Pls help me choose: Lucida/Venture/Carnival

[praetor91313]

Hi!

I'm currently looking at the classifieds for a second-hand kia carnival preferrably 2000-2002 model.

Any tips you can give me?

My first car served me well for almost 5 years, a honda accord 1994. I sold it this week dahil malaki na ang family ko, lima na kami (wife, 2 kids and 2 yayas) pag lumalabas. I'm looking for the best second-hand vehicle which is spacious and within a 300k price range.

I've been trying to catch up in these forums and it seemed like the chevrolet carnival is the worst choice because of so many problems like poor handling, overheating, etc.

The kia carnival seems like a good option, so many reviews swear by its fuel efficiency and better handling.

If you have other suggestions which are not included in the options I posted above, can you please mention them as well? they have to be within a 300k budget and 2000 model and up though.

Thanks so much!

God bless.

[noobskie]

The old models of the Kia Carnival are good choices since resale value is low and diesel is a standard option. The Lucidas I believe are Right hand drive converted to LHD since they're from Japan (correct me if i'm wrong) so reliability is questionable. I've had friends who kept going back to their mechanics because of poor conversion and all that. Don't even mention the Chevy Venture in the list.
You might want to look for older versions of the Hyundai Starex, they might be selling for 300k+.

[renzo_d10]

Kia Carnival is the very best choice.


Have you tried looking at the Kia Sedona?

[Gerbo]

Among the 3, the Kia Carnival/Sedona is also my choice and perhaps the best option. At that price range, Starex may be a possibility but for a much older model.

The Chevy Venture is not a reliable car.

The Toyota Lucida/Estima are converted vehicles. There may be issues regarding its cooling system, transmission, and steering.

[praetor91313]

Sorry for the typo, I meant "Chevrolet Venture".

I'll be ignoring the other cars listed then and concentrate my search to the Kia Carnival.

Thanks for the inputs!!

[black_caddy]

if you want a nice van,why you dont choose the E150?

[renzo_d10]

if you want a nice van,why you dont choose the E150?

First of all, sorry I thought the Carnival and Sedona are 2 different vans.

BTT: black_caddy: The E150 consumes a lot of gas. Ask s_quilicot

[altec]

I used to have a local sedona diesel. Dont get the carnival or sedona that is not the crdi engine. The non crdi engine is high maintenance, not very durable, and may cause you headaches later on unless you are engine savvy. If you can get the carnival imported version, go for the crdi engine. That one is good. Forget about your other choices. They are even worse. Starex is an option, but its not in your choices.

My experience with the local sedona is not isolated. Even Kia admits that model's engine (going back to the carnival model, including those imported), is not durable.

[ronw123w124]

Among your choices, the Kia Carnival is the most sensible one but the older models are not really reliable, my wife has a relative who has a Carnival and they don't recommend it. I wouldn't even dare touch the Lucida since its a converted vehicle, your safety would be greatly jeopardized with a converted vehicle. Venture? Not that one either, my sister has one, its an '05 model with really low mileage, why the low mileage? Because half the time its in the Casa undergoing repairs, I think they already spent close to P300,000 on repairs alone, not to mention that its a gas guzzler. How about a used Starex? We have one and it has really served us well for the last 4 years.

[niky]

Hmmm... last time I saw a Lucida, it was in a cloud of white smoke on the side of the road... you will never be certain of the history of a vehicle brought in secondhand from Japan... at least Korean grey market imports will have their original dashboard (LHD na kasi).

If you're looking Kia... try the Pregio? The 00+ Pregio has a pretty nice suspension, better than most other cab-forward vans, and the AC is good.