I think he means "If you need to load 100 square bales on a flat deck, then a Caravan, even a grand one, isn't pulling that"

So I went car shopping today and fell in love with a Subaru Tribeca but leaving in 1 year V spending lots of money isn't the sensible thing to do.

So unfortunately the one that seemed to best fit our needs was a Kia Rondo - that must be the most boring looking, old fart's car out there - but anyway.......

I wonder if anyone out there has one? How is it in the snow? How is resale value?

Surely it would be worth looking in to a 12 month lease take over vs having to consider driving about in a Kia Rondo

I just googled them and apart from one looking a bit bigger, they both just look like most other cars to me. I'm fairly sure that I was born with the blokey-bloke car gene bit missing.

The current Kia Rondo is dull looking in the extreme but I imagine is practical and reliable(ish). We've run a Kia Soul for 4 years with no issues. However there is a new Kia Rondo just being launched which looks a lot better. More pertinently for you, I imagine resale values of the old model will take a hit once the new one is out on the street.

We were looking at a 2008 model so I imagine the resale won't be as hard hit as say the 2012?

I think that would be a reasonable assumption but I would suggest that there will be some effect across all models. IMHO a 2008 Rondo should be a pretty well depreciated thing anyway so any further loss as an absolute should be minimal. Or to put it another way, don't pay too much for the 2008 and be prepared to take a loss when you sell. The level of that loss is the price you pay for the year (or however long) useage. Plus maintenance and running costs of course.

Oh, the thread's gone back to cars.

Lots of people are haying around us, making round bales. Generally John Deere is king but there are a few Allis and Massey variants and yesterday I saw a Fendt towing two full length truck trailers, each loaded with three levels of round bales. Try that in mandymoo's truck, I thought, you might as well be driving a PBC.

Thanks for the advice! That is how we are looking at it. As I said we are reluctant to buy anything for 1 year but needs must. And if the choice is a 2008 rondo that we can resell in a year and hopefully get 50% back or a lease takeover then I think we go for the first one.

A man ended up in hospital today, covered in wood and hay, with a horse inside him.

His condition is described as stable.

+1 for the Dodge Caravan,love mine to bits

I looked at all sorts,was approved for finance up to $15,000 and almost bought an Equinox,but decided to buy a caravan for cash.
The parts are cheap,and they are common for a reason.

I have a family of 5+dog,and my dad is over for a couple of months,glad to have the extra space in it,taking it for a spin to the Rockies this weekend

I'm looking at a jeep grand Cherokee (not for 7 seater), but the Durango seems awesome. Mind you I am a bit of a no clue kind of person for cars so could be wrong. Research seems to point to these 2 cars being good in all weather :-)
Good Luck!

You need AWD or 4x4 here in winter, i don't care what anyone says to the contrary. The Grand Cherokee is a fine vehicle (after 2011 only). The Hyundai SantaFe (up to model year 2012) is excellent - way more bang for your buck and resale value than a Kia, even though a sister company sharing much of the same gear. My wife sold her 2010 with 78k on it and it was still like the day we bought it - gave it a drink of oil every 10k and decent petrol and it never missed a beat in 3 years. The new 2013 SantaFe update makes old SantaFes A STEAL.

As for the Minivans, if you don't care about looks or performance and are happy driving a box, i suppose they meet the need. However you can pick up pretty much any larger SUV which will do the job with better resale and better dynamics. So Durango/Explorer/CRV blah blah - my wife replaced her Santy with a Ford Explorer which is cavernous inside, but still looks pretty sharp and drives very nicely.

However this is all pants, because you should go do the decent thing and buy a RAM 1500 truck immediately.

Well, plainly you don't if you drive on roads as most vehicles sold in Canada have neither. Perhaps you do if you're not terribly good at steering, do you and your wife often go offroading?

Plainly you've never tried to accelerate on an icy road with two-wheel front drive. Plainly that might lead you to understand that it can be rather dangerous with traffic behind you waiting to turn, but can't, as you take three minutes to get around the corner. Or even move forward in a straight line. Go read up your data. Or go talk to a traffic cop, fire brigade, the AMA, or perhaps the local guy at Canadian Tyre. Plainly they might be able to help you. What's offroading got to do with driving on the road? As for your stats, AWD is a premium feature and automakers charge for it. Some folks can't afford it. Some people don't care, maybe they grew up their whole lives and never drove an AWD and don't know the difference.

Point is, i've driven all makes and models extensively and there is no way i would CHOOSE NOT to have an AWD in this climate. Especially if i was driving kids around. But mostly it's just common sense. And stop trolling from the other thread.