Behind Door Number Four...

A week ago I wrote about the decision my wife and I had to make regarding a new car to replace my 2012 Chevrolet Malibu. It had been a great car since I bought it new three years ago but it had become impractical as of late with the arrival of our son. So, once again, we began looking for a new car with the criteria being an all-wheel drive SUV priced under $25,000 with reasonable insurance rates, leg/head room (front and back), with a few other basics found in most cars these days. Additionally, we were hoping to find something with Bluetooth, remote start, cruise control, a full sized spare tire, roof rack, regular outlet, and side molding. This initial wish list led us to the Chevrolet Equinox, Jeep Compass, and Jeep Patriot.

I was able to drive all the cars a couple of times and spent some time at a couple of dealerships with my wife last weekend. Having driven them all I was leaning slightly more toward the Jeep models but didn’t have a really strong feeling either way. Thankfully, my wife was able to help me narrow down the options and almost immediately eliminated the Equinox upon inspection. She had her reasons and I wasn’t going to argue with them. So that left us with the two Jeep models.

The only real difference between the two is the body style. All the other features match up nearly identically with the only difference that I could see being that the Compass had a rear view camera. Being that this was not one of the features I was focusing on it didn’t really help with my decision. By the end of the long day we were able to sit down and make an initial decision on what was available (ordering was not possible as manufacturers have already switched over to 2016 production). We left the dealer on Saturday having put down a $500 deposit on a Jeep Patriot High Altitude Edition.

Throughout the week I spent some time going back and forth with the dealership, securing financing through USAA, and looking around to make sure I got the best price with the options that I wanted on the car. It never hurts to double check. As the end of the week neared I had finalized everything and was eager to pick up the car and dig through the mountain of paperwork. By Friday morning I was able to drive to work in my new 2015 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk.

That’s right, over the course of the week I had looked around and compared the pricing of a few models. I also had the dealer check the stock on hand to see what was available. I had previously ruled out the Cherokee (especially the Trailhawk) because of the higher base price but looking at what needed and didn’t need to be added, the difference was much smaller than initially thought. It was actually a very similar situation to when I got the Malibu.

In the end, when we originally put the deposit down, I had to make a few compromises with the Patriot so when I came across the Trailhawk with nearly everything on it that we were looking for (everything else can be purchased/added later at a nominal cost) I had to talk to my wife about the slight increase in price (still staying close to our budget). Once she saw how much more we could get for our money we agreed to make the switch. Driving around today, I know that we made the right decision.

NOT A Relaxing Weekend

As I alluded to yesterday, the weekend did not get off to a good start. Unfortunately, it also proceeded to get much worse following the frustrating Friday. In fact, I am still dealing with the fallout today. It was one of those weekends that you just want to forget ever happened and move on to the next work day.

It all started with what should have been a simple drive into the city on Friday afternoon. I left the office at about 4:30 expecting to sit in a bit of traffic but with enough time set aside to make it to old city by 5:30. About a tenth of a mile away from the route 63 entrance, those plans completely fell apart as soon as my front right tire slammed into the crater.

Now with a donut on the car, I wasn’t about to drive on the highway or in the city so I slowly made my way down the remainder of route 1 and parked the car at the Wynnewood train station. My timing was still pretty good at this point as I made the right train which got me to the event on time. This was just the beginning of the weekend.

Following the event, I walked down the street to catch the next train at Suburban Station. With the event ending at 10 I thought I had plenty of time to make the 10:26 train. Well, by the time I found one of the few entrances to the train station still open at that hour, the train had departed and I was left waiting for the 11:26 train. In the end, I didn’t get home until 1:00am but that was not the worst part of the weekend.

After dropping the tire off at the dealer early on Saturday morning, running some errands, and grabbing a quick breakfast at Wawa we settled back down at the house to try and relax a little for the day and get some things done. By the time the sun began to set I was not feeling well and found myself heading off to bed much earlier than usual. Throughout the night I found myself sicker than I had been in a long time. Turns out that Wawa was offering an extra helping of food poisoning at no extra charge.

While I felt a little better toward the end of the day yesterday, and despite my gulping efforts, the dehydration caught up with me this morning and forced me to call out of work for the day. With a screaming headache I finally gave in and went to the local urgent care where they confirmed our suspicions and hooked me up to an IV. Finally feeling somewhat normal I all want now is for this weekend to finally come to an end.

Baby Shower

It was bitterly cold as I left the house on Saturday morning to get the oil changed at the dealer. My wife and I had planned on meeting up in Wayne later in the day just before her baby shower. However, as soon as I pulled into one of the service parking spots, and saw the crowd in the waiting room through the window, I knew we were going to have to adjust things. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize just how much our plans would change.

My wife picked me up on her way to the late lunch and while in transit I called my dad to have him pick me up at the venue. This was my wife’s day and I didn’t want to stick around too long and get in the way. After chatting with a few people and greeting some early arrivals, it was time for me to head out and wait for both the call from the dealer and the text from my wife.

While we chatted about work, planning for the year, and other things the dealer finally called about 2-3 hours after I first walked through their doors. It turns out that my car needed more than just an oil change as the front brakes needed to be replaced and the slow leak that I had them check on the front tire was actually a bent rim… I guess I won’t be seeing my car for a few more days. Well, things happen and thankfully my wife was having a much better day than I.

The shower was a small gathering of family and friends all of which brought overly generous bags and boxes. We had put a lot of things on the registry but simply to offer a variety of both items and prices thereof, we didn’t expect so many items to be purchased. When I got the text from my wife, I was glad to read that things had gone well and that she was happy. Everything else didn’t really matter at that moment… my wife had a good time and everything had gone as smooth as possible.

We met up at the tail end as the last guests were walking out the door. The bags and boxes seemed never ending as we walked back and forth between the restaurant and a few cars. Thankfully we had some help from my family as well as a bigger place to live in which to fit all of this new stuff. The help continued later in the evening as my sister and brother-in-law (along with the kids) helped us get everything in the house and move around the furniture that I was unable to get up the stairs previously.

It was a long and tiring day for both of us but a great day and one that will serve as a happy memory for us and many of our family members. And now we will wait for our son to arrive so that we can start using all the new items that will soon be organized in his room… which is another project all together. I guess that is going to have to be the new project.  

Another One Bites The Rim

Again I am in the midst of a short week and just like every other time I have tried to take a day or two off things are not going as planned. The basic schedule that I originally set this week was to put as many hours in during the four days was going to be in the office so that I could take Friday off knowing that nothing was being pushed back to the following week. Essentially, I didn’t want the day off to cause me to fall behind. That timeline took a few dings during work on Monday but nothing that I couldn’t address with my remaining three days.

Well, that all changed during my drive home on Monday night when the asphalt decided to jump up and take another victim. I was almost home when I was one of many cars forced to slam on the breaks to avoid an accident (thanks a-hole who decided last minute to turn into the first Wawa parking lot entrance). That sudden stop prevented me from avoiding the large crater waiting like a Venus Fly Trap to claim another tire.

Seconds later my dashboard lit up like a fireworks display and I turned into the next street. I know how to change a tire as, unfortunately, I have done it a few times before but having to do so on an incline still sucks. When I pulled off the tire I could see the rip in the tire but it was what I say when I looked on the inside that let me know that this was not going to be a quick tire change… the damn rim was bent. Given my past experience it was a rather quick stop and after sweating out my frustration of the day I slowly made my way to the apartment after about 30 minutes.

After shuffling our schedules, I ended up using my wife’s car this week while the dealer ordered a tire and rim… it actually worked out well as she didn’t really need the car too much this week and was able to quickly arrange for a ride to those places she was going. The prolonged process is finally, hopefully, coming to an end this morning but not without a little bonus discover at the dealer that the back right tire needs to be replaced as well. Another big expense that I am not paying for!

That’s right, thankfully I’m not going to be paying for two tires and a rim. While I am usually not a huge proponent of additional coverage when buying a car, I am a firm believer in purchasing tire and rim protection. With this latest stop at the dealer I think I am going to get about three times my investment back over the course of the two years since I purchased the car.

Since I have to be at the dealer I might as well get a few other things taken care of while I am already being inconvenienced so I figured to get the annual inspection and oil change done. With all the work being done to the car today, I should be ready to hit the road early tomorrow morning. It would be nice to get back on schedule for the first time this week. More about that later (hopefully without any other issues to report).

Bubble Bubble Toil And Trouble

Over the weekend my wife and I had a particularly rough time on the road as no matter which route we took there were a plethora of potholes that seemed to jump out and attack our tires. It even got to the point that I scrolled through the data on my dashboard (it really isn’t as fancy as it sounds) and would constantly monitor the tire pressure after each thump and jump of the suspension. Given my constant glances, I think if the township, county, and state really wanted to do something about distracted driving they should put more of an effort into filling all of the asphalt craters scattered about the paved terrain.

Last night, on my way home from work and knowing that it was a fend for yourself night for dinner I stopped at the Wawa on my way home which is conveniently located about a mile after I get off the highway. After grabbing a quick sandwich (no hoagie this time) I stepped out back into the strangely barren parking lot, put my food in the passenger seat, and walked to the side of the building to light a cigarette. As I was standing there reading through the impatient list of emails streaming to my phone I glanced just beyond the iPhone screen and saw Lincoln staring back at me.

Not one to pass up any kind of luck at this point, I bent over, pinched the penny between my fingers and on my way back up turned my head to the right for some reason. That is when I saw it, a bubble in the sidewall of my right front tire slightly larger than a golf ball. I guess finding a lucky penny isn’t always about making good things happen, sometimes the luck is in preventing bad things from happening. If it hadn’t been for that penny I would have never seen the bubble and I would have probably not noticed the defect until my commute either to or from work later in the week when the sidewall finally gave way.

So now I find myself in the waiting room of the car dealer instead of at my desk getting work done. Thankfully I do believe in one form of extended warranty when purchasing a new car… tire and rim protection. While it is, without question, an inconvenience it could have been a lot worse and I could be out a lot of money. Sometimes the luck isn’t about making good things happen, sometimes luck is what you need to prevent the bad things from being nothing more than an inconvenience.