When I first started living on the road in April 2006, I traded my beloved Toyota Prius with a friend for her 2002 Jeep Liberty. Her Jeep was the perfect match for the small Tab Trailer that I had set up to [...]]]> I’ve been a Jeep Liberty fan for as long as I’ve been nomadic.

When I first started living on the road in April 2006, I traded my beloved Toyota Prius with a friend for her 2002 Jeep Liberty. Her Jeep was the perfect match for the small Tab Trailer that I had set up to be my nomadic home, and no matter how much I wished otherwise – the Prius was just not meant to tow.

As fate would have it, the farewell post I made about my Prius in an online Toyota Prius community is what prompted Cherie to first contact me – starting an online friendship that eventually blossomed into our ongoing life partnership.

Meanwhile, I fell in love with the size, style, and practicality of the Jeep Liberty during my first year on the road. It was the perfect small go-anywhere SUV. But I never loved the awful 12MPG fuel economy I would typically get while towing. The Liberty’s gasoline engine just wasn’t up to the task of pulling around a trailer full time.

In May 2007 the universe conspired to push Cherie and I into upgrading to a 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD Diesel, and my love affair with the Liberty began anew. The awesome little four cylinder diesel engine in this rare Liberty (only manufactured in 2005 & 2006) was amazing, getting 27+ MPG around town, and nearly 20MPG while towing our Tab.

The new Liberty served us well for the past 2.5 years and 40,000 miles. We have had amazing off road adventures, our photos have been featured in Jeep newspaper advertisements for embodying the “true spirit of Jeep”, and our Jeep was even shown off in a YouTube marketing campaign.

It wasn’t all wonderful though… We have had more than our share of odd glitches and maintenance issues over the past two years, including needing the transmission overhauled twice (our extended warranty proved to be a wise investment).

And ever since upgrading from the small Tab to the larger and heavier Oliver last summer, our Jeep has occasionally struggled. We still often managed an amazing 17 – 19 MPG while towing, but the engine would sweat more on long hills, the transmission was always working harder, and over time the trailer hitch was beginning to develop a slight downward bend from holding up the Oliver’s tongue weight.

The hitch problem is what proved to be the real killer. The Jeep carries its spare tire on the back door, requiring an extended ball mount to reach out from under the tire to hitch up with our Oliver trailer. This extension was putting too much leverage onto the Jeep’s hitch receiver, and the bending was actually starting to damage the Jeep’s frame.

After consulting with some trailer supply places and body shops about what it would take to continue towing our Oliver safely, the conclusion was that the only way the Jeep could do it was if I removed the spare tire to avoid needing the extension. Otherwise, any repairs made to the bent hitch would end up being just expensive temporary band-aids.

Our Jeep and Oliver were just not made for each other. It was time for something new…

One of our ongoing annoyances with the Jeep has been that it also doubled as our storage closet, and to carry passengers we would have to shuffle cargo from the Jeep into the Oliver to make space. It also always felt cluttered having so much “stuff” just a few feet away from us in the front seats.

To remedy this, we decided to start searching for a Crew Cab pickup truck with space up front for passengers, and a camper shell providing secure “closet space” in the back. This way we could easily carry around passengers without needing a major reshuffling, and we would also end up with even more storage space than we had before.

Because there is seemingly a conspiracy to keep small diesels off the market in the US, we knew that we would have to give up on the joys of having a fuel efficient diesel engine unless we wanted to go for the overkill and expense of an overly large F250 sized truck. Large SUV’s were also quickly ruled out – we liked the idea of having a clearly separated cabin and “garage” in the back.

Cherie had two additional requests – that we find something red to match our Oliver, and that we get something with more than two easily accessible front seat cup holders. Tall demands indeed!

After a quick survey of the options, we both found ourselves drawn towards Toyota – perhaps not surprising considering our Prius-catalyzed history. We spent an afternoon checking out Toyota Tundras and Tacomas at a nearby dealership, and left impressed with both – but not at all with the traditional dealership games around price and trade-in value. We actually felt as if we were being held hostage until we insisted we were NOT open to “making a deal today”…

Next we decided to check out the San Diego CarMax location, and we were very honestly blown away. As their tag-line says, the CarMax experience is indeed “the way car buying should be”.

Our sales consultant (Clinton Land – awesome guy, ask for him) had no biases towards any particular brand, and he did not try to push us towards more expensive options. He was refreshingly knowledgeable and patient, and he spent an entire afternoon with us showing off a range of vehicles. Best of all, we never felt any pressure to rush into a deal.

The CarMax appraisal for our Liberty came back thousands higher than the Toyota dealer had offered earlier, and we were impressed that CarMax’s policy is that they will buy your trade-in whether or not you purchase a vehicle from them. The buying and selling parts of the company are totally separate – the way it should be. And I loved the very reasonable no-haggle prices on all the CarMax listings. It never felt like they were playing games with us, and the contrast with the more traditional dealer was striking.

One of the first trucks we checked out on the CarMax lot was a red 2006 Toyota Tundra SR5 Double Cab, in perfect condition. Unlike almost all other used trucks, it came already equipped with a matching camper shell. And to Cherie’s delight, it had a total of eight cup holders!

It was almost as if once again the universe was serving up our perfect next vehicle on a silver platter. The price was exceedingly fair too.

I was most concerned about giving up our 4×4 off-road ability (this Tundra was 2wd), but seeking out a Tundra with 4WD would cost us thousands more, and we would pay a constant extra price with an overall reduced fuel economy.

I also knew I would miss the Jeep’s amazingly nimble turning radius and ability to zip around dense cities. The Tundra may not be huge, but it is still a pretty BIG truck compared to the Liberty. The Toyota Tacoma was a compelling slightly smaller option, but smaller trucks are in higher demand right now, and used Tacoma’s were selling for thousands more than comparable Tundras. And while the smaller engine in the Tacoma would be more fuel efficient around town, my research indicated that it would have no fuel economy advantage while towing.

In the end after a further night of research, we returned to Clinton at CarMax to complete the transaction. Having the ideal color with a camper shell already installed was just too perfect for us to ignore.

Introducing our new Toyota Tundra:

So far we have driven from San Diego to Lake Havasu City, AZ. We love how the Tundra cabin is so quiet and comfortable, and so far it has proven to be exceedingly easy to to drive. And the Tundra seems to be able to tow our Oliver without breaking a sweat at all. The engine temperature gauge didn’t even budge on the long climb up I-15 heading north from San Diego.

Of course our fuel efficiency has been nowhere near what we used to get with our Jeep. Our first tank was a distressing 11.53 mpg, but our second was a much improved 13.62 mpg. I expect that as I get used to driving the Tundra conservatively, things will improve even more.

One final note of praise for CarMax… When they noticed that we would be registering the Tundra in South Dakota, they offered to transfer it to a CarMax outlet in Las Vegas so that we could avoid California’s mandatory sales tax since Nevada does not tax vehicles purchased to be registered out of state. In the end though, the hassle of routing through Las Vegas and waiting a week for the transfer was just not worth it. Still – we are amazed that they offered it!

The entire CarMax purchasing experience exceeded our expectations in every way. I could not recommend them enough. Their website rocks too!

When we started off again, our 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD began acting weird. Every few minutes there would be a ding, and the ESP/BAS, traction control, and ABS yellow error lights on the dash would turn on. Within an instant, they would [...]]]> Yesterday we stopped for lunch in Susanville, CA on our way towards Sacramento.

When we started off again, our 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD began acting weird. Every few minutes there would be a ding, and the ESP/BAS, traction control, and ABS yellow error lights on the dash would turn on. Within an instant, they would turn off again.

Uhhh?!?

The Jeep was driving fine, but with a ding happening every few minutes, we were concerned.

We stopped in at a Jeep dealer in Susanville for some advice, and though the tech didn’t have time to take a closer look right away, he observed that all three of those lights are driven by the same wheel sensors, and maybe one of them is dirty from our recent dirt-road driving. He suggested that blasting out the wheel wells at a car wash might do the trick, and he said we should be fine driving the rest of the way to Sacramento despite the dinging.

And indeed, we made it to Sacramento just fine. Despite the non-stop ding-fest, our Jeep drove fine, and the engine never faltered.

Unfortunately – I think that there is more wrong than just a dirty sensor in the wheel.

During the 180 mile drive from Susanville to Sacramento, we noticed that our odometer actually only advanced 80 miles (great for prolonging our extended warranty I guess)… Also, though the three-way ESP/BAS, traction, ABS flash was by far the most common, the airbag warning light would also occasionally flash on for a moment, and sometimes the passenger airbag disabled light would flash on too. And most bizarrely to witness, sometimes the fuel warning light would flash on, and the fuel gauge would drop to zero before a moment later recovering to display the correct amount.

I’m pretty sure that isn’t caused by a dirty sensor in the wheel well…. I think our Jeep has gone mad.

Or more likely – there is a loose or corroded connector on the main computer or one of the wiring harnesses, but I don’t know where to start looking to track down and fix this. Tracing down intermittent electrical ghosts is a troubleshooting nightmare. And as we have an extended warranty, it’s not worth trying to tackle ourselves.

Interestingly, the check engine light never flashed on.

Another glitch — the steering-wheel mounted controls for adjusting volume and changing radio stations and iPod tracks have started to work intermittently. And the radio itself seems to keep switching from iPod to CD mode without prompting.

Poltergeists? Gremlins? *grrrr*

The question now is whether we should find a Jeep dealer here in Sacramento, or push on to our next planned extended stop in Hemet (near Riverside, CA) next week.

Anyone have any thoughts or advice on the issue we are seeing? Is it purely a mental issue, or is there a significant chance that this could turn into something worse that leaves us suddenly stranded on the side of the road?

How about any dealer recommendations in Sacramento, SF, or down in SoCal?

We’ve had a bad experience with getting our diesel Jeep Liberty serviced in California before, and I want to hopefully find a place that doesn’t start by saying — “wow, a diesel Jeep Liberty! I didn’t even know we made one like that….”

A few months ago, I received the following comment on this photo found in my Flickr set:

Hey did you guys know this pic is in a jeep commercial? I was thinking about getting a tab [...]]]> I’ve been meaning to post this for a while now…

A few months ago, I received the following comment on this photo found in my Flickr set:

Hey did you guys know this pic is in a jeep commercial? I was thinking about getting a tab and have seen your pics before and as I was watching Jeep videos on you tube I ran across a jeep commerical and recognized this pic. Didnt know if you guys knew already or not but I thought it was pretty cool.

Here is the commercial, as featured on YouTube:

How cool that one of my photos was selected for inclusion. Not only that, it was the very first one featured!!!

I was a little surprised to find out about this second hand, but I believe that Jeep still has the rights to the photos from when they bought some from us last summer.

Coolness!

As I posted about a few weeks ago, Jeep bought twenty-two photos from Cherie and I for its “Have Fun Out There” advertising campaign.

It looks like they ended up using thirteen of them. Can you find them? (Click here for the [...]]]>

As I posted about a few weeks ago, Jeep bought twenty-two photos from Cherie and I for its “Have Fun Out There” advertising campaign.

It looks like they ended up using thirteen of them. Can you find them? (Click here for the answers…)

This mosaic ran as a huge two-page spread today in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The LA Times, and The New York Times.

It will run again in the same papers on 8/24.

Coolnees, eh?

Personal Historical Note: The last time one of my photos was featured inside USA Today, the front cover photo was of the World Trade Center collapsing. This time around, the cover photo is of a herd of buffalo – in South Dakota! Hmmm….

You have some great shots! I especially love the ones of your Tab and Burning Man! I sent you an email a little while ago about using some of your photos in a Jeep ad. You’re photos have a great feel [...]]]> A few weeks ago I was contacted via Flickr mail by Jeep’s PR agency:

You have some great shots! I especially love the ones of your Tab and Burning Man! I sent you an email a little while ago about using some of your photos in a Jeep ad. You’re photos have a great feel and show the true spirit of Jeep.

Coolness! And to think I was just about to let my Flickr Pro account expire…

Ultimately, Jeep decided to buy 20 of our photos (including many taken by Cherie as well) for their upcoming “Have Fun Out There” campaign.

They just sent me details on the first print dates:

08/03/07 – New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal
08/13/07 – New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal

Though the photos will be just thumbnail size, this is still pretty exciting. Here are my favorites of the twenty that Jeep picked:

Introducing our new 2006 Diesel Jeep Liberty CRD, Jeep v2 (VeeTwo?):

We spent a long sweaty day [...]]]> The universe lined up the perfect Jeep for us – right when and where we needed it. Who am I to say no?

Introducing our new 2006 Diesel Jeep Liberty CRD, Jeep v2 (VeeTwo?):

We spent a long sweaty day in the hot Texas sun yesterday moving EVERYTHING from Jeep v1 to v2. We had to move the paramotor, the roof rack, the bikes, luggage, tools, a lap desk, and much more…. Amazingly – one of the workers at the dealership just happened to have EXACTLY the bike rack we had been contemplating buying. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will work with our Tab trailer when we go pick her up today. He saw us struggling to load the bikes on the roof, and walked over saying “I think I may have something here that might help…” Wow – what are the odds! (We hadn’t been able to find any bike stores in FL that carried the Thule SpareMe, and yet this random Jeep dealership in Texas just happens to have a used one sitting in the garage…)

We wanted our first tank in our new Jeep Liberty CRD to be Biodiesel. This Shell station was listed as offering B20. I get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that I can burn veggie-derived oil in my new Jeep. I also get a warm sunny feeling from our sweet new sunroof!

The overall buying experience was fabulous – Mark Nix, Jerome, and everyone else at Benny Boyd Bastrop really showed us how great a car dealership can be. They even took a personal check – so we didn’t have to scramble getting a money order. Nice!

Now that we are fully moved in to v2, it is time to go pick up the Tab (she spent the week getting her roof resealed) and get back on the road. Westward ho!

And though I had planned on waiting until California to buy them for her, the spinout and unrepairable flat from last week have accelerated the timetable dramatically.

She also needs an alignment, and an oil change. And likely soon a new battery, and some repair work on the battery [...]]]> Jeep needs four new shoes.

And though I had planned on waiting until California to buy them for her, the spinout and unrepairable flat from last week have accelerated the timetable dramatically.

She also needs an alignment, and an oil change. And likely soon a new battery, and some repair work on the battery cable.

Even the spare tire has dry rot and needs to be replaced.

She’s really not doing all that bad for a 2002 model with 86k miles on her, but suddenly I am contemplating throwing a significant amount of money into an older vehicle that may have other lurking repairs that could prove costly sooner rather than later. Her transmission is a bit quirky, for instance…

And I think Jeep has been trying to tell me that she is ready for a rest. Just this morning when I was headed out to buy the new tires – she decided not to start. (I was able to fix it, but – *ugh*)

While I was out fixing the balky Jeep, Cherie did some speculative net sleuthing – trying to track down an elusive Jeep Liberty CRD turbo-diesel. The diesel Liberty has gotten some rave reviews, including being called “the environmentalist’s SUV” thanks to its relatively amazing fuel economy. But Jeep only offered the diesel option in the US for the 2005 and 2006 model year, and they are pretty rare. Cherie was only able to find a handful for sale in all of Texas, mostly 2005 models with high mileage.

Almost all of them were far away.

All but one that is, which she found listed on Austin’s Craigslist. A 2006, with only 16k miles. Equipped with exactly the specs we want. Being sold by a dealer just 40 minutes away. A dealer willing to take a trade in. Offered for less than blue book, and way less than what some private parties we found were selling older diesel Jeeps for.

It even had a factory tow package, and would be ready to take on towing our Tab without needing a hitch put on.

It was as if the perfect vehicle was just sitting there waiting for us. It was even my favorite dark green color that I had commented on just the day before!

So rather than going out to buy new tires, Cherie and I spent the afternoon checking out a new Jeep.

Jeep v2 is in many ways almost identical to our current gasoline powered 2002 Jeep Liberty, but she does have a few major advantages over Jeep v1:

• Anti-lock brakes, traction control, electronic stability control, rollover protection, and a few other new electronic tricks to keep all four wheel where they belong…
• Full time 4WD. (Jeep v1 has “part-time” support only…)
• Increased towing capacity. (5000lbs vs 2000lbs)
• Side airbags. (Jeep v1 only has front…)
• Sunroof!
• Fog lamps.
• Remote unlock integrated into the key itself. (No more big fob to carry around!)
• Compass & Trip Computer.
• Steering wheel radio controls.
• More comfortable seats.
• Larger fuel tank! (20g vs 17g)
• Near mint condition, and still under warranty for another 20k miles!

Oh, and best of all – she’ll get 25% to 50% better fuel economy, especially while towing. And considering that diesel is significantly cheaper than gas, that improved economy will really add up fast!

She can also burn biodiesel too.

Downsides:

• One less 12v power jack.
• No iPod jack on the factory radio (though I can add one for $140, or they will help me swap in the Alpine radio I installed in Jeep v1 last summer…)
• And of course, we will need to get used to the clatter of diesel…

Anyway – we took a test drive, and were impressed. The dealer then took a look at Jeep v1, and surprised us by offering us full blue book on her – despite the need for new tires and an ominous check engine light.

BTW – I’ve never dealt with a friendlier more low pressure car salesman in my life than Mark Nix at Benny Boyd Bastrop in Bastrop, Texas. By the time I was done going over Jeep v2 in detail it was getting late, and he offered to let us take her home for the night to do some more research and come back to finish the deal the next day. Or – if we didn’t want to take her, they offered to give us a new tire (free!) for Jeep v1 to replace the dry-rotted and leaking spare to get us home safely. Impressive service indeed!

We took Jeep v2 home with us, and now I am up late pondering… Is it worth it? The universe certainly seems to be pushing us towards the new Jeep… I am amazed – the perfect Jeep also happens to be the closest, the cheapest, the newest, and the lowest mileage. And it comes with a very fair trade in offer too, so I wont have to fuss with selling Jeep v1…

I need to make up my mind in the next 24hrs.

Should I throw down $13k+ to get what is potentially our ideal adventuring vehicle? Or should I just buy a few new tires and handle other miscellaneous repairs, and keep going with the Jeep that we already have…

We headed out to buy tires, and we came home with a new Jeep. What a day!

We had spent the night in Walnut Creek State Park, near Tulsa, OK. Our spot was perfect, right on the shore of Keystone Lake. It was a truly beautiful place.

We awoke to nature putting on a show for us – with thunder and lightening starting our day. Fortunately our [...]]]> Thursday started with a bang…

We had spent the night in Walnut Creek State Park, near Tulsa, OK. Our spot was perfect, right on the shore of Keystone Lake. It was a truly beautiful place.

We awoke to nature putting on a show for us – with thunder and lightening starting our day. Fortunately our Tab trailer is quick and easy to pack up, and we were soon on our way – with a long drive towards Austin and Cherie’s brother ahead of us.

I drove the first shift – navigating us through the rain and the beautiful Oklahoma countryside. Cherie took over once we reached the turnpike, when the rain had for the time being stopped.

The rain returned soon after we crossed the Texas border – and at a gas stop I popped back to check on the Tab only to discover the first bit of the day’s misfortune. The roof near the vent was leaking, and I could see a small wet spot. Our Tab’s first leak. Hopefully minor, but annoying.

The rain left us for a while, but it returned with a vengeance just as we reached downtown Dallas. The clouds were black, and dumping buckets. Lightning was shooting across the sky, and the wind was blowing the rain at us sideways. Checking weather radar (having wireless Internet to the passenger’s laptop rocks!), we could see a massive line of storms moving into our path. We considered getting off the road to wait it out, but the forecast looked just as bad until late in the night so we pressed on.

It seemed for a while that we were getting ahead of the storms, but then somewhere between Dallas and Waco, (near) disaster struck.

The rain had started to intensify again, and suddenly I felt Jeep starting to sway. We had hit a standing water puddle and hydroplaned a bit, and Cherie was not able to recover from the fishtailing that resulted. Looking into the rear-view mirror I could see Tab swing left and right behind us, and as soon as Cherie tapped the breaks Tab swung out of my view to the left, and we locked into an L-shaped jackknife.

Time started moving really slowly, and I felt suddenly very calm and relaxed. I knew that whatever was about to happen, I would be be fine and able to handle it. It was a strangely reassuring feeling.

Neither Cherie or I panicked – I am proud of how we both handled things.

And we had a lucky star shining down on us – it was a bad situation, but it could have been SO much worse. We weren’t going too fast, there was no traffic near us, and the median along this stretch of highway was big, wide, flat, and grassy – a sharp contrast to the constant “under construction” mess that seems to plague almost every mile of road in Texas south of Dallas.

We spun counter-clockwise, doing a complete 360 degree spin – crossing from the right lane, across the left, and into the median as we slowly decelerated to a stop. I wish someone had been there to film it – it must have looked amazing to see a Jeep and Tab going backwards and sideways down the freeway. I actually had the thought while it was happening that I wished the GPS was on, and I wondered what this GPS track must look like!

I was afraid that we were going to roll when we hit the median – but both Tab and Jeep stayed rock solid flat. There wasn’t even a sudden jarring stop or jump.

When we finally did stop – I feared that I’d look back to see our lives strewn all over the highway behind us. At the very least, I expected a bent axle or a mangled hitch.

But amazingly – the only obvious damage was that our brand new tongue box had been crunched by the Jeep’s spare tire. It might actually have saved us – the tongue box and the spare kept the Jeep and Tab from jack-knifing more fully into each other.

We did a quick systems check – getting soaked in the downpour. Things seemed fine, and Jeep and Tab miraculously both seemed fully drivable.

After catching our breath, we nervously drove onward to the next freeway exit, finding a gas station with a roof overhang so that we could more thoroughly assess the situation and ourselves. The interior of Tab was in shambles – stuff had flown out of the front cabinets all over the floor and the bed. But for the most part, things were fine.

We took a break for dinner at the world’s cleanest and friendliest travel center – in Italy, TX. After an hour’s rest, we hit the road again, slow and easy.

After the scare we had had, I was wanting to take it really easy – and contending with double-length bigrigs going 80mph blazing past us had me tense and on edge for the final 100 miles. After a while I had an urgent feeling that we needed to stop and check the map and the radar to plot our course forward, and I trusted my instinct and pulled off into a rest area.

That sudden urge to pull off must have been fate smiling upon us yet again. When we went to pull away to travel onward, things felt weird. I asked Cherie to hop out and check the tires. We soon discovered that Jeep’s back left tire had gone suddenly and completely flat. If that had happened at speed in traffic, it could have been a nightmare, or worse. That it happened while we were safely in a rest area was our second major miracle for the day.

After we stopped laughing at yet another obstacle to overcome, we debated changing the tire ourselves. We started digging for the jack, but some flashes of lightening convinced us otherwise. Instead we pulled out a laptop and watched an episode of Battlestar Galactica while we waited for Triple A. A wise choice – the tow-truck driver arrived in just 40 minutes and not the predicted two hours, and his monster jack and power tools made fast work of the wet job. The driver said they had gotten 70 calls so far in the past few hours, way more than an entire ordinary day. What a storm!

Finally back on the road again, we limped south. After losing one so suddenly, I wasn’t trusting the other three tires, and I stuck to frontage roads off the freeway as much as possible.

It was nearly 2AM when we finally reached Ken’s place, and crashed at last into bed.

What a day.

The aftermath:
Today we went over the Tab and Jeep with a fine tooth comb – and overall things look good. Other than the tongue box, which looks like it can be pounded out – the only problems we discovered were two more leaking spots – probably unrelated to the accident. In fact – if it hadn’t been for the downpour and our spin, we might not have ever discovered the places water had been getting in at the two front bottom corners of Tab. Perhaps in some ways, the whole mess was a blessing in disguise.

This week we’ll be looking into getting Tab’s leeks sealed, and some brand new tires for Jeep.

Some soaking in the hot tub and margaritas are also in order – my body has picked up a lot of tension in the past 24 hours!

Most importantly – I feel that Cherie and I have been tested, and we passed. We faced disaster, did not panic or despair, stayed connected to each other, worked well together as a team, and we recovered beautifully.

In a few days we’ll be back on the road again in as good a shape as we started, but with one difference. We’ve seen some of the worst of what the road can throw at us, and we know now we can handle it. Whatever it looks like, we can handle it.

We made it through, stirred (a full 360!) – but not shaken.
And knowing that feels good.