Wanna know the difference between an Aerostar Van and a Volvo? Read on to find out.

I took a long road trip this weekend in the '92 Aerostar w/ 180k miles on it. About two hours into the trip, the transmission started slipping and blowing ATF. I had my wife and daughter in the van...it seats around 6 people...which is why I drove it. We were planning to pick up my parents to come stay w/ us for one week after taking my daughter to check out her new college. Anyway...the tranny leak happened about 200 miles from home...and I was going to be late for the daughter's college appointment w/o some quick thinking. I managed to drive the van into a local ExpressLube joint. I checked out the engine and stuff...looked like the leak was pouring from the tranny front pump seal. The guys at the ExpressLube joint agreed. I asked them if they knew anyone who needed a van. Well...there was this one young guy who kinda watched us unload the van into the Enterprise rent-a-car courtesy pickup vehicle that we had called. I walked over to this yound ExpressLube employee and asked him if he knew anyone who wanted the van. He told me about how he had three young children..one was an infant. He said that he'd been working at the ExpressLube for a week or so and had not gotten paid yet. I told him that he could have the van. I phoned his wife to make sure he was telling me the truth...and she was very excited that I was giving him the van. He was crying a little bit too. Anyway...it turned out that the ExpressLube manager allowed the employee to park the van on the side of the place and the manager told me that this young guy's car had been stolen the week before. It was perfect timing. So ...we ended up renting a SUV for $33 per day from Enterprise and the young guy ended up w/ a good van that needed a new front pump seal or probably a new tranny. I told him to sell it for junk if he didn't want to fix. He thanked me.

What does this have to do w/ a Volvo? Well....if either one of my Volvos had broken down...I'd have probably paid $$ to have it towed back home or something. So...that's the difference between a Volvo and an Aerostar.

p.s. I just cancelled the insurance on the Aerostar and I'll be refunded the same amount it cost me for the Enterprise rental.

Cabbie2169