CKit

We've been through a 1995 LR Disco I, 03 Honda Pilot, and 07 FJ Cruiser in the past few years.

Every time I have to drive one any significant amount of time, I want to claw my eyes out...

Well, all except for the Disco. I loved that car. The Disco and the S2000 are my favorite cars I've owned. I was so sad to see it go. But the headgasket went and the engine took a dump... I only paid $5k for the car originally, so I didn't expect much.

Was planning on garaging the S2000 this Winter for the first time in 5 years and driving one of the Audis. But with the installation of the Racelogic Traction Control and the fantastic results... I'm thinking I'll be able to drive it ~90% of the time and only need a "beater" SUV for maybe 30 days a year. I got into trouble when I was "forced" to drive the SUV for 40%+ of the year. I didn't like it.

We only put 5k per year on our S4. I'm looking to replace that vehicle.

My father emailed me that he was about to buy new tires for his Acura TL, so I thought it would be a perfect time to hand "up" the S4. It doesn't have a scratch on it, still under warranty, and 27k miles on the odo. It's a great car, but doesn't get much use with the RS4 next to it.

So... for use on only the crappiest of crappy weather...

I'm thinking about something like this:


I know it'll be a total piece of crap and will cost a lot per mile....

But by my estimation, it may be cheaper than paying for a car that will depreciate more on time than on mileage. The truth is, I don't want to drive an SUV more than 30 days per year.... so if I pay for something newer and shinier, I'm wasting money on all the other 330 days per year it's depreciating.

The Rovers take all their depreciation hit early in life and I can afford the repairs in the short term.

Thoughts?

cbehney

My only thought would be that I hope the many days the LR will be in the shop aren't the same days as the 30 you want to drive it.

Actually, makes sense to me.

What was the pain about the FJ Cruiser?

CKit

I had that thought as well. We gave our CLK to my mom a few years back with 68k miles on it. It now has 70k. She loves it. She'll California Duster it in the garage and call it her "new car." I thought about upgrading her car, but realistically it wouldn't make any difference. Mercedes are great for that, they look nice and depreciate hard. For a car that sees little use, it's perfect.

My issues with the FJ Cruiser: We bought one of the first ones available... Part-time 4wd auto tranny in March 06. Put 14k miles on it and sold it in March 07... when it was technically still the same model year... resale was great.

Reasons for trade:
1. Didn't make a good road trip car.
--Seats were scratchy, no lumbar support
--Lots of wind noise from roof rack and upright stance

2. Cheesy factor
--Initially, I liked the "Tonka" toy factor, but the cheesy interior plastic wore on me.
--Over the course of the year, the demographic of buyers turned to 20yo women who thought it looked "cute" like a puppy. Kind of lost the "rugged truck" reputation, even though it was very capable. You know, Toyota sold almost as many FJ Cruisers that year as Audi USA sold total vehicles in 9 months....

3. Not a great on-road Winter Car.
--The 3-blade wipers iced up quickly, making visibility difficult
--The mirrors were not heated, requiring scraping
--The Auto tranny in 4Hi mode turns off the traction control. Not the most stable vehicle in higher speed, lower trac conditions. We'd have to drive in 2WD on the road to keep it tracking. The Audi Quattro was far superior for on-road driving.

4. Too pretty to get dented.
--Something about a shiny new vehicle that makes it psychologically difficult for me to beat up.

The FJ and I were not a good fit due to the proportion of time I had to spend driving it. If I had one now, I'd probably keep it. But if I'm only going to use it 30 days out of the year, I'd rather do it with the cabin of a Range Rover, spend $10k less up front and put the money towards repairs if needed.

bjohnston

Really, your requirements are so specific that I have no idea what to recommend other than to say I like FXs. I also drove an X3 and liked it (expcept that the interior isn't up to usual BMW standards). Get what works best for you, since I have no idea, given the very limited parameters, what that might be...

rai

I can almost follow your logic. I sold my wifes Trooper for a song. I wish I had kept it. I didn't think I was going to drive it enough just about 3K miles per year so I didn't want to pay the extra insurance, maintance, and poorer mileage I elected to sell it and drive the Legacy wagon part time. It was either keep them both or just combine the miles on the Legacy wagon so it made sense at the time to consolidate the miles onto one car.

Now I wish I had kept the Trooper. I was all in all a good truck didn't cause me a minute of trouble except I needed to add about 1QT of oil a month.


The Legacy gets me about twice the gas mileage and it's probably near as good at snow driving so it made some sense but in a way it was nice to have a beater truck.

CKit

Did you get the rosewood interior on the 07 FX? I thought the upgraded interior was nice. It was a fun car as well.

I'm going to try and stay away from "sporty" SUVs, though. Otherwise I'll be tempted to drive it "sportily."

I'm looking for a vehicle that does something better than the RS4 that I'll be happy to grab the keys for.

In dry (and now mildly wet with the RLTC ) weather, that car is the S2000.

In total craptastic weather, I think lounging in the interior of the Rangie would be nice. Maybe I'll do the remote engine start... nothing like getting into a warm cabin on a cooooold day.

It'll be like a "pay as you go" phone plan rather than a set monthly bill. The more I use it, the more I'll pay for repairs... but the cost of entry to have it sit there is pretty cheap. I know people who pay more (than a used RR) for couches that just sit there....



And if stuff starts to go... you bet I'm taking it to the nearest off-road park and beating the living snot out of it to give it a proper send-off!

cbehney

And you should sell tickets. (And thanks for the good info about the FJ.)

CKit

Teaser pic. I put down a deposit....





If my schedule allows, I'll pick it up next week.

Dr. WOT

nice interior, I love the blue piping on the seats

good luck!