Sad, but life goes on.

[Rick Potter]

Well, I turned another page of my life last night. I just sold my '06 Jeep Rubicon to my daughters family. I have to admit, I got a bit misty as it drove away. We have always been a car nut family, and had several dune buggies in the sixties through eighties. In '05 my son got a new jeep, and we followed at age 63, good for one more generation of fun. We went a lot of places, and bounced over a lot of rocks, until I started getting whiplash from the ride. Joined a church group going on easier trails for a couple years, but it wasn't the same.

After not using it off road much at all for the last two years, we decided it was time to let it go, at age 72, and the daughter snapped it up. I hope they have the family fun we enjoyed.

Don't mean to sound maudlin, it is simply time to adjust to changing conditions. On the good side....I get to borrow the jeep if I want to.

[Rich Riddle]

Rick, you can always get a snappier vehicle, like a Porshe. My 80+ neighbor drives one. Then your grandchildren would want to borrow your car.

[julian abram]

Hey yeah sell it to them. Borrow it from them when you get the itch to bounce around some, let them pay taxes, insurance and maintenance. You have the best of both worlds, it's still in the family, good decision!

[Erik Loza]

Rick, I share your pain.

Bought a bone-stock '02 Acura RSX back in '04 with zero intention of modding it. As the years went by, I got more and more into working on it, By the time I sold it, last summer, there was pretty much no part of that car I hadn't torn apart and modified myself: Big block swap, re-did the entire suspension, split the tranny for an LSD upgrade, custom header and exhaust, etc. But I kept the car cherry and stock looking. A real sleeper that would actually drive 150mph. I loved the car and would have hung onto it if we had a three-car garage but we needed the space, so I put it up for sale.

Kid off Craigslist begged me to sell it to him, "I'm going to take as good care of it as you did, blah, blah blah...". Sold it to him and a week later, texts me that his "tuner buddy" blew the engine up on the dynamometer. I heard through the grapevine that th kid had a new motor built, then proceeded to wreck the car (more than likely, street racing...) shortly thereafter.

Funny, that car is like my phantom limb: I still know how it felt to drive, what the engine sounded like, how it handled, what the interior smelled like.

Erik

[Bruce Page]

I went through the same emotions when I sold my dirt bikes. I still miss squirting dirt and trail riding in the mountains but I know my body couldn't take the hits like it used to. Getting old ain't for sissies.

[Jim Matthews]

My 1969 Volvo 144 holds this marker.

I could tear the engine down to the bearings while it was still mounted.
Pushrods, lifters and feeler gauges.

I paid $350 for it in 1987, managed to get it started in the seller's driveway
(they couldn't get it started - floating breaker points fixed by a drop of Loctite)
and drove it from Missoula, Montana to North Carolina - it would climb near vertical
grades with the right tires - where the 4x4 mudders of the day got stuck.

4 speed with electronic overdrive - what a ride.

I drove it for three years and sold it for $750.
I still miss 'Inga'.

[Larry Edgerton]

I went through the same emotions when I sold my dirt bikes. I still miss squirting dirt and trail riding in the mountains but I know my body couldn't take the hits like it used to. Getting old ain't for sissies.

Ditto! I even made a new KTM our Christmas tree one year waiting for snow to go away. My knees could no longer hold me up through the whoops, and I am not capable of riding slow so I gave it up. Sad day.

The day my supercharged Miata drove away was about the same. Silly car with just 257 RWHP, but that was the most fun I ever had almost legally.:D

[Larry Edgerton]

My 1969 Volvo 144 holds this marker.

I could tear the engine down to the bearings while it was still mounted.
Pushrods, lifters and feeler gauges.

I paid $350 for it in 1987, managed to get it started in the seller's driveway
(they couldn't get it started - floating breaker points fixed by a drop of Loctite)
and drove it from Missoula, Montana to North Carolina - it would climb near vertical
grades with the right tires - where the 4x4 mudders of the day got stuck.

4 speed with electronic overdrive - what a ride.

I drove it for three years and sold it for $750.
I still miss 'Inga'.

I have a 67 Amazon wagon now that I have a modded 144 motor in. It may have to go soon too......

[Kent A Bathurst]

I just sold my '06 Jeep Rubicon to my daughters family...... On the good side....I get to borrow the jeep if I want to.

Oh no, you don't. That Jeep has both feelings and a memory. It knows that you disposed of it. It is very unhappy with you.

As Gen. Julius Caesar learned in 49 BC: Once you have a cross Rubicon, you can never go back.


<cue the rimshot> :D :D :D

[Ole Anderson]

I can't imagine the anguish if my son and I decide it is time to give up "Tangelo". He bought that '84 CJ7 when he was in HS 25 years ago and we have worked on it together ever since. Not much left that is original, new body, two paint jobs (both in my garage) and now on it's third engine ('07 5.3 Chevy). My wife and I drive it 3 months while in FL, great for running around the islands, not so good for running across the state to visit friends and relatives.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

I don't want to think of ever giving up my current CJ5. It was because of that Jeep that I met the LOML. We had a dear old friend that still owned several Jeeps at the time he passed away in his mid-70's due to lung issues. While he owned several other vehicles, his Jeeps were his daily drivers. He owned several different Wrangler's and CJ's so that he could drive a different one depending upon his mood. How fun. Let's see, Monday I'll drive the bright yellow CJ5, Tuesday I'll drive the red Wrangler, Wednesday the blue CJ7. What a way to go!

[Dave Zellers]

Oh no, you don't. That Jeep has both feelings and a memory.

Well if Jeeps are like Labradors, it won't be able to stop wagging it's tail and slobbering all over him while they drive around.

Of course, that could cause an accident...:eek:


I only say this because when I clicked on this link, I was SURE I was going to read about the passing of a beloved pet.

EDIT-- reading the 2 posts above, I see that this might be worse...

[Rick Potter]

I replaced it with a vehicle more appropriate to my age. We now have TWO Ford C-Max plug in's in the garage, along with my other daughters hybrid Sonata. Don't feel too bad for me, I still have my '56 Ford, '48 Jeepster, '22 Model T, 03 Mustang GT Convert, F-250, and Toyota Mini Van. Don't blame me, my wife won't let me sell anything.

[Jim Matthews]

How is the floorpan?

Front end all in one piece?
Drop me a PM (but don't tell my Wife...)

[Jim Matthews]

Do you have PV panels on the roof, to offset your C-Max electricity consumption?

I was gungho to do this, but the warnings came true, this year.
I've had more than 10 inches of snow on my roof since January.

Not so much of a problem (snow) in The Valley, I reckon.

[Rick Potter]

Jim,

The floorpan???? Front end of What??? Sorry, you lost me.

About the C-Max infestation....We put a lot of solar on our roof a while back, and it produced more juice than we used, so when we needed a car, we bought the plug in. Most of the driving my wife does is local, within the 20 mile range of the car before it switches to the motor, so she confiscated it from me. After a while, we realized we still had juice left over, and when we decided to sell the Jeep, they were having blow out sales on the left over '14's and we bought another. The original car has almost 10K on it, and has averaged 134 MPG since new, according to the gage on the dash.

Living where we do, and as we do, the solar system and the cars work out well for us. I don't drive the pickup much, and we are trying to make the van last long enough that we don't ever have to buy another one. We got factory extended warrantees for both cars at a bargain too, and we are covered on both cars till we are 80 :eek:

[Ole Anderson]

When my boys were growing up we were big into snowmobiling (we still are). At one time we had 5 machines and a big 4 place trailer. We had a pair of 250 Yamahas which is a class of machine not available any more, bigger than the Kitty Cat, but smaller than any other snowmobile. Absolutely great for the kids as it could keep up with the big boys. I was really surprised by the emotions when it was time to downsize and I sold the pair of them and the trailer and watched them disappear down the street.

[Jim Matthews]

Sorry Rick, Larry mentioned a Volvo and I may have skipped a groove.