The Search, Part 1

And so it began...  New?  Used?  Mileage?  Model?  Options?  The first thing I did was compile the list of necessaries.  #1, it had to be Yellow.  This was a tough sell with my wife.  She hates yellow.  But it's my favorite color and I have fond memories of one of my first cars, a yellow convertible Karman Ghia.  And shoot, I really wish I had a pic to post of that car, but that was before digital and whatever pics that exist are prints stuck in a box somewhere.  Oh well.  I digress.

So what else?  My list wasn't too bad and contained some things I could live without.

• Yellow (necessary)
• Manual transmission (save some $$$ and be purist) 
• Premium sound system (spoiled from the nice standard stereo in the Eclipse)
• Trailer hitch (to accommodate a bike rack I already own from the XTerra days)
• Bluetooth (get my hands free on)
• Side step rails (protection and to help people get in and out, especially when/if it gets lifted!)
• If used, under 50,000 miles (because who wants old-n-busted)

That's about it.  As I searched for Jeeps that matched this criteria, used or new, I found some that were close, but no cigar.  As I looked at used nearly-matching Jeeps with under 50,000 miles, I was unpleasantly surprised to see they ranged in price up there with brand new Jeeps!  Perhaps I didn't look in all the right places, but most were only a thousand or two below MSRP for brand new.  I figured if I was already looking at the price range I was, a couple thousand more for an off-the-lot warranty and no mileage would probably be worth it, so I started focusing on looking for something new.

I searched the entire state of Texas on a handful of sites for something matching my criteria and came up with nothing!  I later found it it was probably because I was looking for a manual transmission which is just hard to find with all the other bells and whistles I was looking for.  I did find one matching Jeep though when I expanded my search area to 300 miles - in Arkansas!  It had everything I wanted minus the sound system, and I could live with that.  Plus, it fell into my budget (though barely)!  I was ready to drive up there and look into buying it before it fell out of my hands and I had to expand my search to 600 miles!  Before I did that though I thought it would be wise to, you know, at least test drive one first!  Which brings us to the next chapter!