I will say, buying our travel trailer has been one of the best things I have ever done for our family/home life. While it certainly is "just another expense" and even led to my need to buy a bigger truck, the pleasure and relaxation it brings has been life saving. It's so relaxing to be out camping, to spend the day on trails or at the beach, to sit around the campfire instead of the TV, etc. and dang nice to then crawl into a very nice bed at night. It doesn't even have to be a big getaway, just hitting up a local park for the weekend has been unbelievably refreshing. It has really helped me to deal with life's other challenges.

 

i believe it. they're simply in high demand. went to my dealer this morning. spoke to a sales guy for a while. he said no issues with supply and they're doing great. he said the toyota dealer across the street was way down (supply constrained).

anecdote, but spoke to an older gentleman who was waiting for his 2014 santa fe to be serviced. he said he'd had lincolns forever before he got it but the last lincoln was the last straw in terms of problems. he's blown away by the santa fe quality and will stick with hyundai.

 

Yep, even though I liked it, that was one of the reasons I didn't go with a new Corsair instead of a Buick. I also liked the previous Lincoln MKC (as you might remember from my PM a few years ago)....but the MKC was sloppily-built and had a loose feel to it. The Corsair is a definite improvement, but, as I suspected, shares in the Aviator's teething-problems.



Jill.....are you listening?

 

You're probably already aware of this, but Jeep has a pickup of their own.....the Wrangler Gladiator. Costs a lot more than the Maverick to start, though (at least with the MSRP), and Wranglers are known for being crude and uncomfortable on pavement.

https://www.jeep.com/gladiator.html

 

It doesn't do it for me, too low MPG relative to my WJ and too costly for the job I have for it. The ford is perfect since it has such insane mpg it's "free" to run and is smaller, the Jeep truck would allow me to keep my off-road ability but I'm not sure that's worth it considering how the rest of the experience is degraded by the Dana 44s front and rear lol!

What I really want is a land cruiser with a 5ft bed and 20 or higher mpg for under 10k, even the maverick at 19.8k is too expensive in my eyes. I wish there was a option to omit all warranties for like 25% off or something, that would make it reasonable.

On the topic of your stuff ties you down I agree and am lucky to be in the group that doesn't owe anything at all. I can easily just stop working already if I want to and that's part of the reason I don't really want to buy something expensive. The house was well north of half mil and I don't feel like ever spending that much again.