Like cars and trucks?

[Guildedagain]

Oly, it's the water.

It's "mostly water", as we used to say, if they still make it ;]

At least it's got hella racing pedigree. Not sure what all the fuss about the other ones is, hype and fools parting with their money.

Surely this is too well to do aging boomers trying to relive their youth.

When they're gone, the [artificial] value will drop like a rock.

 

[cupric]

There's no such thing as a real suv anymore. In some places they are actually still required! Most of those places are either using pickups, or finding a older suv. Pickups, generally, cannot do the same things that a well designed SUV can.
Here in Arizona you can find a good old suv. Most of them are completely rust free. The paint is often in not so good shape. This is one of the reasons I like Arizona. Who know you could buy a car 60 years ago and keep it forever?
Many of these vehicles are being bought and shipped to places that require a reliable, tough vehicle. And some of those places have people with lots of money. I promptly sold my newer Nissan pick up and purchased a older Isuzu Trooper. I need it here. I also purchased a late 90s Geo Tracker. It's really easy to work on, very reliable, and will go almost anywhere. The prices on them have gone through the roof. And they are getting harder to find. The prices on those that do become available reflect this. They also get mpg in the 30s.
Anywhere if be reluctant to take the Tracker, which isn't many, I have the Trooper. It's a tank.

 

[cupric]

Our three vehicles. The hood on the Trooper is up to try to discourage Packrats.

 

[Opsimath]

Maybe the lack of "real" SUV's anymore is contributing to demand and prices of the older ones. My sis bought a new "SUV" about 2 or 3 years ago. She likes it but she has always driven small cars. In my opinion as a small car it's fine but as an SUV it's a joke. Her boyfriend liked hers so he got one too. Same joke, different manufacturer. Little cars are just not my preference.

 

[Opsimath]

Our three vehicles. The hood on the Trooper is up to try to discourage Packrats.

Packrats? I didn't know those were a thing other than people who keep stuff. Raising the hood helps keep them out of the engine, I'm guessing? The rats, not the people.

 

[JohnW63]

"They fancied it up a bit, " says Tom!

As soon as I saw those fat tires, I knew something far from stock was under the hood!

Cynthia,

My wife's first car, after we got married was a 92 Jeep Wrangler with a 6 cylinder and a stick shift. We still have it. It just turned 90K miles. Is that too small of an SUV for you?

 

[Opsimath]

Jeep's are nice. I have friends who like them and my stepson belongs to a Jeep club but, yeah, I like something a little bigger. I think the full size Bronco is about as small as I care to go.

You only have 90K miles? It must be like new!

 

[Guildedagain]

Packrats are very real, I can see how the hood up would discourage them. We had a neighbor gal that had one build a nest on the engine of her Subaru Baja, and as she was driving to town for her schoolbus driver job, the nest burst into flames... She got it out, was left with some fried engine wiring.

Is that Geo Tracker same as a Suzuki Samurai?

I wanted a Trooper for years, gave up eventually, either trashed or too expensive.

 

[JohnW63]

"You only have 90K miles? It must be like new! "

I wish! The problem with a soft top Jeep is the soft top can wear out. If it's parked in the backyard, and it snows or rains and you don't know the top has lost some of the seams, it becomes very weathered. The stop gap measure was to put a tarp with bungee cords holding it down. It gets rather windy here to so dirt blows all around, when it learns your Jeep has gone topless, after the bungees have given up their bounce. How it knows, I can't tell. Then the ground squirrels or the dogs going after the ground squirrels chewed up the wires hanging low in the engine bay. That took some time to get soldered all back together.

I felt bad about all that, so the renovation process has begun. I just put new after market front seats in it. It needs new carpeting. We put a new soft top on it. I had a new clutch and stuff installed a few months back. I just put new tires on it, mostly because I couldn't recall when we put the last set on. It was 15 years ago, based on the tire code. It's much happier now. It's my daily driver. In the summer, I really wish it had a hard top and A/C. It gets over 100 frequently here.

I like it because even though it's just from the 90s, it's a simple truck ( Don't call them cars in a Jeep forum. I learned that. ) and the motor is one of those " bullet proof " straight 6 engines. Kinda' like the Volvo I am renovating. Simple construction but will last for ever if you treat it right.

 

[Guildedagain]

My problem with older SUV's - and I will never have another one - is that if the back door seals are old and shot, you get a cabful of dust out here on these country roads, a non starter for me. Much rather have a pickup, with a cab, keep the dust out rather than dealing with the vortex of dust and fumes trying to get into the passenger compartment.

 

[Guildedagain]

This is typical of a Jeep in our area. I try not to pass judgement... Like the bumper sticker says "It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand".

 

[Opsimath]

I'm not a pickup fan. I like a roof over my stuff and my stuff under lock and key. I want my stuff to enjoy the benefits of heat and AC. My trips to town "for supplies" generally involve a few stops and an SUV keeps everything safe, or as safe as possible, while I run another errand away from the truck.

Husband drives pickups only. He has an F250 crew cab with full sized bed. You need 40 acres just to turn that rig around. It's longer than most parking spaces but then parking spaces aren't made for real trucks anymore, and the receiver hitch sticks out even farther. That's a shin buster. But his truck works for a living hauling stuff like feed, hay, lumber, fence posts and wire, diesel cans - complete with diesel, and last week a pallet holding almost a ton of fertilizer, things that will not be going into my truck.

He has tried to get me to get a pickup. Not interested. I like my SUV, but we don't travel dirt roads other than the driveway and paths here on the farm so dust getting sucked in is not a problem. And I'm okay with that.

My stepson had his tools lifted from the bed of a pickup he had. I had asked him if he wasn't concerned that someone could take them from the back of his truck. "No, nobody's going to do that." But they did.

 

[Opsimath]

This is typical of a Jeep in our area. I try not to pass judgement... Like the bumper sticker says "It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand".

I have no doubt it's a Jeep thing, and they are right - I don't understand.

 

[Guildedagain]

Ditto here ;]

 

[cupric]

Packrats are very real, I can see how the hood up would discourage them. We had a neighbor gal that had one build a nest on the engine of her Subaru Baja, and as she was driving to town for her schoolbus driver job, the nest burst into flames... She got it out, was left with some fried engine wiring.

Is that Geo Tracker same as a Suzuki Samurai?

I wanted a Trooper for years, gave up eventually, either trashed or too expensive.

The Tracker is the same as a Suzuki Sidekick. Samurai are also increasing in value.
I got my Trooper 1994 from a doctor in Tucson a few years back. It's a LS model, top of the line. 4wd. It had 83,000 miles on it. Always serviced by the dealership she bought it from. It cost almost $40,000. new. I paid $3300. It weighs 4800 pounds. It's a beast. Everything is like new. Never left Tucson. Even the paint is good.
The Tracker was a Phoenix vehicle. Perfect condition. The only modern thing is airbags. The Trooper does not have them, because why? Lol. The skidplates on the Trooper are like 1/8" thick! Full off-road package. Overbuilt. Reminds me of the old Dodge Powerwagen.

 

[geoguy]

The hood on the Trooper is up to try to discourage Packrats.

Has my mother-in-law relocated to your area???

 

[adorshki]

Oly, it's the water.

It's "mostly water", as we used to say, if they still make it ;]

At least it's got hella racing pedigree. Not sure what all the fuss about the other ones is, hype and fools parting with their money.

Surely this is too well to do aging boomers trying to relive their youth.

When they're gone, the [artificial] value will drop like a rock.

Forgot also, being an auction, there was the possibility of 2 bidders going at it. Also I've noticed how some cars keep appearing and changing hands over several auctions so suspect there's a segment of "Flippers/Speculators" influencing prices, too.

 

[Guildedagain]

Here's another Jeep thing I don't understand, a 7 year old rig with blowed engine...

I got trucks over 50 years old that still work hard on the original engines, harder than I can. Unloading this giant load of horsepoop a couple weeks ago did a number on me. Ended up going to chiropractor, waste of $125, and a miracle massage therapist who figured out I have IT Band syndrome in the right leg, getting somewhat better now with ice, stretches, drinking more water.

This is a '63 Dodge 1ton, orig from Missouri, driven cross country to Priest River ID where the guy plowed with it - extremely rough duty - for 18 years on flat ground with a lot of sandbags in the back, I bought it for the plow and the truck has been hauling heavy loads ever since. Hard to see because of the sun, but the tow hitch frame is only inches from the ground here.

Here it is 10 plus years when the plow frame was still on it, hauling a ridiculous amount of straw.

 

[Opsimath]

This is typical of a Jeep in our area. I try not to pass judgement... Like the bumper sticker says "It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand".

My first reaction to this truck was I wanted to wash it. Here a few hours later my reaction is I want to wash it.

 

[Guildedagain]

The mud is like a badge of honor, they'd probably rather get an @$$whooping than to ever wash it. Out here in the wheat fields, these brainiacs veer into the soft wheat fields - in the early spring - trying to find mud to cover their rigs, to the point where there are rewards with the sheriff's office to find out who's doing it.

Not only that, it sets up a deep rut from the shoulder into a field that would drive you right off the road should your pass side tire be in the shoulder.

I know field roads where the puddles are nearly impassable - in the early spring - you could probably charge these yokels $20 each to let them drive through there, but I'd rather they just stay out of the county.

These are by far and large frustrated city slickers that hanker for muddy roads while the rest of us cringe at the thought of driving out through spring breakup, when the road restrictions are in place.