Of
the vehicles I have owned over the years, several stand out that I wished I had
never sold.
One
is a 1993 VW Corrado VR6 sports coupe. It was small, light, and fast, but more
importantly it held its value and brings top dollar today for a clean example.
Mine was very clean.
My
wife—at the time—and I sold it to buy a baby carrier—a Honda Element. The
Element was a shockingly bad car. Horrid build quality was matched with truly
terrifying road manners.
Another
was a 1978 VW Rabbit 4 door. Granted it was a bit temperamental, but it almost
always ran and was mechanically simple.
My
wife at the time felt it was bad feng shui to have a vehicle in the driveway
that we rarely drove.
I
got it brand new when I was 17. The air conditioner went out and the cost to
fix it was more than the car was worth, but that Rabbit had 150K miles on it
when I sold it and it was nowhere near dead.
We
didn’t use it to transport our daughter because it had no airbags or anti-lock
brakes, but as a prepper car it would have been quite handy.
The
vehicle I would most love to have back cannot be attributed to my ex-wife
“urging” me to get rid of.
In
1989, I bought a Jeep Cherokee Laredo 4 door 4x4 for the princely sum of $24K.
It
went to Baja California. It dared roads covered in Yosemite snow without
chains. It was attractive, reliable, and durable.
Newcaritis is what motivated
me to get rid of it. The car I got was an amazing car and an amazing value, but
the Cherokee was a keeper and I did not see it.
The Jeep
Cherokee (XJ) was manufactured from1984 to 2001 using a lightweight
unibody design. It was way ahead of its time and ushered in the SUV boom.
It
had the time-tested AMC straight 6 engine coupled to a 4-speed automatic, a
powertrain that was bulletproof.
There
were times when I needed to throw it into four-wheel-drive high for snowy
conditions and a few time in low for the hoot of climbing hills.
It
returned good mileage, averaging 22mpg, but more importantly it was a honest
vehicle.
I
miss it terribly to the point that I am considering finding one to buy.
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