Fix My Honda or Trade in in?

Mazda5 is too small if you really need a proper 7 seater like the 2002 Honda Odyssey.

He's only 21 and a college kid. He probably doesn't use all 7 seats most of the time, and when he does need 6 seats they're there.

If our Grand Voyager stayed around long enough (I was maybe a year or two away from getting it) I'd probably never use all seats.
 
Grand Voyager = massive fail... lol. I've worked on my boss'... many times.

-Robert
 
Grand Voyager = massive fail... lol. I've worked on my boss'... many times.

-Robert

:lol: Never said I was recommending it haha, by now the latest examples are 11 years old.
 
He's only 21 and a college kid. He probably doesn't use all 7 seats most of the time, and when he does need 6 seats they're there.

If our Grand Voyager stayed around long enough (I was maybe a year or two away from getting it) I'd probably never use all seats.
Yeah, I rarely used all the space (although I did find a few times...) Carted friends around sometimes, and it came in handy when I moved.

Got a quote of $2600 back from the independent shop. Gonna take it to Carmax when I get a chance and see what they'll give me for it.

In the meantime, I'm looking for something... not a van... to replace it. Nothing against them (They're at least more practically layed out than crossovers), but I'm gonna buy something I actually want now.
 
Definitely. I'd fix it, scrounge up all the records you can and take it to CarMax. We did that with two cars as we had to move overseas rather quickly and they gave us a great deal on both of cars, no haggling or funny stuff. I'd buy from them too as they have a decent selection of cars that have had a semi-thorough inspection, although you pay a premium. OF course, it doesn't hurt to shop around and get offers from other dealers if they have the car you want, just make sure to not fall into their schemes and sales-talk ploys.

I wouldn't bother with trying to sell it privately honestly. Just offload it as quickly as possible.

Carmax was an excellent suggestion, thank you! They gave a quote of $6k and if I fixed it at best I'd probably not net much more than that.

Car isn't gone yet, but its about to get the boot out the door.

And I just realized I should have posted this in questions and answers, oops.
 
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Glad to hear it. Good luck, can't wait to see the replacement! :D
 
Carmax was an excellent suggestion, thank you! They gave a quote of $6k and if I fixed it at best I'd probably not net much more than that.

Car isn't gone yet, but its about to get the boot out the door.

And I just realized I should have posted this in questions and answers, oops.

Awesome, glad to hear you'll get a great quote. Now get something you actually want to drive for a change! :)
 
Its gone!

No replacement yet, I've stolen my sister's car (which happens to be my first car) back from her while I shop. Yeah, I totally forgot how much I actually like driving an actual car.

I may be foolish, but I've started pursuing a couple of '97 3.5 RL's on craigslist, and am considering a '92 Legend a friend is selling dirt cheap. I really want to spend less than the $6k I got on on the purchase price, so I can use the balance for the inevitable repairs.
 
Its gone!

No replacement yet, I've stolen my sister's car (which happens to be my first car) back from her while I shop. Yeah, I totally forgot how much I actually like driving an actual car.

I may be foolish, but I've started pursuing a couple of '97 3.5 RL's on craigslist, and am considering a '92 Legend a friend is selling dirt cheap. I really want to spend less than the $6k I got on on the purchase price, so I can use the balance for the inevitable repairs.

Congrats! :dance:

I don't know what tranny's in the RL, but since it's a 3.5...put two and two together. ;) A RL's tranny would likely have the advantage of potentially being less abused than one used in the Ody and Pilot/MDX though.
 
Its a different transmission / engine actually. Some investigation on model specific forum makes them sound pretty solid, although a bit thirsty (though it should be right around what the Odyssey did actually.) They apparently never updated it to the 3.5 drivetrain they used throughout the rest of Honda's model range like the TL... probably because they realized it was better to have a flagship with outdated technology than one that exploded.
 
I was going to go all "mom-posting" and say something about how the one you have now is paid for so the insurance should be cheaper. How even with the occasional repair, you don't have that monthly payment, and when all of your buddies suddenly need a ride, how much you'd appreciate the room...

But...

It really sounds like when you posted this, you'd already made the decision to get rid of it, but wanted confirmation that it was a good idea. :p


So, if you really don't like the car, then yeah...sell it. :D
 
I was going to go all "mom-posting" and say something about how the one you have now is paid for so the insurance should be cheaper. How even with the occasional repair, you don't have that monthly payment, and when all of your buddies suddenly need a ride, how much you'd appreciate the room...

But...

It really sounds like when you posted this, you'd already made the decision to get rid of it, but wanted confirmation that it was a good idea. :p


So, if you really don't like the car, then yeah...sell it. :D

Sounds like he's already sold it to carmax.
 
Look at W124 Mercedes or E30 BMWs, blah, blah, blah :p

You could swing an X300 XJ6, too if you wanted. Don't bother with any of these if you're not capable/willing to do some DIY work to save on maintenance.

If I was sure I'd be able to maintain it myself, the perfect car for me just fell off of craigslist... an X300 that already had a toe hitch for attaching a bike rack.

Test drove a 97 Acura RL this afternoon. I realize that this is another car I'd probably need to do some work on myself to keep costs down. Drove pretty much how I expected, like a Japanese boat. Confident highway cruiser, but honestly the Odyssey probably had a tighter suspension. Also, the gas mileage is pretty shit for a FWD V6, roughly the same as the Odyssey, only it takes premium. Not that much bigger than my Camry, but it felt a lot bigger. I've noticed a lot for sale with 200k+ miles though, so presumably they last.

The example I drove had 160k, broken AC compressor(like every other car for sale in Kansas right now) and a leaky exhaust. Owner wants $3k for it.

On another note, I really need to drive more cars so I can stop judging everything based on a minivan and a 22 year old Japanese family sedan.
 
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