I've never bought a new car or truck in my life, I've stuck with good, clean used ones and had no regrets except the occasional pang of envy when something shiny drove by. My plan is to live modestly to retire more comfortably, in other words, save my money for when I have time to really enjoy it.

My wife gave me news Thursday that basically makes that plan moot and uneccessary anymore, so I've been shopping for my first new vehicle, so far I've priced out an '07 F250 SD with the FX4 package and other assorted options at around $50K, I've put a bid on a GT500 at $20K over list and I'm going to look at an Unlimited Rubicon today which would ultimately price out at around $40K with the options I want.

The F250 was orginally what I was going with, but the dealer has the GT sitting in their showroom with the hood open and it's definitely within the upper limit of what I want to spend.

The problem is, and I've had this problem with my 150, the thing is too damn big and unless I simply want to change trail style, the only way it's going to get me where I plan on going is if I ignore every rule of trail driving and simply run over trees. Of course with a twin turbo diesel and a good brush guard I suppose that would be an option, just not a very good one if I want to keep permission to drive the places I do.

So that leaves me leaning to the Rubicon. Quite frankly, it appears to be the bar for off road capabilty, front and rear lockers, disconnect sway bar, 30" fording capabilty, all stock. There's simply nothing on the market like it from what I can tell.

Any thoughts?

 

Well, if you can afford the F-250 why not buy an old Jeep and use it as your trail rig?

Im not a huge fan of then new Jeeps, they have impressive specs stock, but they dont seem to have the same "toughness" of the older ones. Everyone I know that owns a newer Jeep (4) regrets the day they bought it. They go through auto transmissions and brakes like gas.

 

Oops. I went to reply and then had to leave the office for a bit

 

You're not even considering a hybrid?

 

 

I've been really looking at the 4 door rubicon myself. Where are you getting 40K at? I wouldn't pay 40k for a wrangler, unless it had the 5.9L diesel in it. The Base price for the thing is like 28,000 dollars. You probably can get a loaded one with mygig navigation and dual tops for 33K. I might try to get one in the fall, but I'm hearing there is a 3 month wait if you order one. Which I plan to do. I'm not in no big hurry. I do like the dana 44 that come standard.

 

 

What the hell was your wife's news and how do I get my wife to say it?

 

She hit the Lotto or somebody died.

 

Crap, hope it's not the latter.

 

He doesn't seem to be broken up over it....he's just ready to blow some cash.

 

Definitely sounds like the "living modestly" got thrown out the window.

 

I would have, but I'm buying this vehicle with specific purposes in mind and there isn't a hybrid on the market with any serious off road potential.

It's about 30K with options from the factory, and I'm adding about $10K worth of dealer aftermarkey stuff, plus two sets of wheels/tires, one for puttin, one for playin.

My wife's family had a company, they went public years ago and retained controlling interest. A competitor has agreed to buy that company for a figure beginiing with a 9 and followed by a substantial number of zeros.

Personally I own a good number of shares of that company, which I purchased during the peak of the recession for substantially less than a dollar a share. The buyout offer was over $10.00 a share. Suffice it to say the combined effect on our personal net worth requires that we retain a fairly competent attorney to handle our financial affairs.

I don't know about blowing, but we'll be upgrading a few things

Please note, I stated living modestly was to reach the goal of living comfortably in our retirement. As it stands, my wife and I both planned to retire at 55 and travel the country.I'm thinking 5 years tops now.

Considering what I could buy, I'd say a Rubi is fairly modest in comparison. Other than a few upgrades to the house we already own, no big plans.

 

Hey, you just accomplished your goal of retiring comfortably it sounds like. I just hope to be in your position someday. Maybe some intelligent investments and I too will be posting about my good fortune. Congrats on a job well done.

 

Congrats on your good fortune.

Enjoy it but don't let it consume you.