Over the last several weeks, the Jeep has not been doing so well. I believed it to be a transmission issue so I asked my local mechanic to check into getting a re-manufactured tranny for it. Seems that it is super special and there are none to be found (combination between it being fairly new - 2010, manual instead of automatic, and a 4WD instead of AWD). In fact, one of the mechanic's distributors said that he had been searching for the exact same tranny, for someone else, for 2 months.
On 11/3, as I was driving it to the mechanic for him to check out, it got way worse. After he took it for a test drive, he told me he wouldn't even try to drive it home if he were me.
So, I drove to the local Ford dealer and started looking at the used vehicles they had. I ended up test driving a 2004 Explorer that had just been traded in with 130,000 miles. Not having time to search other venues (and not having other venues within walking distance to check out), I decided that the price was something I could live with. We agreed upon a price, with the stipulation that they would do all work needed to pass inspection (I already knew that the steering rack needed replaced), and they set up the work order.
I rode my bike to work the rest of the week, used it to get groceries over the weekend, and rode to work on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Those last two days were a chilly 24 and 26 degrees in the morning - which was a fine time to find out my heated gear controller no longer worked (hadn't used it but a couple of times since I got it last year). Oh well, I didn't freeze to death so I can't complain too much.
Tuesday night the Explorer was ready for me to pick up so I walked part way to meet up with the salesman, who drove me the rest of the way to the dealership.
It rained the rest of this week (or most of it), so I was glad to have the truck. Tomorrow I should actually see what it looks like in daylight - I've only seen it in the dark of morning or evening.
I'll have my mechanic continue looking for a tranny for the Jeep. It would be nice to get it fixed since it gets twice the gas mileage as the Explorer and is more suitable for everyday driving. However, the Explorer will be good for hauling a trailer, should I ever get one, and can haul a bunch more pellets both volume and weight wise even without a trailer, so will be handy to have regardless if I can ever get the Jeep fixed.
It's hard to imagine that the Jeep gets twice the fuel mileage as the Explorer. Hope it all works out for you!
Posted by: Cop Car | November 14, 2015 at 09:47 AM
BTW: The timing on delivery of the vanity isn't ideal; but, as you wrote, you can finish up the bathroom next year.
Posted by: Cop Car | November 14, 2015 at 09:51 AM
Bathroom isn't getting done anyway - too many medical bills for me to spend money on it. Then with having to put a down payment on the Explorer, and hoping to fix the Patriot, I can't justify doing anything besides putting up the wall to the hallway so it is no longer an open concept bathroom.
Posted by: bogie | November 14, 2015 at 01:04 PM
The Patriot is a car that gets 28 mpg (and sometimes 30). I'm expecting 15 mpg out of the Explorer :(
Posted by: bogie | November 14, 2015 at 01:11 PM
The Patriot is a car that gets 28 mpg (and sometimes 30). I'm expecting 15 mpg out of the Explorer :(
Posted by: bogie | November 14, 2015 at 01:11 PM
I already paid for the bathroom wall materials before the car fiasco, and they are supposed to deliver the materials Thursday. So that should get put up soon.
Posted by: bogie | November 14, 2015 at 01:12 PM
Cars are a pain. Hope you can get the Jeep fixed and running!
Posted by: Ruth | November 15, 2015 at 09:56 AM