Gamma Ray
Banned
Maybe not necessarily all of them were owned by me, but they were in the family, and they have significance to me.
My mom and my dad owned Chevettes into the 90s. These are the only vehicles that I remember one of us owning that I never got a chance to drive. My mom's went away at one point when I was still very, very young, so I don't remember it too much. There was a brief time between her having cars that my dad's blue Chevette was the only car they had. That was around 1990. I remember dad's blue Chevette the best. I like to think of it as the prototype 4Runner I have these days
It was so basic. I wish my 4Runner was even more basic. It's too plush. I want the vinyl seats and metal seat belt locks that would burn me. No air conditioning, too. What a ride.
They got a Caprice Classic around 1990. It was one of the last big, boxy V8 rear wheel drive models. I grew up in it, but I didn't drive it so much. Still, it lasted a long, long time. If I remember correctly, it outlived my Wrangler, but more on that later. It was so big, and I didn't like driving it so much, but I did some of my learning in it.
It was the late spring of 1998 that my dad got rid of the Chevette, and it was replaced with a Chevy Blazer. The Chevette became his, and the Blazer became my mom's. It was a rare blue Blazer. It wasn't a color that was in the brochures, but she got it. I also did some driving in this one, but I spent plenty of my teenage years and early adult years in it, too. It was okay. I drove it a bunch of times. It used this weird coolant that was supposed to last forever but instead just caused problems with everything. It scared our family away from Chevy ever since, but it did last a good 10 years. One of the best memories was when I was learning to drive with my mom in the Blazer, and we got so upset with each other that I got out and walked home
Now, this was my first vehicle. I had a 1983 Ford Fairmont through high school. Rear wheel drive, straight six, and a total old lady's car that I got into trouble in I shoveled snow and did yard work for my neighbor for years and tried to avoid getting paid (I wasn't always successful), but she did end up giving the Fairmont to me once I was old enough. She was already retired and too old to drive. It was trial by fire with that car. It had so much character Until it really warmed up, it was possible for it to stall out going uphill. I ended up taking a back way out of the school to avoid needing to go uphill. It was that back way that got me into my first ever snow incident. I tell you what, never drive around a high school when it's snowing. You never know what cars might spin out in your general area. Luckily, I didn't hit anything, but I was dead in the water for a while. My wheels just spinned in place after I did my accidental 180. I eventually got grip and drove home trying my best not to lose control again. The transmission eventually started slipping and I had to get rid of it, but I was able to park it in my neighbor's garage which was pretty cool 
My parents wanted me to have something more reliable for college, so they got a 2004 Jeep Wrangler X for me. There was some sort of crazy deal going on, so it was actually rather affordable. I liked it a whole lot. Even though I only had it for 4 years, it didn't give me too many problems. I know, that's not so long, even for a Fiat Chrysler product, but still. It was a two door model. Honestly, I can't remember if it even had back seats. I simply cannot remember. It had a CD player, and the sound system was better than you'd think. It was so nimble, too. And I loved the hand crank windows. So simple.
My parents were so impressed by my Wrangler that my mom eventually got a Liberty. It was the first version that had the more rounded look front end. I drove it some, but not so much. It was okay. She then got the later model around 2006 or so after the first one's lease was up. My dad ended up getting one of his own, too. I'm sure I drove both of their later model Liberties at points, but I eventually got my own, so it didn't matter to me.
So, my Wrangler. It was involved in an accident, and it was totaled. I hopped around between the Caprice and the Blazer for a while, but I ended up with a 2009 Liberty of my own a few months later. While I know the Liberty was crap, I still loved my Liberty. I put way too much money into it to keep it running over the years. It was only this past January that the transmission went out for the second time, and I was able to move past it emotionally and move on to the 4Runner. But that Liberty, man, I greatly enjoyed that one. So much of my life happened in the driver's seat of that Jeep. It felt so good to drive, too. I know that's not something people usually say when talking about the Liberty, but it really was true for me. I think I was able to get in tune with it more like a car than an SUV. It was a part time 4WD and RWD in 2WD like the 4Runner, too. My 4Runner has schooled me on what it means to drive a truck, but you could get more sporty car performance than you'd expect from that Liberty. Going into the 4Runner with the Liberty mindset results in some "oh, that's what I should expect now" moments in me in the past couple months I've owned it.
Come 2010, my mom passed away from cancer, so my parents' vehicle situation got weird. Dad couldn't really get rid of my mom's Liberty since it was still on lease and opened himself up to weird legal crap, so he eventually ended up with her Liberty. It had less miles on it, anyway. Some time later, he got rid of it, too. The straw that broke the camel's back was that the rear hatch lock was malfunctioning. If I remember correctly, I was able to at least tell that the wiring was okay, so I'd just have to replace the lock mechanism, but he didn't want to deal with it anymore. He decided to trade it in for a Cherokee of... some year. 2016 maybe. I don't remember. I honestly can't remember if I drove the Cherokee. Maybe once. He didn't like it, it was giving him more problems, there was some sort of lemon law thing, and he ended up with a Grand Cherokee of about a year newer. I have driven the Grand Cherokee on multiple occasions, and I hate it. I don't like how the hood slopes down so much that you can't get a read on where the front of your vehicle is. I had misattributed the odd way it handles to it being front wheel drive-biased because the Cherokee was front wheel drive-biased, but the Grand Cherokee is actually rear wheel drive-biased, so I can just say that it feels weird. Both of them are AWD, so I don't know. Neither of them have 4WD selection like my previous Jeeps, the Blazer, and my 4Runner, so it's obviously one of those intelligent AWD things that isn't so powerful to begin with. The brakes are also absolutely overpowered. You can't park the Grand Cherokee without it making a headbanger out of you because if you press on the brakes lightly then it's going to go full emergency stop on you. It's crazy. My Liberty didn't do that, and while my 4Runner's brakes are a bit more sensitive than my Liberty's, they're not so much more sensitive.
Okay, that's it. No more vehicles. For now
My mom and my dad owned Chevettes into the 90s. These are the only vehicles that I remember one of us owning that I never got a chance to drive. My mom's went away at one point when I was still very, very young, so I don't remember it too much. There was a brief time between her having cars that my dad's blue Chevette was the only car they had. That was around 1990. I remember dad's blue Chevette the best. I like to think of it as the prototype 4Runner I have these days
It was so basic. I wish my 4Runner was even more basic. It's too plush. I want the vinyl seats and metal seat belt locks that would burn me. No air conditioning, too. What a ride.They got a Caprice Classic around 1990. It was one of the last big, boxy V8 rear wheel drive models. I grew up in it, but I didn't drive it so much. Still, it lasted a long, long time. If I remember correctly, it outlived my Wrangler, but more on that later. It was so big, and I didn't like driving it so much, but I did some of my learning in it.
It was the late spring of 1998 that my dad got rid of the Chevette, and it was replaced with a Chevy Blazer. The Chevette became his, and the Blazer became my mom's. It was a rare blue Blazer. It wasn't a color that was in the brochures, but she got it. I also did some driving in this one, but I spent plenty of my teenage years and early adult years in it, too. It was okay. I drove it a bunch of times. It used this weird coolant that was supposed to last forever but instead just caused problems with everything. It scared our family away from Chevy ever since, but it did last a good 10 years. One of the best memories was when I was learning to drive with my mom in the Blazer, and we got so upset with each other that I got out and walked home
Now, this was my first vehicle. I had a 1983 Ford Fairmont through high school. Rear wheel drive, straight six, and a total old lady's car that I got into trouble in
I shoveled snow and did yard work for my neighbor for years and tried to avoid getting paid (I wasn't always successful), but she did end up giving the Fairmont to me once I was old enough. She was already retired and too old to drive. It was trial by fire with that car. It had so much character Until it really warmed up, it was possible for it to stall out going uphill. I ended up taking a back way out of the school to avoid needing to go uphill. It was that back way that got me into my first ever snow incident. I tell you what, never drive around a high school when it's snowing. You never know what cars might spin out in your general area. Luckily, I didn't hit anything, but I was dead in the water for a while. My wheels just spinned in place after I did my accidental 180. I eventually got grip and drove home trying my best not to lose control again. The transmission eventually started slipping and I had to get rid of it, but I was able to park it in my neighbor's garage which was pretty cool My parents wanted me to have something more reliable for college, so they got a 2004 Jeep Wrangler X for me. There was some sort of crazy deal going on, so it was actually rather affordable. I liked it a whole lot. Even though I only had it for 4 years, it didn't give me too many problems. I know, that's not so long, even for a Fiat Chrysler product, but still. It was a two door model. Honestly, I can't remember if it even had back seats. I simply cannot remember. It had a CD player, and the sound system was better than you'd think. It was so nimble, too. And I loved the hand crank windows. So simple.
My parents were so impressed by my Wrangler that my mom eventually got a Liberty. It was the first version that had the more rounded look front end. I drove it some, but not so much. It was okay. She then got the later model around 2006 or so after the first one's lease was up. My dad ended up getting one of his own, too. I'm sure I drove both of their later model Liberties at points, but I eventually got my own, so it didn't matter to me.
So, my Wrangler. It was involved in an accident, and it was totaled. I hopped around between the Caprice and the Blazer for a while, but I ended up with a 2009 Liberty of my own a few months later. While I know the Liberty was crap, I still loved my Liberty. I put way too much money into it to keep it running over the years. It was only this past January that the transmission went out for the second time, and I was able to move past it emotionally and move on to the 4Runner. But that Liberty, man, I greatly enjoyed that one. So much of my life happened in the driver's seat of that Jeep. It felt so good to drive, too. I know that's not something people usually say when talking about the Liberty, but it really was true for me. I think I was able to get in tune with it more like a car than an SUV. It was a part time 4WD and RWD in 2WD like the 4Runner, too. My 4Runner has schooled me on what it means to drive a truck, but you could get more sporty car performance than you'd expect from that Liberty. Going into the 4Runner with the Liberty mindset results in some "oh, that's what I should expect now" moments in me in the past couple months I've owned it.
Come 2010, my mom passed away from cancer, so my parents' vehicle situation got weird. Dad couldn't really get rid of my mom's Liberty since it was still on lease and opened himself up to weird legal crap, so he eventually ended up with her Liberty. It had less miles on it, anyway. Some time later, he got rid of it, too. The straw that broke the camel's back was that the rear hatch lock was malfunctioning. If I remember correctly, I was able to at least tell that the wiring was okay, so I'd just have to replace the lock mechanism, but he didn't want to deal with it anymore. He decided to trade it in for a Cherokee of... some year. 2016 maybe. I don't remember. I honestly can't remember if I drove the Cherokee. Maybe once. He didn't like it, it was giving him more problems, there was some sort of lemon law thing, and he ended up with a Grand Cherokee of about a year newer. I have driven the Grand Cherokee on multiple occasions, and I hate it. I don't like how the hood slopes down so much that you can't get a read on where the front of your vehicle is. I had misattributed the odd way it handles to it being front wheel drive-biased because the Cherokee was front wheel drive-biased, but the Grand Cherokee is actually rear wheel drive-biased, so I can just say that it feels weird. Both of them are AWD, so I don't know. Neither of them have 4WD selection like my previous Jeeps, the Blazer, and my 4Runner, so it's obviously one of those intelligent AWD things that isn't so powerful to begin with. The brakes are also absolutely overpowered. You can't park the Grand Cherokee without it making a headbanger out of you because if you press on the brakes lightly then it's going to go full emergency stop on you. It's crazy. My Liberty didn't do that, and while my 4Runner's brakes are a bit more sensitive than my Liberty's, they're not so much more sensitive.
Okay, that's it. No more vehicles. For now
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