When I found a better paying job...
Grandpa died. He lived in Ohio. At the time I had a 1 y/o and 3 y/o, and a 97 Olds Silhouette van I got for $300. It was the dead of August and the AC kinda worked, so I charged the freon before we left and it worked a little better. Also polished the headlight lenses which you may remember were terrible on those U-vans. I forget the mileage but it wasn't much, around 130k maybe. But the thing was rusty.
Off we went on a 1200 mile r/t road trip! Left the highway in CT to find pizza, hit an expansion joint, and the ABS light came on. Kept going.
Somewhere in PA I was getting gas and saw a dingle dangle hanging underneath. It was the defunct compressor for the rear shocks, hanging from a wiring harness. Its bracket had disintegrated from rust. I pulled the greasy thing out and showed my wife, then dumped it in the trash can. I still remember all the fast food wrappers in the can compressing from this heavy object, LOL. (I had already switched to non-air Monroe shocks.)
3 y/o was just barely potty trained and announced he had to go. Put the hammer down for the next exit, van did 80 just fine, and got 27 MPG. Burned no oil nor coolant the entire trip. The headlights still sucked, though.
Got home, did a visual inspection, found the RF wheel bearing had its sensor wiring ripped out. Got a new one from "Detroit Axle" on ebay, fixed the light, sold the van shortly thereafter.