Question Advice about buying used van

V

Val_C

Guest
Hi! We are currently expecting baby number 6, but only have a 7-passenger minivan. So we're in the process of trying to find a used 12-15 passenger van. Please understand that our financial situation is horrible and our budget is only $3,000 for a van, which obviously limits us greatly.

Beside the general safety issues of these large vans (which I'm well aware of), there are 2 other issues I'm concerned with. One is the headrest issue. None of the bench seats have them, so my first question is:

Can you add headrests to bench seats, and if so, do you know the cost and where I can have this done (or can we do it ourselves)? Is this "aftermarket" considered safe?

The other issue is shoulder/lap belts vs. lap-only belts. Because of our budget, we are having to look at older models of vans, therefore all of the Dodges I've seen only have shoulder belts on the DRIVER side of the bench seats (which would limit us to only 3 shoulder belts in the back). The Ford Club Wagons do have them on both outboard sides of the bench seats, but the problem we're having is FINDING a Club Wagon. We have found a very good deal on a Dodge, so my next question is:

Can you add shoulder belts to the passenger side of the bench seats? If so, can we do this ourselves, do you know the cost, and how safe are these?

By the way, our children's ages are 14, 7 (booster), 4 (booster), 3 (carseat), and 1 (carseat).

I do understand we can use the higher-weight carseats for a while, but that's not going to help us when the kids get older (and of course, we do have a teenager right now).

Thanks so much for answering my questions and for any additional thoughts and advice you may have! Have a great day! : )

~Valerie
 
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