The Psychology Of Vehicle Ownership

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yep - just helped a guy transferred home shop a new Duramax - then got it outfitted with tons of aftermarket stuff - big money.
Ford ? in my small town the new F250/350 is selling like crazy ... many of them enjoy current fuel prices ...
 
Originally Posted By: 92saturnsl2
Originally Posted By: Subdued
a man drives whatever the heck he wants and cares not for the opinions of "men"


Exactly. I get the occasional jab at work for driving a 31 year old truck.


Love the look of the 1980s Fords.
thumbsup2.gif


The older trucks/SUVs are going up in value. People are tired of vehicles that all look the same. There are a few places in Florida and Texas that sell restored older trucks. A guy in Texas restores Jeep Wagoneers and they sell for $40+ grand. I have a lot more appreciation for a well kept older truck than a fancy new one.
 
I own a 2000 XJ with 170k miles, and my mom has a 2011 Fit. The Fit is great on gas, has that nimble go-kart feel, and surprised me with the amount of storage it has for it's size. The Fit is fun to drive for about 30 minutes, or until you get to an on ramp with a slight grade. You feel every single crack, bump, and turn in the road, and the road noise is quite high.

I've never driven the Mazda, but unless mpg is a huge must, I think you will miss the Cherokee. Limiteds are also fairly hard to find.

For what it is worth, a good set of shocks (Old Man Emu is what I have) and an Addco rear sway bar can really make the Cherokee fun. A few performance mods can help with that as well. Mine has a cat-back exhaust and a 63mm bored throttle body which helps it feel a bit more peppy.
 
Originally posted by Alex_V
Dead solid drivetrain, tough chassis (for a car), cheap and plentiful parts, good comfort and options, fuel mileage in the upper 20's? Many other "nicer" or "cooler" cars would do well to have so many things going for them.


Thanks for that, I do sometimes wonder if my sig. other and I shouldn't be driving something newer. But the cars that we rent for a week or two each year on vacation while nicer in some ways, haven't been "so much better" that I wanted to rush to the dealer and sign up for payments (at least not so far).
 
Last edited:
I choose cars that I thoroughly enjoy driving. My last car was a 385 RWHP Miata R package. It was hyper-responsive, light, fun, and amazingly fast. It was also red, little and very un-manly looking. So what? It was able to maintain, but not pass my Boss' Ferrari Challenge car on Homestead track. That's respectable as can be! I sold it (and all my other things) to pay for an airplane.

My current car is a Honda S2000, with aftermarket turbo kit, 407 RWHP. It's not as light, not as responsive and slower than the Miata was. However, it's still a blast to drive! Top down, smile on, turbo boost at the ready! What could be better???

I keep looking at Corvettes, and I'm sure I'd like one. But they are not "turbo miata" responsive. Corvettes ride like Malibu's, have numb steering and are far less "hyper", and therefore, less fun to me.

Life is very short, if you enjoy cars/trucks, get exactly what you enjoy. Don't worry about the other factors.

YGpzmgI.jpg


MaKGi0o.jpg
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
I own a 2000 XJ with 170k miles, and my mom has a 2011 Fit. The Fit is great on gas, has that nimble go-kart feel, and surprised me with the amount of storage it has for it's size. The Fit is fun to drive for about 30 minutes, or until you get to an on ramp with a slight grade. You feel every single crack, bump, and turn in the road, and the road noise is quite high.

I've never driven the Mazda, but unless mpg is a huge must, I think you will miss the Cherokee. Limiteds are also fairly hard to find.

For what it is worth, a good set of shocks (Old Man Emu is what I have) and an Addco rear sway bar can really make the Cherokee fun. A few performance mods can help with that as well. Mine has a cat-back exhaust and a 63mm bored throttle body which helps it feel a bit more peppy.


Thanks for the info on the Fit. Since originally posting, I've been leaning away from the Fit for all the reasons mentioned. I'm still curious about a Mazda 3 Hatchback, but decided that I should take my time, drive some things and figure out if it's worth the switch. I'm still riding the notion that if I decide to keep the Jeep, I'm keeping it until it dies / rusts out. If I don't sell it now, I see no sense in selling it later. Unfortunately, finances aren't such that I can treat this decision with the levity I'd like to. One day...
 
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Does Honda or Mazda make a man's car?


Yes, Honda and Mazda make a man's car ...... you can check them out next Saturday night when you are at the drag strip.
laugh.gif
 
People buy cars because the car's speak to them. Not saying people are crazy but sometimes you'll run into a car that just clicks. The styling is great, the features are great, the ride is great, the overall package is great. Or, they just like it so much they'll put up with the flaws.

I've talked to some people who love their Jeep Patroits(even though according to reviews, they're average at best). The phychology behind choosing a car, IMO, is solely dependent on what YOU expect out of a car. If you want the rugged look like a XJ, you probably shouldn't be looking at either Fit or Mazda3 lol. But if you want the functionality of a 5 door SUV(minus the off road capability)in a small efficient package a Fit would be your pick. Also, Hondas don't run forever. They have weak transmissions but their engines are solid. Don't expect them to go 250k issue free.
 
Originally Posted By: avacado11
Also, Hondas don't run forever. They have weak transmissions but their engines are solid. Don't expect them to go 250k issue free.


I think this is important to note.

I've heard many people repeating buy a new brand X, it will run forever. This is simply not the case with ANY manufacturer. 10 years ago, maybe. Cars have been designed with way too many tech features for them to last 250k miles issue free. That's not to say they won't be driving fine at 250k miles, but expect some expensive maintenance repairs to get them there. Manufacturers don't design cars to last anymore, because they don't have to. The masses want new tech, which basically means buying new cars every 6 years or so.
 
It's been some time and I've slowed down my thinking (a bit). We had our first snow of the season here in Virginia and as was expected, the roads were pretty terrible. It was nice having the Jeep, knowing there wasn't much I couldn't drive in.

That said, I've realized that my ultimate goal would be to own both the Jeep AND something else a bit more nimble, efficient, and fun to drive. In fact, the inefficiency is one thing that really bugs me about the XJ. It's a 4 litre, 6 cylinder engine that earns proper respect for its durability, sure, but it's so terribly inefficient at moving what ostensibly is a very small, though perhaps heavy and terribly un-aerodynamic, SUV. Part of that is the AW-4 transmission's fault (and that pesky kickdown cable's fault), but really there isn't much to be done to make that combo more fuel efficient. A Jeep owner over at JeepForums spent years testing and documenting various mods and deletes in an attempt to maximize fuel economy and the best he got was 25MPG at 60MPH on 89 octane.

I've continued to migrate away from the Fit. Lately, I've been focused on the Mazda 3 Hatchback, it's turbo'd cousin the Mazdaspeed3 Hatchback, and the P1 platform of Volvo S40/V50 T5 AWD 6 Speeds. Interestingly, the Mazda 3 and the Volvo's share that P1 platform. There are pros and cons to all of these vehicles, but for the time being, I'm puttering around in the Jeep (about to make another 700 mile trip up and back to NYC) figuring out what to do and only mildly enjoying it.
 
Money (spent in fuel) is money, but unless I drove even more than I do now (30K+ a year) with current fuel prices I'd be happy to put gas in an XJ to the tune of 20 MPG and have only one car to worry about. Just my 2 cents' worth.
 
I like the idea of owning the Jeep AND something else. I've owned my Jeep for 7 years now. There is something to be said for a vehicle you can buy with cash, own for 7 years, and it still runs great and is fun to drive. I haven't really had to put a ton of money into mine, so that has allowed me to afford other things. Like you mentioned, this thing is really unstoppable in the snow with the right tires. A very simple and utilitarian vehicle that does it's job well, besides fuel mileage of course. I tow a small trailer with mine, carry kayaks, go camping, etc, and with a seat swap from a Grand Cherokee it is very comfortable on long drives.

With 170k, mine is getting a bit old. It hasn't skipped a beat, but I'm looking at getting a daily driver in addition to the Jeep. Something that will handle commuting a bit better and help keep the miles off of it. Maybe a 5 speed Honda Civic or Jetta or something. My Jeep is simply too valuable to me to get rid of. It's probably worth ~$3000, but taxes are cheap, insurance is cheap and it's always been paid for. If I got something that would completely replace everything I do with it, I'd be looking at a newer Grand Cherokee which is expensive and some argue not as reliable.
 
Originally Posted By: Alex_V
Money (spent in fuel) is money, but unless I drove even more than I do now (30K+ a year) with current fuel prices I'd be happy to put gas in an XJ to the tune of 20 MPG and have only one car to worry about. Just my 2 cents' worth.


I'm with you there. I was speaking of an "ideal" world... one in which I had a garage and the financial freedom to own both. Unfortunately, that is not the world in which I currently live.
 
I've decided to embark on a little, real-life experiment. A "feeling out" sale, I believe is what they're called.

I'm going to put the XJ up for sale on eBay in either an auction style listing with a reserve price set or via a fixed listing. I'll be setting the reserve/fixed price in the upper reaches of plausibility... the price I'd love to get for it, however impractical. eBay is now set up with $0 insertion fees. So, if the Jeep sells, it sells for a price that will let me rest easy. If it doesn't sell, I'll not be out any money and will have a better sense of the market tendencies.

I'm sure I should just hold out and be patient and see what happens. But, what fun is that?
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
I like the idea of owning the Jeep AND something else. I've owned my Jeep for 7 years now. There is something to be said for a vehicle you can buy with cash, own for 7 years, and it still runs great and is fun to drive. I haven't really had to put a ton of money into mine, so that has allowed me to afford other things. Like you mentioned, this thing is really unstoppable in the snow with the right tires. A very simple and utilitarian vehicle that does it's job well, besides fuel mileage of course. I tow a small trailer with mine, carry kayaks, go camping, etc, and with a seat swap from a Grand Cherokee it is very comfortable on long drives.

With 170k, mine is getting a bit old. It hasn't skipped a beat, but I'm looking at getting a daily driver in addition to the Jeep. Something that will handle commuting a bit better and help keep the miles off of it. Maybe a 5 speed Honda Civic or Jetta or something. My Jeep is simply too valuable to me to get rid of. It's probably worth ~$3000, but taxes are cheap, insurance is cheap and it's always been paid for. If I got something that would completely replace everything I do with it, I'd be looking at a newer Grand Cherokee which is expensive and some argue not as reliable.


Believe me, I'm an XJ fan through and through, aside from the mileage. Though, this one in particular has cost me a bit of cash thanks to a few issues because of the rust. I purchased it in 2015 and since then, I have put half of the sale price back into it via routine maintenance and preventative repairs (no necessary repairs!!!).

Running some numbers (purchase price, 18MPG @ $2.17/gallon, current amount spent on repairs and maintenance since purchase averaged out monthly, etc...) through a Cost-To-Own calculator, I find that it's costing me about $3247/year to own the XJ (this does not include registration, insurance, tax) and I've spent about $2400 in gas.

If I sell it for the same price I purchased it (aka have owned it for 2 years), the calculator says that it'll have cost me just $495 to own it (this, I don't understand). If I keep it for a total of 5 years and assume gas prices and maintenance costs stay the same, I'll be looking at total cost of ownership around the $16K mark. Food for thought! But remember... always salt your food
wink.gif
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top