Over the winter, my energy-sucking minivan had to get jumped probably 10 times. I was too cheap to get AAA, so I just frequently called my very benevolent step-dad and borrowed his member number to avoid being charged $50 (a ridiculous sum) for a jump from Bobby & Steve’s. I did have to call B&S a few times still, and till this day they still honk at me from their tow truck when they see me on Washington Ave. Oh hai.
Not surprisingly, the multiple occasions I discovered my van dead were maddening as hell (waiting for a jump in the middle of a Minnesota winter is pretty much equivalent to hell), but the experience had a silver lining: It stimulated mine and my family's ingenuity skillz, which in turn, caused us to create a handy little invention: An on/off battery switch placed discreetly in the grill of my van.
In vans like mine, there are so many electricals components that deplete the battery as hungrily as a starving street cat happenstancing upon a dairy barn, it’s nearly impossible to figure out
which component is the biggest energy hog. Was it the ramp, the hand-controls, the EZ Lock set-up, the lights, blah? We really had no idea, and neither did the van experts. They checked the batteries and the alternator, and all was fine. All I honestly knew was that if the van sat for over 2 days straight, it would surely be dead when I next went down to start it.
So we just bypassed the problem entirely with this awesome switch. And it was an RV center of all places, not a specialized van shop or a car electrician, who installed it. It’s super easy to turn/activate, even for C6 quad (like myself) with 'finger problems.'
Cost for the switch? $350. Cost to have peace of mind when all I’m trying to do is conserve gas and use my van less (aka make Pres. Obama happy)? Totes priceless.
* This switch would also be a great addition for cars that are favorites of car thieves (Accords, Camrys, etc). Looking at it, no one's going to know what the hell it is, and would surely make it impossible for any thief to drive away in yer beloved hoopdee. Those jerk faces.
