Bye Bye Jeep

Selling "the rig."
It wasn't an easy decision and it took Luke years to finally make it.
Every year after summer is over and the camping/Jeep trips have come to a close, Luke laments the poor gas mileage, expensive tires/wear and tear of the Jeep. He bought the Jeep five years ago and we were still making payments. As a second vehicle and Luke's primary driver, it seemed like it might be time to part ways. Every year I would try to talk Luke out of selling it and tell him to be patient. Meanwhile, gas prices continue to skyrocket....along with everything else. It finally felt like the time might be right to just go for it. Luke put the rig on eBay and Craigslist to see what he could get for it. We looked at sedans (new and used) trying to see what we could find that was affordable, got GREAT gas mileage and was comfortable with five passengers. 
After looking high and low online and at various dealerships for almost 2 months, we ended up going with a used 2012 VW Passat. We purchased it 2 days before our trip to Roseville and we were like kids in a candy store watching the consumption numbers on the 300 mile trek north. We were getting 36 miles per gallon! Wooooooooow! Hahaha.
The Sequoia gets an average of 15-16 mpg on the freeway, so we are pretty happy. We also think we got a pretty darn good price on the Passat since we purchased at the end of the month/year and it has been on their lot for over 60 days. We also got it for below Kelly Blue Book. (I guess it pays to be patient. I think this is the longest we have ever taken to purchase a vehicle...or most anything else.)

Ok...I guess I better move on from the new family grocery getter and get back to the rig.

Luke had a buyer in Colorado contact him in early December. After many texts, e-mails and conversations the guy committed to the purchase. He sent a deposit, but said he couldn't pay the full amount until the first part of January. We hoped and prayed everything would not fall apart since we ended up buying the Passat 10 days before the buyer was going to be out here. Thankfully, it all worked out....but it was a little stressful. 

Luke is a wonderful seller. The guy who bought the Jeep is really fortunate to be buying from Luke. Luke was doing all of these things over the past month to make sure his rig was in prefect condition and the buyer would be very happy. I was really impressed, as his wife. He told me it was a "Jeep thing" and Jeep guys take care of each other. Luke even took the Jeep into some shop to get a small rip repaired in the fabric of one of the front seats. He also took it in twice to get it detailed/shampooed as well......Tires rotated and balanced. Too bad the guy is going to take it out rock crawling and screw it all up within a few hours. :) HAHAHA!
The buyer arrived at our house on Tuesday evening and stayed for about an hour. Luke went through everything with him and we signed different forms. The guy was really nice and has three young kids of his own. He was going to be driving straight back home that night, with a rock-crawling stop the next day in Arizona with his brother.
Luke walked the buyer out and we all stayed in the house. I heard the rig pull out and the garage door shut. When Luke walked back in...I cried. I did. We all have a lot of great Jeep memories and the four-wheeling is part of who Luke is. This is our third Jeep, but Luke has owned a Jeep since before we were dating. This is the first time he has sold a rig without the intent of buying another one. "One day" is what we have been told. So...stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, I guess Luke will ride shotgun with Grandpa on their summer wheelin' trips.