Gas Guzzling Woes :(

So we've been trying for the past few days to see if we can trade our gas guzzling SUV for a less of a gas hog minivan... and there is no relief in sight. We are too upside down on our loan... the trade-in value is at least $6,000 short of what we still owe. We would have to come up with a $4,200 down payment. Which we in no way have! Mostly due to the raising gas prices and all the travelling we've had to do in the past couple of months. We are quite in the hole at the moment.

I never dreamed I would be an SUV owner. I actually made fun of those soccer moms barrelling around in an SUV instead of a minivan.

Then we moved to northern Wisconsin. And really, if we wouldn't have had a vehicle with 4WD last winter - we wouldn't have made it anywhere. They just don't make minivans with 4WD. They may have AWD, but that's just not the same thing.

But boy do I kind of regret that decision now. I say "kind of" because I'm so noncommittal ;) Really, in browsing around at minivans, the features on my Explorer are pretty cool. I love the seat-warmers in the winter (or cold as hell spring that we just had). I love the control panel! It tells me exactly how many miles I can go before I reach E. It also will display current mpg (ugh!). And all sorts of other useful things (tire pressure...etc.) The minivan control panels we were looking at left much to be desired. They looked completely old school compared to the digital readout on my Explorer. And I think we were even looking at luxury model Chevy Uplanders and Pontiac Montanas.

Oh well. I guess we will just have to continue getting further in the hole with gas prices until our economic stimulus payment comes... then sadly it will all go towards catching up on bills!