In memoriam: my Jeep

So, unless you live underground you know what "Cash for Clunkers" is. Well, Becca and I went around and around, and finally last weekend we made the wrenching decision to turn in our beloved 16 year old Jeep Cherokee with 211,000 miles on it for something new. The KBB on it was just over $1000, and the trade in value was $400. With the Federal government offering us $4500 for it, coupled to the fact that the PA emissions test was looming and the Jeep was unlikely to pass (it had been emissions exempt due to age in the last two states it lived, NC and WA), we went ahead and cashed in on the deal.

My parents bought the Jeep new in '94 as a replacement for my dad's '86 Mazda pickup truck (see pic, tan truck in background), which he gave to my sister when her '77 Volvo died. And yes, my family has both a tendency to keep vehicles forever, and pass them down generations whenever possible. I remember when it was the envy of the neighborhood, all new and shiny.


I have so many memories in that Jeep. Some of the best ones include borrowing it to go on dates with my then crush (now wife) Rebecca. Now, there is just something really cool about hauling around our kid in a car we used to make out back in high school (14 years ago!). And the first summer my family owned it, my parents and I drove from Connecticut to Florida so we could visit MGM, yes drove. I was 16 with a newly minted license and gladly drove 7 hours myself the first day to help us get as far as South Carolina. Through my college years, I borrowed it on occasion, usually when I it was snowy outside. Then, at the end of my grad school after my parents had moved to the west coast, my folks were ready to hand it down, and Bec and I needed another car. So we shipped it from Washington to North Carolina. I can remember debating with Becca if we should take it. At the time it had 162,000 miles on it, and was 9 years old. But, after all, it was a gift horse, so we took it and figured if it ran 3 months we'd get our money's worth out of it (titling costs plus $1000 to ship it). In the end, six and a half years and 50,000 miles later was just last weekend.

Snoopy had all time shotgun privileges in the Jeep

Since we owned it during my mid 20s, the Jeep carted Becca and I around during some of the more wild times in our life. Among my guy friends, it was known as "the pussywagon" after Uma Thurmon's car in Kill Bill. When I posted that it was gone, my buddy Seth reminded me of the good times we had taking various guys out for their bachelor parties in it. To be responsible, one guy would stay sober and drive (not usually me), and we'd lay the back seat flat and pile 6 or more dudes in the back. It was like a rolling party, very fun times, and for years after the Jeep had the cigar burns, beer stains, and puke smell to prove it.

That Jeep had a lot of custom features you just can't get in a new car either. For example, it had a custom made cargo floor, after we spilled gallon of some kind of liquid in the floor on a trip to Blowing Rock, NC with my in-laws (another great Jeep trip!) and it had to be ripped out to get the smell out.

And it had a custom engraving in the hood paint from my old cat Buster, who was a big fan of the Jeep's warm engine, and would refuse to get off it sometimes. I have visions of my mom trying to back out the driveway and Buster not moving, horn blowing and all. Coincidentally, Buster also died at age 16, with high miles.

Buster left his mark on the Jeep, so did a lot of people

It also had "earthquake mirrors" which make it look like the enitre world behind you is experiencing a 9.0 earthquake. Another feature that lasted from 2004-2007 was an "emergency electrical shutoff switch" in the form of the driver's window. Roll it down, and boom, lose power to everything, including gauages, but the engine still runs. This happened once on the way to pick up our treadmill, when it was 20 degrees outside. We had to drive home with the hatch open because the treadmill was so long, and with the windows down 'cause we lost interior power. Man that was a cold 20 miles home on I-40!

The multi-colored custom paint job on the roof

In the end, the Jeep did not die on its own. I am not sure that vehicle could die, and I like remembering it that way. There was nothing wrong with it, and it never left us sitting on the side of the road. We never had to do anything to it except minor repairs, and always joked about it being Elena's first car. As a rule of "Cash for Clunkers" sodium silicate was poured in the crankcase, seizing the engine, and forever rendering it inoperable. Thinking about that part hurt. So, as I cleaned my possessions from it in preparation for leaving it behind, I started to tear up a bit. And the more things I found, the harder I cried. There was my Eric Clapton Unplugged tape, which I must have stowed in the center console in the late '90s (too bad I have nothing to play it on now). And an emergecy poncho, which was a big DeWire family joke we'd play on my dad. And Jeep's lucky feather. I took these last two items and transferred them to the new car for good luck.

Crying on the way home in our new car

I know it seems silly to cry over getting rid of a car, but there was a lot going on. This was the end of an era for me in a way. Something I had had since high school, had so many memories in, and in a few days it would be crushed to unrecognizable bits of metal and plastic. It was hard letting it go. And I think once I started to cry, it just felt so good that I let it all flow. See, I never cried when I found out I had cancer last month. I wanted to put on a strong face for Rebecca, who has been an absolute rock. But, I think crying over my Jeep gave me permission to grieve a little over everything that's been happening lately. And I guess that was the final gift from a car that gave so much to us over the years, it gave me a reason to cry. And man did it feel good.

Goodbye Jeep, we all loved you very much! (Now I am crying again!)