Fort Collins Residents Attack Antifa Thugs after Veteran In Wheelchair Assaulted

 Totally missed this yesterday, but thanks to extexanwannabee, now I know about it.

 

I usually have a scanner running, but unless it's a call to/from the Larimer County Sheriff, or the Colorado Highway Patrol, I won't hear it. Ft. Collins turned on the encryption for ALL police radios after a one-term Chief of Police thought it was a good idea.

Full article is here:

Antifa Beaten After They Allegedly Went After Man In Wheelchair: ‘You Guys Came To The Wrong City’

Holy Smokes.....What Hit Me?

No, not the truck, it's sitting in the driveway just fine.

 

Had a really bad night Wednesday, stayed in bed all day Thursday, and now it's Friday.

 

No fever, but plenty of chills, shakes, sweats, and going "projectile" at both the ends. Really made a mess in the bathroom, but SLW cleaned it up while I was sleeping.

 

Yeah, she's definitely a keeper!

So I don't think it's "The VIRUS!" because no fever, and I almost feel OK today, but a bit weak from no food for two days.

Been drinking water and Gatorade, and maybe (that's maybe) I'll have a slice of bread later.

I'm thinking more along the lines of "Food Poisoning", or maybe some "24-Hour Bug", but never had much belief in those.....

Back to bed. See you all tomorrow.

Bedliner and Tonneau Installation

The people at Colorado Bullhide called last night informing me they had a cancellation, and asked if I would be interested in bringing the truck in today to have the bedliner and tonneau installed.

YOU BETCHA'!

So I dragged myself out of the rack this morning at 0630, jumped in the shower, got dressed, and headed down to Windsor. I got there about 5 minutes after they opened at 0800, talked with the owner Dan a bit, and then they pulled the truck in the shop and got to work on it.

I was back on the road and headed home at 1230, pretty good service! I'd been corresponding with Dan over the last week with questions about it, and was satisfied that they knew what they were doing. He confirmed what I'd read on several pick-up truck forums, that the materials used were all very good, and the surface preparation is the most important thing, just like doing bodywork.

The three big suppliers are Rhino, Line-X, and Bullhide. Rhino and Bullhide are a bit softer than Line-X, and are easier to crawl around on without leaving scraped off skin on the liner, and also easier on your knees when you're in the cargo bed. Line-X has the reputation for holding up slightly better if you regularly haul thing like gravel, bricks, and concrete blocks, but it's a small difference. He also had samples of the various products, removed from junked trucks where he knew what materials were used. One interesting thing were the several sections of OEM (factory applied) bedliner. If you held the stuff up to the light, you could see pinholes and voids in it, indicating it hadn't been sprayed on very thick, resulting in it not being as durable as an aftermarket applied coating.

Here you can see the thickness:

They removed the access panel in the tailgate, sprayed it separately, and reinstalled it:

Sure is dark in there!

Even though it's cured enough to use, I'll wait until tomorrow to install these "Bullring" cargo tie downs:

The above picture shows them in the "stowed" position. When you need to secure something, the U-shaped ring pulls out and snaps into position:

Ant the tonneau cover is really nice. Very solid, and easy to latch/unlatch, and fold the sections up.

These are the two new LED light fixtures I installed. The "four tube" one is 6000 Lumens, and really lights up the engine compartment, and the "two tube" fixture over the bench provides extra fill-in light.

The orange extension cords run to the garage door openers, and no, I did not install them! The black hanging cord on the four-tube fixture *is* my responsibility, and I'll be extending it a few feet so it can be dressed-in properly and reach the new switch boxes I built a couple of weeks ago.

Later tonight I'll take some pix of the tires from the Jeep, and that %$^#^(! "Snow-Joe" electric snow blower so I can get them on nextdoor.com, and get rid of them, freeing up a bunch of space on SLW's side of the garage.

Katy Lied!

Well, "Katy" doesn't speak much, so I can't verify the truth of the post title.

I *know* I've lived where these little guys live, but I can't remember seeing any before....

For reference to the post title:

Man, this "new" Blogger interface SUCKS! Tried FOUR times to link the song from YouTube, and no dice.

Why do they have to screw with this stuff? It was working...LEAVE IT ALONE you morons......

And Down in the Basement....

We have some R/C stuff going on, or soon will be.

I FINALLY got the Pandora Celica XX clear body I ordered, along with some wheels that look "kinda-sorta" like the ones I have on Ms Swan.

Imagine this in white, without the crazy negative camber on the wheels, and not lowered so far.

Body still in box.

And the rims.

These were as close as I could get to the rims on my "1:1 Scale" out in the garage, and while they're not very much like the ones I have, they are "period correct", so they'll do.

These are what's on the "real" car now.

This will probably be a winter project, except for masking it and painting it, which has to be done in a WELL ventilated area, and by changing the body and wheels/tires on my little Trans Am car, I can run in a different class to get more "seat time". I'm typically a bit better than "middle-of-the-pack" when I'm racing the little car, which is about where I expected to be. These old eyes and reflexes can't keep up with The Kids, but I've surprised a few people with some of the moves I've done (pulled?) out on the track. Hey, one of the Rules of Racing is that if you see an opening, that will advance you, go for it!

And I've been really good at avoiding pile-ups, which happen occasionally.

Still tinkering on the "Speed Run" car, and should have that one ready to go back out in a week or so. Had some "issues" getting the correct "bullet connectors" for the power wiring, and had to modify the chassis a bit to fit the new speed controller. I was really hesitant to take it out and let it rip because the brakes on the speed controller I started with were soooo bad. Even going into the set-up menu and turning the braking force to the maximum (only 50%) didn't help much. The new controller is a high-end model from Castle Creations, about the best you can get (and Made In America!!), and has much, much more adjustability, up to 100%, which generally locks the wheels, so some experimentation is required.

And the new truck is very, very nice. Great ride, brakes, handling, good stereo, and so far (with 255 miles on it) we're averaging 20MPG, better than my Jeep which was doing about 15MPG. Our insurance went up a whopping Twenty-Eight dollars, which really surprised me, as I thought it would go up enough to maybe add another zero to that figure, but nope.

Meanwhile, Back IN The Garage......

We have stuff to finish my Supra front bumper!

This is the special primer, the Bumper Bite, and some more of the urethane repair material. This time I got it in the tubes, vs the syringe-type container. You get three times the amount of product, for 50% more in price. A much better deal.

And some plastic covers for the two window wells in the front of the house:

These should help with keeping leaves and other wind-blown trash out of the well, and hopefully will help mitigate some of the heat loss out of the two downstairs windows in the workshop, and maybe help with the drafts, too.


And I built a couple of switch-controlled outlet boxes for the new work lights I hung in the garage.

These will go on the wall behind the workbench, and control two the 48" LED fixtures I hung a week or so ago.

And Sweet Little Wife got new shoes for her little Hyundai, Pirelli Strada "All Season" tires. She also got a less-expensive 5th tire on a steel rim for her spare, as Hyundai did NOT give you any kind of spare tire at all. Just a little air compressor, a container of tire sealer goop to use with the compressor, and a can of Fix-A-Flat.

She was not happy when she found that out! Now I have to go online shopping for a suitable jack to stow in the trunk.

And since we traded-in the Jeep, I no longer have a need for my "summer tires", and as soon as I take a couple of more pix, SLW will put them on nextdoor.com, and out they go!

Plenty of tread left. They're not even half-way down to the tread wear indicator bars.

Now I can get back to this, and then put the front end back together, and DRIVE her....

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.....