Just joined! Hi y'all!

We are driving a 2003 (I think) Chevy Venture, white, with about 120k miles. Well, that's her car, mine is a 2005 BMW 325xi but we're in this together. She loves the van and it is incredibly useful and runs really well. I'm the mechanically minded guy and she's basically just a driver, but we want to keep this van going for a long, long time, hence I'm here to get tips.

Current problems: rust below the rocker panels, one brake light doesn't actually light (but the dim "running light" part works just fine), and we just had the tranny rebuilt.

Regarding the transmission, it was taking FOREVER to shift from 1st to 2nd pretty often, and that was scaring the daylights out of her, so we had it rebuilt for about $1100 and now it's running beautifully.

I hope, with CF, to find a cure for the brake light problem, and hopefully ways and means to keep the van running for many years to come. I'm capable of DIY but don't have a driveway of my own or a full set of tools (mainly just missing a floor jack and jack stands, but the driveway bit is hard to come by) but I love working on cars and work on my own speedy sportster when I can.

Cheers,
Numindast