Need an "affordable" family car - recommendations?

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I was always a mopar or no car type of guy. I ended up with a free Toyota corolla and never looked back for daily drivers/beaters. Great reliablilty-
Have a 4.7 Tundra with 185K on it- pull car trailers, haul scrap and just drive it. Zero problems.
Had a Chrysler T&C minivan that lasted 191k- had a rebuild trans at 120K (surprise/surprise) . was it a good van? Yes, would I buy another- don't know.

I have a Toyota Sienna with 150K with no tranny or eng problems- been great for my family and decent mileage.

I also bought a beater in every sense of the word- 97 Saturn with 187K for $500- runs great and has been getting consistent 30 + MPG. so I could park the Tundra.

I still love my mopar OLD cars, but as a technician - not alot of american rides impress me with reliability. Some have been mentioned -The Buick and the 3.1 chevy- yes I admit they are reliable but, I can't pull the trigger myself on a newer domesic minivan or truck.
I did have a 97 Dodge 1500 w/ a 5.2 with almost 400K on it. The engine and trans were replaced and the rear went south (what wouldn't at that mileage) THAT was a great shop truck but the OP is looking for a family vehicle not another truck.
Thanks for letting me ramble....
 
Id sell our 2000 Jeep grand cherokee limited.

4.7l v8 but I have got as good as 24 MPG highway and 20 MPG city with it.

its LOADED, only 106,000 miles still blue books at $6,665.00 in good condition

can come with or without the in dash touch screen dvd navigation and also with or without the 15" subwoofer and custom ported box and amplifier.

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Mazda 5. It is pretty much the middle ground between compact car and minivan. I sold my 91' Suburban 4x4 (below) and Wife's Nissan Maxima when we found out we were being transferred all over the States in a 6 month period. I loved both of those cars. We needed something that I could drive (6',6" and back problems) and get our 1 year old in and out of. It also had to be small enough for my wife to park. Gas mileage was a big concern and also we did not want a traditional minivan. Mazda 5 fit all of our needs and then some. It's coined a "Microvan". Basically a car-sized vehicle with sliding rear doors. It feels like driving and parking a car. The third row seats can only realistically fit up to a teenager or small person. The front fits me well and doesn't hurt my back. It's not fast by any means but has a good 5 spd trans-axle that shifts in the right places and gets you in and out of traffic. I drove it fully loaded with family belongings and dog from Seattle to Charleston SC, back and forth to Virginia several times, to Rhode Island, back to SC, and then out to San Diego within the first year we had it. It handled itself well in the mountains, snow,desert, etc.. The two rear rows of seats fold down and make a sizeable cargo space. There's also standard and optional creature comforts like rear AC, rear power outlet, mp3 plugin, heated seats, and dvd player. On the long highway stints I got 30+ mpg and standard commuting seams to be around 26. I've had it almost three years and it's held up really well against some rigorous use and travel time. The only thing I don't like is the road noise is too loud. They should have added more sound deadening behind the front wheels.

When we drove it off the lot I was pretty skeptical if I would ever like this Microvan thingy. 3 years later and I can't say enough good things about it. Two of our close friends with kids ended up buying one after riding in ours.

You can pick a used one up pretty cheap too.
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Yea I did it and will continue to "delete posts" that get off topic and that topic gentleman is recommendation for cars or trucks around the 5K range for a family of 5.

If you guys want to have a shootout about why the you should buy a product from the Big 3 then I invite you to start a thread in the Political and anything goes forum. Be careful tho there are a few "nasties" waiting for ya in there.:evil2:
 
Gary, you might want to take a look at the 02/03 Pontiac Grand Prix GT (not SE) with the 3.8, stay away from the 3.1 it's a dog. The car has more than enough room in the back for 3 kids, large trunk, 28-30 MPG highway and good power. Just make sure that the intake manifold gaskets have been replaced and the front hubs. I've got a 02 GTP with 160,000 miles that's all thats gone wrong.
 
Hey, thanks for all of the suggestions. Lots of food for thought here. Now just gotta wait until someone buys my truck. There are plenty of cars as described above on Craigslist so I know I'll be able to find her something.
 
I bought a 2000 Camry that was really clean for $3200

What my buying a used foreign car has to do with money leaving anywhere? The money left years ago when the car was bought new.
 
How about a Dodge Dynasty/New Yorker? Dad had one and it was comfy and great milage and they are old now and cheap. Look in Florida craigs list-if its cheap you can drive a long way home with the money you saved.
 
It does have a lot to do with preference, a lot of people have been recommending the taurus/sable. From what I have seen they seem pretty reliable though I know one of the V6s had head gasket problems. I can't stand the way they look though. Can't really go wrong with a Camry or an Altima. Toyota cars are very simple and therefor very reliable. Nissan isn't too bad, looks good, and the 3.5L V6 is very powerful. Lower mileage is better than age of the car to me, especially on automatics because all manufacturers autos seem to go out @ ~150K(Some less, some more of course). I am a huge Mopar guy but honestly don't like any dodges in your price range. German... good cars, I love them too, however I don't recomend them to anyone just looking for a simple "affordable" family car because repairs(even on the older ones) can be really costly at times. They are very nice though, and if you wanted to go that way I would stay away from turbo, go V6, more reliable @ higher mileage. I just sold an Audi A4 not too long ago 2000, V6, manual, quattro. That thing was a nice car. I got ~6500 and it had only 80K and everything was up to date on it, probably will go another 80K without needing any expensive repairs... Mercedes, same story(Most of the parts are the same as VW/Audi, expensive when they break, really nice in between, haha). Hope some of my experience helps. :) BTW I own German, Jap, and American, see sig. And I am a professional technician as well :)
 
crackedback said:
I bought a 2000 Camry that was really clean for $3200

What my buying a used foreign car has to do with money leaving anywhere? The money left years ago when the car was bought new.
Click to expand...

Because 40 to 60% of pollution created by the car is done at the manufacturing level means that you bought a "green" car.:toothy10::toothy10::toothy10:

I tell that to my 2 Prius owner neighbor when he bugs me about the kid's Duster.. the truth sometimes hurt..

Grassy
 
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