The New Van

My van is dying.  We bought it (obviously) used just before Lily was born over 3 years ago, and it has served us well for about 45,000 miles.  It's had thorough cleanings and regular maintenance, but it's old - a 2003 Chevy Venture with 175,000+ miles on it.

So before the end of the year, we decided to go van shopping in hopes of finding a stellar deal and helping someone clear out some inventory from their lot.

I've never really car-shopped before, at least not the car-lot kind of car shopping.  New cars aren't a reality in our world, and because my dad has a dealer's license, most of my cars have come through my dad.  It goes like this:

Me:  Dad, I want/need a way to get around.
Dad:  What did you have in mind?
Me:  I don't have a lot of $, but I'd like a [fill in car/van/truck/color/wants here].  Do you know of anything?
Dad:  Let me do some checking...

And then he comes up with something close to what I thought I wanted and for such a good deal that I can't possibly say no.

That is how "car shopping" has gone for me on all but 2 vehicles I've bought in my life.  The two that didn't follow that pattern were cars we bought for Chase, and cars he found and we basically only talked to the owners of those cars and purchased them directly that way.

So driving around used car lots in the final week of 2014 was weird.  I felt like I was more savvy than most car buyers out there - I'd done my research, knew, generally, what I wanted, and was equipped with my iPhone with NADA.com and KBB.com at the ready!

We drove around on the last Saturday of the year just as car lots were closing, and we had NO intentions of buying that day.  The purpose was simply to drive around and see what was available close to home so we knew if we needed to go to Lincoln or Omaha to look.  There was enough in our price range nearby that we decided Monday was the day.

It was snowing and frigid here on Monday and the roads were not great at all.  As I drove the kids to their aunt's house to play for the afternoon, I wondered if anyone would even let me test drive a vehicle on those roads.  But at that point, I was committed - kids in the car, arrangements made to look at a number of vehicles, I wasn't backing out.

I drove one van at one lot and felt like everything they had was way over-priced.  Plus, I wasn't crazy about what I'd driven there at all.  The next place I stopped at was kind of on a whim.  I had seen their online inventory and I knew there was nothing there we could afford or that fit our needs.  But I thought, what the heck?  I'm here.  Maybe they have something that's not listed online...

The salesman talked me into driving a white minivan - I don't like white minivans - and it was more than $2,000 more than what we wanted to spend.  That may not sound like a whole lot to some of you, but in our world, that's a LOT of $$$!  Financing isn't an option we use for vehicles, so our bank account had to be able to pay for anything we bought.

I drove the van and despite the white color, I loved it!  It was SO much nicer than I thought we could get.  I didn't get attached, but started working on the salesman - before I'd just told him I had kids and was looking to buy a van.  As we test drove this van, I mentioned that my dad owned a mechanic shop nearby, and my brother-in-law owned the large mechanic shop just down the street from the dealership - could I run the van by them to have them check it out.

Then as we parked and headed back in to the showroom, I mentioned that I couldn't really make any decision without my husband there - we both needed to be in agreement. And then I asked why they had the van so over-priced as it booked at $1,000 under what they were asking for it.

Over the next 3 hours, I took the van to my brother-in-law who gave it a once over and his agreement that it was in good shape for its miles/age.  I met Chase and he drove the van, and we both agreed it would be a great van to have, if we could afford it.  Finally we ended up back at the dealership and worked our way up through the salesman to the manager, and eventually through the manager to an owner.  And ultimately, we got the van for a price we could afford!  I'm not sure the place we bought from made much $ on us, but I told them from the start that they weren't going to make a lot of $ on me.

I can say this after having talked to salesmen at at least 5 different lots about different vehicles:  people with unpalatable occupations/habits don't trade cars in to dealers/used car lots.  All of the vehicles we expressed interest in were owned by teachers, principals, bankers, or "good Christian people."

As Chase and I drove away with our "new van" we joked that it had been owned by a pastor, blessed by the pope, washed only in holy water, and was otherwise the most religious van in the world!  Honestly, all it took to get the "it was owned by a pastor" out of the salesman was to mention that I work at a Christian school!

At any rate, here is a stock photo of our new ride - I'd take a real picture, but it's covered in snow!  And my favorite feature:  cloth heated seats!  (I hate leather seats!)