Still no changes to our fleet, though I don't recall if I ever mentioned my wife's car before; it's a 1999 Dodge Durango SXT 5.2L she bought new not long after she got her first job out of nursing school, as an OR nurse. It's the only car she's ever owned. I'll admit that I judge people a bit based on how they care for their car - especially out here where the lack of corrosion means you basically can repair a car and keep it running indefinitely. Then there's the fact that California cares SO DAMN MUCH that you get your car smogged every two years, with the slightest changes under the hood causing you to fail the visual inspection, regardless of what's actually coming out of your tailpipe, but they can't be bothered to implement a safety inspection program. I never saw so many cars with burned out exterior lights and tires worn through to the cords until I moved here. So when I saw the car she drove, I wasn't bothered that it was old, but the first thing I looked at was whether her tires not worn through to the cords. Not only were they fresh tires but they were a real, name brand tire, and they all matched. The paint was in beautiful shape, too, and it still is. It has 256,000 miles on the original engine and transmission, and actually drives great for what it is.
We considered getting one of the new Jeep Grand Wagoneers for her - she likes her SUVs to be truckish, and we also wanted a highly competent tow vehicle for a future trailer purchase. But the car market is just stupid right now, and we found we had to step up to the Series II JGW to get the really nice interior - basically we were looking at six figures, and just didn't want to spend that much on a car. We know we run the risk of inflation and higher interest rates pushing vehicles we like out of our comfort zone in terms of cost, but that kind of money buys a lot of plane tickets, hotel rooms, and "glamping" at music festivals to avoid having to mess with all the setup of tent camping. So we figure, with the market the way it is, even if her engine or transmission in the Durango needed a rebuild, we'd be better off doing that than trying to buy a car right now.
Plus, we just don't drive much anymore. I know this will increase a bit as we get back into the swing of taking more trips, going to events, and seeing friends; but they've already designated our office space to be repurposed to move some offices out of one of our hospital campuses. We are going to be 100% remote for the foreseeable future. I'm having to send service records from the past few years to make the insurance company believe how few miles we've been driving. Each of our cars has gotten less than 3,000 miles a year since 2020 began - in the case of my B2600i, it's gotten less than 3,000 miles TOTAL since 2020 began. I thought about replacing my Challenger with a new one, but I just can't justify it to myself considering how little I'd be getting to use it. It doesn't help that they don't offer a manual transmission on the Hellcat at the moment, and I doubt they'll be bringing it back when the car is probably only going to be in production for another 18 months or so.
Don't bother telling me the 8 speed Torqueflite is faster - I DON'T CARE!
My parents, who we moved out to CA and into the second floor of our house, still have their first-gen Scion xB - at 98,000 miles it's just broken in - and their 2013 Chrysler Town & Country, still just under 30,000 miles.
That was a lot of words to say nothing's new, other than coming close to buying a JGW and then balking at buying a $100,000 car. I can tell you though, those JGWs are *nice* inside and very comfortable and quiet - all you really hear is the 6.4L Hemi when accelerating.
Originally Posted by KillerB
Still no changes to our fleet, though I don't recall if I ever mentioned my wife's car before; it's a 1999 Dodge Durango SXT 5.2L she bought new not long after she got her first job out of nursing school, as an OR nurse. It's the only car she's ever owned. I'll admit that I judge people a bit based on how they care for their car - especially out here where the lack of corrosion means you basically can repair a car and keep it running indefinitely. Then there's the fact that California cares SO DAMN MUCH that you get your car smogged every two years, with the slightest changes under the hood causing you to fail the visual inspection, regardless of what's actually coming out of your tailpipe, but they can't be bothered to implement a safety inspection program. I never saw so many cars with burned out exterior lights and tires worn through to the cords until I moved here. So when I saw the car she drove, I wasn't bothered that it was old, but the first thing I looked at was whether her tires not worn through to the cords. Not only were they fresh tires but they were a real, name brand tire, and they all matched. The paint was in beautiful shape, too, and it still is. It has 256,000 miles on the original engine and transmission, and actually drives great for what it is.
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