Our beloved Dodge automobile

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It was some time ago but we managed to buy a car. Well technically its a van but nevertheless Lauren and I are super stoked!

Our original plan, while we were still in Australia was to pick one up in the US, but once we were at Big White and settled into our new lifestyle we got to thinking that we might as well keep an eye out for a good deal. And what do you know, within a couple weeks we had figured out the basic kind of cars that were available here in our price range, and where to look. I followed up on one potential van, it sounded really promising and was advertised for only $1000. So we went down to the dodgy used car sale-yard in the industrial estate area of Kelowna and had a good look at it. It looked and rode pretty good, the interior wasn't too shabby, no rust at all, 210K on the dial, wasn't blowing smoke and the engine didn't look too bad. However, there were a few minor downfalls, like a cracked windscreen, the tail gate hydraulic arms were shot and a few other little things. We remained interested so the next day went back down to the yard, picked up the car and got a full pre- purchase inspection. There didn't appear to be any major dramas and so we decided to go for it! After some to and fro with the salesman, we ended up picking the car up for $600 bucks. Not bad at all!!

Now onto the car itself. It is a 1991 Dodge Grand Caravan SE - i'm not sure what SE stands for but I suspect its Super Epic. Its green and it has front-wheel drive. It has disc brakes, power interior, power steering and central locking. The tyres are black and the fuel tank drinks unleaded petroleum - which is called gas here even though its a liquid...still does my head in! It has a 3.3 litre V6 engine that apparently drove off the production line delivering a staggering 150 horsepowers to the road. Actually that might just be the amount of power at the flywheel. Who knows? Over the past 18 years, since this marvel of American auto engineering was born, it has lost alot of the horses it originally had, and i'm sure most of them escaped through the tail pipe! That's to be expected but geez does the old girl still go. Our van has space to seat seven people with room to spare for luggage, to be honest its pretty big - in all dimensions...just what you want in a roadtrip automobile.

Obviously by now we have had the car for just on 4 months, and I can safely say that it has not just survived the Canadian winter up here but passed with flying colours. We have invested some money and time into it and treated her to some well deserved TLC - she has repayed us for that. She purrs along happily, smoothly and reliably. Right now she is having some renovations done in preparation of the roadtrip she will embark upon with us - the changes are mainly to the interior, allowing us to sleep inside the car and just general roadtrip preparation. More details will be provided later once the ski season at Big White ends and we set off onto the road. Not long to go now!

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Photos

it has nice teeth, and a lazy eye
but we still love her

She has been muddy and dirty all season
...waiting for some spring rain.

Comments

[lena]

nice daaaaaaaaaaaadge
oooooooh it looks so cosy in there, i wouldn't at all mind being a fly on your windscreen on this roadtrip (on the interior side, sitting happily and intact, not smeared over the outside of the glass). we are expecting comprehensive photographic coverage of the scenery including the really ordinary urban and rural landscapes. also if you encounter any wildlife a bit of sir david attenborough commentary would not go astray. happy camping, drive well! xox

[lena]

and
and i like tha haircut!