Today, we finally become real Trads June 6, 2016
Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, Domestic Church, family, fun, General Catholic, silliness, Tradition.trackback
We’re off to buy a large van. Now we’re finally full members of the club. Or maybe junior members? It only has 12 seats. Hardcore trads need 15 passenger vans.
And since I prefer the traditional van style, not the newer taller slenderer types, I only have one option anymore. At least that made the shopping very easy. Plus the fact that I can get the van in any color I want, so long as it’s white.
First time I’ve bought a car in 12 years. First time I’ve had to haggle on a car since 1999! When I bought our last two 12 and 14 years ago, I worked at Cisco and got supplier pricing from all domestic brands. I just walked right in and got an awesome price, no fuss or muss. I still miss the mother ship.
I’ll be away this arvonoon closing the deal. Terrifying to think that if we keep this van as long as I’ve kept my truck, we’ll still have it in 2030, when there’ll be flying cars and off-world colonies.
OR, we’ll be living in the white monster after the total collapse of Western Civilization. Definitely one or the other, though…..
Anyone want to buy a “lightly” used Suburban with 210,000 miles on it? In many ways, that Suburban has been the best vehicle I’ve ever owned. It’s been totally bulletproof, except for the transmission. Make that transmissions.
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A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics 
white monster as in White river, AR??
Thanks for catching that I missed an article there. “The” added.
Ford E-350? 5.4L? Don’t forget the tow package. Just sayin’ that it comes in real handy.
They stopped production of the passenger variant after the 2015 model year. Don’t like the Euro-style Transit. So only GM makes a traditional US-style full size van anymore.
Our 8 were 22 years apart so we never had to go that big… First an ’86 Ford Crown Vic wagon and then a Toyota Sienna Van… The van did better than the wagon, although neither were great…. But I am loving my 4-Runner… Grandkids love it too 😀. Good luck with the search!
I was commenting to people the other day about the giant station wagons of old. How you could put 10 or 12 kids in them easy, if you didn’t mind them sliding around the rear cargo area. I rode like that many times. Before seat belt laws, you could crowd quite a few kids in them. But they don’t make anything like that anymore.
I was already going to reply that you better be able to live in it, then you typed it first. We are sprinting toward SHTF time. Also, I would be sure to keep the Suburban, and keep it maintained.
We considered a van, but the sticker shock convinced me otherwise. We do two cars when necessary.
We got a good deal on a lightly used 2016. We would have had some trouble affording a brand new one.
Don’t know how I’m going to replace my truck, with equivalents today having MSRPs in the mid-to-upper 50s. Nearly twice what I paid for mine 14 years ago. There are rebates, but they’re still too much. Probably going to have to downsize substantially.
15-passenger Ford here. But we took out the last seat to fit in the groceries. I didn’t know I was so hardcore. Sometimes I find it hilarious that I fit in perfectly to the hardcore rad trad, yet I’ve never even met a hardcore rad trad!
aka: LaGallina
I was being thoroughly tongue in cheek.
Tantumblogo:
I think you will like the GM 2500 or 3500. You probably got the 6.0L gas V8. It has a comfortable ride, and lots of room. The larger Nissan van is built on the Titan chassis, and the newer domestic vans are built more like cargo vans (the Sprinter is really a European van) and it’s a little difficult for the manufacturers to sell them as passenger vans – that’s where GM has a niche in the market.
Yes, prices have gone up. Just replaced a 2011 Ranger I lost in a hailstorm. Was able to find a similar one owner 2011 with low miles. If I had kids, I would have purchased a full size truck with a back seat, or a Frontier or Tacoma Crew Cab. No disrespect to Toyota, and the Tacoma will last 10-15 years, but I didn’t want to spend $30K for a new truck.
I think we’ll like the van fine. I’ve only ever owned one non-GM vehicle, though my support for them has withered since 2008 and the bailout. But in this case, there really wasn’t much choice. Either get a much older and higher mileage vehicle than we wanted, or get a Chevy. But it’s a nice van with a backup camera, Onstar, cold AC, and more or less power everything (except the mirrors, for some reason).
One problem: we’re going to have to get the garage door raised, it doesn’t quite fit. Too tall by about 1/2″.