Hi everyone! Thanks for your replies. I disappeared for a few days because I was pretty turned off by the comments, but I'm glad to see you are all still debating and I'm glad to answer your questions.
1--my husband is a serious musician. He has been featured in Billboard magazine. At the moment he is not gigging regularly because he is between projects, but when he does, he gets paid very well. We do not budget around that money and it goes straight on our debt payments. This is his life's work. It would be cool if people could be respectful of that.
2--my husband is a highly skilled audio engineer. His business partner is John Mayer's #1 stage sound man. He has worked for almost every star in the business, does sound at the Grammy's, etc. They aren't talking about doing a piddly little hobby business here. We are talking about a business that has the potential to make us a LOT of money, run by men who know what the hell they are doing and who own enough gear to fill up a warehouse. And it involves a lot of very heavy equipment hauling. His business partner's Suburban and my husband's trailer will handle a lot of that hauling, but smaller jobs can be accomplished with a smaller SUV, as can my husband's gigging needs over the next couple of years.
3. NO, THE GEAR CANNOT BE HAULED IN A VW GOLF. Ok? My husband pulled a large trailer with a full live PA across the country for ten years (plus a full passenger load inside), and that's how the axle got taxed on the van. And the engine and transmission and all other components will show the same wear, so putting money into that vehicle right now just seems downright inefficient. This is an E-150 that has seen 220,000 miles of HEAVY use.
4. Our debt situation is the result of 10 years of difficult career progress, my low-paying social work job, and schooling (I have a graduate degree). Just in the last year, our situation took a 180. We have 40K in CC debt (actually, closer to 38 after this month's payments). We are now in a position to pay our debt down rapidly. We definitely did stupid spending in the past but we are (I believe) much more sane now. We know there is still fat to trim but we are legitimately working our asses off on this--that's why we are here asking for advice, in earnest.
5. We have no cash saved because we are slamming it on debt, not because it isn't available to us. It would take 2-3 months for us to save $3K, but in the fall I start teaching part-time (on top of my full-time job) which is part of our aggressive CC payoff plan. All $6K+ of my teaching money (earned over 4.5 months) is getting put on our CC payments, plus any extra income my husband brings in from gigs and audio contract work (and yes, it's substantial enough to justify a hauler vehicle). Something in me just can't swallow taking $3K+ of that and putting it on an E150 Conversion van with 220,000 miles.
6. We have adjusted our search--we are now in the $8-11K range. We are leaning toward a 2004 CRV with 90,000 miles, listed for 10K and we think we can get out the door for closer to 9K (at 3.25% interest which is, by the way, 10% less that it would cost to finance the repair on the van on a CC--unless it could go another 2 months on the road safely, which I question because it has to carry our 10 month old on board; DH brings baby to day care, and I can't give him the Golf because I commute on highways and the van isn't safe for the highway right now). It's a very small dealer, no bullshit fees. Payments would be around $150. It would impact our current CC debt payoff plan minimally (we currently pay $1200 a month, which is significantly over our min. payments). Are we getting closer here or are we still being unreasonable?
As I've said, we aren't opposed to an older vehicle, we just don't feel good about putting money in the van at this point--I asked before but I'll ask again if there's a way to run the numbers here that would help me understand how putting $3K into the van makes any financial sense, now or later. Hubby and I are looking more closely at this tonight before we make a decision, so this is the last chance to convince us :)