Vehicle Dilemma - need opinions

[bryris]

My first vehicle was a 93 Jeep Cherokee at 16 years old. Drove it for about 5.5 years...took it from 106k to 189k and sold it for a Nissan Sentra. This was meant to be a money saving measure and to have something reliable to drive through the rest of college etc. Once I graduated and got married, I had a bit more money flowing and just couldn't shake the Jeep thing. So, I bought a second vehicle, but decided to go with a 1995 YJ Wrangler Sahara. I shopped around and found a gem. This was 8 months after I got married and I was 24 at the time. I am now 31 and divorced!!

It was never my primary vehicle. It sat in the garage and I drive it only on the weekends, etc. I kept driving the Sentra for the daily driving and I babied the Jeep.

Fast forward about 6 years and I got a serious crawl for a boat. So, I bought a boat. It is a 15 foot boat, but is full lined fiberglass, 4 stroke motor, and is actually fairly heavy. It is probably right at or slightly above the tow rating of the Jeep. I used the Jeep to pull the boat successfully, but it didn't like long trips and it pinged a little bit. I could tell it was struggling to handle the boat and being a manual transmission, it was a bit more involved to get the boat out of the water.

So, I made the decision to get an SUV or a truck to replace the Sentra and something that was more becoming of my size (6' 4") and more importantly something that would pull the boat easily.

I shopped around and ended up buying a 2006 Ford Explorer 4x4. The condition of it (immaculate) and the price 11,900 plus fees, sold me on it. I got it home and after going over it and seeing just how clean and immaculate it was, my mind starting playing games with me that because it is so much nicer than the Jeep, maybe I should sell the Jeep and keep the old reliable Sentra (runs like a top) and put the Explorer into the garage and basically replace the "baby" with a new one.

For the last several days, I have convinced myself that this is best. I get to drive a fuel saving car, have a nice ride in the garage, best of all worlds.

Let me say firstly that the Explorer got HORRIBLE reviews on the internet. Not reliable, buggy, bad radiators, bad transmissions, etc. I guess I didn't do my research as thoroughly as I should have, so I do have a bit of buyer's remorse, but the truck drives just fine.

So, at the end of the day, I am worried about selling the Jeep and regretting it, substituting the Explorer - which is a bit more a throw away type vehicle than a Jeep - merely because it is in such good condition. I look at my Jeep with some minor sun damage, its a bit rough around the edges, bumpy, loud, etc and then look at the plush leather seating, smooth ride, nice drive of the Explorer and it is easy to think to sell the Jeep.

But, I always thought I would own the Jeep for EVER and honestly, because it is a babied garage vehicle (btw, only one free garage slot, so if I keep the Jeep, the Explorer goes outside in the weather and will deteriorate more quickly) my other cars will probably come and go over the years.

So, should I keep the Jeep although it has no functional use to me besides making smiles, sell the fuel saving car that runs like a top, and plan on leaving the immaculate Explorer in the sun, rain, and wind in the driveway?

Or should I sell the functionally useless Jeep, park the Explorer in the garage out of the elements, drive the car to save fuel, and not look back?

I figure if I do the former, in 10 years, I'll still have the Jeep and the chances of the Explorer still being functional and reliable at that time is slim to none. Explorers don't hold any value, the Jeep does. Just because the Explorer is nicer right now doesn't mean it makes the most sense to baby it and banish the Jeep.

I am truly TORN!!

 

[thebrakeman]

Explorer is a throw-away vehicle? I don't get that, but moving on...

It sounds like you have a lot of emotional attachment to the Jeep. The problem is that I have read nothing to indicate you are using the Jeep for anything other than looking at it. Do you even off-road? Rock-crawling? Trail-cruising? Anything? If not, then I think you are starting to see the reality setting in, which is that....you do not need the Jeep.

It seems that if you continue towing that boat with the Jeep, you will ruin something. Typically, manual transmissions (in passenger vehicles) are not the best for towing duty. Not sure about the Jeep. But you already said you are sensing warning signs. So buying a better tow vehicle was a smart move. Perhaps you could have chosen a crossover that would have gotten better gas mileage. But (like I also found), any savings in gas mileage would have been destroyed by the price premium of a modern crossover capable to towing your boat. So it seems the Explorer was a good buy.

I say sell the Jeep, especially if you need the money. It was your first vehicle. I get it. But it's time to move on, especially if you don't intend to use the Jeep for what it was made for.

 

[bryris]

A jeep was my first vehicle...not this one.

When I said the Explorer was throw away, I meant from a value stand point. My Jeep is still worth what I paid...actually a bit more...7 years later. The explorer is depreciating down to the bottom.

Also, those with old Jeep typically keep them and work on them, etc. The Jeep wave. Explorers generally are driven until they give up the ghost and then are traded in. More passion in the hearts of Jeep owners than those who own Explorers. That is all. I wasnt saying that it was an inferior vehicle at all.

 

[Flag Gibby]

You really can't compare the two vehicles because the technology difference is huge. It is kind of like me comparing my '77 Dodge truck to my Mountaineer (the truck just sits outside in the elements and only gets driven maybe once a year now). My point is, when you buy a used vehicle you can expect to have to do some repairs to get the vehicle into the mechanical condition you want it to be especially when you get a very good price on the vehicle, but once it is mechanically sound maintaining it is easy especially if it only gets say 8000 miles a year on it. I understand that it can be frustrating and make you second guess your decision when you have to make repairs on a vehicle that you just purchased, but I really think that you will get more life out of the Explorer towing with it than you will with the Jeep in the long run.