WReXless now chirpy cheap Jeep, Nein11 & Ghia

Talk about your cars etc here. Keep it sort of sensible and on topic please.
User avatar
Hooli
Self Appointed Internet God
Posts: 33179
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 9:25 pm
Has thanked: 14100 times
Been thanked: 10987 times

Re: WReXless now a chirpy cheap Jeep

Post by Hooli »

Sounds a quality* product.
Private signature, do not read
User avatar
AutoshiteBoy
Posts: 3000
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2019 12:51 pm
Has thanked: 1148 times
Been thanked: 716 times

Re: WReXless now a chirpy cheap Jeep

Post by AutoshiteBoy »

They're a premium product here.
User avatar
Hooli
Self Appointed Internet God
Posts: 33179
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 9:25 pm
Has thanked: 14100 times
Been thanked: 10987 times

Re: WReXless now a chirpy cheap Jeep

Post by Hooli »

Premium means high price rather than high quality from what I can see. Not just in cars either.
Private signature, do not read
User avatar
Broccoli
Posts: 2162
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:30 am
Has thanked: 1287 times
Been thanked: 1226 times

Re: WReXless now a chirpy cheap Jeep

Post by Broccoli »

Damn, it’s been a while since I posted in this thread…
I got in a paddy about the site constantly stopping on me so gave up posting for a bit. On top of that there has been a lot of garage based shinanigans.

We have started digging in on the young ans Mazda.
One of the rear lights was broken, so we ordered two new gaskets and a friend had some ‘wonderful’ Lexus type lights (remember those?) that we’re free to us. So we fitted the first together and then the second one was fitted by the Jnr mechanic!
58E7C66E-F4AE-43CD-8EA6-72560D218CC4.jpeg
58E7C66E-F4AE-43CD-8EA6-72560D218CC4.jpeg (146.38 KiB) Viewed 694 times
Then the rear ‘R pack’ spoiler came in for some back yard bodgery…
06918D47-F11A-45EB-8F7C-0C779B7979BF.jpeg
06918D47-F11A-45EB-8F7C-0C779B7979BF.jpeg (121.53 KiB) Viewed 694 times
Some chassis spray (cos it was on the shelf) and bin bags later…
6F4FA3F2-4164-4DFB-AC7C-1F557EA4B96F.jpeg
6F4FA3F2-4164-4DFB-AC7C-1F557EA4B96F.jpeg (140.66 KiB) Viewed 694 times
3205697E-D029-4113-88C4-C5731E1CDC36.jpeg
3205697E-D029-4113-88C4-C5731E1CDC36.jpeg (135.92 KiB) Viewed 694 times
And we were cooking on gas!
5C586467-7CDB-4BC5-9797-6196A1A1D321.jpeg
5C586467-7CDB-4BC5-9797-6196A1A1D321.jpeg (128.87 KiB) Viewed 694 times
The next weekend saw us making one good steering wheel out of two rough ones (well maybe 3/4 of a good steering wheel)
15F8452C-45F2-430F-B5B7-6DFEDD917AED.jpeg
15F8452C-45F2-430F-B5B7-6DFEDD917AED.jpeg (158.75 KiB) Viewed 694 times
And fitting it.
FA3DED9D-782F-4432-886C-61956BF36DAC.jpeg
FA3DED9D-782F-4432-886C-61956BF36DAC.jpeg (1.2 MiB) Viewed 694 times
10B97CF5-F3B3-4766-8551-7689BED49F4A.jpeg
10B97CF5-F3B3-4766-8551-7689BED49F4A.jpeg (901.61 KiB) Viewed 694 times
I’ve been lucky enough to own an Ariel Atom for 8 years, but as I have only driven it 300 miles in that time and with the Caterham working, something had to go to make space for the Mazda. So the Atom was put up for sale and sold the next day.

It’s pretty special as they aren’t road legal in Minnesota - except I found a loop hole in the state legislature and although they tried to knock it back, I won the fight. So it was very desirable and went quickly.
F72F1BB3-54C5-479D-B3E0-760C2EFE570D.jpeg
F72F1BB3-54C5-479D-B3E0-760C2EFE570D.jpeg (143.53 KiB) Viewed 694 times
Last Saturday morning with the two. :(

That meant there was a few extra $$$ in the bank - which the boss lady then decided she could use. That was the start of a pretty epic adventure…
User avatar
Broccoli
Posts: 2162
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:30 am
Has thanked: 1287 times
Been thanked: 1226 times

Re: WReXless now a chirpy cheap Jeep

Post by Broccoli »

When I met the dear lady, she had a boat. A MasterCraft ski boat. It is now 20 years old and seemed to break down once a year now. There’s nothing quite like breaking down in the middle of the lake!
So she decided that the extra money from the Atom in the bank, it was time for a new one.

She bought it for $24k all those years again and had a huge loan on it (which is now paid off). The loan was one of the things I didn’t pay off when we got married as boat money = car fun money :p

A new version of the boat she has is just over $150k. WHAT!!!! so after a stressful discussion, about it's not going to happen and I'm not putting my ass in a sling for a boat as a recession is coming, we turned to the for sale adverts.

She found a boat in Michigan that she liked and we could just about stretch to without a loan, and the rush to sell her current boat was on!
B5BA7592-0CFE-4858-8623-6400976FA76E.jpeg
B5BA7592-0CFE-4858-8623-6400976FA76E.jpeg (873.18 KiB) Viewed 692 times
Advert placed at 9:00pm Thursday night, Friday morning at 5:00am had to people wanting to see it. The first came on Friday night. Very cool customer, who took the boat around the lake and then said ‘thanks very much, we’ll get back to you’.

An hour later they came back and made an offer. So Saturday morning it went…
31148E66-4139-45B9-9D5C-AAE53DD16571.jpeg
31148E66-4139-45B9-9D5C-AAE53DD16571.jpeg (1.12 MiB) Viewed 692 times
D4280B3F-2E3A-49CD-AA19-5149ADD9703F.jpeg
D4280B3F-2E3A-49CD-AA19-5149ADD9703F.jpeg (1.2 MiB) Viewed 692 times
4B4E70EE-FAE6-48B2-B586-1BADEAE9D22B.jpeg
4B4E70EE-FAE6-48B2-B586-1BADEAE9D22B.jpeg (830.9 KiB) Viewed 692 times
That meant that we could afford the other boat, so the race was on to get there. The only problem was, the new boat would be too heavy for the Jeep and was around 400 miles away!
FA06CC08-E5EF-40C5-9390-4515F354D07E.jpeg
FA06CC08-E5EF-40C5-9390-4515F354D07E.jpeg (105.02 KiB) Viewed 692 times
I always use the same car rental company when traveling for business, so now was the time to trade in all of those points for a truck rental. And what a rental it was!

5.7L TURBO diesel. Now I’m 6’2” and it makes me look small…
D71AC9AF-1D78-4919-AAED-18DEE5DA45D4.jpeg
D71AC9AF-1D78-4919-AAED-18DEE5DA45D4.jpeg (1.26 MiB) Viewed 692 times
C1A47E0B-54B5-414A-BBB4-B20BADCDD051.jpeg
C1A47E0B-54B5-414A-BBB4-B20BADCDD051.jpeg (1.08 MiB) Viewed 692 times
So Saturday afternoon rental, ready for an early start on Sunday… :roll:
DodgeRover
Posts: 13610
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2019 11:24 pm
Has thanked: 1813 times
Been thanked: 2668 times

Re: WReXless now a chirpy cheap Jeep

Post by DodgeRover »

I would just have abused the jeep.... But that looks slightly more sensible - how heavy is the boat though if it's overweight for the Jeep?
Do boat trailers need to be separately registered and licensed out there?

Is the Jeep behaving now?
User avatar
Broccoli
Posts: 2162
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:30 am
Has thanked: 1287 times
Been thanked: 1226 times

Re: WReXless now a chirpy cheap Jeep

Post by Broccoli »

The Jeep will tow 3500 at a push and the boat (without trailer) is 3950lbs, so probably not the best idea!

The Jeeps been pretty good. I’ve had a warning about some electrical issue, but it seems to go away after a few seconds… :lol:
American Covid build quality!

Please don’t think we are rolling in it by this story. We still make a list and shop at Aldi each week. We just try to make the most of what we do get!

Trailers need to be registered and have their own plates if they are over 1000lbs. Otherwise they get a ‘lifetime’ sticker. Not sure which this one has. I was in too much stress about driving and buying a boat and not getting ripped off!

We started before sun up and drove around the lake area. It’s easy being ‘chipper’ in the first 20 mins of an expected 15hr drive…
F26E24A2-EF16-4AF4-8ECB-9FA73899B399.jpeg
F26E24A2-EF16-4AF4-8ECB-9FA73899B399.jpeg (881.03 KiB) Viewed 690 times
8FD21283-211C-48F0-98CD-151D01EBAF70.jpeg
8FD21283-211C-48F0-98CD-151D01EBAF70.jpeg (629.27 KiB) Viewed 690 times
FC53F088-3521-4C7A-9EBF-E45654D7DF6C.jpeg
FC53F088-3521-4C7A-9EBF-E45654D7DF6C.jpeg (803.85 KiB) Viewed 690 times
We cleared the wet area and as the sun came up, we were lucky it hid behind the clouds.
6CF15EA4-B46A-4B06-A4DB-5E6C729A4F37.jpeg
6CF15EA4-B46A-4B06-A4DB-5E6C729A4F37.jpeg (728.29 KiB) Viewed 690 times
Looking at the life of the truck, with 3000 on the clock, it averaged 12.5 to the gallon. Damn! Diesel is $6.50 a gallon!

More of this:
49F96601-F02D-4A46-832F-274452D51070.jpeg
49F96601-F02D-4A46-832F-274452D51070.jpeg (610.64 KiB) Viewed 690 times
And more:
4F5FAF3B-D099-432F-BF52-466BF57B81A4.jpeg
4F5FAF3B-D099-432F-BF52-466BF57B81A4.jpeg (551.17 KiB) Viewed 690 times
With stimulating conversation from my co-pilot…
311A1C3A-F059-4011-9B09-C38DA48AB477.jpeg
311A1C3A-F059-4011-9B09-C38DA48AB477.jpeg (796.6 KiB) Viewed 690 times
The pick up and turn around was quick due to time not driving was lost time.
And this…
ED6AD918-5E49-4D1C-9E6B-5F8FB4C47F18.jpeg
ED6AD918-5E49-4D1C-9E6B-5F8FB4C47F18.jpeg (1 MiB) Viewed 690 times
More of this…
AB17B46E-86DB-4025-9D2A-F0BCB75B1AE3.jpeg
AB17B46E-86DB-4025-9D2A-F0BCB75B1AE3.jpeg (791.07 KiB) Viewed 690 times
And enough of this to make my wallet squeak
DB95D93A-9BE4-434F-9147-4A594FCF50BD.jpeg
DB95D93A-9BE4-434F-9147-4A594FCF50BD.jpeg (1.2 MiB) Viewed 690 times
Other than fuel stops, this is the only place we paused on the trip and then we didn’t get out of the car!
5E310AAE-CF50-4C29-9439-BA097EE743F1.jpeg
5E310AAE-CF50-4C29-9439-BA097EE743F1.jpeg (950.41 KiB) Viewed 690 times
The sun went down and just as dusk hit, we got the boat into the water.
757E6C1A-E69B-468B-A078-C92B2D2926F5.jpeg
757E6C1A-E69B-468B-A078-C92B2D2926F5.jpeg (736.73 KiB) Viewed 690 times

0FC43AC3-3853-4E32-81F9-EB6C8A40419E.jpeg
0FC43AC3-3853-4E32-81F9-EB6C8A40419E.jpeg (922.41 KiB) Viewed 690 times
0FE7F594-1327-4592-9E25-3F891D622DB1.jpeg
0FE7F594-1327-4592-9E25-3F891D622DB1.jpeg (692.08 KiB) Viewed 690 times
It’s far from new, but it’s not 20 years old, so hopefully it’s not going to breakdown too soon!

I’ve been working on the 912 as well this past couple of weeks - nothing earth shattering (as I’ve been busy) but I’ll get to that!
User avatar
LynehamHerc
Boomer, gammon, senile old fart and Eurosmasher!
Posts: 20505
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 1:37 am
Location: Here
Has thanked: 13631 times
Been thanked: 3588 times

Re: WReXless now a chirpy cheap Jeep

Post by LynehamHerc »

I didn't know Aldi in the US is a Harrods subsidiary.
All you need is a plane now for the oligarch full hand (I assume that you don't have one and are just waiting for the right time to tell us).
User avatar
Scruffy Bodger
TeeShirtFun
Posts: 5291
Joined: Mon May 27, 2019 9:18 pm
Has thanked: 7949 times
Been thanked: 2391 times

Re: WReXless now a chirpy cheap Jeep

Post by Scruffy Bodger »

A pity you had to sell the Atom, pretty sure that was better than any money in the bank and will be even better long, long term? Which model was it btw, they've made a few now?
Glad you're back anyway, it'll be good to see that 7 being used!

Have you seen Westfield has just gone tits up?
User avatar
Broccoli
Posts: 2162
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:30 am
Has thanked: 1287 times
Been thanked: 1226 times

Re: WReXless now a chirpy cheap Jeep

Post by Broccoli »

The Atom was a 3 that was built from parts. It came into the US by a guy called Dennis Palatov, so wasn’t a sanctioned Atom. Hence being able to register it as a kit car and drive it on the road here in MN. I was always a little concerned about breaking it and getting parts for it. Not that there is much to break on one!

Shame about Westfield. I’ll have to check that out. Thanks. I saw that Caterham went to a Japanese company a while ago. Interesting times for sure, though I think the UK will weather it better than most countries (the US included). Just look at the value of the pound against the dollar and Euro these days. Okay not 2-1 as it has been but still slowly progressing.

As for the boat, it’s always been my wife’s boat and my cars. That way we can sort of balance each other’s expenses out!

A plane is on the books… just kidding. I can barely afford the gas for the cars and boat at the moment, let alone aviation fuel!
Post Reply