Update...

[Frankie]

The 2000 Chevy Silverado that Stoga hated has now turned 300,000 miles, and everything except the Radiator and AC Compressor, hoses and belts is original.

Not to bad for a self maintained "pos Chevy" eh, Phil?

My Ford van is at 224,000+, my 2500 Cummins/Ram is looking at 360,000, and my 3500 Cummins/Ram is at 190,000k

Hope everyone is doing well, and staying healthy.

[Dick]

Welcome back Frankie! Please, tell us a story!

[Frankie]

OK...

You might recall that a couple of years ago we purchased a New AWD Durango for my wife, and it ended up being returned under the Lemon law with less than a thousand or so miles on it. Terrible vehicle.

You might also recall that I was totally surprised when she replaced a top of the line, "luxury SUV" with a rather mundane Toyota Rav4. Well, it's been about 2 years now, and I suppose the jig is up. She's unhappy with the Rav4. "Too small", "too loud" (the engine is very noisy. Noting wrong, just noisy), and lousy mpg's for an econo-box.

So, now the search is on for a new SUV for Joyce. I made the commitment to stay out of it, until it's time to buy. I really don't care what she gets, as I'm not going to want to deal with, "...well you picked it out for me..." as I suffered wit the Durango.

We've looked at a couple of Ford AND GM products, Hyundais, Kias, a couple of different Jeeps... This afternoon we're suppose to take a ride over to the local Nissan dealer, and the Dodge dealer, again, as I mentioned that I wouldn't mind an Jeep Unlimited. I only mentioned it in passing!!!

So, I don't know what our time frame is, and I'm not even sure what the budget is. But, she's looking, and she's back looking at SUV's larger than, and better equipped than the Rav4, much to my delight.

The really good thing is, she doesn't have new car fever, and she's not a brand loyalist. Everything is an open book t0 her.

I'm leaning toward the Jeep Unlimited. In fact, one of the conversations we had was that I'm considering selling all 4 pickups, and the van, and replacing them with 2 new vehicles. One will be a new crew cab 1500 something, and the other a Jeep Unlimited.

The Dart has been moved down to the condo in Fl. and is now on a diet of regular (100%) gas, and "Stabil". My son has taken it to a number of car shows since I moved it down there. It won 3 trophies in the last quarter of 2014. "Best Stock", "Best Stock MoPar", and "Honorable Mention".

My son finds it funny that when I was showing it, I never one a damned thing. In the last year we've put about 1600 miles on the car. I was responsible for about 250 of them. Jamey, my son, can take credit for the rest.


My daughter got engaged in January. The wedding is in October. The future son-in-law is a business man, and a rugby player. Cool guy with a head on his shoulders. He's also a home owner. in a pretty nice section of Orlando.
Joyce and I met his parents more than a year ago, and find that we have a lot in common. His mother was also a school teacher, now an Administrator, and his father is a former roundy-round driver who now owns a hotrod shop in the Orlando area. It's his hobby and second business. So, he and I hit it off wonderfully.

Over the past 2 years we've had Christmas, Thanksgiving together, and we've visited one another about a half dozen times. I'm very excited for the kids.


Well, that's about it.

...any suggestions on the SUV hunt would be welcome.

[Frankie]

This just in...

Joyce has an appointment to test drive a Subaru Forester 2.51 Premium. Who knew?

...and I heard from the local Jeep club a few minutes ago regarding the Wrangler Unlimited. It seems that the consensus among local Jeep owners is that reliability isn't one of the virtues of the Wrangler Unlimited.
So, I guess, for me, it's back to the drawing board. But, the Toyota Tundra seems to enjoy some really high customer satisfaction ratings, and reliability ratings, too. It's a little pricey though, next to Ford, Dodge and GM trucks.

[Dick]

Thanks for the update Frankie. I hope it will cause some dialog here.

The Subaru is a decent car. Their all wheel drive is time tested.

Strange about the Jeep stories. They are running an on TV saying ALL the Jeeps have won awards for best in class.

Our 2006 Megacab and my wife's 2006 PT Cruiser are still going strong with no major issues. Both are low mileage. I have 71K on the Ram and the PT has about 82K. Not high miles by any count. Saving up for the inevitable timing belt and water pump replacement on the PT.