New van

We bought a car off ksl.com last night. We got a minivan. It was the right price, mileage and the year isn't too bad. We got a 2005 Chrysler Town and Country (which I have heard is basically a dodge caravan). I preferred a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey but there were absolutely none available in the parameters I set on my search.

The minivan is clean and it was a smooth ride. It seats 7 and the second row has bucket seats. I would have preferred two seats that can be together or separate, but one wasn't available. The second and third row are both stow 'n go, which is what I wanted. The third row bench is in two sections, divided into two thirds, and one third. I like that so one person (or two people) can be in the back and we can fold part of the bench down.

There are a few perks that the van doesn't have, but which would have been nice. There is no dvd player. We can always get one though, so that wasn't even in my search criteria. It doesn't have automatic doors, but that is okay. I hear they are expensive to fix if they ever break. Besides I don't need anything that enables me to be more lazy than I currently am. Dave works with a guy with automatic doors and he has had some issues with them and wishes he didn't have the automatic doors. I really like the color. It was listed as green, but is is kind of a blue-ish green-ish grey. I had also kind of wanted seating for 8, but those were harder to find. Dave also wanted to buy from an owner instead of a dealership. The owner was probably in her late 50s and seemed to take really good care of the van.

We won't get it until Saturday because the seller needed to drive it until she gets a new car. It was interesting, she said she had a couple just like us come see it the night before and he called that day and wanted to buy it but she told him some other people (us) were coming to look at it. He asked her if we wanted to buy it if she would please call him first. So she did and the husband said he had to talk to his wife. Anyway, we waited probably 10 minutes for him to talk to his wife and call the seller back. I don't think the man could/would pay full asking price and I don't think he had cash (which we did).

So I'm excited! I think Matthew might have a hard time sitting in the back. Who knows, maybe I will, too. It has been nice just being able to reach back there and hand him things or get things from him. It will be an adjustment for us all.