I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd swing by here and give an update. After almost a month listed online, with very few serious prospects, I got a call from the local Lexus dealership offering me cash sight unseen. I took them up on their offer and washed my hands of the old Juke, although I can't fathom why a dealership with access to wholesale auctions would offer me high BlueBook for my used car. I didn't ask questions, just took the money and ran. I wonder if they already had a customer lined up.
I owned that horrible Jeep for a whole 12 months before giving up on it. Every time I got in, something new broke which meant that I never really got around to some of the improvements I'd planned. I dropped about $2000 into parts and busted my knuckles every weekend I owned it. I met my goal of a week long trip back in June, after which I began shopping for it's replacement. Here's a shot from that trip, Olancha Peak looms in the background.
One night in August I was surfing Craigslist before bed and saw a listing for my dream car, within my budget, a few miles from my office. I sent off an email and went to sleep. The next morning I arranged to see the car on my lunch break and made an offer. The seller had 2 other parties lined up to see it that night, plus more leads coming in. I had to jump on it otherwise I'd have missed my chance. We test drove it to his house to pick up the title, then to my bank for a cashier's check. I dropped him off back at his work and drove my new car home that night.
It's a
lot bigger than the Jeep, and would've towered over the little ol' Juke. I've always wanted a Land Cruiser, particularly of this generation, and I'm thrilled with it. I immediately cleaned up the Jeep and photographed it for another classified listing.
I got an offer after about a week from a young kid who showed up with his Dad in another lifted Cherokee, so it ended up in a good home. They paid $800 more than I did to purchase, but that doesn't include what I spent in repairs over the year. In all I think it cost me about as much as three Juke payments to drive that Jeep for a year. It wasn't the cost, but the frustration that caused me to sell it. I just never liked it enough to warrant the time it consumed.
As for the 'Cruiser, I love it more every day. My daughter calls it "Daddy Truck" and gets excited to go for rides in it. I've been telling folks that I bought it for her 16th birthday, now 14 years away. I've enjoyed working on it on the weekends making little improvements and catching up on maintenance for a 185,000mi vehicle. There's a lot that it needs to get it to the comfort level of the Juke, but at least I can just get in and drive anywhere for the first time since having the Juke. It's certainly big enough to work as a family cross-country vehicle, but I do miss the gas mileage I used to get. I also have to worry about parking garage ceilings, and tight parking spots. Mostly I miss this forum, you folks are some of the nicest you'll find on the internet.
Here are a couple more pics from my most recent trip back to the Cuyama Valley for some trails that scared me off in my old Subaru/Nissan days.
Happy Holidays, Juke Forum. I hope you all have a wonderful 2019 ahead of you. I'll keep smiling at every Juke I see on the road, and if you see me and my behemoth out there on the highways give me a wave.
:vs_wave: