The New Van

Isn't she purdy?  It's not the greatest shot.  This is the pic I took when we went to the place to pick it up.  It doesn't even have it's plates on it yet.... (well it does now, I took this a few days ago!)

So this is a 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan.  We thought about getting a Honda again, but Tim really liked what this had to offer.  It has remote start, which is great in winter time, it has remote doors and back, video system, USB plug in, and a whole bunch of other features that I don't really care about.  I'm just happy that it fits us all.  We've been driving around a 5 seater, which meant that we could only go out and do things while the big kids were in school!

So we chose to buy new, because 1st, all the used cars here, were not much less than new.  Seriously, anything that looked even remotely nice, was at LEAST 18,000.  It's not like Okinawa.  We were also looking for a large vehicle, and there aren't to many of those around here.  In the long run, with the winter weather, and the traveling we plan to do while we're here, we wanted to make sure that the van we're driving is up to the task.  So what about our red van?  Well, it's on it's way here, should be here in a month or two.  When it's time to leave, we'll pay to ship it back to the states.  We don't owe anything on the red van.  It's ours outright, and it doesn't make sense to get rid of it, and get something else, that we'll have to make payments on.  Instead, we'll set aside the money, so when we finally get back to the states, we'll be prepared.  The AF will ship one, and we will ship the other.

So do we like it?  Well yes, and no.  It's big.  It feels bigger than the Honda.  I personally don't like the way it takes corners.  I feel like the turn radius is really bad.  The roads here are small, and having a car that can take a tight turn is really nice.  When the Honda gets here, I'm sure I'll have a chance to really compare the two.  However, I LOVE the onboard movie system ( the kids love it too!)  It has been a life saver while I've had to wait in the car while Tim runs into the housing office, this office, that office, running errands that would bore the kids to tears.  The heater is great!  It has a dark interior, which makes me happy.  It fits us all, and it has a TON of storage that our Honda does not have.  It's a good purchase, and we will definitely get some great use out of it!