Goodbye To An Old Friend

Every five or six years Theresa and I decide it is time to get a new set of wheels.Our Dodge Grand Caravan has been with us for six years and has provided excellent service every time we used it.We travelled 84,400 kms during that time, This is not many miles per year but it was used mainly for long trips. Seven trips to Florida, four to the Maritimes and numerous shorter trips to Ottawa and Southern Ontario.

Your vehicle becomes a real thing after a while and this one was never in a accident, never received a ticket for breaking the speed limits or any other offence and kept us safe on each outing.It was used as the utility vehicle for the family and moved grand children to University, furniture to the cottage, lumber from Home Depot, loads of compost from the land fill site and any other task it was asked to do.

When we decided to trade it in we cleaned it up, washed it and emptied the little places that held numerous papers, gadgets and candies and chewing gum. We found dog spray, tools, a missing long shoe horn, a compass and change. After a last look we went to our favourite auto store

. We were met at the entrance by salesmen who were anxious to make a quick sale. We wanted to see the owner so made it clear we were not doing business until we met Mark.

There was one salesman who showed us vehicles and tried hard to make a sale. He showed us one vehicle that had many bells and whistles and we took it for a drive. We were not satisfied with the financial dealings so we begged of until we could see the owner.

Two days later we met with a man we trusted and made a good deal for our new van.What a difference when you are not pressured by a salesman. We left the garage with a new vehicle and had the feeling we were treated fairly and without pressure. We will forget the old red van and begin life with the new one and our wish is that we will be as safe and happy with this one as we were with the last.