We've been driving a 1992 Chevrolet Astro Van since 1995. It has been the perfect vehicle for our needs... hauling big, slobbery, hairy dogs and all kinds of equipment for doing water work and draft work. Not to mention hauling stone, wood, furniture, lumber... you name it, everything fit in that Astro Van!

So, it was with sadness that we learned from our wonderful mechanic (Dan Woods in Riverside MO) in July 2009 that Chevy was no longer supporting the Astro Van and had sold all the excess parts to a third party and that while he was able to get the part we needed for that repair, odds were that it would be harder and harder to find parts for the 17 year old Astro. We already knew that Chevy (in their questionable wisdom) had stopped making the Astro model many years before and had not replaced it with a comparable mini-van.

Therefore, we had to look for a replacement. Which is not to say that we haven't been doing that for many years... we just have not ever been able to find anything that fit our needs as well as that Astro Van.

Our choices were to move to a full-size van (no info on fuel efficiency because they are considered commercial vehicles... and commercial vehicles aren't held to the same standards as personal vehicles... did ya know that?) or a different mini-van (with less interior space). Well, obviously you know what we ended up with: a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan.

I really wanted to get a diesel that I could make bio-diesel and use in it. But its not easy to find a diesel van that would work for us. What I had been drooling over for several years was the Dodge Sprinter. And so we immediately went looking at those. But we need rear A/C for the dogs and so that eliminated all the cargo vans... we'd need a passenger van and those are PRICEY. Of course, we were looking at used vehicles all along and that means waiting for the right one to come along and beat someone else to the seller. Ultimately, we discovered that the Sprinter is too high off the ground for me to be able to climb in and out of it. So I went back to the drawing board and did more research on mini-vans.

The Federal Program "Cash for Clunkers" was going on when we were buying, but the Astro did not qualify because it was a very fuel efficient vehicle (we got an average of 20 mpg) and besides we were looking for used, not new... we saved more money without the Program even without trading in the Astro.

There are more fuel efficient and better environmentally rated mini-vans than the 2008 Grand Caravan... so why didn't we choose one of those? Because nothing is perfect for every situation. Our situation is a bit unique because our 'family' (the Newfoundland Dogs) has big bulky 'luggage' (the cargo area HAS to be able to fit the crates we haul around), requires A/C in the rear and we still need to be able to have passengers from time to time. That being said, after all my research, going with the E85 Flexfuel Grand Caravan was the closest match we could get.

Here are some of the internet sites that were very helpful to me:

• www.fueleconomy.gov (find out about fuel efficiency, etc and compare vehicles)
• www.cars.com (to find exactly what you are looking for without driving all over town)

So... what to do with Astro Van? Why didn't we trade it in?

We didn't trade it in because I researched the value of it at www.edmunds.com (to figure out your fair market value) and discovered that it was not worth very much as a trade-in.

After more research and discussing whether we wanted to go through the headache of selling it outright or selling it for parts... we decided to donate it a charity and take the tax write-off.

That meant more research to find out how to do that and which charity to donate it to. I looked at several websites that will accept your vehicle, sell it and give the proceeds to a charity on their lists. I found out that all of them keep a portion of the money to cover their costs (at least). Some keep as much as 90% of the sales price... that bothered me a whole lot.

Ultimately, we decided on the charity first and contacted them (Wayside Waifs in Kansas City MO) to find out if they wanted it. They told us they use Cars4Charities.com because that company is a non-profit who only keep 10% to cover costs.

Excellent news! So, we are now just waiting for that transaction to be finalized.

Another great site to help with checking out charities is www.charitynavigator.org (independent charity evaluator... to figure out if the charity does a good job with its money).

But wait, you may be saying, tell us more about E85 fuel! OK, well, that is a controversial subject. And I have a soapbox for it myself. So, let's see if I can keep this short and not too preachy...

E85 is an ethanol product. Basically, it is 15% gasoline (unleaded) and 85% ethanol. A FlexFuel engine uses computer programming to adjust the mixture of the fuel depending on whether you are using all gasoline or E85. There are instructions in the owners manual about making the switch from one to the other so you don't damage your engine.

You'll hear from people that the MPG (miles per gallon) is not as good with E85 as it is with gasoline. The problem with that statement isn't that its not true (it is)... the problem is that its not complete. When you use E85 you use less gasoline even though the MPG is lower BECAUSE you are only using 15% of the gasoline to do it (instead of 100% gasoline).

My problem with E85 (and many other people as well have this concern) is that ethanol is currently made from corn. Ethanol made from corn is BAD. Why do I think that? Here are my top three reasons:

1. Because growing corn for fuel instead of food removes that cropland from food production.
2. Because growing corn pulls nutrients (without returning them) and damages the structure of the soil..
3. Because studies show that it takes the equivalent of 1.5 gallons of gasoline to produce 1 gallon of ethanol.

Now that being said, not all ethanol is bad. It can be made from other sources... sustainable sources... not ruining the soil... not competing with food. And there are studies and research and experiments going on to move from corn ethanol to sustainable ethanol.

Right now, the E85 I can buy... I don't want to buy. So until I can get sustainable E85, I'll keep putting gasoline in the tank and drive conservatively and combine my trips into town and focus on my MPG.

Because I believe you have to do what you can... when you can... and be true to your convictions -- as much as possible -- in the process.