nipponbird

My apologies, on rereading the original post (second one) I realised I've missed that Kahuna chose the RWD.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

nope. that pic was after the 1 wash i've given it since i've owned it. that was in may i think. first off, i work in a home office and keep the car in the garage so that keeps it decent for the most part. plus i'm in florida so we don't see any ice/snow/salt which helps too. however, in central FL twice a year we have swarms of these insects called "love bugs" (they fly around in mating pairs!) that definitely make a mess on the car from driving. so that pic was from may when i took off the love bug mess. on a previous car i used to rub baby oil across the front so the bugs don't stick.

thanks and nope, not into detailing.

the other day i decided to see where the oil filter is on my car and i was shocked that it's right in the top of the engine easily accessible right under a removable large plastic piece in the engine cover. piece of cake!

that's part of my driveway, yes. it's nice for when guests come, plenty of space to park and turn around although i don't care if they turn on the grass either. the small building in the background is a barn, not my house

the 4x4 would have been a 'nice to have' but it was of no real value to me and the added cost and complexity and air suspension made me pass on it. no regrets.

it's true that new cars can go a lot further between oil changes these days, but i also wonder if the car companies don't mind if the car wears out sooner so they can sell another new one! do what works for you. i suspect the old 3k changes are a waste of money, but i personally wouldn't wait 15k.

thanks!

yup, v6/rwd. the 295HP v6 with 8 speed auto is smooth, quiet and easily powerful enough, so again, i didn't feel it was of value to me to get the v8 or 4wd. they would have been fun to have though, although the jeep/chrysler/dodge 'hemi' v8 is very thirsty.

right now i get avg 22mpg. nothing spectacular but better than the 17 i used to get on the explorer v8/rwd!

mmarshall

How long do you plan to keep it?..........or haven't you given it much thought? If you hold on to it as long as you did the Explorer, I guess that will be for a while.

I myself am generally in the middle between two extremes. I see the most sense in keeping a vehicle long enough to avoid taking a bath on depreciation and reasonably get your money's worth out of it, but not so long that it becomes a money pit, long past warranty, trying to keep it running, or to make it reach a certain lifetime.

sick21

The Grand Cherokee is a far superior vehicle to the CR-Vagina. Hands down. Glad OP is still happy with his My wife just got another one, but an Overland.

nipponbird

I thought it was the gatehouse - would be interesting what MM thought it was ........

AWD or part time 4X4 only makes sense if you will really need it, otherwise you can pay up to 10USD - K for something that you don't need - granted that AWD can add to safer handling and part time 4X4 can be like a pistol: mostly not needed, but when you need it, you need it very much.

After I bought the Ranger which is part time 4X4, I became fanatically interested in the mechanics behind AWD and part time 4X4. Eventually found out how my Lexus RX350's AWD operates - for some reason a well kept secret by Lexus.
Like your ride a lot - always desired one myself.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers...-jeep-highway/

just read about this, something to watch out for

mmarshall

Those are now a little out of date.

mmarshall

Someone else apparently liked that story enough to start a separate thread on it here in Car Chat.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...e-highway.html

SW17LS

Glad you're enjoying it! I miss ours...but the space of the van is nice.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

too bad poster in that thread (which i saw before posting here) didn't point it out to paul, the owner of the jeep in this thread.

sick21

Why did he need to point it out to Paul?

I already did the update for my wife's Jeep GC.

bagwell

the acid in their guts will actually etch the paint if left on the surface long enough.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i've heard/read that, but never seen it to be true. maybe on older cars which never had or have lost a clear coat.

certainly no worse than stone chips.

bagwell

I bought an 85 CRX that some fool didn't wash them off and it happened.

congrats on 47000 posts BTW!

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

yeah can imagine that... 30 years ago, honda wasn't known for great paint.

haha, thanks, i hadn't noticed.