Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Van-Buying Adventure!

For a couple of years our van, the Band Van that carries our music equipment for a full stage set-up, has been on its last legs.  Lately it has developed numerous problems that would add up to some serious money to fix, so I've been looking for a small trailer we can tow behind the car.  Are you kidding?  $1,000 or more for a used enclosed 4x6ft trailer?  So I shopped on Craiglist and found a 1998 Ford Windstar for $1,200 that had some damage from being run into a garage door frame.



I did my homework, getting a Vehicle History and Title Report and the attendant legal docs, we borrowed a trailer from Don's daughter, packed a lunch and hit the road for the 1 1/2 hour drive into Austin.  We looked it over, drove it and liked what we saw.  It was well-cared for, all the service history was there, the interior is in great shape and there are at least couple of years left on the tires.  We filled out the paperwork, paid and drove to Llano to deliver it to our trusted wrecking-yard owner friend, John Myers.  He will fix it (it won't be pretty but it will pass inspection) for about $500 and when we're ready, will give us $300 for the old van for scrap.  So that adds up to about $1,400 for a van that should easily last us 10 years.  I think we did alright.

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