I Made a Mistake.

"Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection" (itsalwayssteve)
05/15/2018 at 09:16 • Filed to: XJ cherokee, married life

My wife frequently pines for her old VW wagon despite the fact that it literally always had something wrong with it. She’s spent a good bit of time on AutoTrader since I showed her the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on BaT a few weeks ago. That, combined with my sister’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and her new job starting this week, has her thinking about changing up the fleet. She wants an old luxury wagon.

She has been looking at Volvo V70s, XC70s, BMW E39, E9x and E60 wagons, Mini Countrymen and Clubmen, and VW and Audi stuff.

So I’m faced with a decision to make. The Cherokee has no working A/C and I came home from work bathed in my own sweat yesterday. It has 258k on it and it is both ugly and beat up. There’s a weird charging issue that means the battery never dies but the voltmeter hangs around 10-11v on the rides home. In the mornings it’s ok. There’s also a rhythmic “wub-wub-wub” noise from the rear end whenever I let off the gas. It could be anything from a wheel bearing (not likely- just replaced with brake job in October) or a brake shoe sticking, or it could be the rear differential committing a slow suicide. I love the Cherokee but the lack of A/C and forthcoming repairs make it a little less lovable. I also lack the mechanical ability to do much to fix it. Since I don’t have the mechanical ability to fix much on an XJ Cherokee, a 15-year-old BMW would be an !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

My plan was to trade Meepster near the end of the year once I finish my bachelors degree - for a VW Alltrack, Jeep Compass, or something of the like. For my wife. So she could have a panoramic roof and leather upholstery and so on. This involves fixing the A/C in the Cherokee, of course, to the tune of several hundred dollars. I still like this plan.

Then I could continue to drive the Cherokee until we established where we were going and what we’re doing from there. Alas, this may not be how it’s going to pan out. So there are a few options if we need to take action sooner rather than later:

Sell Cherokee and use the $1000 or so toward a down payment on a cheap something or another. My wife has been looking at e9x wagons and Cooper Clubman S’s and the repair costs on those make me feel icky. I’m thinking more along the lines of a 4-cylinder pickemup truck for $12k or less

Use current incentives to trade Meepster on a new VW GSW or Alltrack lease and then walk away after 3 years. Trade/sell Cherokee to get cheap something. Same deal as 1.

Sell/trade Cherokee to get her an old luxury wagon. This seems like the most expensive possibility. But... Mrs. Electronic Fool Injection is likely to LOVE it.

So right now I’m trying to talk Mrs. EFI into fixing the AC as it needs done if I’m going to drive my fat ass around in the summer heat. Then we can cross the other repair bridges as we come to them.

DISCUSSION (22)

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/15/2018 at 09:19

Are you upside down on the Renegade?

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/15/2018 at 09:22

Why three years if you were to get a new GSW? The 72k mile warranty should last normal people (not me) longer than that.

I love my VW, btw, so there’s that.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
05/15/2018 at 09:29

Yeah. We did a dumb thing when we bought it two years ago and we’re still about $3k upside down.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
05/15/2018 at 09:31

She loves VWs and how they drive. There are still a few leftover ‘17s around with the 3/36 warranty and we’d be looking for those. We’re still about $3k upside down...

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/15/2018 at 09:33

my vote is for the GSW or AllTrak. i personally would do the AllTrak but thats just because of chicago winters

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/15/2018 at 09:33

Well just make sure that when you jump ship you’re not just amassing more upsidedownness on the current financial situation.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/15/2018 at 09:34

if it makes you feel better for a while we were probably 6k upside down on our 08 cobalt that we bought in 2012 lol. thank god that thing will be paid off next month

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
05/15/2018 at 09:43

$6k in discounts plus lease deals plus the fact that our FICO scores are about 100 points higher now than they were two years ago when we bought the car make a big difference.

punkgoose17 > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/15/2018 at 09:53

My opinion is an old Volvo. I do not know what is the best financial decision for you though. I also don’t remember where you live so I took a guess.

https://charlotte.craigslist.org/ctd/d/1998-volvo-v-70-series/6582326439.html

https://greensboro.craigslist.org/cto/d/1994-volvo-940-turbo/6577391746.html

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > punkgoose17
05/15/2018 at 09:55

My experience with old Volvo has taught me that durable and reliable are two different things.

punkgoose17 > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/15/2018 at 10:01

They are. I am not familiar with either of these. My step dad had a 240 wagon that had 280,000 miles and then the wiring for all the lights failed. I just know nicer Volvo’s have comfortable seats. What Volvo’s have you had?

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/15/2018 at 10:07

Fair enough. The GSWs either are reliable and leak free from the get-go or they’re not. I’m at about 50k on my 2016 and no issues, other than just having to restart the HU a few times.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > punkgoose17
05/15/2018 at 10:10

I’ve had two 240s with under 200k miles. Both had an Overdrive solenoid go bad, and both had other issues that didn’t affect getting me to work but did make things hard to live with.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/15/2018 at 10:34

Honestly, a W211 E-class wagon wouldn’t be the world’s worst decision.

arl > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/15/2018 at 11:07

Lease an entry level VW SportWagon? Get a reliable wagon for 3 years while you decide what to do long term.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > arl
05/15/2018 at 11:51

That would be the plan. It wouldn’t be entry-level though. It’d be the SE with the panoramic roof, “leatherette,” and heated seats.

arl > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/15/2018 at 11:55

And an APR stage 2 tune, down pipe, and APR DSG tune. Insert evil laugh here!!!!!!!

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/18/2018 at 09:37

What’s your location and budget for a used car? Always shop local credit unions for loan rates, they typically have the best ones.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
05/18/2018 at 10:00

Oh. I need to post an update. So my wife’s workplace is selling off one of their work trucks (06 or so Ranger 4 cyl ex-cab with locking bed cover) and I’ll be able to pick it up cheap. It’s got close to 300k miles but it’s also been meticulously maintained and AC is good.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/18/2018 at 10:02

HMMMMMMMMM, my brother in law walked away from a horrific Ranger crash/roll so I give it a 5 star safety rating.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
05/18/2018 at 10:09

My cousin had a terrible crash in his brother’s Ranger and now drives his “Danger Ranger” 4 cylinder 5speed 94 Splash. The bed has been replaced because PA winters, but you can see it’s SO 90s TEAL

I was going to get him some old-school Charlotte Hornets stickers for it.

Kinja'd!!!

He hit a patch of ice, spun out and flipped into a chain link fence - one of the poles went through his face. He’s lucky to be alive, but he had to have a lobotomy and his impulse control is off now. He has dressed as Sloth from the Goonies more than once on Halloween since then:

Kinja'd!!!

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
05/18/2018 at 10:15

wow.

This was the result of my brother in-law’s rollover. The report was that a control arm let go while he was doing 55-60 on a backroad.

Kinja'd!!!

He had some scaring on his face but mainly due to a bad surgeon than the severity of the crash.

Was a great truck to drive, his was a V6 4x4. I pulled a 5000 pound trailer + another 700 pounds of gear with it once, 70 mph was do-able on the highway with that load but even 71 was a struggle haha. He loved that truck.