The new arrival, our 2nd mini-van

After some procrastination and research, I finally got off my butt and got us a second car. The Neon that I drive received a "DNR" (Do Not Repair) from our mechanic, besides it was very uncomfortable to drive and turning into an unsafe vehicle. So, after some thought, budget review and a lot of dragging my feet, I went out last Monday a found a great buy for us, a second mini-van.

I just knew from the moment I discovered the ad on craigslist.com that the owner took good care of it, and took the time to really describe the van and it's features in great detail. After meeting him and taking the van for a ride on the streets and the highway, it became more evident that this was "the car" we should buy. I told the owner he could expect to hear from me the next day and that our decision was most likely going to be a "yes". We slept on it overnight and I called him Tuesday (in between playing Mr Mom for the day) to let him know we would take it, pay cash and pick it up on Thursday night after work.

The van is a 1996 Chrysler Town and Country, 98,000 miles, and has a lot of options such as a 2-ton tow package with a small hitch, rear A/C, 2 removable bucket seats along with a removable bench seat and a new Sony 32X4 CD/stereo with detachable face plate, rook rack and new tires. As you can see by the photos, the rear cargo area of the van is currently modified (by the previous owner who is a carpenter) to act as a mobile workshop and tool transport . I'll be taking this wood out sometime next week, but I want a few people to see how cool this is right now. We'll have to get it registered soon and then we'll have our mechanic Jim look it over to give us a list of what we need to repair as time goes by. The van's inspection runs out next month, so we'll get that done too. The carpenter was a really nice guy, very informative and open about the van and it's history. He's the 2nd owner and his friend was the first owner of the van and took great care of the vehicle. I gave it a very thorough inspection from top to bottom and underneath to best of my experience but all along you could tell that this van was cared for and maintained by both owners. So, now we're officially a 2-van family and soon to be minus a Neon.