well, actually.. its for my wife.. with the new baby coming in 5 weeks, and her 1994 grand cherokee with 150,000 miles.. i figured it was time for a new, dependable, safe ride.
so, i just got back from the bank, and we signed the papers.. we got a 2004 mercury mountaineer(like the explorer). its got the luxury package with heated leather seats, memory seat positioning, running boards, fog lamps, luggage rack, front & rear AC, fold down 3rd row seating, keyless entry, alarm, dual entry rear door, etc, etc, blah, blah.. its a kick-a$$ ride.
we pick it up this afternoon, and shannon couldnt be more excited.. oh, and its got an awesome 6 speaker stereo system.. thats all i was worried about!!
bigjohn
Congratulations! I am extremely jealous. Sounds real nice.
Very cool.
I have actually been thinking about picking up a used Tahoe or Yukon. They are so cheap!
But it really depends on how my company does in the next few months. My commute is SO short now.....if I have to commute longer to a new job, the cost of gas gets in the way.
the truck is a 2004, but it is used.. it has 15,000 miles, so we got a great deal on it. they were asking $25,000, and i talked em down to $22,100..
this one has the V6 motor, so i should get 17 city/21 hwy..
thats not too bad for an SUV.
bigjohn
Enjoy, John. New stuff is always fun.
Sounds like a good reason for a road trip...
But that will definitely have to wait until after Shannon has the baby...
Good reason nonetheless...
Enjoy the new ride, dude...
WhatFurrer
John-please give a review of your rig after you've had it a while. Our mini-van is getting cramped with a 4 year old daughter, 2 month old twin boys, playpens, cribs, etc. I need to get a bigger vehicle this fall-my environmentalist wife is strongly opposed to an SUV on the dreaded MPG question. I would sure appreciate some human comforts after being in a van for 7 years. When can we expect Axiom car speakers?
I hesitate to point out that SUVs often have less cargo room than minivans or wagons. However, generically speaking, I suppose they're more macho. But gimme an Audi RS2 any day.
Whoo Hoo BigJohn!! That sounds great! One of my colleagues has a newer Explorer, and it is very comfortable and quite nice. I hope you and your family will be very happy for a long time.
We have a 1999 Windstar that is starting to show its age, but the annoyingly complete practicality of a minivan has been forever etched on my automotive psyche. Sometimes, it sucks to be a responsible grown-up.
Congrats. My wife is going to give her 8 year old Pathfinder to our daughter to drive, and she test-drove the Acura SUV. She liked it...a lot! I guess one of those is in my future!
Mark
Nice choice john!! New vehicles are fun. I have fallen in love with my new Maxima. By the way, is that thing big enough to have it's own zip code?
my wife drives a mountianeer.its like getting the eddie bauer edition of the explorer.that thing is a bear in the snow.its getting old now but ill get another one when this one is tired.its got a v-8 and full time all wheel drive and still gets better gas mileage than my truck....good luck with it.....ron.............p.s....i know im a major offender on the poor typing/spelling that has been mentioned in other posts...but im not about to go back to class....sorry guys
Getting a new vechile is always fun
ron-
its nice to see someone that has one, say that they would buy another one. i know that mercury's traditionally have had probs with their transmissions, but i hope mine runs fine for many years.
after we picked it up last night, we just drove around til it got dark.. i know, kinda stupid.. but shannon wanted to go show it to all her friends..
someone asked if it had its own zipcode?? no, it is actually not real big.. not big like the suburban, expedition, or yukon.. but definitely bigger than the grand cherokee.. ac blows plenty cold, and it had a great ride.. smooth and very forgiving over rough road and dips. plus, the gauges and instrumentation panel look really cool at night..
i will post a 4 month review later on for those interested in this truck, or any SUV in general. BTW- the 1994 jeep grand cherokee we are getting rid of is/was a great vehicle.. it has 150,000 miles, and still runs strong.. it just is starting to have those 'little' things go wrong with it, and we really needed the 3rd row seats and extra cargo space. if anyone is considering getting a grand cherokee, i would say do it.. ours has been a real trooper.
bigjohn
i take the bus or i bike or walk. costs me $59 a month and i never have to look for parking or pay for repairs or insurance or tickets or gasor monthly payments or get it treated for rust...
more money for CD's and DVD's
i wish that was possible where i live, but no luck.. i am in rural west texas, where you have to drive a good ways to get anywhere. plus, i dont much feel like walkin to work at 7:30 in the morn, when its already 82F degrees..
i have never lived in big metropolotian city, never rode a subway, and never been on a train.. unless you count the one at disneyland?
bigjohn
I second the love for the Cherokee! I've been driving one for 3 years, and it's the most comfortable ride on the planet. And (oh, geeky confession time) it's the only SUV we test-drove that would allow the passenger to set up a lap-tray to put your laptop on. Everything else was too small. This is good when you're driving 2 1/2 hours to get to 'the city'! A friend let us drive her Navigator . . . drool . . . but even with the button that folded in the side mirrors (!) we determined the vehicle wasn't 'garagable' - meaning, you couldn't race in a -40* and close the door behind you and still get the groceries out! LOL! It's all about where you live, isn't it bigjohn?
yes.. location, location, location..
did i mention.. location?
bigjohn
I am not a big suv fan personally, mostly because they seriously endanger other drivers. (And they are impossible to see past when they are in front of you on the highway, may as well be following a truck.) Once I was stopped behind a navigator at a light, waiting to make a right turn. I was driving my brother's honda civic at the time (the little "3-door"), and the navigator suddenly started to back up. Before I could get the car into reverse, the navigator had literally climbed halfway up onto the hood of the civic and I was staring through the windshield at it's rear fender. The woman said she didn't see me. No surprise really, given that my car was maybe 30% of the size of hers. Just a note, there was nobody else in the car and no cargo, ie: no distractions or visual obstructions...
All things considered, especially city living, I am a honda and subaru fan. Given the boston climate I went with the subaru, and the all wheel drive is awesome. If I were living further south it would be a honda for me though.
That said, I have driven several on various occasions and they are damned comfortable and empowering to drive, I've got to say.
You'd think she'd noticed when the back end of the beast started to go up... I had a friend with a Miata who that happened to a few years ago. He was pretty distressed.
There is unrest on the roadways.
There is trouble with SUVs.
For the Civics want more sunlight,
And the trucks ignore their pleas...
--With great apologies to Rush
hey now.. ya'll need to remember now.. it aint the vehicle, its the person driving it that makes it dangerous..
that subaru, and that miata, can be just as dangerous and deadly with some lame-brian idiot behind the wheel!!
the car is only responding to the controls it is being given by the driver. dont be a hater!!
sweet peter- and the civics are quite convinced their right!
bigjohn
No, no, I understand that. Wasn't saying that you were a bad driver, just recounting a story...
ya know what else pisses me off?....
hehe j/k, let's not let this honest thread head down the drain
I looked at the Miata. Nice little car. Turns out to be way too expensive when you have to buy one for each foot. Sometimes (but only sometimes), I envy your basic 5'10", 180 lb. guy. It is usually worst when I get to the car dealership and ask what they have in a 48 long or go shopping and try to find 17 1/2 x 36 dress shirts.
BigWill & bigjohn - you know what I'm talking about. Pete, I'm guessing you have a 35" inseam and have trouble finding pants. I think the real problem is that most things are designed by "the little people".
I have no idea what brought all of this on, but I felt the need to share. I don't normally purge like this, but you guys are special.
Hey now! At 5'10" I'm totally normal. Well, I'm a lotta pounds under 180, but I can't help how god made me!
Designed BY and FOR 'the little people' MR! :P
Eddie Bauer is your friend. Nice selection of clothing for tall men.
The thing about SUVs is that in an accident involving an SUV and a standard passenger car, a significant amount more damage is done to the car than in a comparable accident involving two cars. Granted, the person in the SUV is much safer. (Roll overs aside.)
As for the woman who climbed my hood, she probably let go of the gas as soon as she felt the impact, the thing went up the hood surprisingly fast. It was extremely disconcerting that if she had held it down a second or so longer my face would have been smashed in. A sedan would not have climbed my hood like that.
Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against people who drive SUVs. I don't drive around thinking angry thoughts to myself whenever I see one or anything. I just personally feel they are excessive for the most part, and more potentially hazardous than the standard issue sedan. (On a driver for driver basis of course.)
Think about it this way, would you rather a drunk driver hit you with a Ford Explorer or a Mazda Protege?
There are certainly people out there who genuinely need to have an SUV or a minivan, and who really wants a minivan? But there are also people out there who buy their 16 year old daughters SUVs so they (the daughter) will be safer while driving around...
So SUV owners, the thing to take away from this is to be thoughtful. You are driving a car that will make minced meat of many other things on the road.
In reply to:
Think about it this way, would you rather a drunk driver hit you with a Ford Explorer or a Mazda Protege?
That just strikes me as bass-ackwards thinking. If a drunk driver hits you, would you rather be in an Explorer or a Protoge? What ever happened to being responsible for ones own safety and security? If you get injured in an accident because you are driving an itty bitty car, why is it the fault of the person in the SUV? IMO, that is the risk you assume when you buy a small car. Many people buy SUV's in order to feel safe, why should they be made to feel guilty (or pay higher insurance premiums) because people choose to drive small cars?
Mark
What's the car that they won't let compete in demolitian derbies? '62-'63 Chryslers? Huge, heavy iron sleds that plow through everything - that's safe.
It does suck when you get behind a large vehicle on the fwy, but you can always pass him.
I do agree that it is not a very strong argument in all honesty. But I'm certainly not the only one to have that opinion of them. For city living, I don't think SUVs are practical in the least. For out of city living, those arguments don't hold up so well either. If I appear to be trying to preach a doctrine or something I don't mean to be. Just voicing my opinion since there happened to be an SUV thread to voice it in.
I'm certainly OK with folks being able to choose whatever vehicle they want to drive. I just personally think that SUV's are overkill for city driving in places that don't get a lot of snow, and I don't think they are safer vehicles. Here is
an article about one study that concludes, with the high rollover risk and a higher overall crash rate for SUV's, that having lots of SUVs and pickup trucks on the road causes more deaths not just in regular cars but more deaths inside the SUVs and pickup trucks, too. I feel safer in a full size sedan than in an SUV.
hey,just for kicks.what is the average gas price in your area?right now in connecticut its right around 2 bucks a gallon.....ron
$2.20 - $2.40 in LA area.
Crewcab pickup trucks are the greatest thing since sliced bread and QS8s!
Its 1.87 here in Wilmington Il.I sometimes go about 20 miles south to get E-85 fuel for my S-10.Its 1.81 a gallon.
ringmir- i dont think you are preaching.. i can dig what you are saying, i just dont agree.
we have an SUV out of necessity. family of four(soon to be), we go camping a lot so we need the extra cargo space, and i do feel it is safer for my wife and kids to be in a bigger vehicle. we did choose to get a truck with the V6 for better gas mileage. and, with safety being a concern, we do have front airbags, and the 'curtain' airbags that inflate down the lengths of the windows on the sides. and i agree with mark.. my wife has been in 3 automobile accidents in the 9 years i have known her.. one was her fault, the other two were because of the other drivers.. so as mark said, i am more concerned with the safety of my family than i am with the safety of the people that are crashing into her.. oh, and i tried to get her to buy a honda odyssey(minivan)..ha, she would have NO part of it.. shes too cool for that..
and gas here in san angelo, tx is $1.78 gal.. just filled up yesterday..
bigjohn
bigwill,what kind of crewcab do you have?i picked a 2004 ram quadcab in january.had to get the 4 door because of the kids.its like going down the street in my livingroom...ron
I have no problem with trucks/suv's... i just prefer cars, I don't like being up that high.
You ought to try a dump truck.Thats what I drive for my job.A GMC Topkick with a Cat diesel engine.Now thats sitting high.
I wish I had a crewcab. I have a 2000 Chevy 1500 extended cab. I bought it right before Ford came out with their supercrew.
*raises a eyebrow*
You Americans and your huge SUV's *shakes head* gas guzzling over sized trucks for city/residental driving...go figure :\
- D
some of us need it.even if i didnt,id still love it....ron
well, i need it, and i love it.. so i guess i got the best of both worlds.
bigjohn
I drove a friend's raised Jeep Cherokee Sport to work today since my sister is borrowing my car for a week. As I was pulling into the parking garage, I had to get out of the car and double check to make sure I wouldn't scrape the ceiling. What a pain in the butt that would have been if the car were even one inch taller.
When my truck was new the 5.3 L V8 got about 18 mpg around town and up to 21 mpg on vacation! I was stunned. 4 years later I get about 16 mpg. Still not bad compared to trucks of old.
But a guy has gotta have a truck - haulin' furniture, landscaping materials, towing boats, etc... If you work around the house there really is no alternative.
Will,
My parents have the same truck you do and they love it. I absolutely despise the look of the crew cabs. Trucks are NOT supposed to have 4 fully functional doors. My bro and I are both 6 feet and fit comfortably in the back seats. Plus the 2000 Silverado's don't have that god awful face that the newer ones do.
"Trucks are NOT supposed to have 4 fully functional doors"-------- yes they are,if they come that way
Cute, Ron, real cute. I think appearance is close to importance as reliability, power, safety, etc, etc. For that reason, I personally could not bring myself to buy a Quad cab truck.
The new Chevy's are hideous, but the GMC still looks OK. The Chevy's are advertised @ $7000-$9000 below sticker on a regular basis around here. Everybody wants the new crewcabs. I looked at the F150 - it is very nice, but costs about the same as an F250!
For looks, and sheer power, nothing beats the Dodge Ram SRT-10. Mmmmmm. Viper engine... Drool.
Dodges look good, but every Dodge owner I've met said they wouldn't buy another one. Haven't talked to anyone about the new one, though.
I know a few people who don't seem to buy anything other than Dodges (other than 1 Miata). I dunno, though, I'm leery about American iron.
Personally I won't buy a foreign vehicle (yeah I know about plants outside the US, parts, etc...)
Not to mention plants inside the US...
the most dependable vehicle i owned was my last truck(nissan)other than the regulars(tires-brakes ect...)with well over 100k miles on it and over 10 years old,i didnt have to put ANY money into it.i hope that im as lucky with this one too
my parents had a 1978 subaru station wagon, 4x4, with a stick transmission. that car had over 200,000 HARD miles on it.. thru the snow drifts on the kansas plains, up and down the mountains in the arkansas ozarks, and long hard hot drives in the west texas desert. that car never gave up and could take anything you could give it.. great car.
my dad was so impressed with it, in 1989 he bought a little subaru justy with a 3 cylinder engine. he got the car when my parents got divorced, and he still drives it.. it had 150,000 miles 5 years ago, so i am sure it is well over 200 by now..
bigjohn
I think the era of "Japanese dependability" and "American engineered obsolescence" is over.
This is all anecdotal, but my last two American trucks have gone a total of 160,000+ miles w/out a serious repair (engine idle control unit on the Ford went out, no big deal). The Toyota P/U I owned previously was good, but did suffer some glitches after being submersed in the Colorado River.
On the other hand, my wife's Civic was a pile of turds, my Kawi ZX1100 had a $500 starter fail, my Suzuki RF900 had an alternator coupling bearing come apart (sending bits of metal into the engine oil), and my Yamaha WaveRaider 1100 burned up the 3rd cylinder repeatedly.
I no longer feel like Japanese machinery is inherently better than anybody else's. Anything you buy could fail. Another factor to consider is the relatively low prices and ready availability of replacement parts for American cars.
LOL! Mark, It specifically states in the Toyota manual that after immersing in the Colorado river, the vehicle must be thoroughly wrung out BEFORE starting.
Interesting... I'm relatively new to the whole owning a car thing, but my '91 Honda Civic has been pretty damn reliable; it's got 170000 mi on it, and we just had to replace the clutch for what we believe was the first time.
The '94 Volvo 850 Turbo on the other hand.... Grr....
My 96 Toyota Tacoma turned 200,000 miles today on my way home.
Other than tune-ups , brakes and tires, I havent put a dime into it.
Oh, shocks also.
200,000 miles on a 96!!! good lord bary!! you dont drive very much do ya??!!??
bigjohn
Colorado probably 10 times, North Dakota 3 times, Working on the other side of the metro area 25161 times. : )
Damn you must drive alot. My 94 Sentra only has 69,000 miles on it.
In reply to:
good lord bary!!
i just realized i called you bary?? sorry bray.
yes, thats a lot of driving!!
bigjohn
In reply to:
I think the era of "Japanese dependability" and "American engineered obsolescence" is over.
Too true
Before my 300M I had a 97 Caviler Z-24 for little over 4 years. Didn't have to do a damn thing to it, its just ran and ran well! Find me another car that has some zip and can still get ya ~28mpg City / 35mpg HW