Blues musician Albert King once sang that if it was not for bad luck, he would have no luck at all. This writer has come to believe the same is true when dealing with vehicles.
Last week, our family’s faithful 14-year-old Grand Caravan rolled its 310,000th kilometre. Fifty-four kilometres later, the power steering went. Faced with a large repair bill, the van has rolled its last kilometres. For some reason, though, replacing this venerable box on wheels has struck a chord.
Timing is everything, of course. A large repair bill, or a larger replacement bill that was somewhat expected but still unwanted, hurts the wallet.
Replacing the vehicle makes financial sense in the long run. Fixing this issue could lead to several other issues. How much money do you put into a 14-year-old vehicle? That is not a question we are willing to answer.
With half of the kids out of the house, our need for a vehicle that can carry at least six passengers is gone. It’s been more than half a year since the back row of seats has been up. The van has been used more as a pickup truck with a cap, instead of for passenger transportation.
Like its owner, the van is a little run down. Some of the parts do not work properly. Weird sounds appear unexpectedly. The check engine light comes on intermittently, but no error codes are found. The tire pressure light is constantly on. There is a rust hole in the fender and several more in the body panels. The tailgate sounds “crunchy” if you push it closed too hard. One-half of the car has working air conditioning, the other has blasting heat due to a faulty switch. And the van needs an oil change.
One small bit of good luck: I avoided going to the gas station just before the power steering went — a bullet dodged.
Searching for a used vehicle is like shopping for clothes: I hate it. Long ago, I learned that you never win with vehicles. Vehicles are a tool to get you from point A to point B (hopefully) that is cheaper than a taxi, easier than walking, and more convenient than the nonexistent transit options in my community. If I lived in a larger one, I would take transit over driving.
For so long, our vehicle needs have been the same. Now I have to consider if there is enough room for our dog, instead of if there is enough room for the kids and their friends. Strange.
Years ago, a mechanic relative told me when I was a teen that I needed to learn how to fix cars for when I was older. I retorted that if I did that, he would be out of a job. He shut up, and while I know how to change my oil, change a tire, and replace the water pump on a 1986 Plymouth Reliant K-Car in under an hour, I still choose to keep the mechanics in this area employed.
Of course, the idea of purchasing a new vehicle has rekindled my dream list. A Golf R32 would be fun to drive. As would another Camero. With the amount of electronics on vehicles nowadays, a retro truck like a 1950 Fargo B-1 pickup would be right up my alley. Sadly, most of that dream list is far out of my pay grade, and I am not a gear head, so again the repair bills may be too much. Might as well fix the Caravan in that case. But I will not.
I will not bore readers with my views on various manufacturers, except that I know what brands I will never buy again based on extremely negative experiences. Yes, I am writing about Kia — the worst, except an interesting story about the Ukrainian who bought our old misfiring garbage can a few years ago.
Car shopping is not fun. I dislike the sales tactics, the gamesmanship, and the stress of it all. Maybe I will begin cycling again. A 10-pound camera bag does not make cycling to work assignments much fun.
In the end, it is just a vehicle. As for my intermittent check engine light, I’ll get that looked at soon enough.
This column was originally published in the June 3, 2026 print edition of The Morrisburg Leader.
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