An e-VAN-tful Day

I mentioned how we were getting the van back yesterday from the shop -- which we did -- but it took much longer than anticipated.

C went to pick up the van from the Transmission place mid-morning after a week of being in the shop.  He says it shifts into overdrive now (again) and does so smoothly.  It was getting really frustrating that its top speed was about 45mph and that was really challenging the engine at that.

But apparently, he was reminded about some kind of leak that still needed fixing.  So while he was driving the van, he stopped by our regular mechanic and had them fix the leak.

As he drove a bit more, he was reminded that the headliner keeps coming down where they installed the DVD player before our Florida trip.  So he took the van over to Trucks Unique and they so graciously nailed it up for us for free.

Then C remembered that we were still driving around on a spare tire and the one in the place of the spare was the one that had been stabbed in the side wall.  So he took the van over to the tire place.  They were super helpful there and showed him how all the tires were well-worn and cracking well before their time.  The van's tires are super heavy-duty apparently and normally cost $200 each.

But those guys found us a deal because the tires weren't very old so the tire company would credit us a bundle towards new tires if we bought the same brand.  So $550 later and we have all new tires on the van and a spare underneath.

So our "emergency" credit card took another big hit yesterday, but on the bright side ... our van is good to go for a weekend trip to Arizona or someplace further, whenever we're ready for it.

I'm most thankful that my husband took care of all this stuff for us.  Super helpful!

P.S. Bonus ... D's van has had a slow leak in one of her tires for weeks.  She has to keep refilling it almost daily.  While C was at the tire shop I asked him if they'd throw in a free tire for her since we were spending so much there (and minivan tires are a lot less costly than our big van tires) and he told me they fix flats for free.  So D hurried down there to get her tire looked at and sure enough, there was a nail causing the slow leak.  So they fixed it up (for free) and she's good to go again!