Looking for a new to me Vehicle for 2024
Note: I am putting this out now to manifest a new to me vehicle by 2024. My current vehicle still runs very well, and I would like to get as much as I can out of her before giving her up for something new.
May 17 2023
After today’s atrocious repair bill, which was more paying for diagnostics than actual repair, it is time to put it out to the universe to find a new vehicle.
I just recently spent $2500 for all new brakes before my last road trip in March, but todays bill was pretty frustrating as the dealership charges ghastly shop fees for diagnostics before getting to actual repairs. I love my mechanic dearly, so I go where he goes, but I am pretty sure he is just as disheartened as me with repairing this old vehicle that truly has served me well.
I have numerous stories of my road trips, camping trips, and concert adventures that will eventually end up in a memoir. I’ll share a few details below so you get an idea what I am looking for in a new-to-me vehicle in the near future.
In years past, I would have asked my SIL Larry for advice on purchasing a new to me vehicle as he was a manager at Craftsman Collision and very much in-the-know of good vehicles.
Hence, reluctantly, it is time….
I am putting it out there for some time in the next year to purchase a new to me vehicle.
Any advice and or recommendations welcome.
Features and factors I am looking for:
Mainly, INDEPENDENCE!! That is super important for me. With “ease and grace”, and something that can handle ME, a feisty redhead with a propensity to take off on spontaneous adventures.
Gotta be RED (ladybug color, of course!). There are also safety reasons for wanting Red as a vehicle as statistically there are lower accident events with more visibility.
Practical yet I appreciate fully loaded options.
V6 engine. I appreciate power and good gas mileage.
Four wheel or all wheel drive. That is something I sorely have missed from the old Aerostar.
90 L gas tank capacity. I like being able to go long distances without fill ups.
Fold down/ tuck away seats.
Lots of cubbies to store stuff. My vehicle is like my traveling suitcase.
Normal windshield wipers. (See uplander issues below).
3 to 4 years old. This has been great financial advice in getting a vehicle that has bypassed the depreciation but still has some warranty left. I have had two great purchases using this advice in acquiring vehicles that were a decent price with fully loaded options.
As you can see with my stories below, I keep vehicles for a LONG time. I had avoided imports as parts are usually more expensive or hard to come by. That factor may have changed over the years.
I am looking for reliable with inexpensive repair costs. Yes, I know that is asking a lot, but I have been privileged and blessed so far, so I have reasonable expectations as well.
Something I can live in… I tend to spend a lot of time with long road trips and highway Zen.
My vehicles have got to be able to handle me and my adventures and be sleep worthy if need be. I have hauled firewood, gone camping etc.
I don’t necessarily need a lot of seats anymore, but I am used to having room to camp and haul whatever my little heart desires. I do not like to be dependent on anyone with a truck, so I need a vehicle that can accommodate me.
I may add more requirements as I think of them…
*****************************************************************
Of course, you’re going to get some excerpts of Jackie stories as background info and reasons why I want and need a reliable vehicle.
I had been busy being a teen mom so I had carried a learner’s license a few times but never had much practice to actually get my full license. Learning to drive with my mom, dad, or my then husband Ray… well… those stories will be in an upcoming memoir. Suffice to say I did not get a full license at age 16 when most people do.
Ray and I had split for two years at my age 20 and it was only when I had been dating Marcos B. that he had enough patience to teach me how to drive his huge boat of a car, a Pontiac Biscayne. I finally got my full license in April 1989 when I was 22 years old, with two small kids in tow. My mom was away for a month caring for my great aunt before she passed in June 1989, so I had privileged use of a small hatchback car with no gas gauge for a few weeks. Going from an automatic to a standard was a jolting experience. More stories to come…
My first car was a Pontiac Acadian with a firebird decal on the hood. Ray bought it for me when we rekindled our marriage in late 1989 while he was living in New Brunswick. That little car managed to get our family from New Brunswick to British Columbia on a several days road trip in the dead of winter. I didn’t actually have that car in my name though which was fine because Ray “contaminated” the back seat of that car with an ex-girlfriend and I wanted nothing to do with it afterwards. It was a fun little car to drive though.
These days, being so aware of energy vibration, I understand my aversion to that car now, and the point here is I am looking for a high energy vibration vehicle.
Later we had some panel vans for our Carpet Doctor business, a Chev S10 that was super fun to drive, and a 1990s SUV type Ranger/ Explorer.
My first vehicle in my name was a black Monte Carlo 80s version that I bought off my roommate Brad. We called her Bouncing Betty’s Rollercoaster. Oh, we have stories….
Unfortunately, she got taken off the road because of an irreparable cracked frame. When I moved to PG, I had regrets of unloading that car and wished I could have used it for hit to pass racing.
In 1998, roommate Brad had scored a great deal on a vehicle from the Terrace Ford Dealer, so I tried my luck looking into a Dodge minivan on their lot. Instead, I was approved on a Saturday special landing a 1995 Ford Aerostar XLT all-wheel drive, fully loaded with fold down seats. She earned the name Ol’ Bessie. I had her for 10 years, and again, … oh the stories we have to tell.
I loved that van. Fun to drive, hardly ever got stuck, sooo many family adventures and road trips.
She had power steering, power windows, power mirrors, extended length, and lots of cubbies to store stuff.
I had moved to Prince George in 2001, and soon found a great mechanic, Quentin C. He was my guardian angel for several years as he worked in a couple different shops. He kept on fixing what he called “the van that never stops”, until one day he told me the Aerostar wasn’t worth fixing anymore. Ol’ Bessie owed us nothing when I finally sold her – mostly for parts — in 2008.
Quentin gave me pointers on buying a new vehicle but I found out later he had actually pulled some strings to get me into a nice new-to-me 2005 fully loaded Chev Uplander LT in 2008. Through collaboration with some friends, we named the Uplander “Quentessa, my lucky charm” as tribute to Quentin assisting me in acquiring her.
“Quentessa” means essence/ creative/ sassy, which fits me and my personality.
After Quentin moved away from regular mechanics, I was blessed to find Jeff D and he has been my regular mechanic since 2010. He has moved shops a few times, but he knows to let me know where he is and I will be faithful following him. Like any professional service provider, when you find a good one, you hang on to them!!
It is now May 2023. The Uplander has served me well with numerous road trips, adventures, and moving anything from furniture to firewood. Being fully loaded, there is an entertainment center in the back (DVD player), extra storage space with an extended rear hatch, and a power side door which we have loved for the convenience.
Although I have had the Uplander for many years, there are a couple things that I do not like and wish to find different in a new vehicle:
1. The windshield wipers are weird with both spanning outwards, the fluid is attached to the wiper arm, and they are also tucked in which can be a benefit in cold weather, but also a nuisance for getting at them to exchange or fix.
2. The seats are a pain in the royal behind! I appreciated the Aerostar fold down seats. The Uplander has huge bulky seats that are a pain to remove easily. I would like to have something that folds down flat or tucks away somehow.
3. The design of the windshield slope and the frame design makes for blind spot issues and way too many rock chip repairs.
I suppose I will need to sell my Uplander at some point as well…