Sunday, March 6, 2016

Out with the Old and In with the New

Today, we finally replaced our mini van.  It has been a long time coming.  We bought our minivan in 2004 - when Arlington was 1 1 /2 years old.  We were living in California, and decided we needed a bigger car.  We knew we were going to be expanding our family, and we were getting ready to drive across the country to move to Florida, so a nice big comfy van was going to come in handy.

Today - at 12 years old, 218,700 miles, and many (many) dents later - our time with that van came to an end.  This is the only van the kids remember - and they have spent quite a bit of time in there.  Finley came home from the hospital in this van.  I picked up Mat and Cainan up from the airport when he came home from China in this van.  We have taken countless trips in it - especially back and forth to Pennsylvania to visit family.

It is a Toyota and has been a great car.  It has never had a major problem - just minor quips along the way.  It is a beast and has taken a beating with three kids and two dogs.  It has hauled more wood from Home Depot than you can imagine.  It worked hard.

So this weekend - now that the winter seems to be behind us - Mat and I decided it was time to retire her.  I knew what I wanted - either another Toyota or a Honda.  The top two brands in minivans for many years running.  We need something big, and something safe - we still have many years of hauling kids around.

I did find a Toyota Sienna I really liked.  It was red, and had enough things that we needed.  It drove beautifully.  And then Mat and I test drove a Honda Odyssey and liked it just as well.  It made the decision very hard.  We left the Honda dealership, went to dinner with the kids, and made our final decision.

And the Honda won.  Mostly because we got a little more for our money, and it was a 2016 instead of a 2015.  Small minor things which in the end - don't make much of a difference.

Besides - it was blue.

So this morning, we cleaned out the old Toyota (that was gross), and went and picked up our new van.  Here is to another 12 years of minivan driving!

Our old van - she was well loved
 The new baby:
 It is an 8 passenger.  We didn't chose that - it comes that way now.  But that middle seat can be taken out:

 Lots of buttons for me to push......and screw up

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