If you are interested, I'll tell you what all I ran into, buying this new Jeep. If not, that's OK; the door back to Peggy's Ghost Hunt is Here

"BUT", if you'd like some updated information that makes buying a new car somewhat unlike what we had; "Back In The Day", here it is.

This is how it was 14-years ago "Back In The Day":

I bought my "old" 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland from the nicest guy you'll ever find running a car dealership; Kord Cutrubus himself! That time, he found my Overland with Homer looking at it in great interest. Kord just took it away from that V.P of the Company, took a copy of my DD214 for my Veteran's Discount, had me sign a promise to make payments, and I was out the door headed home in my brand new Jeep Overland in thirty minutes.

That rugged little Overland has performed flawlessly for the past fifteen years, I love it. "But" there comes a time when you decide to find a brand new horse, after all this is the west.

I started looking around, mostly at pickup trucks. But then my daughter and I were having a "Girl's Day Out" and loading my handicap scooter into the back of a pickup is a real chore. So back to checking out the various cars the size of my 2002 Overland is where I had to go.

I looked at several, and then put Jeep right back on my "short list". I went to several dealers of various brands and found there was now a penalty for wanting to pay cash. I had ben saving my money faithfully for the past seven years because I didn't want a new car payment this time. Besides, most of the cars I kind of liked had those toy spare tires. I definitely didn't want any donut spares. And I don't like sky roof windows.

Kord used to have his Jeep dealership in Ogden, on Riverdale Road. Not too far away from my house. "But" now he has his dealership way south in Layton, which is quite a ways away for me. But what the heck; he treated me good last time, I'll go see what he has to say.

After all of our "haven't seen you in quite awhile" friendly greetings, Kord asked what he could do for me. I told him I wanted a new car. It had to have enough room in the back for my handicap scooter, a softer ride because my back hurts all the time, and no moon roof. I want a full-size spare tire, and maybe just a little bit more room inside than my '02 Overland has. Kord was thoughtful for a few seconds.

"You did say that you don't want a sun-roof?"

"Yes, I did say that. I don't like sun-roofs.

"Maybe we have just about what you would like if we still have it. It's a little larger than your Overland, has the same horsepower, no sun-roof, has a full-size spare, leather interior, all the perks available, and a softer ride. Except the optional step-rail and mud flaps aren't on it. But we can put those on for you at my cost."

That sounded good to me, I replied.

He took us into the General Manager's Office where he brought the jeep up on the computer. A 2018 white Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited. Kord took a sheet of paper, wrote down all the specs, listed all the discounts, then put an amount in the middle of the paper.

To my surprise, it was not much more than I had paid fifteen years ago for my 2002 Overland!

"Can we put on the step-rails, then add the undercoating and fabric protectant like my Overland has?" I asked. Kord said I could add anything I wanted and it would be priced at his cost. I liked that.

I asked him if it mattered if I financed the car or paid cash for it. He shook his head "No" while explaining that it did not matter to him one way or another. I really liked that, he's not playing finance games!

He asked one of the guys to go find the Limited, and it came up to the front doors in a few minutes. He put his dealer's plate on it, gave me the keys, and told me to see if I liked it. "SURE DID!"

"OK, Kord, let me kidnap your only white Jeep Limited with no moon-roof!" And we went into the finance office for Leo to make out the contract. We talked about old times, decided what if any Service Contracts I wanted, and Leo was finished with the paperwork in just a few minutes.

It would be a couple of days to get the Limited into the shop for the additions I wanted. I figured that; doing unercoating properly is a messy job and you have to clean all your spray equipment afterwards or it won't work next time. S Kord let me take the car as it was. Within a couple days he had a spot in the shop for the additons, so I brought him a certified check for the car, the Limited went into the shop and I drove my Overland for a few days then went back and picked up the new Limited.

Oh, I almost forgot; I asked Kord if he wanted my '02 Overland in trade. He said whatever I wanted to do was OK, but would I allow Ken to drive my new clean, white, Limited out onto the desert, rock-hunting, shooting, getting it all dusty... . I said probably not. So that took care of that question. I kept it.

So just like fifteen years ago, Kord had me in a fine new Jeep that is big, fancy and comfortable. Not like what I've always felt Jeeps was like. And we've had four Jeeps before this.

Today I was very impressed; there was a lot of very stiff wind in Cache County. The trees were leaning over serverely and I'd guess at least a 35mph wind with 45-50mph gusts. That big Jeep on those big Michelin tires didn't even sway or notice the crosswinds at all. Absolutely unbelievable. The effect on steering was absolutely zero, period. And the noise-reducing glass really kept out the howling noises, making normal, quiet, conversation very comfortable. And Kord doesn't scratch security numbers into your nice expensive noise-reducing windows, either!

Now for the part you are not going to believe. It's difficult for me also. The fuel mileage of the 2018 Limited; believe it or not, doesn't matter to the facts. Here is the fuel calculation from today: We fueled up the Limited at Exxon a couple days ago. Today was the first day I felt like going anywhere since we got the Jeep, so we took a little day-trip up through Cache County. Then we gassed up again at Exxon, the same pump, facing the same direction. A total of exactly ninety-miles since the last fillup. The Polar Bear took 2.5 gallon until it clicked off the pump. I milked it up to 2.8 gallon to get an even dollar amount, unlike last time when I stopped when the pump clicked off. Like you're supposed to do. Go ahead; divide ninety miles by two-point-five gallons. If you can't believe that figure, then divide ninety miles by two-point-eight gallons. Take your pick; that new Polar Bear got at least thirty-two miles per gallon, or she actually got thirty-six miles per gallon. Not shabby at all, for a big, comfortable, nice car with a lot of horsepower.

During today's day-trip of exactly 90 miles, I had to tell my husband to speed-up one time, and the silicon-based girl with the nice voice in the console told him to slow-down eight times. The route was up and down the mountain roads, using the cruise control set at the speed limit on the longer straight-a-ways.

Oh, yes, about that cruise-control up and down the mountains: You could barely feel the shift points they were so smooth. If you were not waiting for them, you'd never feel them, and it kept the speed exactly on the speed limit even uphill, and used engine compression to keep the speed level going downhill.

OK, that's all for this report. When I feel good on another day I'll have my husband take me on another day-trip and we'll check the mileage again. I think next time we'll go up to Paris Idaho and around that area. Last time up there I saw a nice pretty owl sitting in the upper window sil of the Church. Even got a good photo of him. Or of 'her', as the case may have been; I always respect their privacy, you know.

10-01-2018: End of the first report; waiting for the next one.