"My car has soul."- I think that's pretty much what it's all about. not all of us hear lions roaring when we go camping- that's frickin' awesome! 'round here the camping comes with Key Deer- they're like little dwarf deer. real cute and totally uninhibited about coming right up to your camp table looking for food- and the darned things are stealthy quiet.

we have had our Rover for almost a year and a half. bought it as a second vehicle after our shiny new family sedan. bought it for $3k from a somewhat less than reputable dealer and limped it home. since then, I've done the high mileage maintenance, and a slew of other stuff that needed done. of course, there's still a slew of stuff that still needs to be done. she has leaked both outside and inside, but lately has been content to keep the rain on the outside and her fluids on the inside. she has a cracked front bumper, scratches here and there, gets about 9 mpg sitting in traffic around town and the paint and trim are a bit faded. despite all this- the wife, the baby and especially me prefer the 'truck' over the car just about every day. and just about every day, daddy's little toddler girl likes to go for a walk outside in the morning before daddy goes to work. and that little baby girl always waves good morning to the truck and most mornings she helps daddy find the right key and we climb inside and start her up. and daddy's girl love touching all the buttons and doing a faux little astonished look when she hits the SLS button and the three chimes ring out. and then she'll want to go in the back seat and walk around and touch all the buttons back there and look out through all those windows and look at the back where daddy keeps the tool roll and coolant and such and needs to be cleaned. after she's done, we get out and she waves bye-bye to the truck and some mornings we'll go for a little walk and most days she'll turn back a few times and give a wave to the truck. so yeah, for this guy- all the bloody knuckles, cursing, sweating, headaches and heartaches are still worth it.

 

Love the stories you all have. I totally agree with calling Toyotas appliances. My refusal to put that word in quotations says enough. Thats what a Toyota is, yes even the Supra. I don't have kids and cannot have them, so I will use my dog as a reference, as hard as it is for her to get in it, she prefers a ride in the Rover over the Neon or Sonata. The girlfriend hates the MPG, hates the repair costs and so on. She is trying to convince me to trade it in for a Grand Cherokee or a Kia Sorrento. Not this guy. My next vehicle will be either a 4.4 LR3, or a diesel LR4. To hell with MPG. Thats what appliances are for. Soul.. I'll take that any day. you can keep your rotted out reliable 4Runner. LOL