For Better, Or For Worse. For Richer, Or Poorer... We Have A Truck Again...

It's hard to believe, but 3 years have gone by since Mrs signed her lease on the Rav4.  We have been determined to TRY to get ourselves into a better place financially, so with a little finagling, we have paid off our credit cards and are caught up on most of our outstanding bills.  We also wanted to *try* to get away from leasing a car.  It didn't seem to make much sense since we don't put on the mileage allowed by the leases.

So, with only a month or so left on the lease, we decided to start kicking some tires and figure out how to proceed without the pressure of all of a sudden being at the end of the lease.  One option was to buy out the Rav at the end of the lease.  This probably would not have been a bad option, but there are a number of things we just don't like about the Rav.  We DO like that it is very fast and has amazing pick up.  We DO like that it is almost 10k miles under what is expected at the end of the lease.  We do NOT like the audio system in it.  It is part of the navigation system that has a giant screen in the middle of the dash that really does nothing.  The navigation is difficult to use and the radio isn't really that great.  The sound leaves a lot to be desired as well.  I do NOT like the seats in the car.  The Rav is a "Limited" edition, but the seats are hideous, especially the passenger seat.  I find myself wishing for more padding on longer rides and have brought extra padding along on some trips.  I don't think I could live with this car.

Recently Mrs was speaking with the owner of our local Nissan dealership about our situation, and he mentioned that he had a used truck that had just come in.  The large truck that Nissan offers is called Titan.  He had a 2005 turned in on a trade, so we decided to have a look.  I was never overly comfortable with used cars, but have had great luck (knocks wood) with my 2003 Toyota 4Runner that is quickly approaching 100k miles.

I went to see the truck last week and encouraged Mrs to come down as well.  She was able to test drive it and we decided to go for it.  It's a bit of a beast with a large V8 engine and also has 66k miles on it.  We signed on the dotted lines last Monday.  Yes, it needs some body work, but we know "a guy".  Mrs also ordered some step bars for is so she can get into it with a bit more ease.  The 'service engine soon' light came on, so Mrs took it in on Monday, and the dealership replaced a few sensors related to emissions.  It also is missing a latch/locking mechanism for the sliding rear window, and an air vet on the passenger side basically fell apart inside the housing.  No biggie. Parts are on order.

I took the truck on Tuesday for a state inspection at an auto shop I have been going to for a number of years.  I could have gone to another guy I know, but I decided on where I went because I expected a bit more of a thorough going-over of the truck.  This proved wise,  because the truck passed every bit of the inspection, except for one key and expensive safety check. Both ball joints in the front end were found to be bad and needed to be replaced.

I didn't hesitate.  I drove the truck directly to the dealership and went in to speak to the service guy, who put it on the lift and in about 20 minutes came back to say that the joints were bad and had been ordered.  So, now we wait for parts to arrive.  I plan to call them in the morning to see how that is going.

I will say that I love driving this truck.  It is tall.  It feels rugged.  It feels truck-ish.  I have missed that in a vehicle.  It has good qualities and I am hopeful that once we get these issues taken care of, it will be a good fit for us.  I am glad to have the Rav still, as I won't drive this truck with a bad inspection sticker.

Mrs working on installing her step bars.  Yes, she did most of the work herself, with some guidance from me and her Dad.