I wish we had known about this forum 5 months ago. Could have probably saved us alot of stress and money, but we’ve already paid for the engine they just keep coming with cracks and other issues. Seems like the ship has sailed on any of this making sense a long time ago. We were truly at a loss of what to do in the beginning but we’ve had to just suck it up.
Stick to this idea but get a used Camry.
Any truck including a Tacoma will consume way too much gas.
You’ll need to save on everything you can because the 7-seater will be your most expensive. Your first choice should be a used Sienna.
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We planned on keeping the Kia initially to avoid what we’re doing now which is trying to find a lease or trying finance something, but with all the issue with the replacement engines and and the thousands of people with the same issue made us a little scared.
But you paid for an engine you never got. Cancel it and cut your losses. They can’t keep your money for something that never arrived.
If on such a tight budget, hubby needs to lower his sights. More along the lines of a Forte.
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Lol at used siennas. That market is silly…this is an extreme example. 38k msrp on it
Their business clearly is YOU! As the slogan says
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A 2022 Sienna is not what anyone thinks of when they hear “used Sienna”.
OP is going to have to find a much older one
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Yeah we paid for it already. I would be okay with keeping the Kia our confidence is clearly shaken. I agree looking into much cheaper options now is a necessity. The issue is the down payment.
I get that you paid in advance, but you never received what you paid for, so get a refund. Even if they already removed the old engine, paying for that labor and getting the rest back is probably the right move.
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Down payment requirements don’t follow any black and white rules like “lease: yes; finance: no.”
Credit permitting, a bank will allow you to do zero down in either case.
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Ok thanks good to know. Looks like the hunt continues.
If I understand correctly you paid the new engine but never got it.
So you should be able to get that refunded to you , maybe minus whatever labor they already did…
Maybe consider use that as a downpayment to finance something used beater for your husband, and use the rest of the budget to get you and kids something newer…
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If OP used a credit card to pay for it, then lean on the credit card company to get the money back. If not, they can go to their local news media’s consumer hotline and have them investigate. If they are willing to share some public information in an interview, they can create a sob story and get the dealer to capitulate that way.
What about a Subaru Ascent Premium? You could do long term financing or maybe even a balloon loan and stay around $550/mo. Maybe lower if you could get VIP or under MSRP.
| Seat # | Occupant |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hubby |
| 2 | You |
| 3 | Kid 1 |
| 4 | Kid 2 |
| 5 | Elderly parent |
| 6 | ? |
| 7 | ? |
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You’re going to squeeze an elderly parent into the middle seat between two car seats?
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I’d need to know the size of all of the adults in order to make the best recommendation.
Playing the odds, though, what percentage of the time do you think all five people are in the car at the same time?
I only bring this up because it appears that needs and wants need to be properly classified, given the payment constraints.
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You can get a Mazda CX-9 which is a 7 seater for under $700 with $0 down. Check out AutoLeaseNinjas.
we’re average size adults, however making multiple trips for people or leaving a family member home or squeezing an adult or elderly person in between a booster seat and car seat is very uncomfortable. And at least weekly
With that said we had 0 plans of buying a car and were willing to continue in the uncomfortable situation for a while longer because having just paid off the car was going to allow us to make some other things happen financially.
But, since the engine blew we hoped we could also resolve the tight car rides. I do however agree that needs should take priority. We just want to make the best decision. Its not been very fun having to deal with it, but cannot cry over spilled milk. We just want to find the best possible solution that our money is able to produce.
Which we are find out is not much. These are crazy times.
I do appreciate all you guy’s feed back. Thanks
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There’s no way a shop would be dopey enough to allow a charge like that on CC. Guessing they insisted on check at a minimum.
That said I’ve seen crazier things happen.
I definitely understand the desire.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
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