The Van - Our Baby Mobile!

Despite some of the nay-sayers in my life, Tyler & I are very excited about the van we purchased, a 2001 Pontiac Montana. On Sunday, August 16th we decided we should get a van or SUV & by Saturday, August 22nd we had purchased it! We bought the van for $3250 which was the lower end of the range that was considered fair value as per our AMA research, then we spent about $250 for detail work to clean it up to a nice standard (I'm pretty sure the van was family owned for it's life & then was worked on, on a farm for the last few months so it was a bit dirty & stinky). Tyler & I were both really happy with the detailing work so we consider that we basically paid $3500 for the van, a very fair price in our opinion.

To answer the question we keep getting "why did you opt for a van vs an SUV (or even a roomier car)" I have one word COST. When it comes to SUV's they are more expensive to purchase, more expensive to insure, and more expensive to run (gas, maintenance, etc). Yes they are a little more fashionable, but I've been looking at the ones on the road lately & I'm not sure that they are actually competetive with vans for interior space. They have more room then my car sure, but they aren't that much of an upgrade for space compared to the van. I'm looking a little longer term than just for right now & I don't want to get a bigger car, just to need more space in a year or two years.

A lot of the vans we were looking at in the 7 - 9 year old range were about $5000 or less and there were a lot on the market to choose from (so definitely a buyer's market). The used SUV's that were available were at the lowest about $8-9,000 and often in the $12-14,000 range (though it should be noted that they were newer years). The whole advantage of buying this type of vehicle right now was for 1) space & 2) that we could pay cash for it and not be digging ourselves a financial hole. It's entirely possibly that SUV's are more expensive because they retain their values better, but for us, we aren't really looking for something we can resale at the moment. More of a vehicle that will get us through this transitional period without causing money strain. Thus why we opted for a van. We both test drove this van (& it was the only one we went to see & test drive) and decided to snap it up as it was the best deal we saw online.

Some details about our new vehicle...

-it had about 139,500 km on it, which is really low (I have 126,000+ on my 2005 Ion!),

-it has a white exterior with black trim, tinted back windows & grey interior,

-it had a safety inspection done on it in July 2009,

-the person we bought it from, got it at an auction because the hood had come loose & smashed the windshield. He owns an autobody shop so he did all the repairs himself (plus a few other minor things like the driver's side mirror was replaced),

-our baby seat fits in it beautifully,

-it has a VHS player (a dead technology it's true, but we still own quite a few VHS's especially Disney movies),

-fun radio controls on my steering wheel,

-dual sliding doors,

-seats 8 people with the two bench rows OR me, tyler, our baby & our dogs + all my travel crap LOL

-each back seat folds down individually so you can space out fighting kids (or other relationships), have access to cup holders, etc,

-cruise control (which I did NOT have with my Saturn Ion), looking forward to learning how to use that,

-power windows! For the first time in my life I own a vehicle with power windows LOL

-I've been "practising" driving with the van all week & I am getting a lot more comfortable (though my car is much nicer for 'zipping' around LOL).

I'll post some pics here of the interior, post-detailing so y'all can see how nice it looks now! I'm looking forward to "accessorizing" my new wheels!!

Now I'd like to vent a moment about the nay-sayers. They are... my friends Vanessa & Melody, my sister Calli & Tyler's brother Tyrone. With Vanessa & Melody, I had been having a direct phone conversation with them where I said "I'm so excited, we are looking for a van!" (a.k.a. clearly enthused) and they were all like "Why? I would never be caught dead driving a van. I'd get an SUV." Well how nice for you. However, with our lives, budget is more important than "image" so we are perfectly happy getting a van, and since I am obviously happy about it, why can't you keep that thought to yourself and just be excited FOR me? It really irked me, especially as Vanessa followed it up with "just joking" comments when I posted the picture on facebook.

My sister also commented negatively on facebook & she gets a little more leeway since she is 19 and wasn't directly told about my excitedness BUT her comments still annoys me.

P.S. It smells pretty now too.
P.P.S. I stocked the van with a black garbage bag & a big towel in case my water breaks & I continue to have leakage to the hospital so that I don't ruin the $250 detailing work!!