yupididit said:I wonder if there's really good deal on big American SUV's. Would love to replace my excursion with a Expedition or Yukon/Suburban hmmm
My Hertz location had Expedition, Suburban and Escalade on the lot.
Infiniti QX80 also.
I did not price any but their website would tell you.
I do remember that 15 passenger Chevy vans seemed cheap at like $22k with 22k miles
John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:dxman92 said:That is a good looking color/wheel combo..
I'm a bit tired of black wheels being the current trend in "sporty wheels.". I think this exterior color would look good with gold/bronze.
Sample
Rufus the Flyin Miata turbo ND was a great example of how gold/bronze wheels work well with deep red exteriors.
I approve of this wheel color.
In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :
Buying a grand caravan. Selling the ranger and Mercedes. Keeping the mustang. I need to close on refinancing the house before doing anything. I have "tall" people problems when it comes to planning to have more than one kid in rear facing car seats. Can't drive the CRV with a rear facing car seat behind me.
My wife really wanted a highlander or 4Runner. I really don't like paying 20k+ for a 5+ year old vehicle with 60k miles.
edit: I've been struggling with our cars to miles driven since my wife went to teaching online in March. My commute is 8 miles total and she hasn't gone anywhere. We have 4 cars that I can drive. I filled them all in March when prices were low. At our current rate of travel I should need fuel sometime in August.
Keeping mustang is an ok option. Also speaking from experience consider not having another kid
In reply to Andy Neuman :
My Hertz had both 4Runners and a Highlander. My guess is the 4Runners were between $25k and $30k.
However, we had both our Montero and Mazda5 while we had the little guy. My wife physically could not raise the baby bucket seat w/ 20lb baby up to the height of the Montero rear seat. I also question if the 4Runner will have more room for tall drivers than the current CRV.
In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :
Sliding doors and little kids go together well
We've been happy with our 2016. I love the color on yours. I kind of wish I'd held out for one with a few more options but our is an sxt with nav. I don't want leather but heated seats are nice, and auto climate control is nice too!
I had to do the hvac blend motor for the rear hvac - it was stuck on blowing hot. A new actuator ($30 or so?) and about 1-1.5 hours of time fixed it. They're pretty straightforward to work on. I added a trailer hitch and factory trailer wiring, that was pretty nice. I used a draw-tite hitch because the factory hitch was 3x the price.
They're really good at doing van stuff!
In reply to dculberson (Forum Supporter) :
I have a 2" receiver hitch from etrailer to install. I had the same hitch on my 2008 van and it was solid when I hung a moto carrier and DRZ400 off it. I still have to figure out how to hook up the brake controller and run the rest of the wiring.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
A 2" hitch is high on my list. So much so that I was on eTrailer earlier today.
As for wiring, eTrailer has very detailed install videos of their wiring kits and hutch install.
For the wiring harness I ended up going mopar. It was cheaper than the eTrailer 7-blade harness and I figured OEM had to be better than aftermarket. Install went well except the instructions aren't very clear on the engine bay end of things as far as where they expect the wiring to make the transition from under car to into the bay. Otherwise it was slow and steady, all plug in / zip tie in place. The only thing you have to remove are the tail lights to plug the wiring in there.
$110 with free shipping. I feel like it was much higher quality than what I see on eTrailer but I've never checked out the eTrailer harness.
The only problem for me has been mounting the 7-way connector. The draw-tite hitch doesn't come with anything and the factory harness expects the hitch to since the Mopar hitch has a mounting point integrated into it. The Curt easy-install mounting bracket doesn't work because you can't get the hardware in while it's in place without dropping the hitch, which I'm hesitant to do. So, I've ordered a Curt mounting bracket and long clamp-on bracket to see if that works. Maybe I'll end up lowering the hitch anyway.
In reply to dculberson (Forum Supporter) :
I suppose the one question I'd have about the OEM wiring is how does it integrate a brake controller?
I haven't figured out where the hand the 7-pin connector either... I'd like it to be accessible, but at the same time that would probably hang it really low.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
It has a single blue wire that, if using a brake controller, you snake into the cabin by poking a hole in one of the grommets in the firewall. It's specific as to which one in the installation instructions but I don't have them in front of me.
John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:
Are those the donor cars for the fledgling Spec Prius series over on the left? :)
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
Generally, I own the truck and the 3 shown Prius (out of 4) for business reasons.
In reply to dculberson (Forum Supporter) :
What are guys hauling with the vans that requires 7 pin and brake controler?
I expect to get by with a 4 pin like I have on the Montero.
In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :
I don't need a brake controller yet, but wanted the capability in case I get a travel trailer that needs it.
John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:In reply to dculberson (Forum Supporter) :
What are guys hauling with the vans that requires 7 pin and brake controler?
I expect to get by with a 4 pin like I have on the Montero.
You would be surprised the size of things people tow with Caravans. Even the old 3 liter ones.
On the other side of the a coin, a customer of mine has a 7 pin connector on a PWC trailer.
I also have seen tow dollies that have electric trailer brakes, you need a 7 pin for that.
Did they hit you with $799 in total fees (plus tax on top of that? Every single vehicle on the lot in Cincinnati area carries tgat same fee. So total price is the shown no haggle number plus $799 plus sales tax if you buy one here.
dculberson (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :
I don't need a brake controller yet, but wanted the capability in case I get a travel trailer that needs it.
Yep - small travel trailer. Specifically an R-Pod 180, which is just about at the towing limit. I'd still probably add sway control and possibly a weight distributing hitch if feasible, since it would be so close to the limits. Especially since my use would mainly be traveling into hilly areas for mtn bike trips.
Also, a friend has a Trailex aluminum dual axle car trailer with brakes that combined with any of my current cars would be under the limit as well.
einy (Forum Supporter) said:Did they hit you with $799 in total fees (plus tax on top of that? Every single vehicle on the lot in Cincinnati area carries tgat same fee. So total price is the shown no haggle number plus $799 plus sales tax if you buy one here.
I was not hit with $799.
For Ohio, the legal max they can charge for Doc fee is $250 and that is optional at the dealers discretion but $250 is the legal limit. As expected, they hit me with all $250 which is customary in Ohio.
Beyond that 33.50 for combo of temp tag and states title fee.
I too called about the $799. The salesman couldn't explain why it is on the website but was quick to supply me with firm buyer invoice that he emailed over.
Also note that the taxes in the sites math didn't align with the tax rate of the selling county nor my county of residence. My guess is that they use a national average tax rate for the example.
Best I can figure, the $799 is warm up for getting customers to expect more and therefore accept some of the add ons like extended warranty.
I just happen to have this still out and easy to reach...
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
2600lb should be fiiiine. That is something you could tow reasonably well with a midsize car.
Maybe that guy that's leaving the forum is right. We've become lame - two pages deep talking about mini vans.
JUST KIDDING! I have a love/hate relationship with minivans. Because of this thread I considered getting rid of my Silverado for one.
In reply to Datsun310Guy :
Funny because one of the personal challenges I've had with this purchase is the lack of emotion in the purchase. I mean that I could rationaly see that buying this was a good move from a utility and functionality perspective. However, the purchase left me with little emotion like, "i can't wait to get this home."
Net result, it is the right tool for the right job, right now.
I have liked and benefited from the discussion of hitches for the van.
I have liked sharing the buying experience and examining the state of the rental companies in this new world like the earlier chatter in these two threads:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/anybody-ever-buy-a-car-from-hertz/172068/page1/
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/looks-like-hertz-is-in-trouble/172381/page1/
In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :
I had 2 Chevrolet Venture vans - love + hate.
Really practical and slow but they were awesome for a family. I could pull over on long trips and take a 10 minute nap in the back.
Sometime I like poking the hornets nest.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
2600lb should be fiiiine. That is something you could tow reasonably well with a midsize car.
The dry weight is 2950 lbs (no water, propane or cargo) plus a potential 882 in cargo, which would put it past the van limit if fully loaded, if not that of the hitch itself. So I would have to pay attention to how much stuff went into the trailer during travel. Plus, while the R-Pod has a more aero profile that a typical boxy trailer, I would still believe it to be subject to side sway from cross wind and passing trucks - since sure as hell I would be driving the speed limit at most.
Coincidentally, my 2008 minivan replaced my Cummins 4x4, 5 spd long bed truck. Talk about going from one masculine extreme to the other...
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