Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey?

twogees

Wed, Mar 08 2017, 7:37 pm

We are starting to look at getting a second car once I get my license (which should be on Friday) and was looking into either the sienna or Odyssey. We would be getting a used one so if anyone can tell me about the older models (2004-2010 for the sienna and 2005-2010 for the Odyssey) it would be greatly appreciated. Also where to get one for at most $3500-4000 that would be great. Also mileage wise, what is good for those years.

And if you know of someone looking to sell, please let me know..

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, Mar 08 2017, 8:48 pm

Once you're looking at vans that old for the Sienna, I'd go for the 8 seaters since they're the best 8 seaters to have ever been made IMO in terms of space. No maila to getting an older 7 seater Sienna over an Odyssey. I highly doubt you will get a newer model that you are looking for in the Odysseys for that cheap. Even Siennas will be very hard to find.

Mileage wise, my 06 Sienna is a little over 100K. It's worth more than what you are looking at budget wise though.

doctorima

Wed, Mar 08 2017, 9:58 pm

Honestly, a minivan in that price range is going to be quite old and have a LOT of miles on it, and a potential liability waiting to happen. Make sure you have a trusted mechanic look it over very thoroughly, or see if the person you buy it from will sell you an extended warranty, which may be money well-spent.

Wed, Mar 08 2017, 10:33 pm

I know this isn't what you asked, but I'm going to post it anyway Smile

First, to answer your question: I think both the vans you mentioned are very good vans. No major reason to get one over the other unless you're looking for something specific, which it doesn't sound like you are.

About the price range: it's low. You could *maybe* get a decent enough sedan for that price, but a minivan at that price is most likely not going to last very long, and will probably cost a lot in repairs over time.

My suggestion would be to look into financing a newer, but used, van. (The suggestion applies to a car too, but you sound set on a van, so that's what I'm talking about.) Grossinger is leasing a Honda Odyssey for $218 a month (plus the fine print) which comes out to a total of $3384 for a year.

I generally don't recommend leasing, because you're left with nothing after 3 years. But to be quite frank, if you buy a $4000 minivan, you're also going to be left with nothing after 3 years! So it's a lose/lose situation.

You can also talk to them about financing. I know when we were making our own decision about how to get a car, the monthly payments were pretty similar. You can go in and talk to someone there. There's no commitment by asking.

Pickle1

Thu, Mar 09 2017, 10:00 am

my opinion -
Sienna for sure. all the mechanics we consulted said the same. I had horrible experience with a Honda Odyssey - it was forever in the mechanic and after 2 1/2 yrs, $2000 in repairs, the transmission went. we junked it.
we got a sienna 4 yrs ago, was a 2008, paid 10,000 and have no regrets (I know this is more than u wanna spend. we took out pen fed loan on it - which has barely any interest - if u have good credit you should look into this its worth it to spend more and not live at the mechanic) Van never needed any repairs (yet, bh) other than normal wear and tear stuff.

just fyi - the odysseys are more loaded inside and sienna's are simpler.
Good luck!

lfab

Thu, Mar 09 2017, 2:28 pm

I highly highly doubt you're going to find a sienna or odyssey in your price range. If you do I would assume there are some big problems with it and that's why it's being sold so cheap. The toyota's and honda's tend to have a pretty high resale value. If you're willing to get a different, not as "chashuv", make you can get a lot more for the same price. For example when we bought our used minivan (in 2011) we ended up getting an 08 kia sedona with roughly 45,000 miles on it for roughly the same price that some of the much older, higher mileage toyota's or honda's were going for (say an 05 with 80,000+ miles). Even if you go with a cheaper make it's still doubtful that you can get anything decent for the budget you quoted. You may need to either rethink getting a minivan and go with a sedan instead, or raise your budget.

reality mom

Thu, Mar 09 2017, 6:39 pm

I just purchased a used Toyota Sienna.
Pros. Durable vehicle, great resale value
Cons. The price!
I spent alot more than your budget allows though. If I were you, I would get a cheaper model in better condition and with lower mileage considering your budget. Consider a Kia, Ford, Dodge, Chrysler etc.
A Toyota or Honda within your budget will likely not last.

jake

Thu, Mar 09 2017, 9:00 pm

Agree with KB.

We purchased a 3 year old Sienna, with very low miles. We put half down and financed the remaining. They are very expensive (same with Honda), but reliable.

Ask around, a lot of people are in the same predicament and end up leasing, b/c there are no vans available for that price without very high mileage.

I average over 15k miles per year. Keep in mind a lot of the best leasing deals are for 10,000 miles and I have seen ads for 7,500 miles. If you live outside of Brooklyn, there is a good chance you will go over.

sotired3

Thu, Mar 09 2017, 9:42 pm

I had a very similar scenario, I was looking for a van in the same price range. I wanted to pay cash for the car and my budget was 4K. I looked around for about a month before I came across the van I ended up buying. I bought a 2007 sienna with 170k miles. I have it for 7 months now, and so far I have paid $150 for repairs. I did my research on Sienna's, they generally lie down at 220k miles, and since I don't put a lot of mileage on my car, I figure I'll get a few years out of it. I previously leased and returned the van after 2 years with 8500 miles on it, and I didn't want to pay a monthly payment when I would not be getting my moneys worth.