I got some shirts and a few sweaters. My wife and I didn't exchange gifts because we need to buy a new car and that will be painful.

We had leased 3 of the same model van in a row, and they had been each flawless. A couple of years ago, we finally decided to buy one, thinking we'd have it paid off when the kids start college. Well the thing has turned out to be a lemon of sorts. First it seems to attract minor bumps and dings.. including being backed into by a dump truck. But at 50K miles, it's burning about a quart of oil every few weeks (used over 2 quarts on our holiday trip of about 1000 miles), and it looks to be leaking coolant from the gasket between the intake and the heads. It also has a bad wiper motor on the back ($250 part) and has a chronic problem with the brakes. We need to get rid of this thing and I could never sell it outright to someone, so it will get traded this week for something. I just checked and we owe what the trade-in book value is, so we are going to be taking on a big payment to buy something new.

My wife wants to get out of the mini-van space and the only thing with 6+ passenger seating is an SUV. Amazing that SUVs are going for quite a bit more than mini-vans. We're looking at probably $32-35K for something that seats 7. I am hoping we can find a good end of year deal.

__________________
Mike - Been Converged?