Last month we acquired 48 months of car payments.
We bought a 2006 Grand Caravan with 24,000 miles on it
We had looked at 2008 version in an electric blue first & I liked it more. But I didn’t like it $4000 more. It had the same mileage & I like the radio better. I mostly liked that it was electric blue.
Because there are exactly zero electric blue mini vans in the Wal Mart parking lot at any given time.
But silver?
You can’t swing a cat without hitting a silver mini van in the Wal Mart parking lot.
However it does have electric doors, so I can stand in the general vicinity of several silver mini vans, push the remote & then go to whichever one’s door opens.
Mayhem loves the electric doors. He pushes the button & then stands in the doorway waiting until the last possible second to leap through the gap, like Indiana Jones.
Assuming Indiana Jones would have anything to do with a mini van.
I wanted a car with more space for luggage and thought a third row would be nice for the 3 times a year I need to seat more than 4 people in the car. We looked at a lot of hatchbacks with 3rd row seating & then we got to the 08 Grand Caravan
It has this
Stow & go seating. No need to take out chairs or benches & find somewhere to store them. And when the seat isn’t collapsed you have a storage bin!
The car has POCKETS!
I couldn’t resist the pockets
It gives me the ability to do this
Havoc sits in the second row, Mayhem in the third & I get all this space to climb in and get everyone settled without pulling any muscles reaching over anyone.
The real bonus though is that they CAN’T TOUCH each other. Sweet Mary & Jesus what an unexpected blessing!!! They can’t grab things away from each other. They can’t push or shove each other. Drives are so much quieter now. And! And! The boys decided all on their own that they wanted to sit that way! They do it willingly!
I may never pop up that other seat again.
It also gives us a place to put the dog crate.
The only drawback is Mayhem is so far back I have to throw snacks to him and hope he catches them.
Bring the water & pemmican! I’m headed for the back of the mini van!
Speaking of the back of the mini van
There is no trip to Sam’s I cannot make.
I won’t have to UPS clothes to FL for our vacation this year.
DH won’t have to pack the explosives around the children when we buy fireworks in South Carolina.
It even has a roof rack, in case, you know, we want to bring our bed with us.
Then there is the entertainment system.
It doesn’t play 8 tracks, VHS or Blue ray but other than that you are good to go. It has a cassette player, a CD player that also plays mp3s, plus an AUX jack for my mp3 player & Sirius satellite radio.
Hell, it may even get AM & FM stereo but where we live there is only the Christian Country station & a static-y NPR station from someplace about 75 miles or so away & I haven’t really tried those out.
It’s overkill in a big way. All I use is the Sirius and the AUX jack. But it makes no sense to have it replaced because I want to get rid of features.
Oh, and it has a 6 disc DVD changer. 6 DISCS people! That’s like 12 hour of non-stop movie viewing (or at least 12 hours of no arguments about who’s turn it is to pick a movie because that was all decided before we left home & you get what ever is next up in the player) And wireless headsets! We have a dual monitor portable DVD player we strapped to the back of our headrests in the Cruiser. They were connected by assorted cables & there were other wires that plugged into the car and headset wires…wires all over the damn place.
It’s not an option we would ever have chosen ourselves because it just seems like a hassle waiting to break, but I’m delighted to have it. We use it on any trip over 90 minutes long & we take one of those every month just about.
I bought my PT Cruiser on special order, picked it up fresh off the boat, on April 28, 2001. It had 12 miles on it. I paid $18,000 for it on a 3 year loan & paid that off 4 months early. I handed over the title to it on April 27, 2009 with 139,994 miles on it. (and I really wanted to go drive it up and down the road a few more times just to roll it over when I realized that at signing)
8 years, 140,000 miles, one new transmission, 2 head on collisions (neither my fault) and a year without air conditioning.
I hope this one lasts as long.
10 comments:
Seems like you got a really good deal and everything you wanted but the kitchen sink, which wouldn't have been a bad idea. You always need to much stuff when you travel with kids. My husbands packs for 8 days when we will only be gone 3. He's worse than the kids. I do like the auto door opener, that's probably the coolest thing on the car except the video. Have a safe trip.
I have a a Chrysler minivan with those same stow and go seating - LOVE IT!!!! I had a Caravan for 9 years prior to that and you had to take the seats out and store them somewhere - hassle. Your entertainment system sounds ideal too. Enjoy your new toy :)
Congrats on the new mini van. I so want one. Never thought I'd say that.
I love the car!
I like all the space you get , mine is not as big and is pain when go shopping and have anything in the back:(
Following from MBC.
We only have 2 or 3 times a year when we need extra seating, and during those times I think of minivans... It never occurred to me one could spread out the kids like that. That is AWESOME!
It looks nice! We don't own a car, but since I live in downtown Copenhagen the public transit is easier and cheaper!
I have managed to get through fifteen years of motherhood without a minivan and I always think that's an accomplishment until I see the perks of having one ... man, would I love all that space!
Holy crap. I'm not a mom, but I want one of those vans! That's the coolest thing ever.
I loved your comment about the silver vans. It's soooo true!
I have big, BIG love for my silver minivan. Enjoy it!
Very nice car...Congrats
Post a Comment