Sunday, August 8, 2010

Change is good!


So, for the first time in 24 years, I bought a new vehicle. I've always bought late model used since my '87 Nissan pickup blew the motor shortly after the warranty expired. After 5 years and 110k miles with my trusty Dodge Durango (originally purchased with 30k miles, so was up to 140k, a long life in my neck of the woods), it was time for something new. Since I sold my moderately heavy boat recently, I was free to get something that didn't require being able to tow 5,000 lbs. This lead me to go a little "hog wild", so to speak :-)>.


I've always liked Jeeps, their rugged looks and durability, but hated the bumpy nature of the short-wheel base on the highway (which, unfortunately, is where the majority of my driving is done). Enter the 4 door version introduced in 2007. This longer wheel base is much smoother, but still retains the off-road capabilties. Of course I went with the rag top and 6-speed stick, as the former was appealing, and the latter just makes sense to anyone that goes off-road.


As to buying new, well the price point was what made the difference. In pricing out used models with 30-40k miles on them, the savings was less than $1,000. That's not much, so I made the decision to just buy new for once. Now I can't wait to go south again.