-up and it loses what value it does have. H didn't like the idea at first, because it was nearly paid off and she was looking forward to losing that monthly payment. But she liked even less the idea of dropping many hundreds on repairs right now, so she came around pretty quickly.
I looked around, and found a relatively new used-car dealership in the area with stellar reviews online. Really the only bad reviews I found were about speed of service--people who waited an hour before being helped or felt the whole process took too long--and frankly in my mind that's par for the course when it comes to car shopping. The place mainly deals in lease returns that have been in fender-bender accidents (without structural damage and cosmetically repaired, of course). So late-model, low-mileage cars at pretty decent prices. No haggling, low pressure, like CarMax but with better prices. And as someone who hates high-pressure salesmen and is not keen on negotiating, that sounded good to me.
So we all packed up and headed down there yesterday morning. I had been hoping to go alone, but we figured H might need to come along to sign some paperwork since the old van was in both our names, and that meant we had to bring the kids too. They were excited about climbing around in the new vans and taking a test drive, of course, but I knew the rest would be excruciatingly boring for them. But they stuck it out pretty well.
Anyway, I was sorta hoping to angle for a newer Toyota Sienna, which is what our old van was, and they did have some nice ones with great features and low mileage. But those were all a bit more than we were willing to spend just now. So we decided to go as cheap as we could this time, and then in a few years (as long as the potential merger here at work doesn't screw me over) we should be in a better position to upgrade. We ended up with a 2012 Kia Sedona, fairly basic, but in really good condition and with reasonably low miles. The girls really like it. I've been a little underwhelmed with it on the whole, but it's certainly more pleasant to drive than the rattletrap it replaces, and it does have some good features. The stereo is the high point: Bluetooth, Sirius and USB all built in, which is nice. It lacks some other things I liked about the old van, but nothing major and it will do for now as long as it stays reliable. I don't quite trust the Korean brands for longevity just yet, so we'll see.
It does put my mind at ease to feel relatively certain that we shouldn't have any major vehicle problems for the foreseeable future, though. Plus we're planning to drive to meet the in-laws in Myrtle Beach again this summer, and I really wasn't feeling good about doing that in the old van. So let's hope this turns out to be a good purchase!