Trail Rated...

9/22/08

Trail Rated…

I am here at 4 Wheel Parts, in Henderson NV. I had the
Cherokee lifted 2 inches, side steps installed and a tow
hitch receiver put in the rear. I think the only other
things I would do to it would get black rims, slightly
bigger tires and a safari rack. I’m on the way to completing
the adventure vehicle. It’s a far cry from the suv of my
dreams, the MBZ G500 or a Land Rover Discovery 110 (the
four door, you probably seen them on TV on a safari show,
like Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom or something). Trust
me, I love the Jeep, I’ve only owned Jeeps or VW’s all my
life. I guess I like certain niche cars, not the typical
drivers that my fellow Pinoy brethren would be caught rollin’
in. Plus, I would get definitely mad if someone nicked the
G500 in a grocery parking lot. Anyway, the proposed 911
Carrera in the garage of my future would probably be jealous
of another Germanic piece of engineering parked beside her.
I also get pretty upset when purchasing an “asset” such as a
vehicle, wherein the next year it depreciates a good 20% (it’s
like if I purchased a car for $50,000.00, took out $10,000.00
in cash the next year, poured gasoline on it and lit it on
fire – that is so gross to me – I’d rather pop it in a mutual
fund and watch it grow, yeah right – see the stock market lately?).

If I miss the aroma, I can get new smell car “deodorant” at Kragen
anyway, lol.

I guess I got used to not making any car payments, with the
last of it when I paid off my Wrangler, about 4 years ago. I
got the vehicle out the door in 1999, for about $20,000.00.
It was the Sport Model, with the options I wanted at the time,
full doors, 4.0 inline six engine, auto tranny and A/C.

The Black Beauty, Tyra.

It was a pretty good price for the Jeep, my desire for it was
fueled even more during a great run at Blackjack in September
of that year. I put down $3,000.00, which put my balance of
the loan at $17,000.00. After 5 years and approximately
$25,000.00 in total payments, the Wrangler was mine. I
additionally paid $8,000.00 on top of the loan balance of
$17,000.00, due to the high interest rate of my loan (my credit
at the time was not stellar – but is pretty nice now, my FICO
is higher than my SAT English score back in the day, so I’m
pretty proud). I then sold the Wrangler in 2007 for approximately
$8,000.00, which was actual good market value for the Jeep in
its condition and age. So that’s a negative “investment” of
$20,000.00 in 8 years (not counting miscellaneous wear/tear
and repair costs). But you shouldn’t think of it as an
investment anyway, I bought the car due to certain emotional
reasons – meaning that it was the car I always “wanted” and
not what I actually “needed”. Sounds like a line from "Next
Door Millionaire" (good book, y'all need to read it. I miss
her though, but she was not that practical. Top down driving
is great, but shouting at your passengers while driving was
getting old. The backseat is not great for your passengers on
long trips. I don’t think anyone in the back liked it there,
especially with the top down, as it can be compared to walking
through a wind tunnel at Lockheed. I don’t want to make
anybody feel that I am putting down their desire of purchasing
a new car. I don’t think I would be able to do it again, unless
it was to lease one as a business expense or if I am at a point
in my life where I had “Fuck You Money” (where it would make no
difference in the cost of the vehicle to me – ie, “Fuck You, I’m
Rich Bee-Yotch!" - "Now pick up my Bentley Turbo R from Valet!").

I also miss my venerable Veedub Gabrielle (German, white and a
big “trunk”). She was my 1990 VW Jetta GLI 2.0 16v, that I sold
a few weeks ago. The poor man’s M3, hehe… She was so fun to
drive on twisty roads, especially gunning it down highway 17.
She was high maintenance at times, but when you treated her
right – she could outrun Vette’s and Mustangs on the way to
getting corn dogs at the Boardwalk. The beauty of front wheel
drive and a muscular 145 HP running through it (it’s a light
car you know, it’s not weighed down by useless things like
airbags and such, hehe). Pretty solid runner for a car 18
years old, she had low miles at 105K – still looked fresh,
but like I said she needed to be babied. So, I came to my
financial senses (I didn’t really need her or really drive
her these days – I didn’t bring her to Vegas), as opposed to
my emotional senses, and put her up for sale. Luckily, I
found a buyer who did not haggle on my last advertised price.
I actually sold the car about a “G” above Kelley Bluebook – not
bad, but I’m sad with the separation. I will probably not
find another one like her, in the same condition, ever.



I’m old school VW at heart.

Anyway, I’m fine with the Cherokee, Ms. Taylor – even though
she drinks a bit much, she’s still Trail Rated…