If you need a 15 passenger van rental, you will want to read this story before you make your decision. My mom used to drive a 15 passenger van as the bus for my elementary school. We would get up very early in the morning and set out to pick up all of the other students in a 10 mile radius from the school. We didn’t really like it, but it was the way my mom paid for us to attend private school.
As we got older, we changed schools and my mom stopped driving the 15 passenger van. And if we had boat loads of money after those early years, my story about a passenger van would end here. But, that is not the case. You see there was a time when we should have went to a local rental place and ordered a 15 passenger van rental and we didn’t. No, my dad, bless his heart, he had different plans; and now that I am older and understand money more than I did then, I understand why he did what he did.
We would take little trips every now and then, but they were just an hour or so away. This only required that we bring some clothing and a few toys because the campgrounds had plenty of equipment and activities for use to do. One Summer, my parents decided that we were not going to take the usual one hour drive to our favorite place, but we instead where going on a twelve hour excursion. Now I knew we didn’t have the vehicle for that kind of journey and thought that renting a van like a 15 passenger van rental would be perfect for our family. Boy, was I in for a surprise when I learned of my dad’s plans.
My dad was a builder, and engineer of sorts. He worked in carpentry and construction most of his life. He also like to tinker with inventions. So, his modifications to the old van that he purchased from a guy in the neighborhood shouldn’t have a shock to me, but they were. First, as he drove the van home, he notice that there were many air leaks in the body of the van that caused a high whistling sound. The van had formally been a 15 passenger van rental, owned by a rental company and bought by the owner who sold it to us. He, the previous owner, ripped the seats and interior out to take the van from a 15 passenger van rental to a cargo van fitted for construction.
He used it like this for six years; banging and denting the body up with all of his tools, lumber, and equipment. What my dad had purchased was the remnant of a battle worn 15 passenger van rental combined with a work truck. So, his first task was to seal up all those leaks. My dad, being the master at modification, went to work. I still remember the first time I saw all of that expanded yellow foam all over the van where the 15 people used to sit and enjoy there ride in its rental days. To me, it looked like yellow lava had oozed out of the crevices and hardened into rock.
Now, like most people would do, my dad tuned the engine, had us wash the the outside, and then began to load it starting from the back. It was loaded with luggage, toys, a barbecue pit, bikes, baseball equipment, and various other things we need for our two week stay away from home. As you would expect, we helped him load everything in to the van. What became a lingering question in my mind was, “Where are we going to sit?” There where two captain’s chairs in the front for my mom and dad to sit in, but none for me and my brothers. There was only one full row where the 15 passenger van seats used to be and a three feet by three feet hole on the side of all of our stuff.
Before I go any further, you have to take into consideration that this was before many states had instituted mandatory seat belt laws, and most people felt that riding with out a seat belt was relatively safe. Now back to the story. In a 15 passenger van rental, the seats are bolted down the floor for safety. You would think, and I would say you were right in thinking so, that we would have gotten a 15 passenger van seat and bolted that sucker to the bottom of the van. Well, my dad did what any red blooded American with ingenuity would do. He took our folding lawn chairs, stuffed one into the hole among our things and put the other three between the front seat and all of our things. He then weaved a strap through each of them and secured to the side of the van. We rocked and swayed our way all the way to that mountain cabin many miles away from home. I can still remember it like it was yesterday. My dad has gone home to be with Jesus now, but I will never forget his version of a 15 passenger van rental and our trip across country.
P.S. My advice to you would be to cough up the dough and get a 15 passenger van rental. It will be well worth the money and a whole lot safer than the contraption we used.