{"id":1579,"date":"2011-10-19T20:30:04","date_gmt":"2011-10-20T01:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cottrillcompass.com\/blog\/?p=1579"},"modified":"2011-10-19T20:36:36","modified_gmt":"2011-10-20T01:36:36","slug":"van-bought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cottrillcompass.com\/blog\/2011\/van-bought.html","title":{"rendered":"Van Bought."},"content":{"rendered":"

Today we bought a used van to (Lord willing) take us back to Mexico!<\/b><\/p>\n

We traded in our Chevy Astro for a Dodge Grand Caravan.  Here they are, together for the one and only time:<\/p>\n

\"Old<\/center><\/p>\n

Why?<\/h3>\n

We really appreciated our Astro – and if they ever make them again, I might just line up to get one.  However, the last Astro was made in May 2005.<\/p>\n

Then came new restrictions in Mexico City – on vehicles over 8 years old (our Astro was a 2003).  In fact, you can’t drive foreign vehicles in Mexico City that are over 8 years old.  You can nationalize them, but then you have other restrictions.  The Grand Caravan is a 2007, which gives us some time.<\/p>\n

In addition – well, we do a lot of driving, and it helps to have a reliable vehicle.<\/p>\n

The Astro wasn’t as reliable as it used to be – although I admit we were fudging in the last few months.  Was it because of the fudging that we spent hundreds … er … thousands<\/i> of dollars due to Astro repairs on this trip alone?  Including… hate to say it… a repair a few days ago<\/i> which we didn’t feel we could avoid.<\/p>\n

The day we bought the Astro we started saving up for the next vehicle.<\/b><\/p>\n

Ok, maybe I didn’t save quite<\/i> enough.  There wasn’t really enough of what we wanted in our price range.  And even lowering our expectations, we still went over the budget a bit<\/i>.  But I think the Grand Caravan will be a good compromise.  And it’s hard to not spend a little extra if you seem to be getting something a lot more reliable.<\/p>\n

By the way, some friends have also donated towards this van, which was a help.  We’ll still be doing some maintenance on it before heading back.  Some things I haven’t yet been able to have done reliably in Mexico, so I really need to get it done before we go.  (If you’d like to donate, you can simply give to our support – no special notation is needed.  Instructions here.<\/a>)  Thanks so much!<\/i><\/p>\n

So . . . we have some maintenance to do (although it’s in very good shape), and we have to put our Mexico flag license plate on the front because we<\/font> are cool<\/font><\/b>.  Meanwhile we’re going to drive it around and let everything settle. \ud83d\ude09 <\/p>\n\n\n
\"Dodge<\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Thanks to those who have prayed and helped in other ways as we’ve searched for a van.  Thanks to our friend Earl who went looking with me and gave lots of advice.  And thanks to many of you who recommended High Country Chevrolet Buik GMC<\/a><\/b> (where we eventually purchased the van) and to Doug and Larry and others there who were so helpful.<\/p>\n

May this van be another tool to be used in the Lord’s service in Canada, the USA, and Mexico!  In some way it’s a small thing, but it’s also something we use most days of the week and something that uses up a lot of time and money if anything goes wrong! \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n

So – praise the Lord!  The search is over.  For now.<\/p>\n

Now, time to start saving up for the next one . . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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