I Miss My Ex. (or, 'A love letter for my old '98 Explorer') | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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I Miss My Ex. (or, 'A love letter for my old '98 Explorer')

joeshaw

New Member
Joined
July 26, 2006
Messages
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City, State
Blacksburg, VA
Year, Model & Trim Level
'98 XLT
Yesterday, I traded in my trustly black 1998 4.0L SOHC V6 4x4 XLT for a new 2006 V6 XLT. Today, I'm starting to wish I hadn't.

I bought my '98 new in August 1998. Built in July '98 in Louisville, it was the one of the last and best of the 1998 model year. The odometer had 10 miles on it when I test drove it, but I didn't want to buy that Saturday. Trying hard to make the sale, the dealer offered to let me test drive it for the rest of the weekend. It worked. That weekend, during the 200+ miles we traveled together, we fell in love, and on Monday I hung my own license plates on you and they proclaimed us 'driver and vehicle'.

For eight years, my Ex faithfully took me everywhere and anywhere I pointed it, and more importantly, safely brought me back home again. From snow covered highways from Virginia to New York, to bolder strewn dirt paths in remote corners of West Virginia and Kentucky, to a recently flooded farmers field I backed into before I remembered how high the water had been just days earlier (okay, that was a close one - but your 4 wheel drive low saved the day), to ice-covered back roads, not once in the 216646 miles we shared together did my Ex let me down and leave me stranded anywhere.

Your took me on short trips to work, to the store, to dinner, and always back again. Together we travelled all day, and sometimes all night, to visit family in New York.

My hobby is 'railfanning' (watching/photgraphing railroad trains), and my black '98 Explorer was my trusty thoroughbred mount as I chased modern iron horses almost every weekend, vacation, holiday and snow day. And yes, even the occassional 'sick day (cough, cough)' when the circus train made one of its rare passes through my area. We roamed hundred of miles together each weekend, roaming though nine eastern states in search of trains and adventure.

Your rear hatch kept the snow and rain off on my camera lens on several occassions, My Ex. gladly wore the antennas I placed on her, and scanners and speakers I placed on the dash, and the cables draped haphazardly back and forth between them. On you, they were like jewelry.

Here is a photo of my Ex at the Montgomery Tunnels in 2002, showing off some American pride on the first anniversary of 9/11:
ns9316-explorer.jpg


Those were good times.

But it wasn't perfect, nothing ever is.

I didn't always change your oil right on schedule. I didn't wash the dirt off you very often. I made you use the same spark plugs for 110,000 miles once. I backed you into a guard rail once, bent your brush guard going over a dip too fast, and backed you into a ditch. And then there was that time I didn't renew your registeration on time when the DMV reverted their database to an three-year old address for some unknown reason, and my friend laughed at me from the passenger seat while the officer gave me a ticket.

But I renewed your registeration the next day, and escaped with just a warning. I changed your flat tires, and patched you up when a seagull's beak dented you.

There were some recalls. You used up tires, shocks and brakes like I wear out sneakers. Your ball joints needed replacing after 150k miles, your muffler at 200k, the serpentine belt tensioner gave up at 165k. I won't even mention the rate you drank up gasoline like a drunken french ***** drinks wine. (Oops, I guess I just did. Sorry.)

Your rear window wiper was next to useless, when it actually operated it hardly touched the glass. And that stupid Mach radio, first with its overheating problems when the defroster was running, then with the constant CD Eject Errors, and finally with the blank LCD display.

They say love is blind.

It must be true, because all those little quirks didn't bother me very much.
I loved my Ex. in spite of them, because it never really let me down in any big way. When love is true, one overlooks the little superficial flaws and sees the true inner beauty.

Forgive me, my Ex., for I made a big mistake when I traded you in.

The new 2006 means nothing to me, I swear.

You have been showing your age lately, and in a moment of weakness, I guess I just wanted a younger version of you. But the 2006 doesn't meet my needs in the same the way you did. Sure, it rides and handles well. But it doesn't have a wide enough flat surface on the roof for mounting my big ATCS and CB antennas. It lacks the nooks and cranies for storing notepads, pens, and papers withi quicjk and easy reach. The dash angles down, so I can't wedge my camera in against the windshield where it won't fall in my lap when we start moving, but where I can quickly grab it when the train sneaks up on us. The scanner and speaker doesn't fit well on the dash. An annoying bright amber light shows up in the middle of the dash when I set the laptop on the passenger seat. Even with the seat as low at it can go, oncoming headlights, taillights and reflectors are districtingly reflected on the hood.
The 2006 is a pretty new vehicle, but this time all the little things bug me.

I didn't fully appreciate what I had until it was gone.

I loved you, my Ex. I still do.

I miss you. I'm sorry I sold you.

Please come back to me.

Joe Shaw
Blacksburg, VA
http://www.krunk.org/
 



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Im scurred :dunno:
 












I shed a tear.
 






Reading between the lines, this thread is rated

NC-17-RATINGS-crop.gif



:D
 






Well written and timely. As of late, I have been condsidering trading my 98 XLT on a 06 XLT. Only 125K miles, but concerned about a pinging/rattling that the dealer says is "just pinging". I am fairly certain it is not "just pinging".

I am sure you will grow to love your new ride!
 






Well written and timely. As of late, I have been condsidering trading my 98 XLT on a 06 XLT. Only 125K miles, but concerned about a pinging/rattling that the dealer says is "just pinging". I am fairly certain it is not "just pinging".
I am sure you will grow to love your new ride!

I hope so. I have detailed my issues with the 2006 Explorer here:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168884
If you don't need to mount mutliple antennas on the roof and matching hardware inside, then many of my issues won't be a problem for you. Others might not annoy you the same way they annoy me. Read and decide for yourself.

Let the healing begin!

Joe
 






I am sorry. People say that those new cars has no soul. It is true. So, pity that you have to change. But you have memories. And keep them driving your 2006 piece of metal.

Archie
 






I think there is a country song in there somewhere
 












I miss my old 1992 as well, she never left me stranded and always brought me home. Even when she caught fire, I was a few houses away from home. This damn Jeep can't seem to go a week without something breaking. I have learned my lesson and when it is time for a new ride, it will most likely be a second gen EX.
 






Now I am 2nd guessing myself on trading in the 99, 210k on the clock. I would like a new one but there is nothing wrong with mine... Well maybe a little rattle when I start it up but who isnt a little grumpy in the morning... (timing chain) Maybe I will just keep it....
 






Good story, except sometimes you were acting like you were talking directly to the Explorer: "I didn't always change your oil right on schedule. I didn't wash the dirt off you very often", and other times you referred to the Explorer in the third person, like you were taling to someone else: "For eight years, my Ex faithfully took me everywhere and anywhere I pointed it." And you kept switching back and forth like that. Otherwise it was good. I feel the exact same way about my 94. I'm trying to convince my parents not to sell it, but it's not going well.
 






<TWANG>
All off my Ex.-s, were shipped to an auto auction in Texas...
<TWANG>

Yee-haw!

:)

Joeshaw: Nice effects with the Twang!:thumbsup:
 






I got teary eyed...who hasn't had a vehicle they loved like a family member. Mine was a chevy pickup with 200+ thousand miles. I told the wife I would drive it until 1)the wheels fall off or 2)I die and I wanted to be buried in the truck. Backing out of a friends driveway the knuckle joint broke off of the A-Frame and the raised front end crashed into the tire that just fell off.

it took divine intervention for me to get rid of the truck. I have developed the same love for my 2000 XLT. She has quirks but so do I.

David
 






I told the wife I would drive it until 1)the wheels fall off or 2)I die and I wanted to be buried in the truck.David


That is pretty funny, I told family and friends the exact same thing.


I feel the exact same way about my 94. I'm trying to convince my parents not to sell it, but it's not going well.

Really, how much? My dad is going to be looking for a winter.
 






Really, how much? My dad is going to be looking for a winter.
Probably around $2700 but we're not selling it until our new garage is built, which probably won't be until spring.
 






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