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Got a New Van! wooo hooo!
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We got a new car! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! (See shoutbox in side bar for super-happy smilies.)
Okay, it's new to us, anyway. I'd never pay for a new car, especially a mini-van. They depreciate at least $10,000 the first year, worse if it's a Windstar. We got a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country. It is sooooo nice! We got a good price on it. It comes with CD and cassette (I wanted both, and that's not always easy to find), Sirius radio, a DVD player with wireless headphones, TWO sliding doors (yes!) and a lot of other great features. It has 29,000 miles on it, a lot for a one year old car, but over 6,000 miles left on the warranty. It runs so smooth and quiet.
I don't think I ever posted about my old van. Ugh! It seemed nice at first, it was a 1995 Oldsmobile Silhouette. After we got it, I realized it wasn't as roomy as we thought. I couldn't even comfortably cross my legs in the passenger seat. And the seatbelt would tighten up on me, and I'd have to undo and redo it to get comfortable--not very safe. There was NO legroom. And the floor was littered with diaper bags, purse, etc. so you couldn't walk to the back. Plus, worst of all, after we got it, it seemed like every month there was a bigger and bigger problem cropping up. Rotors, ignition coil, burned out tail lights, fuse problem, etc. etc. It felt like it was going to fall apart any second. The new car was an answer to our prayers...literally. My four year old son prayed with me every night that we could get a new car.
There was another T&C we wanted in a beautiful blue color, with EVERYthing I wanted, including power sliding doors, power rear lift gate, back up alarm, and a remote starter, which would be nice in the winter times, to warm up the car without it getting stolen. But they wouldn't come down on the price, and it was two thousand more, plus 4000 more miles. *sigh* But the car we got is really good. All I really wanted was a roomy comfortable van with two sliding doors, CD and cassette, and a DVD player. The DVD was crucial to me. Try going on a cross-country trip with a four year old, a three year old, a two year old, and a newborn. We've gone cross-country waaaay too many times! Anyway, the DVD player was for my sanity. I'm not very patient when the kids get loud all at once in the car. But the best thing is, the wireless headphones. They can listen to their movie (and not yank on any wires) and we can listen to the radio up front.
Oh, and another great feature is the dual zone climate control. The driver and the passenger can each choose the temperature level on their own side. Great if one person tends to like it cooler than the other. Plus there's a rear climate control for the kids, for when they get older. This car is also really roomy. Being overweight, when I cross my legs, I'm really putting one ankle on top of my other knee, so you need a lot of room width-wise. This one has it! And the seat belt doesn't lock up and strangle me, praise God! I can't tell you how much that bothered me. I was seriously praying after we bought it that it wouldn't lock up, because I forgot to check. It didn't, and the seat belt is a nice soft kind, not stiff.
But the best feature is the Stow-n-Go seating. All the rear seats fold down into the floor, which is great because I'm always hauling something home from a yard sale or something. I can just pull out the safety seats, stow the van seats, and stack the safety seats in a corner. But better than that, when the van seats are all up in place, you can use the compartments under the floor as storage. Major storage! Now we keep a large diaper bag full of diapers, extra clothing, etc. under the floor, and a small bandolier style diaper bag under a seat for trips into church or the store. Plus I keep phone books, road atlases, extra toys, etc. under there. Sooooo nice. And the van is big enough to easily crawl to the back to buckle the kids in, which is great when you're a larger size. Or pregnant. Or both! (No, I'm not pregnant yet, lol.)
Can you tell I'm happy? Wheeeeeeeeeee! I'll update this post with a pic of the van. Too dark now to take one. If you're looking for a new van, I'd recommend it. We're so happy with it. :-D The only downside is that I am seriously doubting we'll be able to add a third car seat in the back row. It doesn't look like there's much space between the two that are there. We'll probably have to invest in the slimmest booster seats on the market. I guess we'll see.
Okay, it's new to us, anyway. I'd never pay for a new car, especially a mini-van. They depreciate at least $10,000 the first year, worse if it's a Windstar. We got a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country. It is sooooo nice! We got a good price on it. It comes with CD and cassette (I wanted both, and that's not always easy to find), Sirius radio, a DVD player with wireless headphones, TWO sliding doors (yes!) and a lot of other great features. It has 29,000 miles on it, a lot for a one year old car, but over 6,000 miles left on the warranty. It runs so smooth and quiet.
I don't think I ever posted about my old van. Ugh! It seemed nice at first, it was a 1995 Oldsmobile Silhouette. After we got it, I realized it wasn't as roomy as we thought. I couldn't even comfortably cross my legs in the passenger seat. And the seatbelt would tighten up on me, and I'd have to undo and redo it to get comfortable--not very safe. There was NO legroom. And the floor was littered with diaper bags, purse, etc. so you couldn't walk to the back. Plus, worst of all, after we got it, it seemed like every month there was a bigger and bigger problem cropping up. Rotors, ignition coil, burned out tail lights, fuse problem, etc. etc. It felt like it was going to fall apart any second. The new car was an answer to our prayers...literally. My four year old son prayed with me every night that we could get a new car.
There was another T&C we wanted in a beautiful blue color, with EVERYthing I wanted, including power sliding doors, power rear lift gate, back up alarm, and a remote starter, which would be nice in the winter times, to warm up the car without it getting stolen. But they wouldn't come down on the price, and it was two thousand more, plus 4000 more miles. *sigh* But the car we got is really good. All I really wanted was a roomy comfortable van with two sliding doors, CD and cassette, and a DVD player. The DVD was crucial to me. Try going on a cross-country trip with a four year old, a three year old, a two year old, and a newborn. We've gone cross-country waaaay too many times! Anyway, the DVD player was for my sanity. I'm not very patient when the kids get loud all at once in the car. But the best thing is, the wireless headphones. They can listen to their movie (and not yank on any wires) and we can listen to the radio up front.
Oh, and another great feature is the dual zone climate control. The driver and the passenger can each choose the temperature level on their own side. Great if one person tends to like it cooler than the other. Plus there's a rear climate control for the kids, for when they get older. This car is also really roomy. Being overweight, when I cross my legs, I'm really putting one ankle on top of my other knee, so you need a lot of room width-wise. This one has it! And the seat belt doesn't lock up and strangle me, praise God! I can't tell you how much that bothered me. I was seriously praying after we bought it that it wouldn't lock up, because I forgot to check. It didn't, and the seat belt is a nice soft kind, not stiff.
But the best feature is the Stow-n-Go seating. All the rear seats fold down into the floor, which is great because I'm always hauling something home from a yard sale or something. I can just pull out the safety seats, stow the van seats, and stack the safety seats in a corner. But better than that, when the van seats are all up in place, you can use the compartments under the floor as storage. Major storage! Now we keep a large diaper bag full of diapers, extra clothing, etc. under the floor, and a small bandolier style diaper bag under a seat for trips into church or the store. Plus I keep phone books, road atlases, extra toys, etc. under there. Sooooo nice. And the van is big enough to easily crawl to the back to buckle the kids in, which is great when you're a larger size. Or pregnant. Or both! (No, I'm not pregnant yet, lol.)
Can you tell I'm happy? Wheeeeeeeeeee! I'll update this post with a pic of the van. Too dark now to take one. If you're looking for a new van, I'd recommend it. We're so happy with it. :-D The only downside is that I am seriously doubting we'll be able to add a third car seat in the back row. It doesn't look like there's much space between the two that are there. We'll probably have to invest in the slimmest booster seats on the market. I guess we'll see.
How exciting for you! :)
Congrats on the new car. You made me all excited just listening to you describe it.
Rejoicing with you about your new van!!
Thanks! We love it. It IS pretty exciting, especially after such a junker. It's actually roomy enough for me to climb into the back while we're driving...just have to remember to fold up the dvd screen. Not that I recommend that, but you know how it can get with kids!