We sold our van Friday, a Plymouth Grand Voyager. We bought it new in ’96. It’s been great, a family van, a youth group van, a camper and a daily driver. It has the typical battle scars and ailments of a 19 year old vehicle. After about 200,000 miles the transmission began giving us signs that it may need attention, but it has continued to serve.
The potential buyer and I took it for a test drive. I jiggled the keys as was usually necessary to turn the ignition and get it started. The transmission will sometimes hesitate to go into gear, and has been growling when in gear, but it didn’t hesitate today. I stopped soon and traded places so he could drive.
He was watching for it to overheat (driving up Chehalem Mountain) but the temperature needle remained center gauge, although the front struts rattled, the headliner was sagging over the driver with a dark stain from an attempted repair, and the serpentine belt resumed squealing loudly halfway through the drive.
I didn’t think it likely I would get my full asking price considering the transmission noise and random failure, the leaking radiator, cracked passenger mirror, frequent squawking interference of the stereo speakers, and 209,000 miles on the odometer.
His cash offer might not have been an unreasonable. The green coolant streaming down the driveway between us as we stood at the open hood made it difficult to counter his offer with any sincerity.
I hope he made it home.
