Sunday, April 3, 2011

Mom-mobile!


We've got ourselves a mini van!! I'm ridiculously excited. I'd been stalking Craigslist for a couple weeks but finding nothing but scams (Note: if someone online tells you they're selling their car because they're being deployed to Afghanistan and that the car is in California but they'll ship it to you... it's a scam) so I was getting frustrated. Well the other day we were out and happened to see a mini van sitting by the road with for sale signs in it, so we stopped, not hoping for much.

Lo and behold, it was actually a great deal! It's a 2003 Ford Windstar with 67,000 miles on it. It was priced fairly enough, but we offered the seller $500 less than his asking price and he took it without hesitation! Score! I don't love the color (white), but hey, I'm not turning down a great deal.

Nathan had a stressful time trying to get the thing though... on Friday he went to pick up the cash at the bank only to find out the bank's system was down... nationwide. So he had to wait til Saturday morning to get the money, and of course then the title bureau was closed. But the guy still let us keep the van and will meet up with Nathan on Monday afternoon to finish the paperwork.

We spent this afternoon cleaning the whole inside of the van, which was actually in good shape to begin with. Just the normal dirt and dust. Here's the inside of the van, looking from front to back. It has captain's chairs in the middle and a bench in the back.


And here's the front. It has a CD player which I've missed from not driving the Honda much since O was born. It also has a flip down screen with a VHS player... ?! Apparently they put those in cars before DVD players got popular. Anyway, it's a cool bonus and works great.


The only problems are a rust spot on one side near the wheel well (which the guy who does our car body work says will be easy to fix) and a small ding on the corner of the back bumper. Besides that, the ABS and Brake lights are on a lot, but I looked it up and there seems to be some kind of recall on that so maybe we can go get it fixed by Ford. Anyway, compared to our other vehicles it's in beautiful shape.

I love our new Windstar and can't wait to start driving it around. It should work much better for our family :) Now we just have to sell the Honda!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Looks great! I'm in agreement about the color but the mileage and extras are great! It will be so much better for all of you. Congratulations!

Katie said...

how fun! glad you found something, i remember how frustrated i was when i was car shopping! sounds like it is a good fit for your family :-)

becca said...

I'm so glad you found a good deal. My parents have had their Ford minivan for 16 years, and it's still going so I'm guessing Ford knows how to make 'em.

The VHS player is funny. I didn't know they did that ever. But it's a nice bonus all the same.

Melanie said...

Looks great! Glad you found a great deal. You will love it!