How do you guys go on tour?

[BlueBoy]

Hey so check it out, I wanna go on tour. I got a second job to save up money for that purpose, but we don't have a van. I drive a minivan that has just enough space for a three-piece band to travel in, but my new band is a four-piece.

So I was thinking we need a 12-passenger van. A full-size beast that isn't enormous, but a size up from a minivan/Explorer/Astro type thing. We've brainstormed, and here are some ideas:

Option 1: The four of us could pool together money for a van, not necessarily equal shares, but just have a savings account that we could all dump extra money into. It would be a simple and fun way to get to a goal, but raises some issues:

-Who owns it?
-How do you insure it?
-Who gets priority in schedule conflicts? (Since all of us are in multiple bands)

Option 2: I save up money from my second job and my tax return to get a larger van as a secondary vehicle for myself. This lowers the cost ceiling and decreases the quality of van I could afford, but solves the issue of ownership and just involves me putting a second vehicle on my insurance policy.
Option 3: I save up money from my second job and my tax return, then sell my minivan and spend all my money on a larger van. This puts me in the position of having to use a large vehicle with low gas mileage as my primary transportation, but I could get a much higher quality van with the funds from selling the current one. I would also still only have to insure one vehicle, which would ease the financial burden, except in terms of gas usage.

My current van is a 2003 Kia Sedona EX with over 200,000 miles on it. It has a new engine with only about 90,000 miles. I think I could get $2,000 for it, maybe $3,500 if I'm way lucky. A dealership would only take about $1,000 or less for it as a trade-in.

Anybody got better ideas? How do I van?

EDIT: Slimming down our gear was also a thought, but that sucks. People keep telling us we're really loud, and I'd hate to ruin that when people who don't know us see us play. We are a 90s alternative band (along the lines of Braid, Sunny Day Real Estate, Texas Is the Reason) with two 4x12s and a 2x15.

[Kellanium]

I disassemble my micro stack, load it up, and set in for the long haul to the family room.

I seriously could not resist.

[SPACERITUAL]

The way ive always seen it done is who ever ponies up the most money registers it in their name.....with my band one of us sold their car and ended up just using the van.....when its sold they amnt is divided along the same lines as the contributions. Or you can incorporate and register it under a company. Buuut that takes actual work.....

[SPACERITUAL]

I disassemble my micro stack, load it up, and set in for the long haul to the family room.

I seriously could not resist.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bhNOalTr0M[/youtube]

[jrmy]

Are you the only one with a car? When I toured, we did a two car caravan. Sure, there were downsides, but it was a five-person band, so multiple cars allowed people to rotate who they hung out with on any given leg, and therefore not get totally pissed off & burnt out from the close quarters.

We were pissed off and burnt out, of course, but at least it wasn't from that.