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Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)
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Enjoy! Jeff
Yup, its a 5.9L 6-cyl Cummins turbo diesel. Its kind of neat to drive, but sometimes I long for a gasser. Gas engines are no where near as fussy about maintenance as a diesel is. My truck gets cranky if I'm 1 mile late changing the fuel filter!
Right now its got a hard start problem, taking it to the dealer tomorrow, its been fussy ever since the injector was replaced in Washington back in January.
It'll pull anything I hook it to and doesn't do bad with fuel economy either. I get an average of 19 mpg empty and 12 mpg towing, not too shabby for a 7000 lb truck.
US 60 to Wickenburg, then north on 89 to Prescott. I think 89 splits at that point and you want to take 89A through Jerome (old, cool mining town built on the side of a mountain), then into Sedona.
From Sedona north, you climb a couple thousand feet in not too many miles, IIRC. Flagstaff is at 7000', so the temp will be quite a bit cooler there than it was in Phoenix.
Enjoy!
One thing to keep in mind is that this time of year, related to that comment about elevation, is that it can be rather cold - even snow – both in Flagstaff & at the South Rim. My daughter & I did Zion & the Grand Canyon last April, and there was snow on the North Rim and the South Rim when we were there.
I had been to the Grand Canyon before - 30+ years ago, when I lived in Southern AZ (in the military) - so took few pics, except of my daughter.
And it is really hard to take a picture that captures even a portion of the grandeur (really) of that place.
Only thing that had really changed at the Canyon since I was there before is that they have introduced Condors. Huge! ( 7 - 9 foot wingspan)
We saw several, but never long enough to try for a great shot.
( Shooting birds in flight is a challenge anyway.)
Just as we were about to board the shuttle bus to an area where no cars are allowed & just as we were boarding my daughter said:
" LOOK CONDORS "
I turned and shot quickly - focused on infinity, I expect - not on the birds.
( sigh )
But people have posted on some photography sites that they have spent days at the park & not seen any at all. Or only at long distance.
Those 2 were ( briefly ) close to the main hotel \ lodge!
Anyway . .
Enjoy!
- Ray
Excellent trip.
I noticed that while Flagstaff and the South Rim can be fairly cold in April (50s for highs), Sedona has highs in the high '70s already this week. Must be a couple of thousand feet lower there?
We do plan on taking a Jeep tour... so, thanks for that...
Anyone have any lodging recommendations? Will probably spend a couple of days in Sedona.. From the looks of it, I should have booked something a couple of months ago..
regards,
kyfdx
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Loved the story pal. This has to be a first for me though. :surprise: So you are telling all of us you bought a 03' Cadillac Escalade EXT just to drive to your mountain cabin one time but you are now going to sell it because it's to expensive to keep around as a occassional car ?????? :confuse: Huh ? You are confusing the hell out of me pal. :confuse: So you aren't ever going back to your cabin again ? Did your "Time share" run out or something ? :confuse: If you do keep your cabin, what are you going to do next time, buy another 4x4/AWD at a auction to drive to the mountains again ?????
Rocky
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
It isn't that much fun though... no sport package and a slush-box.. Ahhh.. who am I kidding? 72 degrees today and she had the top down... called me on her cell phone to rub it in...
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The joys of Cincinnati ...
(And my sister always says, "You COULD afford to fly into Cincinnati, you have the money" every time I fly into CMH.)
CVG-PHX $489/ea. R/T
Both on Delta...
The absolute cheapest flight from CVG-PHX was $325/ea. R/T on US Air.
It's crazy.. I live 15 minutes from CVG and 2 hours from CMH.
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Wow, and I thought I was bad!
I am going to buy an SUV at some point this year, just don't know when and it won't be new.
Let's see some pics!
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
22's and the banker image don't exactly go together. How many TV screens does this thing have ?
Here is our Accord.
Here's the TSX.
And here's the SI we had as a demo.
Very happy with them and they definitely dress up my LX.
The Sandman
Anyway, the 4Runner turned out to be a reconstruct, not something that bothers me a whole lot. It drove nice, had a lot of miles on it, but seemed to run well. They offered me $1500 for my Sebring and they would pay the shipping from Fairbanks. I think I'm going to pass on it and keep looking. I can do better I think. They had a 2000 4Runner with 135k on it that I also drove, really nice truck, but something gave me the creeps about it, couldn't put my finger on it.
I'm pretty much limiting my search to 4Runners, Pathfinders, and possibly Explorers depending on how they are mechanically. Trying not to spend over $5k for this beater. Yesterday confirmed to me that I do need a beater, these Anchorage trips stress me out about having my black truck down here.
Would be nice to have an SUV that the dog can go with us in, we can take fishing, down the back trails, just in general use it for everything. Course I still need the black truck for towing that huge horse trailer of mine.
You should have listened to Terry: "STAY AWAY FROM THE CAR LOTS!"
The Sandman
We had 3 of the 02-05 SI's. The first one was a white 02 that met it's death after I owned it 3 weeks. A car turned out in front of me (her fault) and the SI gave it's life for mine. So I replaced it with an identical white 02 Si which was cursed. So we traded that one for a GS300. Not too long after Gee bought a 03 Si that we kept for 2 years and 40,000 miles. Great cars. Not as obviously sporty as the 2000 Si we had though.
LOL, yeah yeah yeah, that was a first for me, especially at a car lot. Then someone decided to scratch the heck out of my tailgate at the hotel I'm staying at, all in all, my truck is not enjoying its stay in Anchorage.
I do like it though, better than the other Escalade I had.
Have you test driven a new 07' Slade? :shades:
Rocky
I almost bought a '97-'01 4runner (when they were current) a few different times. Have you checked what's available on fee-bay? Personally, I wouldn't buy an Exploder, unless it had a warranty, & even then I wouldn't buy it.
BTW, are the BHPH people going to pay for your new bumper?
I ran across a super nice 2001 Dodge Durango SLT Plus the other day for $12,500 at a dealership where a friend of mine is a sales manager. He appraised my truck and put as much as he could in it, diesels seem to be all over the place, he had 6 sitting on his lot with far less miles than mine. I wasn't too bad off in it and put down enough to cover all the negative equity. When it was all said and done my truck payment has dropped by more than 1/2, along with less insurance costs. Not to mention I have a far more practical vehicle with my daughter's ever increasing medical equipment, she has at least 4 bags when we travel.
We still have 2 diesel trucks, plus the Durango, AND the Sebring, lol. I plan to pay the Durango off in 18 months, shouldn't be a problem with as little as I owe on it.
The Sandman
My target date is Independence Day.. Anyone else?
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The new *used* truck is a 2001 Dodge Durango SLT Plus, black with tan leather, non smoker's car (thankfully), its from NY orignally, one owner truck. Has about 70k on it, but we bought a Chrysler backed ESC to cover it another 50k or 5 years. It has a 4.7L V8, automatic, 4wd, heated seats, 3 row seat, infinity audio system, all the goodies. Clean carfax, no accident history at all, and I couldn't find any signs of paint damage or anything. Interior is very clean, rear seats don't look like they were ever used. It has a rear ent system, its aftermarket and I'm not sure it works, will probably replace it with a different one.
Driving it you would never know it has 70k on it, I had a hard time believing that, it drives as well as a 20k car would.
Old body style Durangos are HARD to find up here, they usually don't hang on a car lot for very long. Only other one I found was a 2000 SLT with 63k on it for the same price as this one. The dealer we bought this one from only had it a few days.
Our payment went down a LOT, interest rate went down, term went down, and insurance went down. Can't ask for better than that! I feel pretty good about the Durango, I love the fact that we don't owe much on it and I can pay it off quickly. I want to own it free and clear. Maybe the junkyard gems are getting to me, I like having the title to my car and not owing the bank.
My son already has his eye on it for his own, lol. Teenagers!!
Might keep the Sebring too for those times in the summer I get a sunroof urge. Hubby says he doesn't care as long as he doesn't have to drive the darn thing, lol.
My target date is Independence Day.. Anyone else?
Who had St Patrick's Day this time?? LOL
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0 / 03 Montero Ltd
What exactly are we picking a day for.
Is it when Jolie complains about the towing capacity of the Durango and flips it, or when she sells the Sebring and buys another beater.
We know she's going to do one or the other very soon. This is getting too easy.
Is it when Jolie complains about the towing capacity of the Durango and flips it, or when she sells the Sebring and buys another beater.
We know she's going to do one or the other very soon. This is getting too easy.
First off, I certainly DID NOT buy the Durango to pull, it doesn't even have a tow package (which I was very happy about). Second off, if I want to tow anything, we have 2 diesel trucks to do that job. I HATE towing anything, usually if something needs to be towed hubby is with me and doing the driving.
As for the Sebring, nah, I think I'll probably keep it, have had it for sale for nearly a month and no takers. Only people wanting to make payments on it, I tried that, no thanks, it didn't work. Its not a bad car, needs a few things, but overall is in good mechanical condition and I can get my sunroof fix with it.
Fuel economy also went down.
I believe you just gave her the next excuse. :P
Rocky
We had one years ago in a dodge ram, big time gas hog. If this Durango had the 5.9L V8 I would have passed, but it has the 4.7L V8. According to the fuel economy computer it has it gets approx 18 mpg at 65 mph, similar to the diesel that I traded in.
:-P
Me, just tonight I saw the exact truck I couldn't find anywhere on the lots two months ago - a stick shift 4-cylinder Tacoma PreRunner. Now my local dealer has not one but two, red and white. Both SR5s, sticker is $21K, I bet he would sell for $19K. Maybe a lease, trade in my Echo? Oh what a dilemma, I SWORE I would keep this car until the payments were done.
:sick:
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0 / 03 Montero Ltd
I had my Tacoma thoughts a few months ago. I guess we all do eventually. The price's on used ones are outrageous, new is the only way to go. Frontiers are a little more reasonable , but the looks are a little unusual to me.
I initially hated the Ridgeline, but it is starting to grow on me. The trunk in the bed is the best thing to happen to "pick-up" since the crew cab.
That's about what I'm seeing with this one according to the average fuel economy and instant economy trip computer. That's very similar to my Ram only the gas for this thing is 32 cents/gal less than the fuel for the Ram.
The Durango is having a major issue with the brakes, had it checked yesterday and it needs new brakes BAD. Not just brake pads either, but everything. I took it back to the dealer and they tried to say it was fine. The sales manager (not my friend who works there, but another manager) said that I was having buyer's remorse and offered to let me out of the deal. I laughed and said I didn't want my Ram back, I just want them to fix what they should have fixed before selling the car. He finally grabbed the keys from me and said he has owned 5 Durangos and knows what's normal. He said he was sure it was just fine. He drove it, came back and his whole attitude changed, he agreed it was dangerous and they needed to fix it. So we'll see, I'm supposed to take it over there this morning so they can look at it. I complained about the brakes before I bought it and they adjusted them, that worked for a couple days, just long enough for them to sell it. :sick: My fault I guess for not getting it checked out prior to buying it. I almost ran it out to my friend's house to have her hubby check it out, but didn't.
If they don't fix it, not sure what I'll do, I don't want my Ram back and I really don't want anything else. I've come to really like the Durango in the past couple days. Parts are about $600 to fix it, I can fix it this weekend with my little brother's help, so its not the end of the world I guess.
how do you know at this point it needs calipers?
do you mean just rotors and pads? $600 is ALOT of money for just rotors and pads, though, so I assume you are talking calipers, too. But, again, I'm not sure how that was determined. You should be able to get rear rotors and pads for under $300, I would think, and you'd be good to go. (or does that have rear drums?)
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S