Cost of a minivan (NY)

amother

Mon, Aug 19 2019, 3:25 pm

for those who have a minivan, how much does it cost you per month. Including payments, maintenance, gas (local travel), insurance. I'm in Brooklyn.

I understand there can be big differences. But I'm trying to get a price range per month. To see if it's worth it for us (vs no car and paying for transportation as needed).

amother

Puce

Mon, Aug 19 2019, 6:03 pm

Each model has different insurance rates.
For instance I have a sienna 2006 with out collision on it. I pay more insurance for that than my honda crv 2016 with full collision coverage as honda has more safety features.

I have a,friend who took a more expensive lease because the insurance on a cheaper leased car was $200 more a month.

amother

Puce

Mon, Aug 19 2019, 6:08 pm

You have to count at least $600 a month towards a car if you are not buying it out right.
It's much cheaper not to have a car and use car services as need but it's more convenient.
Approximately breakdown
$300 Lease or finance
$200 insurance ( more if it's your first car or you don't have a good driving record or have teenagers.
$100 gas (depends how much you use the car.)
This is without unexpected expenses or regular maintenance.

amother

Peach

Mon, Aug 19 2019, 6:58 pm

amother [ Puce ] wrote:

$300 is very low end least or finance...

amother

Linen

Mon, Aug 19 2019, 7:08 pm

We financed a 2010 sienna 3ish years ago. 175$ a month plus 280$ for our van and car insurance. About 180 gas. We drive alot. Few more months and the van is ours.

amother

Plum

Mon, Aug 19 2019, 7:10 pm

amother [ Peach ] wrote:

$300 is very low end least or finance...

Not sure where you’ll find a mini van for $300 these days... mine is $350 and it was the cheapest option available.

I don’t live in Brooklyn but gas costs me about $40/week - lots more than $100/month

amother

Puce

Mon, Aug 19 2019, 9:06 pm

amother [ Peach ] wrote:

$300 is very low end least or finance...

That's why I said at least $600.
Though a Pacifica or Kia minivan can be leased for less than $300

amother

Plum

Mon, Aug 19 2019, 10:20 pm

amother [ Puce ] wrote:

That's why I said at least $600.
Though a Pacifica or Kia minivan can be leased for less than $300

Pacifica cannot be leased for less than $300 anymore. That was doable 3 years ago when the initially came out. These days they don’t lease the basic model anymore. I tried Sad

amother

Wine

Mon, Aug 19 2019, 10:29 pm

I’m paying $359 a month to lease a 2017 Honda Odyssey.
Gas is abt $50 a week.
Insurance about $250 a month.

amother

Apricot

Tue, Aug 20 2019, 12:15 am

We don't have a minivan.

We need to rent a (small) car at least twice a month = $60-$70 each day = $130. Some months we need to do this more often.

No-car insurance = $25 per month.

Taxi at least once every two weeks = $40.

Every time we go away for Shabbos or Yom Tov, we need to rent a van, which costs $100+ per day, minimum 3 days (Friday - Monday, they aren't open Sunday) so at least $300.

Gas, tolls, depends obviously.

Many months it would be cheaper for us to own or lease, but that requires a pretty large initial financial outlay, which we don't have.

cuffs

Tue, Aug 20 2019, 7:52 am

I just want to point out that when you take out a lease there's about 1,500 charge not including the monthly payments. And there is no way you can lease a minivan for 300 a month anymore

amother

Tue, Aug 20 2019, 10:13 am

Thanks all

Financially, it still makes sense for us to not own a car. There's no way we can afford it at the moment.

Parking and traffic are horrible where we live, so I guess there's no winning anyways.