To Fix, Or Not To Fix?

As I mentioned a couple days ago, the Green Beast needs work. Lots of it. After getting the details and doing research, Ben decided we might be able to repair the $1,500 worth of repairs for between $500 and $800 if we omit or put off some things and he does some of the work himself. A ray of hope!

Yesterday, the last day the Beast was legal, I was driving up to my mom's house. I took 1800 South in Bountiful, which is a bear of a hill. The van started seeming gutless. Then it started to shake like I was driving over washboard. The power continued to diminish, and as I turned onto 900 East, I lost all power. The engine would rev, but I would only drift backwards.

I turned it off and asked my mom to come get me. I made some more calls, and the people whose house I was in front of helped me push it closer to the curb and farther from the corner. We left it there until evening when Ben's dad helped tow it home. It will go in reverse, but no other gears will catch.

Broken transmission, anyone?

In summary:

$800 to repair lots of stuff ourselves
$175 for a new windshield
??? for a new/rebuilt/used transmission.

We bought it for $3,000 14 months ago, and we have already put almost $1,000 into it on repairs.

I wish so very much that we could get a new car, but it's just not an option. It's fix this or be down to one car. Also, Ben had his bike stolen recently, which makes that harder. And who wants to wander around with a stroller in the winter?

Even if we do fix it, with a 14-year-old car that has 200,000 miles on it, I just have to ask myself what will go wrong next and when. So far, if you average out what he have paid, it's still lower than a car payment for a new equivalent vehicle. But it still comes unexpectedly in lump sums, and we can't save up for a new car because we are constantly paying for the old one. Grrrrr...

There are 2 silver linings on this cloud of automotive doom: 1) We kept the blue van instead of the sedan, so at least we still have a car that holds our whole family, albeit a tight fit, and 2) At least we didn't have them repair the $1,500 and THEN have the transmission go out.

Any thoughts, hints, suggestions, encouragement, and empathy would be most heartily welcome. I'm really upset about this whole mess.

Wunch at da Pahk and Other News

Today I asked Buster what he wanted to do. He promptly responded, "Wunch at da pahk!" I thought for a second and decided it sounded like fun. Naturally, he wanted to leave right then, but I explained that in order to eat lunch at the park, I had to make lunch.

We live half a block from a small park. We are not too far from Jordan Park. I thought I understood that he wanted to go to Jordan Park. So assuming, I started to load Abel into the car. (It was close enough to naptime that we didn't have time to walk.) Apparently, he really wanted to walk to the park, so I got Abel and the stroller out. We walked to the small park, and he said, "No! Dat pahk!" He was pointing toward Jordan Park. It was getting even closer to naptime to change at that point, so I managed to get him to eat at the small park.

We sat down and got out the lunch. He drank his juice, but he ate only 3 or 4 bites of sandwich before going to play.

When it was time for Abel's nap, I bundled him into the stroller and started to head home. He had been under the impression that we would go to Jordan Park immediately after the small park instead of another time. He cried the whole way home, continuing with the refrain: "No! Dat pahk!"

We got home, and when he finally stopped crying, I tried to give him his pacifier and lovey on my bed so I could put Abel down. He insisted on his bed. I decided to give the same-time nap in the same room another try. Well, they were certainly happy enough. I heard lots of laughter! I went in to tell them they had 10 minutes to go to sleep, and Buster decided to get out of bed. I gave him the choice between napping on my bed or finishing his lunch.

He's eating his squished sandwich at the dining room table.

And all this at a time that I decided the reason Abel is waking up at night is because there is too much flexibility in his routine. Abel cried for a while after he left.

5 minutes later: The sandwich is almost gone, and Abel is quiet after I tucked him in again.

Sometimes getting out of the routine works, like when we went to the zoo last week. Today I wasn't so lucky. Well, I need to enjoy it while I can. Our Green Beast didn't pass inspection, and the quote to fix it was $1,500. Ben thinks he can do some of the work himself for a little cheaper, so we brought it back home. With his campaign and his calling, I doubt he'll have time until November. We also need a new furnace. Ours is a fire hazard and is releasing small amounts of carbon monoxide through the vents. That trumps the car.

New Van!

We did it! We found a new vehicle for our family.
Short story:
It's a 1996 Ford E-350 12-passenger with just a few miles on it. A little more than we need, but lots of people and/or cargo space. Well maintained, and in great shape for its age.

Long story:
We had decided that if we had to get a new vehicle anyway, it would be nice if it would hold our whole family (7 as of this coming November) plus at least one more in case we needed to take a friend with us. It's amazing how many 8 passenger vehicles there are not. Lots of them are Toyotas and Hondas, which, while wonderfully reliable, are out of our price range--way out! (Sorry, Cripple Chicken.) Anyway, after lots of looking, we realized we were to big vans or SUVs. Ben has very fond memories of the Ford van they had growing up. We also realized that most Ford vans available are conversion vans--with the oh-so-coveted captains chairs that reduce seating from 8 to 7! I'd rather have another Dodge Caravan. We also found a lot of 15-passenger vans, which would be just a little much. We found an awesome Diesel 15-passenger Ford van for only $4,000--not including the minimum $1,000 required to bring the interior to a state in which we would feel like we could put our children in it. We decided 12-passenger would be ideal--plenty of room for people, and we could even remove the back seat for tons of cargo space if necessary and still have room for our family. They also tow just about anything.

We found this van a week ago, and after much contemplating and prayer decided it was right for us. It's not new--it's 1996! The interior, exterior, and working parts are all in fabulous condition for its age and mileage. Is it perfect? No. Would I rather have a newer car? Sure--but I don't want the payments. We plan to fix up (if we can cheap) the Chrysler and the Vanagon. We will save up, and hopefully by the time the Green Beast dies, we will be able to afford something a little newer and nicer the next time around.

I love the power the engine has, and the kids love the space. They can practically each have their own bench at this point! I also love the color. So, thanks to the great family who sold it to us (my dad has heard stories about piling everyone into this thing for football games--he went to high school with the original owner). Here's hoping we get a lot more miles out of this baby!