So Sean and I have been talking on and off for sometime about looking at purchasing a new vehicle or another vehicle. While we love our Mazda Tribute it’s feeling a little small with the two of us, two boys and a dog. We know a minivan is the next step. I know for myself it’s taken some deep thinking to come to the realization that a minivan wouldn’t be as dorky or uncool as I think. It might even been cool? In preparation of purchasing our next vehicle Sean and I did our research — we went to the Auto Show last year and then again this year to scout out minivans and seeing what was out there. We narrowed down our search to the Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey and Dodge Grand Caravan. Of course the Honda brand is outstanding, Sean use to own a Civic, they are reliable and hold their value. We’ve always felt that they are well worth their price. To our disappointment the Honda is just out of our price range. Scratch that one. The Toyota Sienna is our next choice. I will admit I’ve never thought anything of Toyota — one way or the other — but looking at the Sienna I discovered a love of the vehicle and the brand. Yes I know there were those recalls but the Sienna was never part of that. I can remember reading about how Toyota dealt with the recession — instead of laying off employees they reduced the number of vehicles they made and released; thus creating a demand for their brand and improving their image of a “caring” company. To me that is smart business sense. Luckily for us the Sienna was within our price range. Our third choice is the Dodge Grand Caravan. It is a domestic vehicle that is well equipped with a price that is well within our budget.
So like I said Sean and I felt we had some time to slowly look around and see what’s out there; well our trusty truck had other thoughts. It all started after a nice big fat bill just before Christmas, that got the ball rolling a little faster for Sean and I, then into April we started to hear very similar sounds and see very similar leaks to what we just fixed back before Christmas. Hummm….so we took it in and wow were we in for a shock. The leaks and noises were apparently not related to what we just fixed, it was something else, something more to fix that would cost us. That really got the ball rolling, seems like we will have to be looking a little harder and more seriously now. And then in the process of looking our truck got even worse….like we went from bad to very bad very fast. The decision as to when to buy was being made for us, the decision had to be made now. Our trusty 8 year old truck that we were so diligent in ensuring all maintenance, oil changes and repairs were done on time has just gone and pretty much died on us. We thought that by being so diligent that would ensure our truck would last us more than 8 years. That our trusty truck would stick with us and eventually turn into a nice second vehicle. Boy were we wrong. At this point I am at a loss as to what happened, why the truck just blew up the way it did, was it something we did, what could we have done to prevent it, or was it just it’s time to go….vehicles you need them to get you from A to B and everywhere in between, you take pride in your vehicle, you wash it outside and in, you get attached to your vehicle and then you take it into the shop for a simple oil change and come out spending many more dollars than you expected. And really you don’t know whether the technicians are telling you the truth, you don’t know if they are playing you or really being honest, you really have to go out on a limb and trust them, trust that they know what they are doing and that they really wouldn’t gouge you for everything you’ve got. It’s a love hate relationship with vehicles.
So we found the vehicle we like; we bought the Toyota Sienna. We bought from Sherwood Park Toyota and they have a wonderful play structure right inside the dealership, so the boys got to play all day! We endlessly debated over the makes and models, what options were necessary, what were luxury and what we could spend within our budget. We over-analysed the financing till we were blue in the face (and yes we had a spreadsheet). We did our homework, we bartered to our best ability and we feel we got a good deal. And we went with red! And so my love hate relationship with vehicles starts all over again with this one. I now have a renewed trust and expectation that this vehicle will last us longer than our truck…love it hate it there is no way around it (not with two kids, a dog, day home and work to go to 5 days a week).
Owen had mixed thoughts over this new vehicle. He loves the truck, it’s all he’s known but then the new vehicle is so very cool. The boys said good-bye to our truck and then hello to our new van. Bye truck, it was fun while it lasted – you saw us through from just Sean and I, to our wedding, to the addition of our pup Kosmo and then a couple more additions to our family – Owen first, then Brandon.
