We came to the point of having to ditch our 10-year old oil-burning Saturn station wagon (would not pass emissions at the end of June, cost more to fix the car than it was worth, needed something bigger and more practical, car had multiple problems) and I decided that no matter how "unexciting" minivans are, a minivan was the only thing that would give us the passenger and cargo space we needed.
I like Honda a lot and their Odyssey minivans have been the top rated for several years (for safety and repair records)(they bounce back and forth in the top two spots with Toyota). Through my research I determined I wanted a 2004 model - not before, as they had tranny problems, not after, as they remodelled with the 2005 model year and I didn't want a model that new (bugs to be worked out, plus more expensive, plus bells & whistles we don't need).
I also wanted their "basic" model, of which they have one, versus the "better" model, of which they have three versions. It's harder to find the basic model because most people want the luxury touches. The good thing with having a basic Saturn for so many years is that almost anything newer looks like luxury to us.
Honda's "basic" van is great! Oh, and the basic model is the only one with non-automatic sliding doors, which I also wanted (I could just see the motor to one or both of the doors dying in seven years or so [if we're still here, of course 
]) and those things aren't cheap to replace.
So I prayed specifically for a silver or grey 2004 Honda Odyssey LX with excellent mileage that altogether cost $20,000 or less.
A couple of weeks later I went to Carmax's site and looked at what they had. And a Carmax a little distance from us had a:
grey, 2004 Honda Odyssey, LX model, with 27,000 miles, for $18,000
(standard mileage for a used 2004 car is considered 45,000)
They had several Honda Odysseys listed (10 or 12), but all the others were the wrong color, wrong year, high mileage, or wrong model.
The sales guy picked it up for us that same night (he was driving to that location anyway to drop a car off, so no transfer fees) and we got it for about $20,000 once the tax and other stuff was added in.
It was so PERFECTLY what I wanted that I can still mentally see a big red ribbon and bow on it with a tag attached that reads "Enjoy! Love, God"
And I love it. It fits what we need so perfectly. I breathe a "thank you so much!" to him almost every time we're in it.
