Originally we were planning to buy a 4-wheel drive SUV because of some of the rougher roads in the area, but the prices are really high. You will pay at least $16K for 10-12 year old SUV here. If you want to get a nice SUV you can pay as much as $40K. Needless to say, we won't be getting an SUV.
Instead, we began pursuing cheaper options. Because of past good experiences with Toyotas in the US, we're taking a look at the Wish and Ipsum. We also looked at the Noah, but it's a little too "minivanish" for us. Tammy firmly believes that minivans automatically add at least 5 years to your true age! Here are some photos of the vehicle types we have been looking at (they all seat 7):
Toyota Wish - Kinda like a station wagon
Toyota Ipsum - getting closer to a minivan, but still kinda like a station wagon
Toyota Noah - definite minivan territory
You can get one of these for about half the price of an SUV. Sutton and I spent part of this morning going to around 7 different dealerships. The funny thing was that every dealership had the same exact price for each model; a little pricing collusion maybe?
Be praying that we somehow figure out how to negotiate a good deal!
*UPDATE* We are dealing with a new Tammy here in Africa. After viewing the different options in Kisumu this morning, she has opted for the Noah (or the Voxy). Yes, you heard me . . . she has selected a minivan. Now begins the process of finding one that we like (at a good price).
Toyota Voxy - a boxy Noah; probably should've been called a Noxy.
Hey guys,
ReplyDeleteLove reading your posts throughout the week. The world just got smaller. Praying for you...
Guthries
Thanks Tammy! Just trying to give everyone a small taste of what we're experiencing here in Kenya!
ReplyDeletewell, i agree with Tammy--to me it looks more like an SUV than a minivan! (think honda element) will it do okay with bumpy roads?
ReplyDeleteI like the Noah too....it looks a lot like the new smaller SUV's here.Can you get used ones?How gas prices there?
ReplyDeleteJulia, they'll do okay on bumpy roads, but the biggest problem is speed bumps . . . they are everywhere. We tested the Noah on a speed bump and it scraped a little. So, we'll have to put spacers on whatever vehicle we get to raise it a few inches. Evidently this only costs around $70 to do (we'll see).
ReplyDeleteMom, yes, we're looking at 2004 Noahs and Voxys. One big headache is that whoever drives the vehicles from Mombasa (where they are imported to from Japan) smokes like a chimney, and all of the cars small like a tobacco barn.
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