Having been turned down for credit to buy a brand new Jeep Liberty, I decided to search for a deal on a classic Jeep Grand Wagoneer on Ebay. I wanted a Jeep so that I could get to my cabin, the Green Frog Cafe, in the mountains of Pennsylvania more easily. I intend to retire there eventually and felt that this was the time to get a true four wheel drive vehicle since my 1972 International Harvester pickup had been out of operation for some years (see http://groups.msn.com/72internationalpickup). There is an active market for Grand Wagoneers. The best sell for up to $30,000, but I wanted a servicable one for much less. I practiced bidding on Ebay, selected the one to go for (sold by an individual who was lousy at marketing but seemed to love the car based on an exchange of emails) so I went for it. I got this 1987 Grand Wagoneer for $3700. It had 142,000 miles on it, but the enthusiasts say that they run an easy 300,000 miles, and I only wanted it to bridge the time until Colin is out of college and I can try to repair my personal finances. I flew to St. Louis to pick up the car (in rural Western Illinois) and set off for an enjoyable drive back through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. I love trips like this when I am all alone driving through America. The Grand Wagoneer is a real trip. All the new SUV's look the same, and a lot of people stare at mine as if I am driving around in a Bentley or something. It is somewhat oppressive to feel that I have to try to presserve a classic, and to keep people from messing up the leather seats, etc., but I soon found that this is a real off-road Jeep when I got to Paddy Mountain.
Rhona McMahan