Thanks for all the car help but...

[JeepZJ4.0]

... I'm keeping the Jeep. I test drove a few cars but then I got back into my Jeep and just fell right back in love with the slow, noisy thing. Yes, it gets bad gas mileage. Yes, it needs some work and its an 11 year old vehicle but...

$60 a month for gas on Jeep + $0 Car payment
vs.
$35 a month for gas on like a Toyota Solara + $370-400 car payment

Where are the savings? Yes, the Jeep has a value of around $4500 and it needs around $200 of suspension work and I might spend $600 to fix all the dents and scratchs/rusting, but at the end of the month, I won't have a car payment. I can take that money and invest it so when I graduate in two years, I can buy a house or what not.

All in all, thanks for all the advice ya'll have given to me about the cars I was curious about... right now, I'm happy with my 11.5mpg (not after i change the O2 sensor) 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo.

 

[Ryan00TJ]

Come on man i've got buddies with 4.0L TJ with 5-6" lift, 35" tires, 4.88 gearing and the aerodynamics of a brick that get better mileage than that. Sounds like a tuneup or smaller foot is in order.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Cheaper to keep her.

 

[MarkC]

Wise move. I'm definitely hanging on to my 9 year old XJ Cherokee. No repairs needed, no payment, no hassle.
But your gas mileage really does bite. I'm getting 20+ combined these days.

 

[Shannow]

Doing the same with my 4Runner.

When petrol hit $1 per litre, the sale price basically dropped $4k instantly.

I can buy a lot of fuel for $4k.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

I have a bad track bar so the axles probably aren't perfectly parallel.... that and my 02 sensor is original at 105,600 miles. I get 21ish on the highway...

 

[TheLoneRanger]

Good move. Just looked out the window and in the garage at 3 SUVs', keeping them all for the same reasons you mention......

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

We're going to be a 3 Grand Cherokee family this time next year. The lease on the Pacifica is up and mom gets to choose the next car... Jeep Grand Cherokee....

Despite it 11 year old age, the ZJ style Grand Cherokee doesn't look that old.

 

[rjundi]

Great you really thought it out. Economically its rare that buying another vehicle is favorable if you own an older higher mileage one. Its more a purchase of passion.

I feel for the passion side when I bought my rarely driven 2004 Subaru WRX wagon(love it) selling a perfectly running 9 yr old/225k Civic.

 

[TheTanSedan]

I started with one that was eleven years old. Or nineteen. Or, the one I hated to give up, was twenty-four when I finally got it.

I think, besides this truck, that my "newest" car was six. Or maybe seven.

Fifteen years is about the right time to bail.

 

[Matt89]

You guys are awesome...I aspire to drive old cars someday.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

Matt89, if you wanna talk old cars... I was supposed to get a Mercedes Benz 280E.. I wanted it so bad! I found a Microfiche at our library on campus with the April 1977 issue of Motor Trend, titled: "Mercedes Benz 280E - IMPORT CAR OF THE YEAR"

2.8L All aluminum Inline 6 engine.
3550lbs vehicle with a full tank
142hp/149ft lbs. (later discovered it was highly under rated... its more like 177hp)
11.9 Seconds to 60
EPA City - 14
EPA Highway - 19
Mileage on 73 mile test loop - 22.8

That's what I really want... one of those... It was a blast to drive (well, i didn't have a licence so it was a secret...) but dad donated it to Salvation Army... we had 2 sedans, 2 vans and a Jeep at the time...If I do get a W123 series MB, It will proabably be a 300D Turbo Diesel because they get like 30 someodd MPG.

 

[eljefino]

Around here the gig is up for 91-95ish Explorers and Blazers.

They might regain some value right before the snow flies but are parked with "for sale" signs and not moving in many front yards around here.

If they were worth $1500 when gas was two bucks they're near zero now.

At these prices their abandonment makes some sense to me.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

LSU is littered with ZJ and WJ Grand Cherokees.