My "Little Red Truck"

As promised (with mediocre photography), here she is.

When they named this color "Red Hot", they weren't kidding.

It's RED!  Like Fire Truck red, but redder.

Took it out today to run some errands, pick up stuff from Home Depot, and took a longer way home than I usually do.

It runs great, rides nice, has good power and great brakes, now has 220 miles on it, and I'm learning and customizing all the different screens on the "Infotainment" and Navigation systems.

Any Spray-In Bedliner Recommendations?

We won't be able to get the new truck until Wednesday afternoon. It's 120 miles to Colorado Springs, and you have to go through Denver on the I-25 to get there.

And then do it again to get back.

With traffic, and the Denver area is starting to resemble Lost Angeleez in that respect, it's a good four hour round-trip, plus any time the guy spends there in the dealership.

Since this was Dealer Trade, or "swap", our sales guy called us this morning and told us they had to drive one of the trucks they had in stock that the Colo Springs dealer wanted down there, and then return with our truck. I suppose the other dealer could have sent somebody up here with it, and picked up the exchange vehicle, but oh, well....this is how it's working out.

And then after it gets here they're going to check it out to make sure it got here OK, and then clean it up all shiny-pretty (yeah, run it through the wash rack...) for us, and that takes a bit of time. So, we get it tomorrow.

That leaves me 24 hours to scout out where, and possibly what brand to look for, to get the spray-in bedliner applied. And find a tonneau cover. And maybe some side steps, but SLW has said several times when asked that she didn't have any problems getting in and out of it. I've always found that the side steps are nice in really muddy/snowy conditions, so they might get shopped for next Spring....

So, does anybody have any experience with spray-in bedliners? I looked online at the 4x4 and Off-Road places we have here (there's a zillion of them), and most of them do bedliners. They might farm them out to the same place for all I know, because In Ye Dayes Of Olde, that stuff was a PITA to apply, and was toxic, nasty stuff that took specialized spray guns to shoot.

I'll google about a bit and see what I can find, and start calling.

Hmmm....seems like it's a popular topic for discussion on the forums....

For a tonneau cover I was looking at the rigid ones that "Tri-Fold", but I saw some nifty roll-up ones that weren't too much more. I just wonder how well they work with a layer of snow on them.....

Negotiations Successful!!

Well, it's a done deal.

I didn't remember that SLW said we were meeting the salesman at 1400, so I got there 30 minutes late.

D'OH!

It turned out for the best, as she'd already hammered the guy down to $500 more than what we had decided was a "Fair Price" based on what other dealers were advertising for a very similar, but not this *exact*, truck.

And then they gave us $700 more than what I wanted for my Jeep, so it's a wash AFAIC.

After running our credit, we qualified for a better rate than what they normally offered to "Qualified Buyers", and even without playing any finance games "To get that monthly payment down to where we can get you in this car today!", the monthly payment wound up being about $75 less than what SLW had calculated, and she's really good at this stuff.

So, we pick this up tomorrow....

And say good-bye to my beloved Jeep.

Yes, I Haz The Sads......

She's been an excellent vehicle, never letting me down, and never costing any more than routine maintenance, gas, tires, and the upgrades I did to the "Infotainment" system.

As the appraiser was walking back in after his test drive, he said "Nice Jeep". I'd imagine it'll go to auction, or maybe somebody who works there will buy it.

Preps for Negotiation at the Chevrolet Dealer

Well, we're taking The Lord's Day off from car shopping, and playing with our grandson.

But that doesn't mean I can't do a few things after worship...!

I actually got my rear-in-gear today and repaired the peeling headliner in the Jeep. I peeled it back a little bit further so I could get better access to the back side of the fabric, and the foam underlayment that it had peeled from. Sprayed both sides with some 3M "#45 General Purpose Spray Adhesive", let both sides get tacky, and smoothed it all out with a very small (SLW calls them "peanut rollers") paint roller, and holy smokes, you can't tell it had ever peeled back!

Also cleaned up the insides some more, the console area, the areas between the seats, and used one of my detailing brushes to clean out all the nooks and crannies on the dash and console. And I hung two "Little Pine Trees" with the "New Car Scent" in the car. Tomorrow morning I'm running it through the car wash at the gas station, and picking the "Full Monty" selection when I punch in what I want.

And I gathered up the title, registration, and other legal things, and put them in a big envelope. We won't need it for a few days, but it saves a last minute scramble.

So tomorrow after noon after his Daddy picks up TLG, we're headed to the Chevrolet dealer to work out a price, see how bad they'll bend me over on the Jeep, and either thank the man for his time, or sign the papers and get the ball rolling. We've estimated what we're pretty sure is a "Fair Price", based on all the discounts GM is offering, and what other dealers are advertising as their "Special Price", or "Internet Price" on very similar vehicles. And I've done some research on what my Jeep is "worth" using the Kelly Blue Book website, and some other resources, as both a Trade In and sale to a Private Party. There's quite a spread between the two, but the number KBB gave me as a trade-in value are very close to what I was expecting.

I'll let SLW handle the "Finance Guy", as she's quite astute in these things. The salesman had mentioned the Finance Rate for "Well Qualified Customers" was 3.4%, and that's about 1% less than our three Credit Unions are offering. Considering we're also going to put down a nice chunk of change, and our credit scores are well North of 800, we might be able to do better, but that remains to be seen.

WSF has been an invaluable help to us in this, and we're in his debt.

UPDATE - Got the Jeep washed, and as long as I was out, got the oil and filter changed. It's needed the oil changed for way too long now, and it's still not a 100% Sure Thing that we're trading it, but it needed it to be changed, the local "Grease Monkey" place had all three bays open, and I was In-N-Out in 30 minutes.

We'll be headed out to the Chevy dealer as soon as SLW gets back from running some errands.....

Test Drive Results and Decision..... Now With Updates!

After this afternoon's excursion, and much discussion, we've decided which one of our three finalists will come to live here.

We drove the Jeep first, then the Honda, and finally the Chevrolet.

All models have a V6 and an automatic transmission. All models offer specific provisions for properly mounting a child safety seat in the rear seating area.

All three dealers had a salesperson out to greet us withing minutes; all were very low-key, and the Jeep guy remembered our names from last week when we drove through the lot.

First a few ground rules. I plotted a path to drive last night, and we drove all three trucks over the same route. Not hard to do at all, as all three dealers are located along College Avenue, the main drag through town, and are separated by less than 1-1/2 miles. It's a mix of main city streets, "suburban" side streets with drainage channels and speed bumps, and a busted up, unused parking lot with mounds of dirt and gravel. The radios were turned OFF so I could listen for any new and unusual power train and suspension noises, and the fan on the air conditioning was also turned down after we cooled the cabin in the dealer's lot.

These are my opinions of the vehicles we drove, based on what I expect from a vehicle like this, and my experience with a wide variety of vehicles.

IANAL, YMMV, and all the other fine print that goes along with that.....


The Jeep.....

The model we drove was a "Sport 'S'" model, two steps down the trim ladder from the Overland model I was pricing.

The Good -  I was surprised at how well it rode. We could drive over the local speed bumps and drainage channels at the posted limit without drama. Turning radius was very good; I could easily make a u-turn in a cul-de-sac with >5' left over on each side. It was very quiet, and not annoying at all. Smooth riding, no tire noise, no annoying engine sounds, no clunks or groans over bumps. Interior fit and finish were better than I expected, even though the model we drove was the "Sport S" model, one step above the base model. The Overland model I'm pricing has an even nicer interior with leather and other "deluxe" touches. Nice and peppy, very good brakes with good pedal feel and modulation. I played with the one-step-below-what-we-want Infotainment system, and it worked very well. Instantly responded to the touch screen, and the Jeep also has REAL KNOBS for a lot of functions. Exterior fit and finish were excellent. Shiny paint, no orange peel, and tight, consistent panel gaps. Looks pretty well screwed together. Doors and tailgate close with a nice, solid feel, better than I expected considering the doors are "Wrangler Thin". Underhood access to battery terminals and fill points is excellent. FCA is offering 3.9% financing, and you get two years of complimentary ("free") maintenance.

The Bad - The steering uses a "Recirculating Ball" system, like in an old 1950's Chevy, and it has a vague feeling on-center. It almost feels like it's wandering, but the truck was tracking straight. It's an odd feeling if you've never experienced it, but it's fine once you start turning. It has decent road feel, and is nicely weighted but not "heavy" feeling. One of the car magazines  said you feel like a "Ship's Captain In Heavy Seas" on the highway, and I can see where it could be a handful at 75MPH in a cross-wind. It's 5~6" narrower inside than any of the others we drove, and that was the first thing SLW noticed and commented on. Not quite "intimate" seating, but definitely closer than "normal". I almost felt cramped. Even at its lowest position, I felt the seat was too high off the floor, but I was able to find a comfortable position. The Overland model includes better seats with power controls, and may not have this issue, but this was the only one they had for demo use. Forward and side visibility are acceptable-to-good depending on where you're looking, but rear visibility not so much. There's a decent number of bins and storage spaces along with some groups of USB outlets, and the better radio comes with an "AUX IN" jack; narrow but very deep glove compartment.

The Ugly -  I had a hard time getting in and out of it. Not pleasant. The roll cage structure intrudes enough inside that it's a head-knocker (see "cramped feeling" above), and I'd be cracking my noggin every time I got in or out. NOT good. The three-piece removable hardtop is nicely finished fiberglass on the inside, but NO padding or insulation is there until you buy the $600 "Headliner Group". I think it's more for insulation as I didn't notice any noise coming in through or from the roof.


The Honda.....

The model we drove was an "RTL-E" model, exactly what we were looking for.

The Good -  Holy smokes is this thing NICE! Beautiful interior with storage pockets, bins, and USB outlets everywhere. Wide, deep glove compartment. Has a nifty "Two Way" tailgate that drops down like a proper tailgate, and also swings sideways like some station wagons used to. Has a separate locking trunk in the cargo bed, and storage under the rear seat bottom. Rear seats fold up like a contortionist for more cargo space. They're loaded with well-designed, thoughtful touches. EXCELLENT outward visibility in all directions. Wide, roomy cabin. VERY quiet on the road, and sharp, responsive handling. "Rides Like A Car", and nice car at that. Turning radius was good; could easily u-turn in a cul-de-sac, with a few feet left over on each side. Multi-zone heating and cooling. Good, tight panel fit. Doors and tailgate close with a nice, solid "THUNK". Also seems to be pretty well put together. 1.9% financing available; NO complimentary ("free") maintenance, BUT the dealer only charges for the oil and filter. They eat the labor. These trucks are sometimes called "The Thinking Man's Pick-up Truck".

The Bad - These trucks are also referred to as "The Rodney Dangerfield of Pick-up Trucks", and it's not just because they don't get no respect from Real Truck People. They have some issues that I'd read about, and the drive revealed them. The Infotainment system is laggy and slow. Hit a button and it takes a noticeable time for it to react. NO KNOBS to make any adjustments with. Everything is handled through the touch-screen system. Underhood access to battery terminals and fill-points is poor. The hood prop was so hot after our test drive that I couldn't hold it. Steering is very light with little road feel; almost feels like "Drive-By-Wire". This is the first car I've ever driven with very nice handling and crappy steering. Maybe it gets better if you lean on it hard, but I didn't drive it like that. Brakes are substandard. Pedal travel is very long, and the brake pedal has a squishy, mushy feeling to it. NOT confidence inspiring, but it handled the hard stops I made OK. I made a comment to SLW wife that they felt like the brakes in my Dad's 1969 Olds 98, but she didn't get it. It had a low groan over certain uneven road surfaces, almost like the unibody was flexing some. And it was repeatable over the same and similar stretches of our "bad road" test course. Paint job not as good as on the Jeep, with some orange peel.

The Ugly - Honda builds these trucks all the same. The only differences are the color and trim level. This means ALL the "options" are really Dealer Installed Accessories, and dealer installation labor is NOT included in the list price of the accessory. The sales guy we talked to said he didn't know the labor rate the shop charged for installing each accessory off the top of his head, but there was a sheet listing those prices that he would use when time came to price out the truck we wanted.



The Chevrolet.....

They didn't have the *exact* model we're looking for (an 4WD "LT" model) but the one we drove was 99% the same; a 4WD "Z71" model.


The Good - Very peppy, EXCELLENT brakes, VERY good steering. Sharp and responsive handling with good road feel. The ride was a bit stiff, as the Z71 has slightly different springs and shocks on it, but otherwise very smooth riding, with crisp handling. The engine and trans feel like they really work well together, upshifting differently depending on throttle opening, and downshifting coming down a hill when it would help slow the vehicle a bit. It wins the "Fun-To-Drive" category hands-down. Infotainment system is wonderfully good. It has REAL KNOBS to do things with. It even has a knob for adjusting the instrument panel brightness! Honda should go ask GM for help. Outward visibility was excellent to the front and sides, and very good to the rear. Fit and finish in the cabin was very good; almost as nice as the Honda. We didn't think it felt "cheap" at all, at odds with what the car magazines say. Multiple cup holders, USB ports, and a wireless charging pad for your cellphone. Much wider inside and more comfortable than the Jeep, but not as good as the Honda. Really comfortable seats, and we could in and out no problem. The turning radius was exceptionally tight, tighter than the Jeep. Did the cul-de-sac U-Turn with >6' on each side. Excellent exterior fit and finish. Smooth, shiny paint and tight, consistent panel gaps. Doors and tailgate close with a solid "THUNK". Looks to be very well screwed together. Underhood battery terminal and fill point access excellent; better than the Jeep. GM is offering an instant 10% off MSRP, and 3.4% financing on In-Stock vehicles. There's NO complimentary ("free") maintenance, BUT the dealer gives you first oil change and inspection for free, and every 5th oil change is free.

The Bad - Back seat area not as roomy as the Honda, but the back set can fold up for more cargo storage. Doesn't have "Multi-Zone" A/c, and NO outlets pointing at the back seat passengers. Doesn't have some of the Driver Assistance features the others do, like Blind Spot Monitoring. The transmission made a disturbing, clunky, botched downshift the first time we came to a stop, but didn't do it again in over 30 minutes of driving. 2020 model production has ceased, and 2021's are just starting to come in. If you can't find an in-stock 2020 that you like, you'll be ordering a 2021.

The Ugly - Absolutely nothing, except maybe that the fuel economy isn't as good as the Honda, but it's a notch better than the Jeep.


And The Surprise Winner Is....... (drumroll, please...)

The Chevrolet Colorado!

Well, at least it is to *me*. Now I have to convince my wife.....which I did.

*** I loved the Jeep Gladiator, and it broke my heart after I drove it. It's just too cumbersome (meh visibility out of it; difficult ingress/egress) and too specialized (narrow for off-road and trail use) for me to live with it. Me haz the sads over this....


*** I was afraid I'd fall in love with the Honda Ridgeline, and it disappointed me. Vastly. It looks spectacular on paper, and then fails in the execution of some of it's features and systems. The brakes are a real sore spot with me, and the Infotainment system would be aggravating to live with. Some of the brake issues might be cured with better pads, but the long travel and mushy pedal are design issues. HONDA- Fix The Damn Brakes, will you? I'm sure they meet all applicable safety requirements, but they don't inspire much confidence. The numb steering I could live with because it's responsive, and it goes where it's pointed very well, but mushy brakes with overly long pedal travel are a NOGO in my book. As always, YMMV!

And give the electronics guys at GM a call while you're at it, and find out if they'll sell you the "Infotainment3" system. It's brilliant.

*** I was neutral on the Chevrolet Colorado, and it surprised me in a Very Good Way. I can't think of any major issues that the test drive showed. It accelerates, stops, steers, goes around corners, and rides far better than an off-road capable vehicle with a five foot bed attached to it has any right to.

SLW and I were discussing these pluses and minuses, and she agrees. She thought the poor underhood access on the Honda was unforgivable, and she's uncomfortable with the whole Dealer Installed Accessory thing because you won't know the total price of the vehicle, the Dealer Installed Accessories, and the labor to install them,  until you sit down with the sales guy to "Price It Out".

SLW told the last car dealer we looked at that it would all come down to price, and getting a "good price" is her forte.

I'm off to look at current inventory in the surrounding area, and if we can find one like we want, we'll buy it. Otherwise I'll go online and use the Build-and-Price tool for a 2021.....


ANNNNND.....I found two in Colorado springs that are 95% matches. One is "Red Hot", the color SLW wants, and the other is "Crush", more of an orange shade.

This is the truck we're calling our sales guy about on Saturday :

Hopefully we can get it. It's a trim level higher (Z71 vs LT), and needs a spray-in bed liner and rigid tri-fold tonneau cover installed, but that's it. There were a few other trinkets on the one I "built" online, but the important ones, like the PosiTraction differentials  are included in the Z71 package, and the others were things I can do without, like the "Power Pack" cat-back exhaust system, and some other trivial little thing.

The Kids and TLG sure will know when Grandma's coming!

UPDATE: We called the sales rep on our way to the Greeley Old Time Farm Show, and  gave him the stock number, and he said he'd check. He called back to say they still have it (not sold yet), but the guy who handles the "Dealer Swaps" wasn't in on Saturday, and we'd have to commit to buy to get it up here.

Wife is mulling this over.....

Update to the Update: Well, now she says we're buying this truck. One thing that swayed her "distress" over having to pay $500 for a spray-in bedliner is that I found several places here, with good reputations, that will do it for less. Same with the $1099 (plus installation) rigid, folding tonneau cover. Found the same one at several shops here for $600, installed.

We're going to the Dealer Monday afternoon to get the ball rolling. I just hope the other dealer doesn't sell it between now and then. It's the ONLY one like it within 500 miles, and I'd like to move on it. If we wanted silver or white, I found 8 of those. Same with black. The local dealer has FOUR of them, all equipped the way we want, and there's another 8 or so within 250 miles.

If she can hammer out a deal to her liking, we'll probably be driving it before the end of the week. I was going to get the Jeep detailed and have the windshield replaced, but she's preparing to take the hit and trade it AS-IS. I'll be surprised if they offer us more than $3500 for it.....

UPDATE, Part III: Went to the Kelly Blue Book online price guide to see what my Jeep is worth. Being brutally honest about condition, it's worth $4150~$5375 as a trade, with my unique price being $4760. Selling it to a private party has a value range of $5850~$8100, with my unique asking price to be $7000. My "unique" price is based on options, mileage, and condition. A new windshield from SafeLite is ~$400 installed here at home, and a really good detailing will run about $375, more if I have them do the headlights, which are getting cloudy again.

Jeep defects include the cracked windshield, a sagging headliner in the area of the front sun visors (it's drooping from where it meets the windshield molding. Easy fix), the cloudy headlights, and even though I cleaned all the "stuff" out of it and vacuumed it with my shop vac, it's filthy. The carpets need to be shampooed, the seats cleaned and conditioned, and two small leather repairs need to be done.

Jeep assets include low mileage of 88,000, tires with only 3,000 miles on them, 4 new "premium" brake rotors with ceramic pads ~5,000 miles ago, regular maintenance with records, a premium Kenwood stereo with navigation and working steering wheel controls, no accidents, clean CarFax, clean title, rust-free "California Car", and one owner.

All of that means little to nothing to the trade-in appraiser, who's going to balance the low mileage and new tires against everything else, and low-ball me. I was just getting started with the spiffing up process, and now I doubt if I'll have time. I'm running it through the automatic car wash tomorrow, and selecting all the "Heavy Duty Super Scrub" options for the wash. It might help a little, but that cracked windshield is gonna jump and scream "JUNKER!!!" at the guy who decides what range of value they'll offer me.

I dug up all the various discounts and deals GM/Chevrolet is offering right now, along with looking at the dealer inventory of every_single_Colorado_Z71_truck within 500 miles. I picked up a lot of "hidden" information about The Sacred Dealer Fee, and the various advertised "special" prices, wrote down some observations, and turned it over to my Accountant and Business Manager, SLW. She'll digest it tomorrow in preparation for battle. I keep trying to explain to her it's like three separate negotiations, but she doesn't get it. You have to deal with the sales guy and his boss ("The Desk"), then there's the guy that does the appraisal, who you usually never even see, let alone talk to, and then you have the Finance Department to deal with.

Oh, well....she claims to know this cold, and I'm sure she knows the numbers, but I don't think she fully understands the sales people.

Monday should be interesting.....

Looked at the Honda and Chevy Today

It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and we got there about 30 minutes before they closed. The Honda dealer had NO sales staff there, just some frightened looking little receptionist wearing a mask, and behind a big clear plastic shield. They had one outside, all locked up, that looked like it just came off the tuck, and one inside that we crawled all over, doing the tire-kicking and door-slamming thing all by ourselves. VERY nice interior ("soft touch" surfaces everywhere), paint looked pretty good, all the panel fits were excellent, the doors and tailgate closed with a solid feel, and the seats seemed very comfortable. SLW could easily get in and out of it even though it didn't have the steps she wants on it, and she thought she could see out of it adequately well, but she wouldn't know until she drove one. She was quite impressed with the rear seat that folds up to free a lot of cargo space, and the "Two Way" tailgate that drops down like a proper tailgate, but also swings out like a door.

She agreed a beige leather interior would get filthy beyond belief in six months, so she backed off on wanting a red one as that's the only color interior available with red. If we buy a Honda, we'll get a blue one, as it has a slate grey/black interior.

The we went up the street to the Chevy dealer. They had Colorados (Coloradoes?) galore, but all the ones on the lot were either strippers, or fully-loaded Z71 and ZR2 off-road specialists. A nice young guy came out (one of the owning family's sons), and after talking a bit, he said he had a car with a deposit on it like we wanted, but he'd go get it so we could look at it. Except for the color, black, and the "RST" package at $2995, it was exactly what we wanted as far as trim level and interior. We crawled in and around that one, but he couldn't let us drive it as it was too close to closing, but he said if we came back during the day, we could drive one with the same config (4WD, mostly) that we were looking for. The Chevy had beautiful paint, good panel fit, nice interior, REAL KNOBS for the radio and climate control instead of touch-screen everything, and SLW could easily get in and out of it even though it, too, lacked the side steps she wants. She could see out of it OK ("Not As Good As The Honda"), and she liked the flip-flop-fold-em-up rear seats, but again, she proclaimed them "Not As Good As The Honda", which has tons of very cleaver storage cubbies, and a lockable trunk in the cargo bed. I noticed lots of hard plastic on the doors and dash of the Chevy, but it seemed to be screwed together pretty well.

So we kind of shot ourselves in the foot by going out so late, but at least we got to look at two of our choices.

And as expected, she's got doe-eyes for the Honda even though she hasn't driven it.

As of this time, the original five contestants have been winnowed down to three, the Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma having not made the cut. Don't get me wrong, the Toyota is about as reliable as an anvil, and WSF has friends that say the same thing about the Nissan, but they're 10-year old designs, due for a redesign, somewhat loud and crude, and the interiors have a strong "Work Truck" look to them. I'm sure *I* could live with one, but I don't think she'd be happy with it unless she got several more orders of magnitude "countrified".

And although she's agreed to test drive the Gladiator, I don't think she'll care for it. It's a stretched Wrangler, pretty much has a Wrangler interior (gussied up right nice, though), has coil sprung suspension with straight axles front-and-rear, and looks pretty utilitarian.

I think she'll want to go with the Honda. I'd be stunned if she found the Jeep "acceptable". I just hope we drive the Jeep over some reeeeally nice roads on the test drive so it doesn't shake her fillings out.....

Welllll..... That Was Quick....

 I figured it would take the wife at least a week to decide she didn't like the Jeep Gladiator. Only took her three days.

SO....I'm keeping my Grand Cherokee, and she'll be trading in her Elantra. Not sure what she'll be getting, but as WSF commented, she'll love it, and I'll drive it when required.

Best Blogger's Post I've Read All Year!

Peter over at Bayou Renaissance Man has an absolutely GREAT post about the current state of affairs, and offers some powerful suggestions as to how to start to work our way out of it.

I know most of you read Peter's blog, but please don't miss this post. It's outstanding!

First Steps....

Spent about 3~4 hours today pulling out the radio gear, power cables, signal cables, Aux GPS cables, and returning everything to the way it was before I put the stuff in.

Got the shop vacuum out and sucked all the crud out of the car, and cleaned the glass.

I pretty much know everything about this car that needs attention, and some of it I'm going to do (the headlights, again), and some I'll farm out (the detailing). And some items won't get done, like 4 new shocks. I put new brake rotors with high-end ceramic pads on it before we moved here, and the pads show like (maybe) 10% wear. The rotors still look new. The objective at this time is to get it a much presentable condition than it is now. In short, it's filthy! The carpets need to be shampooed, along with the headliner, and the seats need to be professional cleaned. The drivers seat needs a couple of small repairs, the windshield needs to be replaced, the driver's side outside mirror is getting cloudy and should be replaced. If I can find a cheap used one, I'll swap it out. Other than the items mentioned here, it's a rust-free "California Car" that's low-mileage (2006 model year, 87,000 miles), never been wrecked or abused, and always had regular maintenance. Once I get it presentable, we'll start the serious shopping.

And we haven't decided 100% on buying a Gladiator. I've been reading reviews of the other trucks in the size class, and one I want to look at is the Honda Ridgeline. The "Truck People" look down on them for various reasons, but they'll tow up to 5,000lbs when they have the all-wheel drive package, and since I doubt if I'll ever do any serious off-roading, the all-wheel drive capability they have should be sufficient. The Get-Outta-Dodge roads we'd have to use can be easily handled by one of these, as I've seen a couple "Up On The Mountain".

The only thing the magazine reviews faulted them on was the brakes. Soft pedal, lots of travel, and longer-than-average (for the class) stopping distances.

So the game's afoot, and I'm proceeding with the fact that if we really do buy a new car, the Jeep will be traded in or sold to a private party, and we're keeping her Hyundai. The little Elantra is seven years newer, runs like a top, and only has 38,000 miles on it. It's been an excellent car (never mind the two big accidents; wasn't her fault), it's pleasant to drive, gets very good fuel economy, and has been dead reliable except for the time she didn't close the door all the way, the dome light stayed on, and the battery croaked.

Hmmmm...Should I, Or Shouldn't I?

Sweet Little Wife has been talking lately about us "needing" a truck. She can't really haul much besides me, groceries, and The Little Guy around in her beloved little Hyundai Elantra, and with her recent furniture refinishing and gardening projects, she really does need to haul some stuff around.

And there have been numerous times when I needed things that were too big to fit in my Grand Cherokee, which has less space inside than you'd think by looking at the outside.

She also said it MUST have four doors (a.k.a. "Crew Cab" configuration) as she likes being able to take more than one person somewhere, i.e. The Little Guy and one or both of The Kids. Hmmm....guess I get to ride in the bed, then.....

And it MUST be four wheel (these days "All Wheel") drive, AND be capable of getting up to the The Homestead of our extended family, something she says she would NOT attempt in the little Hyundai, and I don't blame her one bit, having driven up there numerous times.

So I mentioned something about the new Jeep Gladiator being a four-door, all-wheel drive, "Trail Rated" vehicle with a pick-up bed, and just let it fade out after that.

We went running around doing some errands this afternoon (Home Depot, CVS, etc) and went to Freddy's for dinner. I *finally* got my Patty Melt from Freddy's and it was fabulous! She mentioned how nice it would be if we had a "nice little truck" to run all out errands in as she looked at how packed we had my Grand Cherokee.

I said we'd drive by the Jeep dealer tonight on the way home, and see if they had any Gladiators in stock.

They only had two, one pretty basic, and one pretty loaded. We looked at the "pretty loaded" one, and except for the color (black), she loved it. She absolutely detested in in black, though, saying "It Looks Like a Gestapo Car", which really cracked up the sales guy.

So we came home, went online, and did the "Build and Price" thing, and looked up the resale value of my Jeep.

Current delivery time is running about 8 weeks for a special order car, and if we're gonna cough up the Ka-Ching for one, we're going to get exactly what we want, so unless they put $10k "On The Hood", we're loathe (well, *I* am) to buy one out of stock.

I'm gobsmacked she's considering this. She even says I can get it with the six-speed manual trans. She knows how to drive a manual trans car, but I'm not so sure she'll like driving one of these with a manual, and that's the last point we have to discuss, as an automatic transmission is a $2,000 option.

Other than, should we get RED, or White?

R.I.P., Charlie. You Brought Joy To Countless People.....

This is the first time in recent memory that the passing of a musician has bummed me out. His music had that "something" to it that resonated with people across all backgrounds and walks of life.

Uneasy Rider

Still In Saigon

Long Haired Country Boy

In America

God Bless you, Charlie. I've got a feeling there's gonna be a lot of toe tappin' going on  in Heaven.....