Quote from: K-Dog on Dec 21, 2024, 10:13 PM

Quotejust don't get too far from a Benz dealer

I'm confined to the West Coast.

See, that idea would just make me crazy. If my cage with naught much more than a new oil change can't do Key West to Prudhoe Bay and back, or Chula Vista California to Goose Bay Labrador, it wouldn't be of value for anything to me. I have a car like that, I use it as a snowmobile in winter, and it does its job admirably. If its breaks, I have it towed to my mechanic and he does whatever, and back in action it goes.  But all the rest (except the EV, it doesn't have the range) are North American capable, north-south, east-west, with an oil change.

My current machine is a record holder for the lowest Miles Driven / $CapX Invested metric. Analog car, built in the last century, fixable in any repair shop in the country should some quarter century old part crap out, remanufactured engines and transmissions available from multiple companies, has a decent tow capacity and a Class III hitch to do it with, gets excellent mileage for a V8, holds as much crap as I can load in it, is smooth and quiet on the road, sits right at peak torque in overdrive at 85-90 mph, and the only downside is it doesn't do snow. Big deal, I have no intention of roaming the West or much of any other place in North America in winter.

Bought it to do a job. It does it. Wife hates it. Who cares. She says it makes us look poor in the neighborhood. Who cares. It smells like old dead people she says (prior owner must have been in her 80's when she was car jacked in it). I fumigated it. Body on frame construction, old school style, frame is fully boxed and came from a truck, it doesn't crumple on impact...it does the crumpling.

I'm only confined to non snowy roads.

Quote from: K-DogIt cost me $500 to have it shipped from Missoula to have it fixed in Seattle when the transmission went into 'limp home' mode.  I was stuck in second gear.

A modern car, doing exactly what it was taught to do.