I helped my daughter with a bad vehicle situation

[JeffKeryk]

Good luck with the new car. All cars require upkeep. Again, good luck.

 

[350Rocket]

There were no SUVs back then...

My parents were in the same situation when I was a kid and they were building our house. It was the 4 of us in an unreliable 1984 Plymouth k car. We rented a ve

For the billionth time, they didn't have the money to make the repairs on the van. I guess they were just supposed to walk out in the back yard and pick that money off the tree, right? And again, they rolled in $4k, not 5 or 7...

Ignoring all the posts about prioritizing repairs and just doing repairs one at a time and leaving the stupid door motors?

There is another big risk. If they are in an a accident where the van is totalled, even if it's not their fault, they are financially screwed. The insurance will pay the value of the van, which they will upside down on, plus the 4 k roll over. In short no vehicle and perhaps 6k now in debt.

This happened to one of my ex's....I left her because of her constant poor financial decision making which kept me poor... after me she bought a late model used Mazda 3....hit a deer a few months later. They gave her like 7k for it and she still owed the balance of 12k... with no vehicle to drive anymore.

 

[vw7674]

After all the timing "chain" fails I constantly read about, I don't thing a timing belt is a bad thing at all. But, the only chain failure I have ever heard about is Ford. This was back in their W-20 days, so maybe the thin oil was to blame and not Ford's craftsmanship?

Fwiw, I've had lots of timing belt vehicles and never a single failure.

One of the side effects of Covid is apparently a deep hatred for Honda's silent, ultra-efficient valve timing mechanisms run via rubber belts.
People buy a quality vehicle then get mad at it for having a coolant pump/T belt change interval.
The nerve of Honda of America!!!! >>
If you can't afford it, just lease. Please, lease.

 

[Wolf359]

One of the side effects of Covid is apparently a deep hatred for Honda's silent, ultra-efficient valve timing mechanisms run via rubber belts.
People buy a quality vehicle then get mad at it for having a coolant pump/T belt change interval.
The nerve of Honda of America!!!! >>
If you can't afford it, just lease. Please, lease.

Leasing is even worse. If you can't afford it, you just buy a cheaper older car with higher mileage. Of course you need to be able to afford the repairs though.

 

[vw7674]

Leasing is even worse. If you can't afford it, you just buy a cheaper older car with higher mileage. Of course you need to be able to afford the repairs though.

these seem like people who are allergic to wrenches & reality so............................... ?????
Lease world is make-believe, pay a slight premium, no worries about actual repairs, dealer gets something back to re-sell. win/win.

 

[Andrew1972]

Does the Pilot have a warranty at all? What happens in a month when a $700 check engine might come on?

Please do a bit of research before making claims.

View attachment 81489
And I know our odyssey supposedly returns 28 on the highway. So the Pilot is more thirsty.

And the pilot is awd, so there’s an entire additional drivetrain to maintain.

As mentioned before, it has the same 3.5L engine, with the same timing belt, approaching fast. If your daughter is driving 20k/year (based upon 130k/6.5 years), then it’s coming within two years. How will she be ready when she’s now paying debt on the odyssey and new pilot?

A number of folks have observed, what’s done is done. Or is it? Some purchases have a three day right to return. It would be a good option to consider. Then you can move her down to a smaller, simpler. more economic car. I can tell you that three kids will fit in a 4 cyl accord, for example. While car seats and legroom can be an issue with many cars, the accord works, and surely a good deal of other smaller 4V to sedans would work and operate at a much ore economic price po

Please do a bit of research before making claims.

View attachment 81489
And I know our odyssey supposedly returns 28 on the highway. So the Pilot is more thirsty.

And the pilot is awd, so there’s an entire additional drivetrain to maintain.

As mentioned before, it has the same 3.5L engine, with the same timing belt, approaching fast. If your daughter is driving 20k/year (based upon 130k/6.5 years), then it’s coming within two years. How will she be ready when she’s now paying debt on the odyssey and new pilot?

A number of folks have observed, what’s done is done. Or is it? Some purchases have a three day right to return. It would be a good option to consider. Then you can move her down to a smaller, simpler. more economic car. I can tell you that three kids will fit in a 4 cyl accord, for example. While car seats and legroom can be an issue with many cars, the accord works, and surely a good deal of other smaller 4V to sedans would work and operate at a much ore economic price point.

The 2016 Pilot model she purchased is a redesign and gets 19/26 with a AWD and 20/28 with FWD. The 2015 you show is the same design as a 2009 explaining the low MPG.

 

[TCL]

Most of the world does just fine with two kids and ”just a car”.

We did fine with a 67 Pontiac Executive. Four sisters in the back and me between my parents in the front bench seat. A total of seven.

My father would order a new Pontiac every two years. He always ordered them with all seat belts even the center seat belts/lap belts all the way around. The car wouldn't move until everyone was belted up. My two smaller sisters would have to share the middle one in the back. My oldest sister totaled it. A 24 foot cargo truck ran a stop light and destroyed the front end. It ripped the head off the driver side of the car. You could see the pistons. Witnesses say the truck went up in the air at least 10 feet. Luckily my sister had her belt on. She only ended up with a cut in her cheek.
My father then ordered a 68 GTO to replace it with auto trans for my mom. LOL

Cars still work even today if they aren't as big as that 67 Pontiac for two or three kids not in car seats which weren't even available back then. I had twins and traded my 88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe for a new black on black 91 Volvo 740 Turbo wagon. That was a sweet car. Two car seats and plenty of room for everything including the big clumsy double stroller and all the other stuff in the back..

 

[Nukeman7]

The 2016 Pilot model she purchased is a redesign and gets 19/26 with a AWD and 20/28 with FWD. The 2015 you show is the same design as a 2009 explaining the low MPG.

The OP stated that his daughter traded for a 2015 Pilot, not the newer 2016 model.

 

[Wolf359]

these seem like people who are allergic to wrenches & reality so............................... ?????
Lease world is make-believe, pay a slight premium, no worries about actual repairs, dealer gets something back to re-sell. win/win.

In reality, they wouldn't qualify for a lease. Leases only go to people with good income/credit which they don't sound like they have. They fell into a trap for poor people which is to be upside down on a car loan.

 

[ammolab]

I wonder, if you don’t make the money to fix your car? Where is the money coming from to pay the “Finance Lot” interest on that seven year used car loan? You can’t tell me the new car payment AND repairs on that old Pilot won’t be a strain on those folks.

And what is the amount of their current credit card debt?

 

[JeffKeryk]

In reality, they wouldn't qualify for a lease. Leases only go to people with good income/credit which they don't sound like they have. They fell into a trap for poor people which is to be upside down on a car loan.

This is so true; it is borderline predatory. I work with friends and family with credit and personal finance issues. Since I am willing to help, they don't wanna make me mad, so they kinda straighten up. In the past 3 years, I have worked with 2 young (later 20's) kids that were in deep yogurt with car loans, one with a total piece of crap. Both had destroyed their credit ratings.
Today they are both standing on their own 2 feet and have repaired their credit. They are doing well. Better anyway...

Credit is a tool; used correctly you get the job done; used incorrectly you will smash your thumb. And that hurts...

 

[greenjp]

Lots to discuss in this thread. I'll take aim at the "need an SUV or minivan with 2 kids" aspect of this. We had two kids with an Accord and a Saab 9-5 for several years. Only upsized to a minivan when the 3rd was on his way. It's a desire, not a need, that is costing the OP's kids dearly. Upside down on a 7 year old car with a 7 year loan?

It also boggles my mind that a Pilot would be considered an 'economical' vehicle as was stated earlier. I mean, I guess it's economical in the sense that it costs less than a luxury brand 3 row crossover would cost? I dunno what their loan is for, but people scraping by like the subjects here would be much better off with whatever they could get in a midsize sedan in the $10k range. Won't be very new, big, or fancy, but it'll get them around and maybe put them on the road to financial stability.

jeff (guy who drives a 2006 Accord with close to 200k miles who could afford something newer & nicer but has a firm and realistic grasp on his needs)

 

[IndyIan]

Lots to discuss in this thread. I'll take aim at the "need an SUV or minivan with 2 kids" aspect of this. We had two kids with an Accord and a Saab 9-5 for several years. Only upsized to a minivan when the 3rd was on his way. It's a desire, not a need, that is costing the OP's kids dearly. Upside down on a 7 year old car with a 7 year loan?

It also boggles my mind that a Pilot would be considered an 'economical' vehicle as was stated earlier. I mean, I guess it's economical in the sense that it costs less than a luxury brand 3 row crossover would cost? I dunno what their loan is for, but people scraping by like the subjects here would be much better off with whatever they could get in a midsize sedan in the $10k range. Won't be very new, big, or fancy, but it'll get them around and maybe put them on the road to financial stability.

jeff (guy who drives a 2006 Accord with close to 200k miles who could afford something newer & nicer but has a firm and realistic grasp on his needs)

Yeah, if money is tight a "compact"(they are big now) car, midsize sedan, or a 2wd version of a SUV is a fine family vehicle IMO. Add a hitch and little trailer and you can haul all you need for a few hundred bucks more... 95% time we are using probably using less than a regular trunk's worth of cargo volume in our cars anyways, but I like the wagon space the other 5% of the time.
If you live out of the rust belt and have a good relationship with a mechanic, something older, simple, with maintenance records can be good too but you've got to do your homework.

 

[JHZR2]

The 2016 Pilot model she purchased is a redesign and gets 19/26 with a AWD and 20/28 with FWD. The 2015 you show is the same design as a 2009 explaining the low MPG.

Except that OP said 2015…?

. My daughter ended up trading in the van for a 2015 Pilot.

 

[Andrew1972]

Using this logic, no one should ever buy any used vehicle. Any vehicle can require repairs at any time, but I would put my money on a vehicle with 73K miles vs one that has 129K miles for requiring fewer repairs...it's not rocket science...the lower mileage vehicle is going to be more reliable...

Nothing wrong with buying a used vehicle. However when you can’t scrape up two nickels to your name to make a repair, making payments and hoping it will work out is a foolish. Murphy usually wins.

 

[eljefino]

Cars don't work well with modern car seats, especially if the child is still rear-facing.

This is true, and there are resources like car-seat.org that help guide buyers to brands of car seats and, yes, vehicles that are compatible with each other and a family's stages of growth.

In my own circle I've seen people being gifted a car seat when they're pregnant with their first, test-fit it to their car, then declare they're trading in.

 

[eljefino]

Something I've noticed in most of the comments in here is that none of you seem to put any value, or see any benefit in having a vehicle that's less likely to experience a break down, or incur more, expensive repairs due to it having far fewer miles. To me, that alone makes the Pilot a better choice than continuing to repair the Odyssey...

It's a year newer with a seven year note. In a year it'll be as old as the wobegone van but with six years left to pay on it.

So it has fewer miles, we don't know how many cycles of the doors it's had in its "city miles". Or shifts through the gears, use of the starter motor. And the stuff that runs out over time... chassis rust, rubber parts, capacitors in the electronics, are only a year better.

 

[JHZR2]

It also has less warts because it has fewer bells and whistles. I will ask you the same thing I asked before; do you completely quit buying vehicles from a particular maker if you have one bad vehicle from them? I don't think this one van is indicative of ALL Hondas. I still think, generally speaking their vehicles are fairly well made and reliable. It's just think that this van had way too many problems that unfortunately, reared their ugly heads all at the same time. My thought is let's move on to something with fewer miles, make the payments, which are roughly the same as they were on the van, and get a break from the huge repair bills (hopefully), regroup, and let's get ahead of the power curve on performing the required maintenance, so we don't run into the same issues with this vehicle. In the meantime, they are driving a vehicle that's less likely to break in the immediate future...

Sorry, what you’re saying makes no sense. You complained about the TB. You wrote a new thread complaining about Honda TBs. Then you get your daughter into a highly used vehicle that has a Honda TB.

You never itemized the “huge” repair bills. Or what was “falling apart” on the van, besides the doors… which can be run manually.

 

[Wolf359]

Sorry, what you’re saying makes no sense. You complained about the TB. You wrote a new thread complaining about Honda TBs. Then you get your daughter into a highly used vehicle that has a Honda TB.

You never itemized the “huge” repair bills. Or what was “falling apart” on the van, besides the doors… which can be run manually.

It's like he's using the Chewbacca defense.

 

[Nick1994]

Something I've noticed in most of the comments in here is that none of you seem to put any value, or see any benefit in having a vehicle that's less likely to experience a break down, or incur more, expensive repairs due to it having far fewer miles. To me, that alone makes the Pilot a better choice than continuing to repair the Odyssey...

grampi, I think one of the problems with this whole thread, is a lot of us are having trouble seeing the problem. The van needed scheduled maintenance. Timing belts and brakes are to be expected after 7+ years and 129k miles. Neither of those are unexpected, it's maintenance. Brakes would have been $150 and 1-2 hours of time. The power doors were a repair item, but can be ignored. They opened and closed manually like vans did 20 years ago right? I know Dodge lets you turn off the power door functionality.