A new car!

Well - it's really a van. The wife and I spent a lot of time looking at cars online, comparing specs, prices, etc Friday evening. Then she decided that she really likes the higher seating position that a minivan offers. Ok - no problem. Minivan or psuedo SUV. No more looking at cars (bummer as I really like the HHR).

So we started looking at our auto show brochures. The Chevy van looks like a dolphin, Dodge minivans are forbidden, KIA - well - they don't hold up in a Illinois hailstorm, Toyota - too expensive, Honda - too expensive, Ford - hmmm - except for the recent problem we've been really happy with the two we've owned. Ok - Ford Windstar Freestar. I've got no problem with that. Checked the brochure that we had and the base model has everything we need. Now to find a dealer that has one...

Checked the paper on Saturday morning and there was an ad from a Ford dealer in Roselle with a new Freestar for 16,900. Seems ok. Called them up and it was a business model. No rear seats and the security cage. Bummer. The salesman stated that if we came in that he would make the trip worth our time on any Freestar on the lot. Ok - sounds like a interesting challenge. We drove over and found the salesman.

We did a bit of walking the aisle. Most of the Freestars were $30,000.00 and up. Way more than we can afford and more than we need. Came across 2 that were spec'd out pretty close to what we wanted and only (only? hard to believe I said that!) $25,000.00. Took one out for a drive. A little firmer than our current Windstar, the controls are slightly different, but otherwise it was basically the same. Back at the dealer the wife was agonizing over the color. It was a medium gray that doesn't hide dirt very well. Looked at the other one that was the same price - it's color is Spruce Green Clearcoat Metallic. Very subtle and it changes color depending on lighting conditions. I drove that one to make sure there were no obvious problems.

We got back and I handed over my Windstar key to get a trade-in value. I wasn't expecting much due to the problems that it had. I was wrong. We ended up with $4,200.00 in rebates and $6,500.00 in tradein/discount. And a free built in DVD player. We were both happy with the price. An hour and a half later we were on our way to lunch in the new van.

The wife is happy. And thats all that really matters.