All Hail the Jeep

It's been awhile! I don't know where September went. It was a total whirlwind, leaving me with numerous blog entry drafts where they may very well die in the draft folder. They're good, don't get me wrong, one of them with the potential to be quite controversial even, but who has the time? It's a good thing I don't have deadlines. Or advertisers. I haven't lost my writing mojo, just the time to get it done. However, there is a thing or two of interest that's gone on, so here I am.

Over the summer I'd decided I was going to get the new Honda HRV. I'd had the CRV, it was fine, and I knew I needed something with a bit of a bigger trunk. I went to DCH Honda in Paramus, with E one day, and I told them I just wanted to see it in person, but was definitely going to lease it when my Mini lease was up. It was a nightmare from the get-go in there. They handed me off from one guy to another. That guy couldn't find the car. They left us at the front desk for a good forty minutes without any update as to why it was taking so long. E was bored out of his head and I was fuming. I saw the car, told the guy it was fine, and I'd be back when I was ready and it would be the easiest sale of his career. I'm not wishy-washy. I know what I like and want and don't hesitate. I just specified to please not contact me. No calls and no emails. Guess what? They barraged me with emails no matter how I asked them to stop. My last email back just said- "LEAVE ME ALONE. THIS IS HARASSMENT. I'M GETTING A JEEP." And that, was that.

I got a new car! Yes I did. That was not in any plan, but that's what we did. How did this happen? Well, we realized we were very close to being at our allotted miles for our lease on the Mini Countryman. That would be fine if it hadn't been September and my lease being up in March. We didn't know what we were going to do. We didn't even know what our options were beyond just paying whatever the overage would be for using extra miles.


We'd taken ten thousand miles a year versus the twelve thousand we'd always taken prior. Work is only down the street and we don't really go anywhere. But I did take it to Pittsburgh, we went down the shore more than usual, and we used my car for everything. You don't realize how much you drive until you have a strong cap on how many miles you can use.

I remembered that a guy I know from high school, Joe Loonam, works at a Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge/Ram dealer nearby. I messaged him on Facebook and asked him if he had the Jeep Renegade with navigation for me to see. He said he did and to come by whenever. I went there with B exactly one week before the last day of September. We came, we saw, we liked. I just didn't think we could get out of our lease early and still have the monthly payments on a new lease not be astronomical. Options were presented, but the payments still seemed too high and we were going to wait out using up the mileage before getting into another lease.

Tuesday, September 29th, mid-day, I got an email from Joe saying he could get me one in a "fun color", like I requested, that we could have on the Wednesday, the 30th. Fully loaded with most of the "wishlist" I gave him initially. Then he worked the numbers. Somehow, he made magic. The dealership would pay off the rest of my lease and my payments for the Jeep would be less than the Mini for more bells & whistles. I'd get twelve thousand miles a year and only $500 down. Ok, yes. YES. This was a no-brainer! More miles, lesser payment, less down, and new car. Woo hoo. I don't care how he did it or how it happened, but it did, and the end result is all that matters. I don't need to understand.

The Mini was like $3000 down! Yeah, yeah, I know, you don't put that much down on a lease. But I really WANTED that Mini at the time. I still LOVE that Mini. The Countryman is awesome. It's just too expensive and we needed more space. Not much more space- the Jeep Renegade is pretty much the same length as the Mini Countryman. It feels like driving a tractor trailer after driving a Mini, but whatever- that's all in my head. There is more front and head room, so it just feels a lot bigger. With a kid in a lot of activities, I need more trunk space and even going down the shore will be easier with more trunk space. I had to pack the Mini like Jenga.

The best part of this whole thing is that John Leonhard, the salesman DELIVERED IT TO MY STORE. We had told Joe that we didn't have time to sit in a dealership. We have to be in our store or with E at his various activities. So we got this amazing deal on the money end but then we didn't have to sit in a dealership for hours, which is what ALWAYS happens, even when they say it won't. John got it to my store, showed me how to work everything, and had I not already got someone to pick up E, I would've been in time to get him myself. This all went down in the span of twenty-four hours and it honestly couldn't have gone any smoother.

As for the Jeep, it's been almost a week and I like it. B LOVES it. He says the Mini has no pep. That's because it wasn't an "S". It was just a plain Countryman. On the Jeep- I LOVE the remote start, even if I forget to use it until I'm like ten feet away. It's just the point that I CAN use it if I need. I love that it has this little hideaway false bottom kind of thing in the trunk area. I have all my "stuff" hidden down there- first aid kit, paper towels, Clorox wipes, reusable supermarket bags, etc. You know, my Zombie Apocalypse needs. And NO ONE can see them. I just know they're there and I feel better.

Door storage or lack there of...

The ONLY thing I didn't notice on the Renegade before leasing that I am not thrilled with is the lack of "stuff space" in the driver area. On the door. The Mini had huge side pocket areas for my junk- coupons, mini deodorant, bank deposit slips, Kidstuff book, pens, whatever. I solved that problem quick though. Amazon to the rescue with not one, but two back of the seat organizers. I may just get one for the visor too. Don't judge me. Those in the know are fully aware that I need my stuff.

Big shout out to Joe and John. They made leasing a car the least painful experience ever. Most people hate having to deal with buying or leasing a new car. Unless they are masochists. It's usually a giant game of cat and mouse. It's confusing, time consuming, and stressful. This was really like having Santa bring me a Jeep. I highly recommend Joe, John and Jeep (and whatever else they sell there).

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