[Patel511]

Upgrading the family hauler soon, went into Honda looked for a lease deal they had a 2014 at $38,800. The deal they came up with a rate for 36 months at $725/month, with zero down. 12k miles. They also have a 2013 for $32,900 with zero down they came up with $486/month, they're discounting the 2013 $6,000 but the color I want is the 2014... $725 is ridiculous for a minivan, IMO. What do y'all think? Leasing with BMW is so much easier...

[shata]

Thats ridiculous specially 725$ for minivan. Why not lease X5 or is that to small for you as family hauler?

[upstatedoc]

We bought a '12 Ody touring elite last summer for my wife. It makes her life that much easier with 3 little ones. all the doors open auto. widescreen/dual screen dvd, sliding captains chairs. If you have 3+ kids you can't find much better. Cruised at 80 mph on a 200 mile round trip 2 weeks ago and averaged 27.5 mpg. Whats not to like!

[AzureHaze]

Heard those new Odyssey's (now with a portable vaccuum!) are nice for a family hauler but save a bit of your manhood and settle for an X5 okay?

[Fun w/N54]

five pass or seven or?? The GF picked up a loaded nissan muraro with msrp of 43k+ for 460 mo with 500 down.

[idrift4wd]

you're putting 0 down, of course monthly payments are going to be high.

honestly its a minivan. get basic colors. silver grey black white. If you really want to pay more for the color then i guess do it.

i rather get a SUV unless you have more then 3 kids.

[i dunno]

minivan>suv unless you plan to go to the snow. sliding doors, more cargo room, better fuel efficiency.

[KwlAznKid]

do you really need all the fancy features? automatic doors?! lol when I was a kid we opened doors with a door handle!

[NemesisX]

Our family haulers have been bought outright in the past (well, as have all of our cars, but anyways). Since it's a family hauler, you should be fine with running it into the ground and getting as much value out of it as possible.

My dad's current car is also our family hauler (2006 Honda Pilot) which I believe he paid $30k or $31k OTD.

Prior to that we had a '93 Nissan Quest that we sold 13 years later (in 2006) only because the engine started to fail. I don't remember what we paid for it, but let's assume $25K outright (that's what a current quest sells for).

That ends up being (25000/(12*13)) = $160/month + the opportunity cost of not investing that $25k, although given the stock market crash in 2000 that probably doesn't amount to much. I think we ended up selling it for a few grand, so it's actually slightly less than $160/month.

The Pilot's average monthly cost of ownership is probably pretty high right now given that we've only had it for 7 years, but that should change in a couple of years or so.

(30000/(12*7)) = $357/month + opportunity cost (market's had a nice rebound since '06 so I'm sure this is pretty high).

It hasn't given my dad any problems so we'll likely keep it as a family hauler for many more years to come.

Anyways bottom line - you should be looking for a nice, reliable car that you plan to run into the ground (10-12 year ownership, minimum) and just buy it outright. On average, you'll be paying far, far less than $725/month this way.

I always hear that BMW lease rates are incredibly cheap, so leasing a BMW + buying outright at the end of the lease could be a feasible option as well.

[NemesisX]

The KBB for an '06 Pilot is $9500 right now, so current monthly cost of ownership ~= (30000-9500)/(12*7) = $244/month + opp costs

Not bad, and that's just 7 years of ownership.

IIRC the Odyssey is around the same. I think fully loaded the Odyssey might be pushing $40k, but that's about the limit.

By the way which Honda are you talking about, the Odyssey or the Pilot (or either)?

[statelax3]

We bought a 2013 odyssey 2 months ago. Traded in the x5 for pay off. Tier are only a few models. Leather with nab, leather with rear entertainment, or touring with both. We did leather with DVD and zero down for 35,571. Purchase not lease. So far I would rather ride in the van than my 335. Sad, but the van is was comfortable. Kids love it.

[Meeni]

Leather in a van full of kids sipping juice ? Interesting

[Patel511]

I was talking about the odyssey. I have an SUV (06 ml350). The Honda is used as a dd and a work van/ family road car... Around town/winter is the SUV. Currently have an 2007 odyssey which was purchased new and has 180,000 miles and is showing its age now, but the van has been so versatile. The current van is missing a few features that I wish I had which the 2014 has. I think I'll purchase if the lease doesn't work out.

[Patel511]

335i = weekend warrior!

[ken1137]

I vote X5 for family hauler but if you prefer Honda then go MDX. You will inevitably have to drive it at some point.

[FrozenM3nace]

Look into the 2013 Sienna SE, it looks nicer than a odyssey IMO and I've driven one and its fast for a minivan LOL

[Patel511]

Purchased the 2013 after all got 6K knocked off the sticker, 36 months, 12K miles and $420 a month, 0 down...