- Obligatory Halloween post tomorrow!!
A handful of you have been asking about Brady’s work van situation. I’ve only touched on it briefly here in hopes that he would get around to writing a guest post about it. However, work has been crazy busy (which we are SO thankful for) and that paired with our already busy life, it just hasn’t happened. So while its not quite as good, I’m here to tell you what headway we’ve made since last week when Brady’s van died.
We’ve had the pleasure of using a friend’s vehicle since Brady’s Astro caved, but we were actively on the hunt for something of our own. We looked at two cargo vans on the weekend but they were no good. We had a couple other ones in mind, but they either fell through or had far too many red flags attached. There were a couple we thought we’d try to see during this week, but one freed up a bit earlier than expected, and we made a plan to see it on Sunday.
I waited in our vehicle with the kids and Brady went to see the van behind the owners little townhouse complex. He was back there for a decent while before he came back to join us. He seemed hesitantly optimistic. After seeing a few duds, we didn’t want to raise our hopes or settle for something that was going to break down right away. However, this van had no visible leaks, better mileage than the others we had seen, for less money. Brady said he wanted to take it for a test drive, but it wasn’t plated. There was NO way we were going to buy it without driving it, so we thought quickly and made a plan. We pulled our vehicle into the guy’s back driveway and pulled the plate off. Brady stuck it on the other van and he and the current owner went out for a drive.
They were gone for a good while, but when they returned, Brady was excited. I could tell he was trying to be very careful and not get too excited, but he was bordering on giddy. He really, really liked it. Apparently it drove pretty nice, with no weird sounds or concerns. They had stopped at a gas station to put a bit of fuel in it, and Brady gave the whole thing another look over. Still no leaks or concerns after driving it! YES! He told me the price they had negotiated, and I agreed that it was a good choice.
Except. Having not exactly expected Brady’s van to die as abruptly as it had, we didn’t have all the finances in order. We had just paid down a debt and were not eager to wrack it back up again. So we took a bit of a risk and left the guy a chunk of money as a down payment. He happily agreed to hang onto the van for us until we could get it. We told him we’d have it figured out by mid-week.
And we did!! We are now the proud owner of this beast.
Yup. You heard it here first. Or maybe you didn’t. But we now own TWO huge vans. We are officially that family. We have our bus, and our bus 15 years ago.
Today was Brady’s first day driving this new van to work. He is SO happy! This is what he has to say on the subject.
I love it! It’s like the work version of switching from the minivan to the bus. 🙂 miles better!
It’s a little rough on the highway right now cuz it needs an alignment and tire balance but it will be smooth and solid.
The cargo area is 11’+ by 5’+ so there room for all my tools and materials if need be. As well as shelving down the sides in the future.
Rumour has it that if properly maintained, this van should last another 250,000-300,000 kms which would equal out to about 10 to 15 years of commuting to and from work.
There you have it! Brady has a van that we hope and pray runs a heck of a lot better and stronger than the horrendous Astro. If anyone wants the seats, speak now! They’re currently living in my driveway and I’m pretty eager to ditch them. I feel the same way about the Astro, that is also living in my driveway. That, however, we’re hauling away next week, never to be seen again around these part! Thank goodness!
Have a happy, safe Halloween! I’ll show you everyone’s costumes tomorrow!