Saturday morning began far too early. George and Evan both needed cars, so Charlie and I ferried them all around creation in the Rental Chariot and the 4Runner, respectively.
Evan and I hit the freeway for the first time in the 4Runner headed down to Modesto. Red is… not fast. Josh’s big tires and lift kit are certainly to blame, and are certainly doing horrible things to my fuel efficiency. Thankfully, 70mph Interstate driving isn’t part of the plans for much of this trip.
Evan’s first stop was the a blue Izuzu Rodeo, which was parked next to a blue Bumblebee! We had to call George. Anyway, the Rodeo was glued to the ground with spiderwebs, so clearly it’s been sitting a while. On the test-drive, it was surprisingly torque-y in the low end, which was exciting, but beyond that it wasn’t too powerful, though that wasn’t a deal-breaker. The seller also failed to mention that the 4-wheel-drive system is inoperative, which was a deal-breaker. Also, it smelled like diapers.
So we headed back to Spot Time Auto to take a look at the Trooper I’d talked him into checking out. That went poorly. Evan did appreciate its styling, but was unimpressed with the tapping from the engine. The dealer let us take it out for a test drive, and it didn’t take long to realize that this vehicle was a catastrophe waiting to happen: horrible slippage in what we believe to be the clutch plates of the automatic transmission when starting from a stop. Like, Star Trek Original Series level shaking and rattling when accelerating below 10mph.
Next, Evan went to see a white Rodeo at a shady little dealership right outside downtown. It was running when we got there, which worried us a bit, clearly he was trying to hide something. It didn’t take long to realize that this wasn’t even equipped with 4WD or AWD, despite what the dealer had said so in the ad and then reiterated it in person. As we walked away, that’s when it happened.
Yes, Evan asked the lying dealer if he had anything that was 4WD in the same price range and lo and behold, there were two options: an F250 Diesel and a 2001 Land Rover Discovery. Yes, this fool test drove a Land Rover.
As he tooled around the neighborhood, I watched it happen. He was falling in love and trying to find any reason not to. I would have started with, “well, it’s Land Rover, so it’ll die on you,” but that apparently wasn’t enough; this train had left the station.
So he did it. And then we caravaned back to the house. On the way, I stopped at a tire shop for an alignment and an oil change, which turned into a strong recommendation to replace two of my tires because of serious wear that was not apparent at night. Ouch.
George and Charlie had been running on silent mode for a while, and then we got the announcement: they’d made a deal and were headed back. Before long, we heard a horn outside and came out to see George’s acquisition: a white 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Apparently he decided to continue his tradition of buying hen houses; it’s a great ride if you don’t look inside.
The remainder of the afternoon was dedicated to Evan’s video project, returning my rental Hyundai, having a lovely celebratory dinner at the Zinfandel Grille, and passing out.
Last year, our second day in San Diego was devoted to finding a third car. This year, we’re complete on Day 1. What are we gonna do to fill the time?
George has asked to go to a junkyard tomorrow. Probably to drop his car off.