So does the wife drive manual? Does she need to be able to drive this thing?
You've mentioned your hesitation to get into a chrysler minivan because of trans issues. I have two answers to that.
One is consider a 91-94 2.5/5spd caravan. They AVERAGE 27mpg, are ridiculously -reliable, -cheap, and -easy to fix. And they're huge inside. Not as big as a 96-up but nearly there.
They're not even THAT slow. 0-50 doesnt really give anything up to a v6/auto.
I DD'd one for 2 or 3 years and loved the hell out of it. One of the best vehicles ive ever owned.
My other answer to the trans thing is look for one with a factory trans cooler and some kind of trans service history (motor history doesnt matter as much, none of the v6s are likely to break regardless of history). My parents bought a 97 caravan with the 604 trans and ran it up to 24x,xxx miles before trading it in in running condition on cash for clunkers. It had a factory external trans cooler (tow package) and a FEW fluid changes (not many) and the only thing that ever went wrong with that transmission was the seals got hard around 200k and caused some cold-shifting issues. I took it apart and put seals and clutches in it (didnt need the clutches per se) and drove it until 240+k.
I would feel a lot better about a van with a factory cooler on it (factory means there from day 1) and 2 or 3 fluid changes ever, than a trans with no cooler and 15 changes. To be honest.
