Introductions and Goodbyes

As you all saw, there has been an addition to the family here at the RNS Bloghaus.

(not an actual pic of the new ride, but damn close. I’ve been lazy and will try to remember later today)

It’s a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee w/the 4.7L V8 and full-time 4WD. There has been no name given yet because I haven’t found anything that inspires me at this time. Feel free to submit an entry.

The story behind this purchase is a long one, but it boils down to me re-entering the rat race soon and needing something more commuter friendly, especially since I am finding that driving either of my two manual transmissioned vehicles rather detrimental to my right hand’s recovery.

Click to expand for the story. If you don’t care and just want the inevitable result, scroll down to the bit about “the hammer of reality”.

I originally started this process after coming to the conclusion that I would be in need of a commuter car and then seeing a pic of a Volvo V70R Tam saw in her neck of the woods the following day. It seemed like a sign from above, right? I’ve always liked them and so I spent a couple weeks refreshing myself on the esoterica of the Swedespeed Hi-Po wagon world and looking around for the happy hunting grounds.

I settled on the mid-aughts R-series V70 and left it at that, waiting for the proper time to strike. But during my stewing time I remembered that, even during the Ford years, Volvo’s weren’t exactly widely renowned for their reliability and inexpensive repairs.

So I started looking at the VW Passat. That lasted a week or so before I concluded that the 3L V6 is a maintenance hog and with the 4Motion AWD system, the 1.8L turbo mill was gutless.

So now where do I turn. No Audis, since they’re just more expensive VW’s. Soobies are right out for me because I don’t enjoy whacking my skull on the A-pillar getting in and out.

Do I actually have to buy a real econobox commuter wagon? The Scion XA and Toyota Matrix I actually like the look of, but they’re gutless (the “fast” Matrix has an air dam that doesn’t do parking lots). Everything else just tells the world your spirit has been broken.

But there was one. One strange enough that gutless didn’t matter. It was, in fact, a van in disguise. One you could even roll a welder into. The Honda Element. I spent a goodly amount of time looking into their mystery.

And a mystery it was. Because unless I wanted one that needed fixing and/or had 200K on the odometer, I was not going to be able to afford one around here. Pac NW Element owners love them and they only let them go “when the time has come” to do so.

Weird side note: No one in Washington has yet to enhance their Honda Element with the personalized tag of “SURPRIS”. Who wouldn’t want to drive the Element of Surprise?!?

So now what? A small truck? I already have a big truck. Sure, if I could have found a silver Ranger extra-cab with a matching canopy to be Bull’s little brother, that would have been cute, but I have people hauling needs that have to be covered.

And then the hammer of reality fell. I haven’t put Buddy the Jeep onto a trail of any significance in over year. Before that year even got started I could count on one hand the number of times I needed his particular toolset in the previous three years. I’ve only gotten him really stuck once over the years, and I was able to get Bull in close enough to pull him off the offending item.

I’d built a Jeep I wasn’t challenging and I felt bad. I still want 4WD, but because shit happens, not because I’m some bad-ass off-road warrior who frequents hard to reach places. Sure, I had made plans for bumpers and rockrails and full-width Dodge 1-ton axle swaps and reinforcing the unibody and maybe even an engine swap to a 4cyl Cummins diesel and all that. But I was not being realisic. I have neither the time or the money for all of that. And if history is any proof, I’d have only scared the locals driving him around town a bit.

So, I bought another Jeep. This one is fully functional in more ways than one, plus it has leather and a sunroof and is great for weekend road trips. But Buddy needs to find a good home where he’ll be loved and challenged.

I’ll be putting him on the local CraigsList in the next couple weeks when I find his title, clean him out and put together as many of the receipts for his improvements and repairs over the years. The price will be fair. More fair if the buyer can show he is taking Buddy to a good home.

If you know of someone looking for an in-progress project that runs, drives, starts, stops and steers (and passes WA emissions w/flying colors), send them my way. I’d rather he not go to a complete stranger.

Oh, and don’t start thinking that I’m going to leave the new Jeep alone. It has factory locking diffs, fercrissakes. But I’ll only be enhancing its factory-born abilities, not multiplying them. Mild lift, catback exhaust, minor reprogramming, wheels/tires. Just the standard mall crawler stuff, but with style.