Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
If you've been following along, you'll have at least some idea that I'm looking around for a truck or something. I'm headed back into the 4-wheeled world, at least for a while.
Anyway, my search for a truck has been difficult, at best. I found one that looked really promising, but an inspection revealed that it needed $400 minimum in work, with $900 in recommended work (timing belt and associated stuff). It also had a leaking rear main seal, which would have been another $900+ job in 0-10,000 miles. Not the best deal in a $3000 truck.
I looked at a few others, but none of them really stood out as being worthy. Finally, this weekend, I came around to the idea of a minivan instead of a truck.
The minvan has a number of compelling features:
So, I went and looked at this one today:
V6, 3.0L, Automatic, Rear wheel drive, auto windows and door locks. It runs good and looks good. It's a teal green color with grey interior. The interior is good with no rips. It has 131,800 miles but has always been taken care of. My grandpa has owned it for years and only drives it around his town to do his errands. Kelly Blue Book is $2140 for good condition so it's a steal at $1900. Come take it for a spin. 714-928-2118.
It was much as described, although "always taken care of" may be stretching it a little bit: the air conditioning didn't work, and the airbag light had been covered over with a piece of black electrical tape. It was flashing a code 41, which apparently means "PRIMARY CRASH SENSOR CIRCUITS HIGH RESISTANCE OR OPEN." Presumably grandpa didn't feel like shelling out the big bucks to have the airbag fixed, so he just covered the light.
It was heavier than I was expecting, although that makes sense: the Aerostar was built on a truck frame. Of course, that also means it's got a 4400 pound towing capacity, which might come in handy. It's certainly got plenty of room, being literally a scaled-down full-size van.
Other than the AC and airbag fault, there didn't seem to be much wrong with it. The engine block had a bit of oil on it, but nothing extreme, and not bad for a 23 year old car. Overall, I came away from it feeling it was a "not bad" choice. Of course, coupled with a price of $1900 (more than a thousand dollars cheaper than the roughly-equivalent Toyota truck I looked at before), "not bad" starts to look "pretty good."
Factor in things like the fact that insurance may be less (lower market value), and gas mileage will be about comparable, and it sounds even better. Of course, it's still a big fat gas guzzler, and I'm not excited about that, but it sounds a lot better than renting a truck every time I'm going to need one.
I'll have to think further on this.
Posted at 19:37 permanent link category: /misc
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater