New vehicle advice

[William from NOLA]

lol. yeah i kinda ruled the Montero out right after i put it on the list :) thanks for the heads up though.

the music scene's kickin' right now in N.O. right now huh? been to jazzfest or seen any good shows this week? i was gonna try to make it over there for this weekend, second sunday of jazzfest is my favorite day to go, but i wont be able to get away this year. i made reservations for may 13th though. springtime is awesome in new orleans. i've made it back both springs since i moved from there. i cant break the streak!

I haven't been to jazzfest yet. I don't really plan to go this year. I just drove by an hour ago and the traffic is pretty bad (down esplanade). That's awesome you're coming back! It's heating up here, so it's almost time to rule out long pants completely!

[J.W.]

yeah, it gets nasty hot there in the summer! long pants simply are not an option.
jazzfest can sometimes be more of a hassle than it's worth. most of those bands will play at small venues like tipitina's uptown and places like that so we'd try to catch them there most of the time.
the last jazzfest i went to when i was living there ('02) was pretty fun. i was working at this restaurant, http://www.danteskitchen.com (cool locals place, best brunch in new orleans, check it out one sunday). on the second sunday of jazzfest i was cleaning up after brunch and the owner was sitting on the front porch of the restaurant, smoking a bowl :) , and he asked me if i would work that night for him. i said i had plans. he said, "i'll tell you what, i've got an extra ticket to jazzfest. come with us to jazzfest, get drunk, and then come back at 7pm to work the dinner shift." :) how could i turn that down!? we ended up getting seperated at jazzfest and you know there's no finding each other once you get seperated. i ran into some friends of mine hung out with them and somehow managed to get back to the restaurant at 8:00, wasted! he said dont worry about it j.w., and sent me home. classic.

i stopped by for brunch last fall when i went over there for voodoo fest. as i was leaving, the owner said "j.w., you want the rest of this keg? i'm tired of drinking this german beer." and he gave me half a pony keg! lol. only in new orleans. :)

[William from NOLA]

Haha! only in new orleans

Sorta reminds me of that movie, "The Big Easy". I watched some of that earlier today on TV, man, Dennis Quaid's accent is so fake and aweful, it's just insulting.

[J.W.]

it's not easy to copy the many new orleans accents, from chalmette to metarie, they're VERY unique.

[Jonathan]

I'd pick a Grand Cherokee or an Explorer. Both are proven reliable and great SUVs. If you get the Grand Cherokee, get one with a 4.0L I-6 engine, you can't knock an inline six for power, smoothness, reliability, and good gas mileage. That would be my #1 choice. Easy to work on as well. IMO I-6s are the best overall engine design out there aside from V-12s, they are so smooth because you have two cylinders on the front and rear firing simultaneously (typically #2 and #5) , which cancel out each others vibrations. The center of gravity is also excellent and no vertical or horizontal forces are generated, so they run extremely smooth, have less friction than an I4 or V8, and also require less damping of vibration via counterweights due to the engine doing that by itself. From an engineering standpoint, I6s are a better design. And the Jeep 4L is a great I6. Engines like inline 4s have horrible vibrations that require balancer shafts to even out. Even 8 cylinders require balancers to even out vibration.

[lotas]

my parents have a Tahoe and its a '97 with 130,000 miles. Its held strong, its had minor repairs here and there, but I think the most we've spent on a repair is $250-300, so nothing major. Even with 130,000 miles it will get up at go, especially at higher speeds/rpms.

[ridr4lif]

Go GM. Tahoe's and Yukon's are the same thing, just different badging.

And plus...the bigger the SUV...the bigger the stereo.

TEDD

[William from NOLA]

Just never ever buy a Nissan Quest.

[J.W.]

you guys are the sh1t. thanks for all the input. i've narrowed it down to these three:

1. Yukon/Tahoe - gotta love the full size SUV
2. Grand Cherokee w/ 4.0 V6 - b/c jonathan says so. j/k :) seriously, these seem to be the least expensive besides explorers, and i like the feel of the interior. I'd have to get the limited or a nice laredo b/c my ex-girlfriend has a cherokee and i'd have to get one better than hers :) lol.
3. 4Runner - man, it hurts to put the 4runner at number three i think i have 4runner running through my veins, but they're so damn expensive! for the price i'd rather have a full size suv like the Yukon.


jonathan or someone, please expand on the topic of getting a vehilce with low miles. i've been looking for something under 80k, but how much weight should the mileage factor have in my decision making? for example, one with 50k vs one with 70k.

also, how about 4 wheel drive? i've heard it's better for resale value, but i'll probably drive this thing into the dirt so i'm not worried about that, and it'll strictly be an on-road vehicle. are there any advantages to getting a 4x4 in my case? better suspension and handling maybe? or would there just be extra weight and more potential problems?

thanks again.

[ridr4lif]

Its usually better to buy a vehicle w/low miles.

Depends on the owner tho.
Example: 16 yr old kit when mommy buys him a vehicle, beats the shit out of it and sellls it w/ 50k.
Then you have your older guy, buys new, and does oil changes every 3000 and has the brakes changed etc and it sells it w/ 70k.

I'd buy the 70k vehicle.

As for 4wd...if you are gonna be on the street all the time...dont even bother gettin 4wd. You will see lower gas mileage due to the extra weight and you have to turn an extra set of cv shafts etc.

TEDD