The Corolla had started shifting very poorly, and yesterday got stuck in 2nd gear for awhile for no reason. It needed battery, tires, brakes, belts, all of the usual stuff - that I didn't want to put into it. It's a great little car, but it hurts my back sitting in it for more than half an hour, and I go on 7-8 day-long drives a year at a minimum. I decided that it was time to unload it before it was no longer reliable transportation... Also I wanted a fresh-vehicle start that I haven't made mistakes with, such as getting t-bones when missing a stop sine and getting in a big fight with a guard rail. The Corolla crab-walked even though alignment is correct. Because of that I wanted to trade it in, I have no issue with sending it to auction, but I'm too honest to sell something like that private party. After all papers were signed and done, I disclosed how F'd up the car was, they weren't surprised.
And so, can you spot the new one? I've been researching for awhile, because of the back issues I really wanted a vehicle that had a comftorable drivers seat with lumbar support - and you bet your ass this is one of the most comftorable seats I've ever been in! Equiped as I got it (fully loaded) retail is $31,395. I left paying $27,386 (minus $5,000 for corolla) and financed at 1.9% over 48 months.
I'm pretty happy with that. 550 miles to go until she's broken in and I can really play with the turbo and paddle shifters...
I played with the idea of an AWD vehicle a lot considering the winters we have with the hills around here, but I have the Grand Cherokee semi-beater. The gas difference for AWD is almost a 30% loss, and 99.5% of my miles are on open highway long distance, in good weather.
This baby gets 33MPG even with the horsies...