Your post brings up an interesting point. I am a rebuilder here in southern Illinois and attend the insurance sales almost every week in St Louis. I see things like that van ever so often. A little older, but solid unit that is ugly for some reason or other. It might be a donation or it might have some cosmetic damage. And I get calls all the time from folks that are looking for a dependable vehicle for a modest amount of money. BUT! They want something pretty. Something that doesn't look like they don't have any money. They would rather spend their money on a shiny unit with 200,000 miles, than an ugly unit with 80,000. So, I just don't bring them home anymore.

Champagne taste and beer budget.


And we have used Mopar minivans for 20 years to haul parts and tow the vehicles home on a dolly. One van has 240,000 miles on it now. It is about to rust in two, the headliner is just about down around our ears, but it only goes through a quart of oil between oil changes, averages 20mpg, and is comfortable to drive all day even when towing. I never liked the 3.0 in the vans for this job. But the 3.3 and 3.8 are GREAT engines.