Several months
after purchasing the
Commander, I spied a nearly-new car sitting in the used lot
at the dealer. I watched it all summer, just sitting there
with 5000 miles on it and looking nearly new. Finally, I
stopped to check it out and found that it was well within my
means. I called Maria and picked it up that evening after
trading in the
Cherokee!
The reasoning
was at least partly based on practical concerns. Although
this may sound like a stretch, the fact was, I was taking the
Commander every time I drove to DC in good weather because it
really made the 400-mile round trip and time in town so much
easier. But two things were problems. First, it left
Maria driving the Cherokee. Secondly, it was sucking down
a gallon of fuel every 12 miles. That left little of the
mileage reimbursement to take care of maintenance.
On the sheer
fun side, the car was a bargain and would provide a more
interesting road trip, and for local back and forth to work
gives nearly triple the mileage of the Wrangler. Of course
in bad weather I will have to go back to the Jeep but even with
another car, that would be my preference. Bad weather is a
different kind of fun with vehicles for me!
Once I got the
car I found a few small things that needed attention. The
low beam on the driver's side was poorly aimed and turned out to
be un-adjustable. The dealer is to replace the whole
lighting unit.
The stereo amp
was randomly failing leaving me with no tunes. I drove
round-trip to Massachusetts (11 hours each way) with a couple
hours of music on the way there and nothing on the way back.
Talk about deprivation. It was all I could do not to
resort to acceleration and speed for entertainment...
The car is
incredible, both in terms of looks and performance. It's
not going to go 4-Wheeling of course, but it's great on a nice
stretch of twisty road!
One universal
gripe that I share regards the incredibly useless cup holder
that lies on the space between the stick shift and my shoulder.
There is no way it could ever be used for a cup holder unless
the car is parked and you don't mind leaving your arm crushed
against your side to keep it out of the way of the cup holder.
Maybe I will conceal an ejector seat button under it or
something...
