We've had one minor source of discomfort here as a larger family, which I'm sure many can relate to (no matter how many children you have!). We do not enjoy going out as a family because my minivan is just a tad cramped for our family of 7 after we add any supplies we may need.
I know this is something almost everyone can relate to at some point, as I've seen many vans and larger SUVs with family stickers on them sporting only 1 or 2 children, or a few even with no children but several "fur babies" that are transported. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with having a vehicle larger in seating than what you may fit, and this is a lesson I've learned only after having a 5th child and a dog.
If you are not aware, I am blessed that we own an 8 passenger van. We purchased the vehicle shortly after learning of my pregnancy with our 4th child, trading in my awesome crew cab pickup truck with suicide doors (I could easily fit our then 5 member family in there). We've had this van for 6 1/2 years now, and it has served us very well. It fits us for a quick trip to the store or for an outing to visit family or friends locally, or even a trip to the park or a nearby field trip (such as to the local science and history museum). However, we are unable to pack it adequately for a day trip with the stroller for my toddler, a cooler for meals and snacks, extra clothes for EVERY person (2 outfits for the toddler!), diapers and wipes, and anything else we may need. My kids in the third row fight nonstop as I have 3 back there (we removed a 2nd row seat to provide access to the 3rd row) and that causes a great deal of noise and distraction to the driver no matter WHERE we go.
We've made the transition to being a 2 vehicle family for any outing more than 10 minutes away from home whenever possible, just to not hear the fighting. But this gives us a different set of complaints. All the kids want to ride with daddy, and none with mommy, so they take turns 2 girls at a time (we only have 1 car seat for Preston at this point and it stays in the van because I refuse to wrestle it on a regular basis). This is a great solution for the most part, but it results in Scott and I frequently on our cell phones the entire trip to make sure that I know where I'm going, and I feel it reduces the family time a little bit. I miss being all in one vehicle for outings, but can't STAND the fighting from the back 3 kids hitting each other and ganging up 2 kids on 1 back there and screaming about a sister singing along with the radio, well you get the idea. I would wear ear plugs if it wasn't a bad idea because of needing to hear emergency vehicle sirens.
I saw this issue coming long before this time, as I started searching for a larger van during my pregnancy with Preston. This is a big deal to me, as I once told Scott that I would never be one of those moms who drives a minivan. I pouted for quite a long time when Scott chose to trade my truck in for my minivan instead of getting me the Suburban that I had picked out. He wouldn't even LOOK at my pick, he just went straight to what is now my van and we test drove it and bought it. Now, I love having a van instead of the SUV that I wanted originally.
The only way to get a bigger van than what we already have is to buy one of those vans that a lot of people refer to as "church vans." These vans seat 12-15 passengers and are HUGE. Of course, we could just buy a retired short bus, but that would probably require us both to have a CDL to drive it. We do joke often about buying a bus and then have a laugh at the mental image of the horrified reactions from our neighbors who are already trying to run us out of the neighborhood with bogus calls to the city for violations that don't exist. The neighbors have cooled it once I flipped on the rudest one and raked them both over the fire, and now they approach us with things instead of just calling the city. Finally.
I have very specific wants for a new van of course. I want it to be a 15 passenger van, but instead of bench seats I want captain's chairs and lap/shoulder belts in ALL positions for maximum safety in a crash (lap belts I feel are about useless outside of installing a harness car seat). I don't care about little things like having LATCH, although it would be nice, or the color of the van (which I'd REALLY prefer to not have a white van if possible). In the past 2 years, I've not found exactly what I'm looking for because of a couple little specifics. All the pre-owned vans in my area have bench seats and a LOT of lap-only belts, or they are a 12 passenger van that isn't on a 15 body (meaning no cargo space behind the back row of seating).
Until last weekend, that is........
I found a dealership 90 miles away with THREE vans that fit my specifics (minus the fact that they are white, oh well can't win them all!). These vans have captain's seats in all positions, which modifies it from a 15 passenger to a 14 passenger van. They have lap/shoulder belts in all seating positions, and are in great condition and at a very affordable price. I've already made the call to our insurance company to find out what the difference in policy pricing would be, and it is more than affordable with the slight changes I made to our policy in the same call. All that is left to do is a step that I cannot do, which is to contact the bank to find out about financing the vehicle. That is a step that Scott needs to do, as all credit that we take out is always in his name as the head of our family. I need to get together the things that Scott needs to have for the bank, which he will be doing first thing Saturday morning on his way home from work (I want to secure approval before we make the trip to Akron, for obvious reasons). I am currently in the process of reviewing our budget to make final cuts that will more easily allow us to make the payments on this van, but I don't have too much to do there.
Having a car payment will be an adjustment for us after living payment free for several years now, but I know that we have the budget to make it work and I'm comfortable with taking out a loan until we can pay it WAY down (or completely paid off) in the spring with our tax refund.
Now I already hear the question from you. "Why don't you just wait for the refund to buy the van instead?" Well, I've been looking a little under 2 years for the perfect van for our family, and now that we found it I do not want to pass it up and risk not finding another in the spring. I would rather take a tight budget for about 6 months to make 100% sure that we don't have to settle for a less ideal vehicle for more money. The van I found is just over $11,000 for exactly what I want, while comparable vans in my area are $15,000 and up without fitting the specific must-have things that this van does. The van we are going after at that lovely price is worth close to $18,000 according to KBB, so if I can get it that low I'm going to jump. It is truly a deal that we are meant to have, as I've prayed for an amazing deal to be granted to us at the perfect timing for our family.
I can't wait to find out what Scott gets worked out at the bank this weekend, and if we are going to go for it definitely. He knows how much this purchase means to me personally, and has promised to do whatever he can to make it happen. Here's hoping!
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