Why I Bought a Jeep

Our family being down to one car, I had to ask myself a question: should I get another vehicle? And after some though I decided that I would like another car, but this time it would be under my terms. I will get something I’ve been wanting for a while. Something that harkened back to my early days riding around in my dad’s 1978 Toyota Land Cruiser.  I loved going on rides in that Land Cruiser. The Cruiser with the top and doors off was such a fun car for a child growing up in the ’80s. No seatbelts, no doors, no problem.

I grew up with a fondness for that style of car. The barebones kind of car that can pretty much go anywhere. I left Venezuela, my dad, and the Land Cruiser when I was 11 in the early ’90s. I often think of my drives in the car (“paseos” in Spanish). I reminisce of how my dad sat me on his lap so I could use the steering wheel while he shifted gears.  I felt so cool doing that. I remember he tried teaching me how to shift while I was on his lap. I didn’t do so well. I couldn’t put the shifter into each gear that well, but he didn’t seem to care, and let me grind the gears for a little while before we stopped.

So there is that history; that backbone, of the open, utilitarian vehicle ingrained in me since my youth. I’ve had that fondness for the open, versatile vehicle that those Land Cruisers represent. So when it was time to get a new car “on my terms,” I decided that it will be a vehicle that checked off the adventure box, and open road freedom I’ve craved. Since getting a 1978 Land Cruiser is pretty much out of the question I looked in the Jeep’s direction.

The Jeep is a vehicle I found being drawn to for a very long time, but as you may know, they too can be pretty pricey. That is why my first car was a $8500 1995 Infiniti G20 I bought used in 1999, which for a young adult fresh out of the house, and fresh into the military, was just right. So as life goes I sold it. I bought a couple of more cars of no real significance until I got to the Trailblazer. After totalling that car (as I wrote about in my last post), I decided it was time to finally make the leap into purchasing my first Jeep. It was finally time to satisfy my craving for a vehicle that would facilitate that adventurous spirit I’ve been ignoring since I left Venezuela, my dad, and the Land Cruiser.

Hopefully this post helps explain why I picked a Jeep Wrangler, and not another brand of vehicle that would be equally as good, and fun, on the roads less travelled. On my next post I’ll explain the process I went through to finally land my first Jeep. It was not a fast road to that Jeep though. I spent a long time learning about the Jeep Wrangler, visiting dealerships, looking through Craigslist, eBay, and whatever other online forum that had Jeeps for sale. It was a lengthy road, indeed, but I’m glad I took my time because the Jeep I ended up with is exactly what I was looking for, and I love it.