I've Gone Over to the Dark Side

It is true.  I've done it.  I've gone over to the dark side.  Before I ever even contemplated having children I always said, "I will never drive a mini van.  I will be an SUV mom."  I was adamant about it.  I am cooler than a mini van.  I've always had an SUV (starting with a Ford Explorer, Chevy Blazer, Dodge Durango, and finally a Ford Escape Hybrid) and I've always loved SUV's. 

Struggling with my weak ab muscles to get my daughter in and out of the middle of the backseat of my SUV I found myself starting to be seduced by the idea of a roomy mini van and so Paul and I went just to test drive a few.  No harm in that right?  I can still be an SUV mom, but I wanna know what all the fuss is about. 

We started with the Toyota Sienna...the $44,000 sticker priced Toyota Sienna Limited.  Unless you are wealthy do not ever look at a $44k car.  This mini van was nicer than most 5 star hotel rooms.  There was heated leather seats, 2 sun roofs, a huge DVD screen, reclining back seats with foot rests.  I started to salivate over the features of this van.  Think Pavlov's dogs and the bell kind of drool.  I promised Paul if he'd buy me this mini van that I'd live in it.

So, we headed on to Kia.  The Sedona was actually a lot nicer than I had anticipated and much much cheaper.  It didn't drive as smoothly as the Sienna. 

Then we headed to another Toyota dealership and drove another Sienna.  This was a pre-owned LE with low models, upgraded leather seats, and I just didn't like it.  Paul loved it because of the price and low models, but I couldn't stop thinking about that Limited.  Sigh...

So our first weekend of just looking at mini vans ended with a stop at Honda.  They didn't have any Odysseys with the features we wanted, but we were told they were getting a pre-owned one with low miles that had leather seats on Monday.  The salesman said he'd call us. 

Monday goes by with no call so I stop by on Tuesday.  It's not back yet, but he'll call me Thursday.  Thursday goes by with no call.  Paul took off work on Friday and Paul and I decide to see if it had come in.  We first stop by Dodge to check out the Caravan.  Super nice, but more like an SUV with a 3rd seat option than a mini van as it wasn't very roomy on the inside.  We stop by Honda on our way home to see if the pre-owned one had come in.  We meet the most spastic salesman ever (he actually made me nervous at first) and after some confusion he figures out what we are looking for and yes, they have 2 pre-owned Odysseys that came in and we can test drive one of them.

I get in and this Odyssey has pretty much every feature that I loved in the Sienna except waaaaayyy cheaper!  Heated leather seats, moon roof, 8 seat option, back up cam, built in sun shades, and FREE satellite radio (somehow it was still on from the previous owners), low mileage, and good price and before I knew it Paul was bargaining for them to add in a DVD player. 

How did I ever live without you, mini van????  I sigh with pleasure every time I sit my butt on those cushiony leather seats.  Picture me driving to the grocery, moon roof open, wind in my hair, jamming to "Hip Hop Hooray" on 90's on 9.  Pure pleasure I tell ya!