A Day in the life of Dad Part 2

A couple of weeks ago, we tried to get all 3 car seats across our back seat into our SUV. It didn't happen. We lacked about 8 inches. And, it just didn't work. There would be no way for Mady to get into her middle seat. So, we started to do research on a minivan (ala 'manivan'). We absolutely made a pact that we would never buy one, but alas, 3 kids have altered our thinking.

I started to do major research on the stupid things. At first, I thought I would just be able to buy a different SUV (Yukon XL or a Suburban - considering they have 3rd row seating and optional bucket seats in the 2nd row). However, when we looked at them, without going into details, they aren't set up for car seats and they obviously don't have sliding doors, which was a huge plus). Then I started looking at cross overs like the Chevy Uplander and the Buick Terraza. We weren't real hip on these either as there wasn't a lot of room behind the 3rd row seating. So, we started looking at the traditional 'manivan.'

We looked at the Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey, Nissan Quest and the Chrysler Town and Country (the Dodge Caravan fits in the same mold). I realized that to get into a newer Toyota or Honda, we would be spending a little more than I wanted to, and even the newer Nissans were a little high. Having realized all that, we started looking at the T & C. Chrylers (along with most domestic vehicles) lose their market value very fast (I learned this when I worked at the car dealership) so I thought I could get a newer one for decent money, and as long as we keep it for a long time, who cares about resale value. I really wanted a vehicle that would fit a family of 5 comfortably in town and on long trips to South Carolina (where we WILL vacation again!).

I called dealerships all over Illinois, Indianapolis and St Louis and found that I could get into an 08. It wouldn't be the top of the line 'Limited' edition. But nonetheless, an 08 with lower mileage and a good, clean body. The 08 also has the new body style, which looks a little less "mini-vany." We test drove a number of them in the area at different dealerships and I searched on craigslist and Ebay. We went over to Rick Ridings in Monticello to drive a nice silver one. I talked to a good friend of ours, Shane York, who sells there and also goes to our church. They had just sold the silver one that morning, but he told me that they had a couple of others, but the one that he showed us just wouldn't fit. Here's how our conversation went...

Shane: I have this 08 T &C over here.
Me: No, Shane, that won't work.
Shane: Why?
Me: Because Shane, I'm already giving you one testicle selling my SUV and buying a van, I'm not going to give you my other one when I buy a POWDER BLUE minivan!

We ended up test driving it.

We left there and continued our research. We found one down at Pilson's in Charleston. We drove down there this past week. It's Crystal Red. Very nice. Great body. They gave us a whale of a deal on it and on our trade in. Even though it took us about 4 hours at the dealership while in negotiations, we were very satisfied with our purchase.

Jenn loves the sliding doors and the 60/40 3rd row that folds down into the floor flat. It gets about 24 mpg on the interstate (a tad better than the 18 we got in our SUV). I'm not sure how it will handle in the snow (prob not as good as the 4 wheel drive we used to have). It is comfortable and looks like it's going to be a good fit for our family of 5. Now all we need is a 'Soccer Mom' sticker on the window...