Many years ago, I swore I would not be the driver of a minivan. Regular cars and extended cab trucks were the only vehicles in my mind. Then Martin, the caboose, came along and getting the car seat and kids in the back of the Taurus station wagon proved to be problematic. So, I ate my words and entered the realm of the soccer mom.
To be sure, the minivan served us well. It got us where we needed to go with plenty of room. It was with a little reminiscing that I let it go last week. Now that Claire is off to college, we no longer need a minivan and downsized to an Outback, adding another 4WD to the stable. We did well by this van, it served us well and only lost about $1000 dollars of value each year we had it. It was a bit of a risk to buy a Kia many years ago as some wondered how long they’d be in business – well, as it turns out, I never would have guessed that GM and Chrysler would go under!