I finally decided to upgrade my all around do everything and work commuter vehicle to a newer ride. The old ride was a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the high output 4.7 motor. The vehicle had 3.73 gears and would really scoot down the highway. I owned it 11 years to the day before I traded it off. This is an old picture. It didn't look this nice when I traded it off with 175k miles. Many dents, corroded rims, deer ran into the side but from a distance it didn't look bad. The dealer seemed happy to get it. I thought for sure it would go to auction. I must have spent to much time detailing it. This is an old picture when it actually looked good.
I traded for a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland with 5.7 L Hemi and air suspension. The new ride has 45k miles. The underside was very clean - no rust. It was tough finding an older JGC with lower miles. People seem to keep these and run them for a long time. The vehicle has one scratch on the door but otherwise seems to be a creampuff. So far I have changed the differential fluid and engine coolant and started to fill cavities with fluid film. I will be installing splash guards and changing the transmission and transfer case fluids soon. The transmission in the 2012 is the 65 RFE which is a software change from the 545 RFE in the 2002. The good thing is its the "devil I know" sort of thing and these are easy to maintain. The same filters fit this transmission as the 68 RFE in my pickup truck.
I know its not a new one but I hope to get quit a few years/miles from this one. The dealer I purchased this one from was in Louisville, KY. Cross Chrysler Jeep is a smaller family owned dealership. They kept some interesting vehicles around. One of them was a late 50's Jeep station wagon. My dad owned one of these back in the day. Having small talk with the salesman he said both new and used vehicles seem to be really selling right now. Interesting since unemployment is higher these days.
Now for the bad news - once my wife saw this vehicle I immediately got demoted to driving her Nissan Rogue back/forth to work. The Nissan got kicked out of the garage so the Jeep and the Dodge pickup stay in the garage.
I traded for a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland with 5.7 L Hemi and air suspension. The new ride has 45k miles. The underside was very clean - no rust. It was tough finding an older JGC with lower miles. People seem to keep these and run them for a long time. The vehicle has one scratch on the door but otherwise seems to be a creampuff. So far I have changed the differential fluid and engine coolant and started to fill cavities with fluid film. I will be installing splash guards and changing the transmission and transfer case fluids soon. The transmission in the 2012 is the 65 RFE which is a software change from the 545 RFE in the 2002. The good thing is its the "devil I know" sort of thing and these are easy to maintain. The same filters fit this transmission as the 68 RFE in my pickup truck.
I know its not a new one but I hope to get quit a few years/miles from this one. The dealer I purchased this one from was in Louisville, KY. Cross Chrysler Jeep is a smaller family owned dealership. They kept some interesting vehicles around. One of them was a late 50's Jeep station wagon. My dad owned one of these back in the day. Having small talk with the salesman he said both new and used vehicles seem to be really selling right now. Interesting since unemployment is higher these days.
Now for the bad news - once my wife saw this vehicle I immediately got demoted to driving her Nissan Rogue back/forth to work. The Nissan got kicked out of the garage so the Jeep and the Dodge pickup stay in the garage.