The Road To My Jeep, Part II

The model Jeep my mind thought I wanted was a mix of the CJ and TJ models.

The Terminator is to blame for my CJ affinity. The last scene of Sarah Connor in the gas station captivated me when I first watched it. Apart from the scene somehow taking hold of my youthful imagination, that Jeep just looks the way a Jeep looks best. Somehow the dirty, worn look of the Jeep fits perfectly. The jeep is about the only car I have that opinion about, except perhaps the Land Cruisers of old, which I have my Dad to thank for that. Spotting an old Jeep with faded paint, and perhaps a bit of rust around the edges only makes me ponder about all the experiences, and adventures that Jeep gave its owners throughout the years. While that’s true for Jeeps, I think nothing like that of other old cars I may see in that same state. It’s strange, I know. Granted, I do try to keep my Jeep clean just so it can last longer, because I plan to keep it for as long as I can. Now, the TJ doesn’t have a cool story go with it, other than it’s probably just the Jeep I noticed the most when I was in my teens.

I guess this goes to show how much of an influence your young mind has on the rest of your life. Nostalgia is a powerful force, and I believe it drives your life to some extent. Experiences, and the memories they create, is what our lives are built on, and a Jeep is a great tool for helping us create them.

So, with the CJ line ending in 1986, and the TJ line ending in 2006 my other option was the JK (2007-2017). Since I was trying to keep the age of the Jeep between 5 to 7 years old,  the JK was the one I found myself in the market for. With that in mind, my search started in earnest when I moved to Washington State. I started on the usual places: Craigslist, eBay, Autotrader, Cargurus, Kelley Blue Book, and the like. I found though, that most of the posts on those sites are from dealerships, which I was trying to stay clear of. There was a couple of roadblocks to finding my Jeep too. The first major one was my location. Port Angeles, WA, is a bit remote, and about 98% of privately owned sales were at at least 70 miles away, or across the Sound in Canada. The second was my price range. They both combined to make finding my Jeep seem almost hopeless. But as you know by know, I did find my Jeep, so the moral of the story is; don’t settle, and keep looking. Your Jeep is out there, and when you find it you will know.

Looking through many listings helps you understand the market for the car you are looking for. It also helps you start recognizing what could be a good deal. Looking will only get you so far, though, eventually you will have to make a call, and look at cars in person. This also helps you set expectations for what you will find in person compared to the listings. Pictures can hide many things, and can make a vehicle look much more impressive that it really is. Since finding privately owned Jeeps for sale was scarce, I did visit my closest dealership, which turned out to be kind of a mistake. Small towns and dealerships don’t go well together. I’ll leave it at that, and explain in the future. I did go to other dealerships out of town, though, and that’s also a story for another time.

The main purpose of visiting a dealership was so I can see the Jeeps in person and actually drive one. I drove a few. I drove new and used Jeeps, and heavily considered buying a bone stock Jeep Wrangler Sport, because I was finding the prices of Jeeps don’t depreciate nearly as much as regular cars do. So, do I buy a new stock Jeep Sport for around $4,000 more than an older Jeep? or buy an older Jeep with high miles, but with some upgrades already done? I pondered that for some time as I traveled along the road to my Jeep, and it’s something I’ll get into on my next post.