Its amazing the things that can happen once you take off your brand loyalty glasses.

Late last fall I sold my Harley and bought a low mileage 2002 Suzuki XL7 suv. Its a reliable little 4x4, but very unrefined and cramped for space. Great little around town commuter, but is geared too low and is a little on the guttless side for highway travel, resulting in poor fuel mileage. This spring I decided I would look for something a little bigger and nicer in general for my wife's/family vehicle.

Enter 2008 Ford Escape XLT loaded with 95k on it. Leathered up and all, 4x4 as well. Right off the get go it doesn't have much more room if any more than the Suzuki does. The motor was noisy, power was average but nothing to brag about, ride quality was ok, but its still a short wheelbase vehicle, so nothing great... End result? Not impressed, not the vehicle for me.

Enter 2008 Ford Edge Limited, every option available and 114k on it. This thing was mint, you could have eaten off any part of it. Room was very good, seating was comfy. The dash seems to go on forever and the general shape of it feels goofy to me. I guess spending 10 years in a truck gets a guy locked in a groove. The motor had plenty to give, but again was very noisy both at idle and acceleration. The ride quality was ok, but coming down our street which is 60/40 potholed gravel, broken pavement, and speed bumps thrown in for good measure; I nearly went deaf with panels rattling and the choppy ride. Not a rural intended vehicle.

I pretty much gave up at this point, nothing else fit my budget, didn't want to get into having 2 new vehicles because the 2nd one only sees 4-500kms a month if that.

Last night I see that a guy down our street who sells some pre owned vehicles on the side has a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. Sharp looking vehicle, I think to myself...hmmm... Na, its a Dodge. Got home and looked it up, showed the wife some pics, she approved, I pondered for a minute then gave the guy a call.

2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4x4, 3.7L v6, 165k on it. Very mint considering the miles, exterior has a few stone chips, but nothing more. Interior is roomy, comparable to the Edge, but with a higher seating position. Motor is very quiet, doors and hatch have a very solid and tight feel when they close. The test drive? Well, lets just say that I'm impressed. Much quieter than any of my other test drives, power was noticably less than the Edge, but sufficient enough, ride was very comfortable on the highway, a little rough on our road, but no where near the rattles of the other 2 vehicles I tested. The on board mileage calculator showed 8.5L/100km with cruise set at 105km/h. Only issue is it has weeping tranny cooler hoses, which the guy is going to have looked at on monday, as well as clean it all up for us. Its a very fair deal compared to prices other places.

I bought a Jeep.

My thoughts on the other 2 vehicles were not intended to offend anybody out there who have them, I know many people who have both and are extremely happy. These were just my impressions and opinions.

 

My BIL has a 05 Jeep G C and he likes it, had a few problems with it but, they were fixed without issue.

 

Damn sherm, you are growing up before our very eyes haha.

Kidding of course, your very right about the brand loyalty thing as well, although we all are guilty of that from time to time, myself especially.

Your Jeep will be almost identical as ours I believe. I think we have a limited (not sure if thats supposed to be fancier or not quite as fancy) and we have the diesel.

I know very little about the engine in yours, except I have read that the guys that have them, like them, and there doesnt seem to be much bad to say about them.

When we were shopping, we liked a few of the ford suvs but in the end, especially for our total needs, ford just didnt have anything in the suv line at all that would work for us.


Hope it treats ya well man! (although it sure aint no Harley is it? haha)

 

From my knowledge on the Jeep models, there's Laredo, Limited, and Overland. Laredo being the lower of the scale, similar to a moderately equipped XLT model of a Ford vehicle.

As for the Harley, I'll probably end up with another some day. Thry are a cool bike with endless customization and character. I didn't end up buying the 'Busa, something fishy comes up when you find out that the bike has a salvage title and the seller gets the "deer in the headlights look" to him...

 

Oh man that sucks about the busa too! Bet days like today sure light a fire under your *** to get some kinda bike though eh?!

 

Yeah it sure has been a couple nice days here, yes, the itch is getting more intense. I'm considering another Harley Davidson. As much as I enjoy the power of the sportbikes, I'm struggling with the poor resale value of them. The HD products have an incredible resale value, as well as endless character and customization.

I'd like to try out a Victory, but I struggle with that decision because they lack the support community that HD has. I'm going to a BMW ride day next monday to ride a R1200GS. I've never ridden one of them, and I like to take the opportunity to ride everything out there when opportunities arise.

One thing holding me back from buying a bike right this instant is that I haven't started our house yet (city complications) and that will take me to september easily. I don't know that I would get any use of a bike this year anyway.

 

Id like to get a harley one day too, always loved the indians with the huge fenders, but they always seem to pull a premium price. Almost bought a kawasaki drifter last year too, as they are an indian look alike, but in the end I didnt (just due to my love of traveling offroad and down trails and gravel and whatnot).

Now a days a guy can find a bike for pretty reasonable prices if ya keep your eye open. Im not sure what the victorys sell for, but bikes the the shadow areo's, kawasaki mean streaks, suzuki marauders, yamaha v stars, etc, can be bought for the 5 grandish mak from kijiji... as long as ya dont mind buying used!

 

the problem is, buy a used "japanese" bike, and in 2 years its very near worthless. The HD will cost you more off the get go, but if you buy right, even from a dealer, you'll near get your money back within a 3-5 year period regardless of whether you trade it in or sell privately. Also, HD provides financing on models up to 10 years old (not something that I'll be using, but its there), as well as a variety of warranties available for purchase on models up to 10 years old...

Up to 10 years old, the only substancial depreciation on a HD is on the new purchase. The prices on the new bikes fluctuate on a supply/demand basis, as well as the economy. Prices on new have been dropping since '08 and the economic issues below us (and lurking in our own shadows) but seem to have stabled, and are expected to begin a slow rise again. That will cause an incease in the value of the used as well...

Its an interesting system, these HD's, each purchase (for me) almost ends up being very business based almost with an investment strategy...