Finally We Found a Newer for us Older Mini-van for Work and Play
By Marsha
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
Midland, Michigan
April 3, 2017 6:54pm CST
Before my knee surgery we took my old, 1997 Plymouth Voyager to the car cemetery. Years ago, we probably could have gotten over five hundred dollars for dropping it off as the price being paid for metal was pretty good. That market flooded so we did pretty good as we still got about $125.00 for dropping it off.
I figured taking it before my surgery made sense since I couldn't drive for awhile anyway. A couple of weeks ago we began looking for a replacement vehicle. We almost bought one from a Chevy dealer, but I was concerned that the roof wasn't large enough to hold all our ladders, so we checked out a different dealer first.
Last Tuesday, we purchased, on time a 2005 Pontiac Montana. The previous owners kept very good care of it and looking at it you might not know it was that old. Today I went to a body shop with a portion of a roof rack that we removed from the previous mini-van so we could use it again. They will be working on that this coming Thursday. Once that is installed and it quits raining somewhat we can get serious with cleaning windows for the season.
I'll be the main driver. I'll use it mostly for cleaning windows and transporting our equipment and employees back and forth. I'll also use it for getting myself to my cashiering job once I'm back to work and maybe we'll use it for travel too.
Some of my readers might be surprised that we got a Pontiac since they quit making them in 2010, but I discussed it with two mechanics and neither expect we'd have any problems finding the necessary parts.
19 people like this
21 responses
@Happy2BeMe (99399)
• Canada
4 Apr 17
That is a nice looking vehicle. Pontiac is a good make and there are lots of parts available for them.
3 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
4 Apr 17
I know that they should be plentiful in junk yards around my area, but I was more concerned about tune-ups and oil changes. It sounds like those things use parts common for most vehicles. When they quit making vehicles they have to supply the parts for an additional ten years, but since this one is a 2005, that was the year before last and why I was a tad concerned.
My one mechanic also owns a vehicle not made anymore and they've had no problem getting the necessary parts for theirs, so that made me feel a lot better.
1 person likes this
@Happy2BeMe (99399)
• Canada
4 Apr 17
I am sure it won't be a problem. There are still lots of them in the road so they has to be parts.
1 person likes this
@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
4 Apr 17
It looks really nice in the photo. Hope it works out to be the best one you have ever owned!
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
4 Apr 17
Well, I don't know about that, but if it gives us at least five years of service where we don't need to sink much money into it's upkeep other than the normal maintenance then I'll be happy. It's missing a few things that I like to have available on a car, but my husband was tired of looking after going to only two places, (he's been having a couple of places where his prosthetic has been rubbing making it more difficult for him to stand and walk), and there just aren't a lot of used vehicles available like there were years ago.
I think that's due to the program that was offered 'cash for clunkers' or whatever it was called. That got rid of a lot of vehicles that may have lasted longer.
A couple of things it seems to be missing is a place to plug in a charger, and a thermometer. The hard part will be to keep it cleaned once we get busy. With this one I hope to have our guy employees take the ladders off periodically so I can take it through a car wash to eliminate the effects of all the salt in the winter months. The last one rusted out all over the place. *(The image on the left shows rust under the door, but it was worse over the tire area.
2 people like this
@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
4 Apr 17
@MarshaMusselman The funny thing is, we never know how long anything will last. Someone in our family has a 1990 Pontiac. Another is driving a 1993 Mazda with 200K miles. Still going strong. Yet, some have had cars with hardly any miles be real clunkers.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
4 Apr 17
@PatZAnthony Agreed. The one we got rid of before my surgery we had for ten years and it was ten years old when we got it. It had about 245,000 miles on it. I'd gotten new tires, two one year and the other two the next but unfortunately, I didn't take time to have them rotated and they got bald faster than I expected they would. Over the course of the last five years we've gotten a lot of work done on it, but usually only one semi-expensive thing per year. We were told last fall that it needed lots of things once again, and we finally decided we didn't want to keep sinking money into it.
If it needed some of it little by little again, we'd probably have kept it as that's still cheaper than buying one over again especially since we'll have payments for four more years. But, at least we finally have three hospital bills taken care of, so hopefully the money I was using to pay those off can be used for this instead.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
11 Apr 17
At least four to five years would be great. Then we'll need to decide whether we'll still do the window business. I'd like to find a guy that would work as a foreman type person, by then I'd probably be able to pay more for that position than I can right now. I thought I found a likely prospect that is working for us now, but he's talking about going back to school, so we'll have to see if that pans out or not.
If we don't do the business down the road there'd be no reason to have two vehicles if I've done working by then that is.l
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
15 Apr 17
@CRK109 We got another two calls after we did the interview the other day. We may do more next week, or wait to see how the current guy turns out. A lot of kids go to school part time, so I guess I should find that out too. If he's planning on going away to school then we would need to find a replacement before he leaves.
1 person likes this
@CRK109 (14558)
• United States
11 Apr 17
@MarshaMusselman If your current guy does go back to school, I hope you'll be able to find someone reliable to take his place. With so many people looking for work these days, I'm sure you'll find someone!
1 person likes this
@thislittlepennyearns (58137)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
4 Apr 17
Well that's good, I hope it works well for whatever you want to use it for.
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
4 Apr 17
It will mostly be used for work. Getting me to and from my full-time job as a cashier in a major grocery store chain, and also to get me and my employees to customer's jobs to clean their windows and other related work. If we didn't need a vehicle for that, then we could have gotten something different.
1 person likes this
@suziecat7 (3350)
• Asheville, North Carolina
6 Apr 17
It looks in good condition. I always buy used cars and have had a lot of luck with them. I hope you do too.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
6 Apr 17
I've only bought two brand new cars in my life and that was before they were so expensive. The first was a Pinto back in the seventies, and the other when I returned back home in the mid 80's when I got a new chevette. Since then it's only been used cars and we've done well so far with them.
@Shellyann36 (11385)
• United States
7 Apr 17
I don't like car payments. For me, older is better. Just check it out before purchasing. Glad you found something that works for you.
1 person likes this
@Shellyann36 (11385)
• United States
11 Apr 17
@MarshaMusselman Kind of shocking that they charge more interest for an older car. I hope you get good insurance discounts. I think the next time I go vehicle hunting I am going to check out enterprise.com They sell off their cars after a certain period of time. I am hoping I can find one at a decent price that I can pay for without having to worry about payments. If that is not the case, I will have to go clunker shopping again. 
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
11 Apr 17
I don't like car payments either especially the price we're going to pay when it's all said and done. Had we known it would be so high, because it's a car older than ten years they charge more interest, we may have done better getting a newer used car like a 2007 or 2008, the problem was my husband told me he was done looking.
His leg under his prosthetic has been having issues and he was tired of waling around looking. Yesterday, he didn't even remember saying that. We could have kept looking, probably. We thought we'd be starting to work right away, but we still have to find a guy that can manage the ladders. We have the one, but he only works every other week as he has dual custody of two kids.
Too late now to make that decision on the car though, and it is quite nice inside and out.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
15 Apr 17
@Shellyann36 By this time next year we should be able to begin paying extra on that bill. My goal is to continue to set aside the same amount in a bank savings account so that when we upgrade again we'd have something for either a down payment or even possibly the whole amount. If we have a considerable amount saved we may be able to get a loan from my credit union which only charges 2. something percent currently. It could be higher by then,, but it should still be lower than what other banks charge.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
4 Apr 17
There aren't a lot of used cars to choose from in our area and our time and money is limited, so it so far was the best choice. Plus the roof area is bigger and that will allow us to put our ladders on top of it. We may look for a replacement in five years, but if we need to wait it should be fine and still work well for us.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
4 Apr 17
sounds like the Pontiac is a good car for you
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
11 Apr 17
We've had pontiacs before and they are good cars, so hopefully this one will be good to until we get it paid for anyway.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
6 Apr 17
I think the previous owners must have taken exceptional care of it as it looks that nice on the inside too. Now, for me and my employees to keep it that way.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
8 Apr 17
Cool! I drive an over 10 year old Dodge Caravan we bought for $500 at least 5 years ago, It has paid for itself over and over. Love the van, its was the forth Dodge I've had
and I loved them all. I fill it to the roof with gear for camping ever summer including fire wood. We also have a new one, the old one is a rust bucket and eventually it will fall apart, My son in law wants it when we get rid of it so he can use it on the farm. Our last one we got rid of I think earned us $300 to have it taken away. I'll give this one to my daughter and her man. I've never put anything on the roof but I could, good place for ladders.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
8 Apr 17
That would have been nice to get one for that low of an amount. This one was selling for 4400.00 and all told we'll be paying almost double that amount, but we also got a two-year warranty for powertrain issues just in case and mostly because we don't have money in the bank to cover those possible problems.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
4 Apr 17
They either kept it up nicely, or it cleaned up real good as they say. I do know that they kept up on their oil changes from the mechanic that looked it over so they probably kept up on everything else too. I'm hoping to keep this one nicer than the last one we had.
@paigea (35693)
• Canada
5 Apr 17
@MarshaMusselman Sounds like it should do well for you!
1 person likes this
@sunrisefan (28524)
• Philippines
6 Apr 17
Seems like you made a good buy indeed. The car looks well-taken care of by the previous owner. We just sold our Isuzu Hilander two months ago which we bought brand new in 1999. We sold it for just a little half the price we bought it but the buyer was happy with his buy as I have taken care of the car well and it still looked new and was still in very good running condition.. Enjoy your recent buy friend!
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
4 Apr 17
Beautiful looking vehicle! I hope you get many years and many miles worth of service from it. My Explorer will be paid off soon. Hoping that we get at least 10 more years out of it.
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (48437)
• Canada
4 Apr 17
My brother had a van like that, and he really liked it.
I think that once they discontinue making a vehicle they still are obligated to make parts for them for a certain length of time. Our last car was discontinued, it was a Pontiac too, and our car guy never had any issues getting parts for it. Of course towards the end we didn't get much done to it.
Great new that you got a new set of wheels!
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (79731)
• United States
4 Apr 17
Looks like a really nice vehicle and hope it gives you many good years & miles
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
4 Apr 17
I think its awesome! I am glad you got a new way to go.
1 person likes this
