Thanks for all the minivan info, but we didn't buy one... yay! 
My wife was completely turned off by that 1999 Town & Country yesterday. Today we drove 35 miles to a dealer to look at a 1998 Grand Marquis GS with 36K on it for $10,000. Somebody had smoked in it, so it was nixed. Around the corner from there, was an original owner of a 1998 G. Marquis GS with 72K for $7,500. That was a fair deal and in good shape, so we kept it on the "might buy" list. Then we traveled 20 miles south to a dealer who had called me earlier about one they just took on trade yesterday. It's Carfax was clean. My wife liked it a lot! It's a 1999 Grand Marquis LS with 32K and they wanted $13,500 for it. We offered $13,000 out the door and they eventually took it. They even managed to get it washed and "detailed" the engine in the time it took to write it up! That picture was before they washed it.
Here's a funny part. We were about 45 miles from home. The guy who wrote up the paperwork and handles financing was a friend of the guy who bought the house next door to us! Our neighbor also handles financing at a local auto dealership. He replaced the guy who wrote up our car. Small world!
This wraps up a two week search and 45 Carfax checks. All in all, it was a challenge, but somewhat enjoyable. Even learned a thing or two about minivans, thank you!
My wife was completely turned off by that 1999 Town & Country yesterday. Today we drove 35 miles to a dealer to look at a 1998 Grand Marquis GS with 36K on it for $10,000. Somebody had smoked in it, so it was nixed. Around the corner from there, was an original owner of a 1998 G. Marquis GS with 72K for $7,500. That was a fair deal and in good shape, so we kept it on the "might buy" list. Then we traveled 20 miles south to a dealer who had called me earlier about one they just took on trade yesterday. It's Carfax was clean. My wife liked it a lot! It's a 1999 Grand Marquis LS with 32K and they wanted $13,500 for it. We offered $13,000 out the door and they eventually took it. They even managed to get it washed and "detailed" the engine in the time it took to write it up! That picture was before they washed it.
Here's a funny part. We were about 45 miles from home. The guy who wrote up the paperwork and handles financing was a friend of the guy who bought the house next door to us! Our neighbor also handles financing at a local auto dealership. He replaced the guy who wrote up our car. Small world!
This wraps up a two week search and 45 Carfax checks. All in all, it was a challenge, but somewhat enjoyable. Even learned a thing or two about minivans, thank you!