A semi backed into my Prius earlier this month, so I was going to drive my 1999 Jeep Cherokee. It hasn’t been driven much since I’ve been driving Priuses and Mrs. L.A. started driving more for her nursing job. (She switched to her Tacoma because it got better mileage than the Jeep, and then bought a RAV4 because it got better mileage than the Tacoma and had more room than the Jeep.) I knew the Jeep’s battery needed to be replaced, and it could use a tune-up and oil change. So now I have two vehicles in the shop.
The Jeep got a new battery, a tune-up (the mechanic was surprised it ran at all), new serpentine belt, new valve cover gasket, new oil filter adapter gasket, lube, oil change, cracked exhaust manifold welded, and some other things. $913. After 17 years, some of it in dusty/sandy Southern California and the rest up here where everybody has chipped or cracked windshields, it needed the windshield and wipers replaced. $289.
I drove it to Seattle Wednesday. Seattle traffic is worse than L.A.'s. I had to brake hard at one point, and the Jeep felt funny after that. It was pulling right and not accelerating. I pulled over and my right front brake was smoking. And me without a fire extinguisher. (It didn’t actually catch fire. I called AAA and they said a tow truck would be there in two hours or so. They also said there was a Firestone store two miles away. After the brake cooled, it unlocked itself. I limped to Firestone. Of course I’d cooked the calliper, got the rotor nice and toasty, burned the brake line, blahblahblah. I was 90 miles from home and Firestone was the only game in town. They ended up replacing both front brakes (callipers, rotors, pads, lines, etc.) to the tune of $756. At least the brakes have a lifetime warranty.
So now I’ve spent $1,957 on the Jeep in the past week! :eek: And I still need to have the wheels balanced and get it detailed. And I’d like to get the optional alloy wheels (about $300/set from the Jeep junkyard). The mechanic who did the other work said they sell for $500 to $3,000 (and that he’d buy mine in an instant), and the last time I checked my Jeep might have been worth $2,500. So for what I spent on it this week, I could have just bought someone else’s old Cherokee.
I think I paid about $22,400 for it new. Even though it has about 200 miles short of a quarter of a million miles on it, I’ve tried to keep it in good condition. (Unfortunately, not driving it took its toll.) Had I bought someone else’s old Cherokee, it would probably have some of the same issues mine had. So ‘Ya pays your money and takes your pick.’ I picked repairing the Jeep I’d bought new. In reality, I don’t need the Jeep. I haven’t sold it because it’s been useful enough that the paltry sum these things bring nowadays isn’t worth selling. But we have the RAV4 if we need 4WD. I’ll drive the Jeep a couple/few more years, and then I’m considering driving it down to San Diego and giving it to my sister. It’s a death sentence for it, because they don’t maintain their cars until it’s too late (like I just did!) and they can’t afford expensive repairs. But even with the many miles on it, it will be better than the cars they get and will last them a few years.
As for the Prius, the damage has been repaired and it looks great. Let’s see: New tires, detail, headlight restoration…
