Used Cars

[krauts]

I'm looking to purchase a newer SUV/Crossover with seating for 7. Any suggestions? I've looked at the dodge journey and like those. It seems that car dealers aren't dealing as much as you would think. Anyone else had any recent luck or notice that dealers don't seem to be dealing as much right now? We've told 4 dodge dealers what we're looking for and haven't gotten any calls back. I guess they are hoping we pay another 5k to get a new one instead of buying used.

[murdoc]

Off the top of my head, the following SUV's have seating for 7:

Acura MDX
Ford Flex
Kia Rondo
Mazda CX-9
Toyota Highlander
Toyota Land Cruiser (giant truck platform though)
Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave, Chevy Traverse (all the same vehicle)
Chevy Tahoe and Suburban, and the GMC equivalent (again, truck based)


The Kia will be the cheapest, great warranty.  Acura is built by Honda (enough said right there).  Mazda was named SUV of the year a few years back.  Toyota is still good, but IMO quality has suffered a bit lately.  Ford and Chevy should be easy cheap finds in this economy.

[Gregg Lengling]

I'd look at the highly rated Subaru Forester.  I bought a new/used Cadillac a couple months ago from Sommers in Mequon and got a great deal from Gordy there.

[Tom Snyder]

We love our Forester, but it only seats 5.

[klwillis45]

We've been very happy with our Freestyle/Taurus X.

[Ralph Kramden]

Is there any reason you're not considering a mini van? They all seat 7, and are not overpriced like SUV's.

[Matt Heebner]

I am sure with the 'stigma' attached to mini-vans, everyone wants an SUV style car instead. That being said we have a Dodge Grand Caravan, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Drives fanastic, seats seven comfortably, and the stow-n-go seating is worth it's weight in gold, I have it used thousands of times already.
I seriously fit an eight foot couch into ours, and didnt have to remove a single seat.

As for deals, we went to Dodge City in Brookfield, and they literally spent several days calling us back with additional money off incentives. Ended up getting ours for like almost $8000 off sticker price for a new one, and we did not trade in a vehicle.

[krauts]

Is there any reason you're not considering a mini van? They all seat 7, and are not overpriced like SUV's.

We do actually have an 04 Grand Caravan. We're looking to upgrade that to something with awd possibly. I believe only the Toyota van has awd and comes at a high premium. So thats why we were thinking of a crossover. We might consider looking for a newer Caravan with stow and go. There are many more vans to pick from than Dodge Journeys available.

[Matt Heebner]

We briefly looked at the Journey's, but there just isn't the room in them like the Caravan. The new model Caravan's are cavernous. They even seem so much bigger then the Honda's and Toyota's, but that might be just my perception.

[hormy_83]

I just bought a 2007 MDX 3 months ago.  They don't seem to be moving much on the used cars (at least Acura's), but we still got it for a pretty good price.  But I will say I love this vehicle!  It is incredible to drive and it has plenty of "goodies" on it.  We got the tech package which gives you Nav, Backup Camera, 5.1 DVD Audio system, and voice activated everything (phone, nav, radio, climate).

[Chinatown]

You might look at a Pacifica. They class it as an SUV, but I don't quite know why.

It has the same platform as the Mercedes R Class, but used ones are priced in the upper teens to low 20's. Ours has a sunroof, something that is not available on most mini vans., and tons of other bells & whistles.

Yes, they have discontinued it, but then in today's dismal economy many of the cars we currently drive could also be short term.

It has quad seating with a flip up 3rd seat. Kids and smaller adults would occupy it comfortably.

The thing that impresses me is the comfort. It rides like a Cadillac. The seating is so comfortable that you almost look forward to long trips.

My wife likes it because the seating is high enough for her to see, yet she has no problem in getting into the car, which is a common problem with most SUV'S

Overall mileage is in the upper teens. My 04 has 51,000 miles. The only maintenance has been routine.

By the way, if you do by a used car, do not get the extended warranty from the dealer. The credit union where I financed had a plan from a company called AUL.

The cost was $1,700, with NO deductible, 5 years or 100,000 miles.

That same plan will cost twice as much from the dealer.

nuff said.