[speaker001:] yeah Jonathan uh you you say you say it's near and dear to your heart buying a car is uh something you're contemplating I take it
[speaker002:] uh fantasizing about can't do it right now our situation is that we're a two car family
[speaker001:] ah uh-huh
[speaker002:] and I have a mini van we bought a few years ago it's got a uh five year loan so that's still got a couple years to run
[speaker001:] uh uh-huh
[speaker002:] and the car I get to drive is a uh Nissan Sentra that's gonna be ten years old next month so
[speaker001:] wow you get
[speaker002:] I think about uh sprucing that up in a couple years when I can
[speaker001:] uh-huh what do you think you'll uh what kind of a car do you think you'll buy next
[speaker002:] well since I just turned forty I'm thinking about a forty year old man's car's something uh something real sporty but uh realistically with uh
[speaker001:] um-hum uh-huh
[speaker002:] the need to take the kids to school probably have to have something that uh wouldn't wind up putting their knees in their throat when they sat in the backseat something a little seating room
[speaker001:] right uh-huh
[speaker002:] how about you
[speaker001:] well I think the next car we get will probably be a well I I like Buicks we have a Buick Century now it's a nineteen eighty seven
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and uh whatever I get I wanna have uh air bags uh both driver's and passenger side and a four door because it's much more convenient if you're carrying anybody to you know rather than have them stoop down to get over so I think the four door is probably a major requirement and other than that uh you know reasonable cost and
[speaker002:] sure
[speaker001:] safety and uh as much economy as you can get out of a car uh you know I'm not looking for one with a great big engine uh something that'll carry it around safely I guess is best best way to describe it
[speaker002:] sure
[speaker001:] right now we've got a V-6 in it and that seems to be just fine I know they said they're coming out with some V-8s now and I think that's probably a little overkill for this day and age
[speaker002:] yeah I'm surprised to hear that the V-8s are coming back uh they've got some pretty powerful 6s
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and uh you know V-8s seem to be a return of the days of you know ten or twelve miles a gallon
[speaker001:] right I uh I drive a a truck a Ford truck I I like trucks because they're spacious and it's handy to haul things uh it's not related to my business I just you really use it basically for transportation but there's so many occasions when I've had to move some members of the family or do this or that it's it's handy to have a truck and not have to borrow one
[speaker002:] sure is uh traction much of an issue for you up there terms of
[speaker001:] traction uh not really um you know it's a two wheel drive truck and I figure if it's so bad that I need a four wheel drive I probably ought to be home anyway
[speaker002:] actually uh pretty good way of looking at it yeah we uh we had a small accident with our mini van
[speaker001:] wow
[speaker002:] a few years ago a case where there was a sort of freak ice storm and we weren't aware of it and just slipped on some black ice and went into another car and
[speaker001:] hm
[speaker002:] this is a rear wheel drive model so we got some monster studded snow tires after that haven't had any problem since
[speaker001:] uh-huh what kind of what make is the mini van
[speaker002:] it's a Mazda
[speaker001:] Mazda I see
[speaker002:] and uh we're pleased with it in terms of comfort and uh driveability fuel economy isn't great being a minivan but uh it's real nice for carrying around our kids and others and
[speaker001:] uh-huh right
[speaker002:] it's uh got some nice features in terms of being able to remove seats and flip them around so we've been able to do some real creative uh load hauling when called upon
[speaker001:] um-hum one of my sons has a a Plymouth uh van or you know uh uh that same type of thing the Voyager I guess
[speaker002:] uh-huh right
[speaker001:] and uh they have a a child that's five years old and it's really handy for hauling him around and and their stuff and of course as he gets friends I'm sure that'll be even handier so I know if we were if we had kids still at home we're in our fifties now but if we had kids still at home we'd certainly have to seriously consider a van just for their functional value
[speaker002:] yeah I think that we're gonna be uh owning a mini van for some years to come probably till the kids are out of uh high school anyway
[speaker001:] uh what about uh all wheel drive is that something that you'd be interested in or is that a not an issue
[speaker002:] uh I'd be satisfied with a a good front wheel drive car when it comes time to replace the Sentra
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and even as as light as that is with uh the small tires it's it's done pretty well in winter uh again like you if conditions are are that bad I probably don't wanna be driving anyway
[speaker001:] uh-huh right
[speaker002:] so I know I'd be happy with a a reasonable uh four door you know again we've we've got the same issue with getting kids into the