Thursday, September 10, 2009

Four Sell!

 *My ad as posted on KSL today. It's okay to have a little personality, right? Sales price $9,600 due to the high miles. Actual ad is HERE

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THIS is a mini van with style! No, that is not an oxymoron. Seriously, this is loaded.

I'm going to start with the not-quite-perfect parts of my van. Because, while I love and am dang impressed with the condition it is in, we drove it off the lot 6 years ago and we have four kids. This is a working van and some of that 'work' has taken it's toll. However, I'm hoping that my honesty will endear you enough that you read through the good stuff--cause it's pretty awesome.

1) 140K is a lot of miles, I won't argue that point. However, you have to undertand that we live 10 miles from everything, and I work 20 miles away in the other direction. Just to do basic things we have to cover a lot of ground. Most of that ground is affectionately termed I-15 in these parts. So, while the miles are high, most of them are freeway miles. We get 20-25/gallon too, which is dang good for a minivan.

2) There are exactly two tears in the leather interior. They are both on one of the headrests for the middle seats. Apparently, this head rest took a little adventure into the flower bed for an undisclosed amount of time. I cleaned it up once I discovered it among my Petunias, which is when I found the tears. It is also stained from it's adventures and hence is not the prettiest headrest you've ever seen. If I had any idea how the headrest got there, that kid would be so grounded! The rest of the interior is in perfect condition.

3) There is a 3/4 inch scratch in the dashboard above the jockey box. I don't know how it got there. It could be easily covered with a smiley face sticker from wal-mart. Your kids would thing that was very cute.

4) There is some kind of scratch or scrape on each of the four sides of the exterior of the van. This is due to my apparent lack of depth perception. None of them are down to the metal or otherwise serious, but they are there. However, my depth perception aside, I have never been in an accident and there has been no body repair done on the vehicle.

5) About two years after we purchased the van, the headphone system for the DVD began to screech. The kids hated that. The DVD still works, you just have to listen to it through the stereo system. The upside is that the kids don't fight over who gets the nice headphones. I took it to the dealership to get it fixed but or course it didn't do it when it was in the shop. Go figure. I just make sure I take my iPod so I can listen to something other than Scooby Doo.

6) I mentioned the 6 years and 4 kids, right? Yeah, well that kind of equation does not yeild pristine carpets. I think most of it would shampoo out, but there are no guarantees.

There you have it; all the negatives. Now for the good stuff:

DVD, CD/tape stereo, all leather seats, middle seats are removable--I can do it myself--and can be in a variety of arrangements (okay, by variety I mean three, but still, that's cool, right?), back seat folds into back storage compartment, storage compartment is big; like Costco big, and includes a washable bin so that should you spill, I don't know, laundry soap, back there you can clean it up really easy. Duel automatice doors (and let me tell you, it's the coolest thing ever. There are button controls on the key chain and by the steering wheel. You never have to let your kids in and out again!) Power windows & doors, front and back AC/heat, cruise control, seat heaters, an adjustable middle console area, power outlets in the front and the back--we had the AC recharged for the first time in June, so it's nice and cool. Van does great in the snow. Back windows are tinted.

We put new brakes in 5/09 and new tires 8/09. I'm paranoid about breaking down, so we've been obsessive about maintenance and we started using synthetic oil when we hit 100,000 miles. We have had no mechanical problems with this vehicle. Most the maintenance has been done by the dealership. We do not smoke and we do not transport pets in the car.

A couple extra things I love--a 'secret' compartment under the passenger seat; great for hiding cookies. Little hooks that drop down from the 'chicken' bars in the back are perfect for dry cleaning. When the back seat is down and the middle seats are out you can fit like 80 cases of girl scout cookies back there! I think it would fit a full size inflatable mattress too, but I haven't tried it.

We've had this paid off for a few years but want to sell it so we can pay off our other vehicle. It's really been a great car for our family, but one we don't need the way we did in the beginning. If I somehow didn't answer any of your questions, feel free to drop me a line.

11 comments:

Crystal said...

Is this really your add on KSL? You made me wanna buy this van! You sold it PERFECTLY, considering I already have your van in silver-minus the heated seats! I loved your candid honesty, but you should probably already know that! Oh did you mention a price? I'm not really going to buy it, sorry, but I love you!

Kristina P. said...

This is the best ad ever!

My husband HATES minivans. He won't even park next to one in the parking lot.

Lara Neves said...

Wow. If I didn't live 2000 miles away and if I didn't already have another color of the exact same car (in which the headphones also do not work), I would so buy yours. :)

Crystal said...

I want it but Nick says I need at least 2 kids to justify a purchase like this. The only problem is....well.....you know, we're not real great baby makers. I may never get a mini-van {tear}.

Heather Moore said...

I love my 2005 Honda Odyssey.
And for those who have husbands who "hate vans"--you should check out the gas mileage. The 05 models or later get 31 mpg on the freeway. And the engine is awesome--I can outgun any truck or SUV.
Funny ad :)

Annette Lyon said...

Are you like, a writer or something? :D What a fun ad!

Jennifer @ Fruit of My Hands said...

Good luck selling your van! We just got a new vehicle recently so we don't need another.

hi, it's me! melissa c said...

Very cool. So what are you going to drive now? Are we still going to the book conference together? Let me know so I can plan.

Julie Wright said...

I want your mini van. If only I hadn't lost my job . . . Great ad. You are hilarious. Walmart smiley sticker . . .

Anonymous said...

Excellent showmanship, Josi! I'd buy it!

An Ordinary Mom said...

Hopefully this will sell quickly ... you have a knack for writing for sale ads:) !!