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Please forgive me if this question was already asked. I read that the 2002 MPV will have a 3.0 Litre engine. Does anyone know if this is a Ford or a Mazda engine and when the 2002 MPV will make it to dealer lots?
Thanks
Dan
RJ
Just keep in mind that your 1st tank may vary from the local gas you buy.
Thanks
I'm not an audiophile, but I wondered if anybody has spent time comparing the sound in the two systems. I drove the LX yesterday with 4 speakers and it seemed fine to me.
It was a white ES and it looked as if the owner had peeled off the clear plastic protective cladding along the bottom and every bit of dirt, dust and road grime imaginable had stuck there.
Unbelievable.
One thing that helps is that there are almost no used 000+ MPVs for sale, whereas late model Siennas are quite common. Even saw a whole bunch in Mazda dealer used lots! This tells me some Toyotaphiles are switching over, and most people buyers stay with the MPV.
If you see the number of used 2000/2001 Windstars for sale you wonder if anybody keeps these things past 6 months.
If people are off-ing their 2y.o. minivans, what's wrong with them? Hmmmmm...
--javadoc
I own a Protege and its every bit as good and even better than the Corolla and Civic. I know Maltb would agree.
I feel a special bond with MPV owners, because I know they researched their buying decision. MPV owner's didn't follow the ODY, Sienna, and Caravan herd. It's funny, many other owners wish they looked into buying the MPV, a day late and many $s short:)
Guys relax and enjoy being different, you made the right decision.
After about 1650 of the expected 1800 miles, I can once again re-assure all there is no power problem. Sustained driving of 80-90 MPH was without drama (at least none related to the MPV) and we've averaged about 21.5 MPG as figured last night 1243 miles into the trip.
Oil level has not dropped a bit, and there was always power available to pass trucks on two lane roads.
I think we've seen less than half-a-dozen MPV's on the trip.
Gotta sign off, last night with wifey before we round up all of our kids.
Cheers,
TB
Also, my wife has been complaining about the privacy glass. It seems like it's not quite as dark as she would like (she's sun sensitive). Do you know if it's o.k. to get a darker tint for MPV-LX 2001?
If the van is safe, comfortable and reliable, what else do you need?
I'm going to wait for the 3.0 200hp MPV and compare it to the current MPV. If the acceleratation is not all that noticeable, I know I'll get a great deal on a low mileage 2000/2001 or even a new 2001.
The Edmunds 2001 mini van review has the MPV rated last out of 6 models reviewed, but it is not a distant last. What the reviews do not take into account is the probable long term reliability of the mini vans they reviewed. There is absolutely now way I would buy a Windstar or a Chrysler instead of an MPV. I've owned two Fords and one Plymouth and both had reliabilty issues. I now have a 1996 626 with 56,000 miles and no issues. I know Ford has controlling interest Mazda, but this hasn't hurt Mazda's reputation.
Enjoy your MPV's and let the Ford and Chrysler owners found out why they get such bad reliabilty reviews. Let the Sienna and Oddy drivers
realize they paid too much.
Good luck!
on the other hand, i have had no problems with it.
while i'm in here and in case anybody also wants to know... go for the rear air. i've lived this van in cold canadian winter and hot humid summers.
heating is pretty good, i think this is because the aluminum engine heats up more easily so in about 5 to 10 minutes i already have heat.
but cooling seems to be another matter.
I bought it from Flemington, but just because they had the car, and ended up only at about $240 over invoice (less $1000 rebate and 4.9 financing). We wanted white and with rear air, it was the only one in NJ. We never got to look at PA dealers though.
I contacted Flemington initially via autbytel and they quoted another color for about $280 under invoice. When we found they had a white one a week later (literally coming off the truck), they were dealing with over 400 over. We pushed they were trying to do bait and switch but they claimed they were doing a mistake and a 1 was infact an 8 (so now it was $580 over invoice).
Other dealers were only interested in selling what they had in stock only (Princeton, Hamilton, Edison). Edison was the only one willing to negotiate down big time and talks were starting at about $200 over.
We bought an LX with 4seas, sec, roof rack, dual air, and cargo net.
Hope this helps...
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
P.S. Javadoc, where are those pics of the Mochavan? ;-p
Nice pics Drew...and nice houses!
;-)
--j
True audiophiles will disagree, but if you're not one of them [and you don't have an adolescent to [non-permissible content removed] at you for cheaping out],go for standard.
As for the rear air, don't even hesitate. Get it. It's worth it in spades.
RJ
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
The key needs to be in the same position that gives the radio power (ACC position?). I had to go back and look, since it's so light here these days, it never seems to get dark.
--java
Drew...your neighbor needs to get a fairing for that rack...the noise must be incredible.
--java
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
I apologize for jumping in without a proper introduction, but I really do feel like I'm amongst friends. I've been reading these MPV discussions for quite awhile and used some of your comments as part of my decision to buy a '01 MPV DX - Sand Mica. Since I live in Arizona and we have plenty of sand and considering the color of my MPV, I guess it's pretty obvious how I chose my logon name.
I noticed several recent posts about trailer hitches so I thought this would be a good point to make a comment. Just last Saturday I bolted up a Drawtite class III receiver hitch to my MPV. Other than fighting over 50 lbs. of steel while lying under the van, the overall process was pretty straight forward. It takes 5 bolts and no drilling whatsoever. I would suggest having some help in holding the hitch in place while starting the bolts, but I managed to do it with two hydraulic jacks. Also, you have to hold your mouth just right to wiggle the right end of the hitch past the muffler.
I bought the hitch at etrailer.com for $99.95 plus shipping, which was the best deal I could find. I think they have the class II hitch for about $10 less, but I wanted the versatility of the 2 inch receiver. I was concerned about the larger hitch detracting from the appearance of the van, but my wife says it looks fine, so who am I to argue. I might try to post some pictures if anyone is interested.
I guess I've used up enough band width for now ...
AZsand
Steve
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Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
Cool color -- I got the Sand Mica too -- looks even better than brochure!
Gary
But, great bw waster...
--java (couldn't come up w/ any MPV content)
Again, welcome and many safe miles !
Practical question, though. With a Sand Mica van in Arizona, how will you ever find it when you need it?
;>
Happy miles!
RJ
garyjwms - Right now just about the only thing I'll tow is a small utility trailer. Its a good way of hauling bags of cement home from Home Depot without having to throw them on that light colored carpet.
pjd58 - We live well south of Flagstaff so we did get the front side windows tinted right away. Can you believe when we were shopping for our MPV we saw a brand new '01 at a dealer that already had the windows tinted as a $400 dealer add-on? My dealer told us to bring ours in after the sale and they would have their regular tint place do it at cost - $60.
billmckinley - Just look for some guy wandering around pushing the panic button on the remote until the horn goes off ...
And I do agree with all those who think that Sand Mica is great!!!
AZsand
We have a Sand Mica 01 LX and love our van. Sand Mica is a very nice color, it seems to be the most popular color, at least in my area (midwest).
Welcome to the club! Post often, with your thoughts, ideas and questions. The MPV owner's on Edmonds are a great bunch of people.
Pjd58
I am in the market for new MPV and intend to make this purchase over next 4 to 6 weeks.
I was wondering if anybody has tried to buy MPV
using fax/internet for negotiation. (Motley Fool
site details how to go about it)
Also in any case I am looking for good/bad experiences with Austin,San Antonio (and may be
Houston) area dealers.
Thanks
I brought a whole case (12 qts) of D4 ATF to the service appt expecting to only need ~8 qts, but they informed me that to thoroughly flush all the old ATF out and replace it with synthetic would require 15 to 16 qts(!) [and cost $170, less the charge for the ATF since I was providing it].
Before I go out and purchase more Red Line D4 ATF, and reschedule another service appt, would the experienced car-people who have already performed this change-to-synthetic ATF on their '00+ MPV please confirm the information I've been given.
Thanks in advance.
I had also read with great interest the negotiation process you mention on the motley fool site (http://www.fool.com -- an excellent site, BTW). I especially liked the insider info about what really goes on in the dealership, and the advice to avoid dealing face-to-face seems sound -- that way you steer clear of their games and their traps.
The fax approach is interesting, but also seems like a lot of work. If you go that route, please do share with us how it works out.
But the reason I wanted to respond to your inquiry is that I thought that you also might want to include a quote from Carsdirect as a baseline comparison -- not necessarily to show the dealers you're dealing with, but to see if they can match or beat it. In my experience, 3 area dealers couldn't come close to Carsdirect's price. I didn't use the fax method -- just went into the dealership with carsdirect printout in hand.
As for buying cars "online" there really isn't such a thing -- in the end all the online services (Carsdirect, autoweb, autobytel) are referral services. The difference between these companies seems to be who controls the transaction. Carsdirect transacts the deal with the customer, and then pays the dealer cash for the car which the customer then picks up at the dealer. (So said the dealer rep on the day I picked up my vehicle). The other two services (autoweb & autobytel) essentially refer you to a local dealer who then transacts the deal directly with you. The pricing from the latter two wasn't all that great either.
Oh -- another nice thing about carsdirect -- for any options on your vehicle, they only charge invoice, rather than MSRP -- for example, I got Rear A/C for the invoice price of $512, rather than for the $643 retail that you're likely going to pay at the dealership.
Oh, you might hear all sorts of grumbling about Carsdirect from anyone at the dealerships -- from what I can tell, dealers really hate the online services (with good reason obviously). And, it appears that Carsdirect has a pretty good idea which dealers want to play ball with them and which don't.
While I can't help with the part of your question about dealers in Texas (I'm in CA), I just thought I'd add my dos centavos . . .