I feel wistful . . . I sold my van

[gardenmom5]

it's like, the end of an era.  I had it for nearly 20 years and there are a lot of memories of long car trips (stopping at the rogue river on our first trip to yosemite - and getting back to the car to find the only open seats were the 3rd row bench.  2dd had parked herself in the driver's seat and she wasn't budging.  stopping at Costco and getting tapes of the HP book, to listen to while we drove, that came out the day after we left home.), the boys repeatedly reclining/sitting up the rear bench when I'd pick them up from school . . .

all the things I hauled in it. trees . . . . . 4x8 sheets of plywood/drywall laying flat.  lots of furniture. I bought furniture off craigslist for my mom's condo.  the guy had two suvs, including a larger one (smaller than a suburban).  he was very skeptical I'd fit it all in, since he couldn't have put it in either of his suvs.  "just watch".

I need to replace my sofa - 2ds suggested I take a picture with the sofa in the van as a demonstration of capacity (and have them take the sofa with the van.)

[wintermom]

I'll be doing that pretty soon. It's been amazing to have a van for all the reasons you list, as well as being the vehicle we need to transport the entire family. It's been kind of annoying that we've been forced to have this large a vehicle, but also a blessing in many ways. 

What vehicle did you choose for your "van replacement?"

[PrincessMommy]

I felt the same way when we sold our 12 passenger "vanna white"  🙂  We'd had for nearly 20yrs when we donated it.     I do miss mine from time to time because it was also so great at hauling stuff.

[Catwoman]

1 minute ago, PrincessMommy said:

I felt the same way when we sold our 12 passenger "vanna white"  🙂  We'd had for nearly 20yrs when we donated it.     I do miss mine from time to time because it was also so great at hauling stuff.

 

Now I want a van, just so I can name it Vanna White!

[gardenmom5]

4 hours ago, wintermom said:

I'll be doing that pretty soon. It's been amazing to have a van for all the reasons you list, as well as being the vehicle we need to transport the entire family. It's been kind of annoying that we've been forced to have this large a vehicle, but also a blessing in many ways. 

What vehicle did you choose for your "van replacement?"

I bought a highlander.  yes, it really is smaller.  there are things I like (the cameras! automatic wipers and headlights - you can shut that off), but it's not as big inside.  the 2nd row sort of reclines (better than an airline seat) - which is more than can be said for almost every other midsize suv at which I looked at. (btw: that killed my interest in the pilot) - I started looking at luxury similar sized ones out of curiosity - NONE of their 2nd rows recline more than an inch or so.  ewww.  

I ended up with the 2nd row 60/40 split bench, so I can seat five without touching the 3rd row. (I expect I won't use - it's NOT teen/adult friendly.  I have one minor at home, all adults own their own car.)  I bought all-weather mats, so I listed my carpet mats for sale.

but my van - I could seat six adults - and ALL their luggage!  If I need something that size, I can rent it.

[Murphy101]

I am desperately hoping my 12 passenger van will make it about a 6mo to a year and then I’m going to get something 7 passenger. The only thing I’m going to be wistful about is the 17 years without a car loan or needing to get a new car.  She’s been a great work horse of a van and I wish they made anything half as durable in a 7 passenger.  

[gardenmom5]

13 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

I am desperately hoping my 12 passenger van will make it about a 6mo to a year and then I’m going to get something 7 passenger. The only thing I’m going to be wistful about is the 17 years without a car loan or needing to get a new car.  She’s been a great work horse of a van and I wish they made anything half as durable in a 7 passenger.  

they do - I had 163000 miles on mine, but I've found some out there with many more.  2000 was the last year they made AWD.

 Toyota/honda generally dependable, though it was smaller than mine.  my nephew bought his mom's Toyota van off her (he grew up with it) for his family.  it was totaled somewhere in eastern Oregon/southern Idaho.  (rural area - not near a city.)  or they'd probably still be driving it.

[Murphy101]

1 minute ago, gardenmom5 said:

they do - I had 163000 miles on mine, but I've found some out there with many more.  2000 was the last year they made AWD.

 Toyota/honda generally dependable, though it was smaller than mine.  my nephew bought his mom's Toyota van off her (he grew up with it) for his family.  it was totaled somewhere in eastern Oregon/southern Idaho.  (rural area - not near a city.)  or they'd probably still be driving it.

For my perspective. 
My ‘07 Toyota Tundra pickup has 489000 miles on it.
My ‘02 12 passenger Chevy express van has 212000 miles on it.

They've ruined my expectations for everything else.  We didn’t even treat them well. lol

[J-rap]

Selling our minivan was definitely the end of an era for us too -- not many cars could easily hold 7, plus luggage.  Lots of life happened in that car! 

But we began having so many issue with it in the end, and I finally thought, why in the world do my dh and I still have this big old thing?  We rarely even needed it for 4 people anymore.  

Switched over to our present Honda CRV and I've never looked back.  I can still transport quite a bit in it, surprisingly...  We've done college moves in it, carried 2 bikes inside, a twin mattress, a small buffet.  It definitely could not hold a sofa though! 

 

[PrincessMommy]

45 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

they do - I had 163000 miles on mine, but I've found some out there with many more.  2000 was the last year they made AWD.

 Toyota/honda generally dependable, though it was smaller than mine.  my nephew bought his mom's Toyota van off her (he grew up with it) for his family.  it was totaled somewhere in eastern Oregon/southern Idaho.  (rural area - not near a city.)  or they'd probably still be driving it.

Generally the bigger ones are made to last.  They often have truck type engines.   Mine went over 200K.  It was a Ford Club Wagon and I think they were made to go well over that.  

[gardenmom5]

2 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

For my perspective. 
My ‘07 Toyota Tundra pickup has 489000 miles on it.
My ‘02 12 passenger Chevy express van has 212000 miles on it.

They've ruined my expectations for everything else.  We didn’t even treat them well. lol

impressive for your truck

I've seen T&Cs out there with over 200K miles.  (I was looking around for pricing.)

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I don't want to ever get rid of my '07 Honda Odyssey, but it will turn over 276,000 miles the next time I drive to town.  It has been a remarkable machine.  I never even leaked a drop of oil until about a month ago, when it blew the main rear seal.  Now it leaks kind of a lot.  We are going back and forth on whether or not to replace the main seal, an expensive repair that requires that they pull the transmission, which is original with 276K miles on it. So, if they're gonna pull it out, we might as well replace it with a rebuilt, which would cost $4000.  But the rest of the van is awesome! (well, except sometimes it blows hot on the passenger side while the AC is blowing cold on the driver's side, oh and the right front strut is making a noise) But, it's been such a good car, and a rebuilt transmission would last years, but something else might fail.  But, how much are we going to sink into this old car. But it would cost many times more to replace it.  -- Back and forth we go.  We just need it to last three more years, until youngest dd is is driving, and I don't need it for carpool anymore.  Then, I'll want to replace it with something else as comfortable and roomy enough for travel to see our scattered offspring. I've started looking, but haven't found anything yet.

Anyway, I'm not selling it.  I'll drive it into the ground. I totally understand your feelings about your van, gardenmom5.  

[Miss Tick]

We've been in talks about our '05 Sienna. I want it to last 5-6 more years and then I can replace it with something smaller, but how much money does it make sense to put into the old one?

[katilac]

I'm about to sell my CRV to my dd and I'm probably doing the opposite and going bigger, lol. It's been a decade and I never stopped missing my Nissan Quest. 

Our kids are young adults so we figure it's nice to have the option of them bringing someone along on a day trip or vacation, plus we're likely to have some couple trips and do some driving for my parents as they get older. I never really got accustomed to seating only 5 (and 5 can be tight!). We can always make it work with a second car, but a true road trip calls for everyone in the same vehicle! 

I also miss being able to have all the things in my car, all the time, lol. I keep my workout bag in the car, tote bags, a picnic blanket, and stuff like paper plates and cups. That works pretty well in the CRV, but I really liked the days when I also had my skates and my scooter and a box of school/office stuff . . . I'm in the car a lot with a pretty varied schedule, so it's nice to take advantage when I have a weird hour in between things and I'm near a park or library. Those items would technically fit in my CRV but not with passengers or groceries 😄

I've been going back and forth, but I think I'm going to go big. I love the Honda Odyssey but that's probably ridiculous even for me 😂 so it will probably be a VW Atlas, Chevy Traverse, or Kia Telluride. Feel free to talk me into or out of any of those.

[WendyLady]

It’s time for us to let our ‘04 suburban go. It’s looking a little rough and has some issues (windshield crack, the AC blows hot on the passenger side but dh McGuivered a fix with earphone cords, plus some rust, etc) but it actually is driving really well. we don’t really need it anymore, I’m just a little nostalgic for when our kids were all little!

The ‘burb has nearly 300000 miles and we just have 1 kid at home, now.  But we went camping this weekend and took my dh’s new truck. The truck was fine, but you don’t have to do all the tiedowns in the suburban, and since it’s old, you don’t mind eating in it, or even sleeping in it if the weather turns really bad. 

I’m not even sure we could sell it. What do you do with a car that has orange ear phone cord wrapped around a mysterious part under the passenger side console?

[katilac]

39 minutes ago, WendyLady said:

 I’m not even sure we could sell it. What do you do with a car that has orange ear phone cord wrapped around a mysterious part under the passenger side console?

If the insurance is pretty cheap, I'd probably keep it for camping and other such scenarios!  

[WendyLady]

4 minutes ago, katilac said:

If the insurance is pretty cheap, I'd probably keep it for camping and other such scenarios!  

I totally would if our lives were more normal (whatever that means!) My dh is active duty military and we are still in the swing of moving every couple of years. It’s just too much with a teen car and dh’s truck and my (possibly future) newer car. 

But since it’s still driving and has newer tires, I’ll probably drive the dang thing another year... It just feels like with dh driving a big truck, it would be nice to have something smaller and more efficient to zip around in. 

[katilac]

17 minutes ago, WendyLady said:

 But since it’s still driving and has newer tires, I’ll probably drive the dang thing another year... It just feels like with dh driving a big truck, it would be nice to have something smaller and more efficient to zip around in. 

Well, see, that's what I thought as well, but here I am, missing the heck out of a bigger vehicle, lol. 

My dh has a big truck, but apparently I want my own bigness. 

[Corraleno]

2 hours ago, Suzanne in ABQ said:

I don't want to ever get rid of my '07 Honda Odyssey, but it will turn over 276,000 miles the next time I drive to town.  It has been a remarkable machine.

My '05 Odyssey is my favorite car I've ever owned. I love that thing, and will be so sad when it eventually goes; my kids were 2 & 6 when I bought it so that was the kidmobile for their entire childhoods. Now that DD has her license, I started looking into used cars for her but prices are so high for used Toyotas/Hondas/Subarus, I eventually decided to just get myself a new Forrester and let her drive the Odyssey. I do like the Forrester, but it's hard not to keep comparing it to the Odyssey. I just couldn't justify the cost of another Odyssey for one person running errands with no kids! When DD eventually gets her own car, I'll either keep the Odyssey for occasionally hauling large loads or give it to a relative who has young kids and only one car. Best. Car. Ever. ❤️ 

 

[gardenmom5]

2 hours ago, katilac said:

If the insurance is pretty cheap, I'd probably keep it for camping and other such scenarios!  

I suggested that to dh - we had more snow than usual last year - I suggested we keep it around for driving in snow.  awd - and we don't care about dents in it.  he thinks we'll stay home the entire time - or take his car (that he doesn't car if it gets any dents (might have a couple door dings).  it has no chains . . . . I did just order chains for mine.  my that is a big box . . . .