All Things Jeep Blog & Musings

One Girl's Journey...
A Jeep Love Affair Part 2: Bargain Hunting

I have always driven used cars. I'm a bargain hunter, a good New England girl. The high that people get from "that new car smell" has always been lost on me. To me, a car should have history. I like trying to figure out who the previous owner was, why they loved and eventually sold my beast. My very first car, a gift for my 18th birthday, would have been completely undriveable to anyone else, but I loved it. My 13-year-old Chevy Cavalier had most definitely -- if movies are to be trusted -- been the vehicle of low level drug runner. It had a false bottom; the trunk key was fake and no amount of lock picking ever opened it. It had a NO FEAR windshield decal and crown air freshener on the dashboard -- details I left intact as evidence of my car's previous life where it took more exciting trips that carting me to my job at the mall. How did I find this gem? A guy one of my sisters was dating, who may or may not have had mob connections, "found" it for me.

Car #2 was willed to me when my grandmother passed away. It still had her CB radio in it, which she used to chat with truckers. I bought car #3 from my mother's boyfriend's sister; a free spirited woman about whom my mother told funny stories. All of these cars had three things in common: 1. I loved them 2. They had great times with their previous owners 3. (This is the important one) I didn't buy them. Not until the Subaru wagon I currently drive, did I actually go somewhere and negotiate a price with a stranger. I got a pretty good deal because the dealer, who primarily dealt in Toyota pickups, regretted taking it in as a trade as his customers had no interest. He was friendly without being pushy, and I walked away with a good feeling after working with him. I also had an insurace check from the death of #3 for the bulk of the price, so there was no need to discuss financing.

So, Jeep hunting I went. No insurance check, no mobster gifts, I'd have to get some kind of loan. For my bank to give us an auto loan, the car would need to have fewer than 70,000 miles and be newer than 2003. It's a small bank and they have to be careful -- I don't blame them. However, that pushes a rig just out of my price range. I don't want to spend too much for something I plan to put beat up on the trail. So I checked into dealer financing. After one promising test drive last weekend, the dealer told me the best she could do was 28% APR -- despite good credit and a 15% downpayment. Another rig at a different lot was nearly perfect, but I didn't like the particular guy with whom we had been working. Had I dealt with any of the other salesmen who offered their help during the 45 minutes it took him to find keys and a plate, I might have even paid something as ridiculous as 28%. I just couldn't give him my money. Nothing else I saw really spoke to me. Needless to say, I am still Jeepless.

I know that somewhere out there is a rig that runs well, being sold by a likeable salesperson who can offer me an interest rate lower than my age. There is a Wrangler with personality, a great story and an I-6 engine just waiting for me. I just have to find it...

EDITOR NOTE: If you can help Corinne, our new Customer Service Manager find her perfect Jeep, post here. She needs help!

Remember those worksheets in grade school where you looked at a list of names or phrases and said which one did not belong, which one is not part of the group? Okay, here's one.

Off-Roading, Camping, Rock Crawling, Hula-Hooping, Mud-Bogging.

Which one does not belong? Did you say Hula Hooping. That's what I thought until I met one of our customers on our All Things Jeep Twitter page ( http://twitter.com/AllThingsJeep ).

Meet Jackie, from Hoop Du' Jour, http://www.hoopdujourstore.com/

 

 

We've seen her around the web and asked her to send us a note about her business. The note is below. One thing I didn't realize until I read this is that Jackie is only 15 years old! Already has her own business and already knows she's driving a Jeep in just a few short months. Frankly, I'm impressed. 

"I found out about hoop dancing through my mom and started hooping when I was 13. My mom goes to this big event every year called Burning Man where basically all the free spirited people who like to have fun, set up camp in the desert once a year for a week and have themed camps and parties. Burning man has tons of people doing what we call, hoop dancing or hooping. So once I picked up my hoop I fell in love with it, since it's so much fun and is an amazing source of fitness for your body.

Once I started hooping and getting my hoops through other people I started having my own cool ideas for hoop colors and designs. So I had an amazing idea that I should start my own business making hula hoops and teaching as a Certified Hoop Dance Instructor. I went to a 3 day intensive teacher training with the amazing company HoopGirl, and became a certified hoopdance teacher.

Now I am currently a few weeks away from turning 15 years old, and I am an owner of my hoop business, Hoop Du' Jour and I am a certified hoop dance teacher. I absolutely love hooping and all the oppurtunities it gives me, with doing what I love and being able to work at such a young age.

As for Jeeps, my first Jeep obsession started young, when I saw Lorelei Gilmore's 1999 Jeep Wrangler in my favorite show 'Gilmore Girls'. Then, my dad's girlfriend had a 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and we went driving everywhere together with the top down and the doors off and I fell in love! I'm so incredibly excited to start driving in about 6 months and get my very own Jeep Wrangler next year! Hooping and Jeeps are my two great loves, and Allthingsjeep.com of course! Maybe in the future I could start a Jeep HoopGroup and we could go off-roading and hooping on our adventures!

Thanks so much for wanting to learn more about me! I absolutely LOVE you guys and your business! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!!"

After reading Jackie's note I'm also thinking of ordering a few "hoops". Seems like a great activity to do when I need a break from my desk while at the office. So long as a video doesn't make it up onto Youtube, I'll be all set.

Thanks for sharing with us Jackie. You are inspiring!

 

 

Today on PRWire.com,

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Chrysler Group LLC Announces Organizational Structure Focused on Chrysler, Jeep(R), Dodge and Mopar(R) Brands

- Sergio Marchionne to Serve as Chief Executive Officer - Global Brand Structure to Bring Leadership Closer to Employees and Customers - Commercial, Industrial and Corporate Staffs to Support Brand Organization AUBURN HILLS, Mich., June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- As Chrysler Group LLC prepares to begin operations, the new company formed in alliance with Fiat announced an organizational restructuring to focus on the Chrysler, Jeep(R), Dodge and Mopar(R) brands. The new leaner, flatter structure is intended to restore brand promise and dealer confidence. All appointments are effective immediately. "I personally feel privileged to have the opportunity to lead the new Chrysler and to work with senior management to build this company and our great brands into all we know they can and should be," said Sergio Marchionne, who today was named Chief Executive Officer of Chrysler Group LLC. "That effort starts with leadership." Chrysler Group's new organization is based on a global brand-focused structure comprised of the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Mopar brands, each with full profit and loss accountability. Common Commercial, Industrial and Corporate functions have been put in place to support the development, manufacture, distribution and sale of Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge products and Mopar parts by the brand organizations. "The new company's leadership structure has been developed to rebuild and grow the four iconic Chrysler brands," said Mr. Marchionne. "With a flattened organization designed to give leaders broad spans of control, we are able to increase the speed of decision-making and improve communication flow, ultimately bringing Chrysler Group management and employees closer to our customers." To assist the new company in the transition, Jim Press is appointed Deputy CEO and Special Advisor, reporting to Mr. Marchionne. In this position, Mr. Press will be instrumental in the restructuring of the Chrysler Group LLC. Mr. Press served most recently as Chrysler LLC Vice Chairman & President. Brand and Commercial Organizations Mr. Marchionne added: "The focus of the Brand organization is to rebuild and grow the company's four brands, beginning with their strong heritage. The structure is designed to focus on external competition, avoiding product overlap while maintaining the highest possible level of industrial optimization. The new company will align its networks with the brand positions, to restore brand promise and dealer confidence." In support of the Chrysler Group's brand operations, the company announced the following appointments reporting to Mr. Marchionne: ...Michael Manley is appointed President & Chief Executive Officer, Jeep Brand, with full profit and loss responsibility for the Jeep product portfolio. Mr. Manley will also have enterprise-wide responsibility for the Product Planning organization with responsibility for coordinating the product plan and volume requirements of the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brand functions. He will work with the other brand Presidents to translate these into operating plans for the product development and manufacturing organizations. Mr. Manley served most recently as Executive Vice President, International Sales & Global Product Planning Operations. ..." So I did a search on Michael Manley's name and found this bio: http://www.chryslerllc.com/en/about_us/our_team/?name=mmanley Two things to note. 1. He had a big job ahead of him 2. He's younger than me. Good luck to him.

One Girl's Journey From Wannabe to Jeeper
Part 1

My love affair with Jeeps began as a little girl. My sister, 10 years my senior, drove a red YJ in my childhood. I would do just about anything to earn a ride, top off and Salt n' Peppa on the stereo -- usually, it meant doing her chores or helping cover her latest lie to our parents. By the age of 9, I had become both a master bed maker and liar. Fast forward to a few weeks ago. My love of Jeeps was as strong as ever, despite the fact that I'd never bitten the bullet and bought one. For me, Jeeps had become like the cute punk boy in the bar that you don't think you're quite cool enough to approach. However, in the brief time I've been working at the Jeep gift store, All Things Jeep, I've learned that all you need to be cool enough to be a Jeeper is to love Jeeps. Guess I qualify.

Last weekend, Mike from our warehouse took me on a trail ride with his jeep club, JonFund. It was like the world's slowest but most exciting roller coaster ever; physics aren't necessarily going to keep you safe in a 4x4. The other drivers were just as much fun. There was a group dynamic of taking care of each other and genuinely wanting to see every other driver succeed which was unlike anything I've seen. Like the folks at ATJ, everyone was genuinely excited to meet me just because I liked Jeeps, too. I quickly realized that owning a daily driver Jeep just wouldn't be good enough -- I had found my new favorite thing to do and I would need a rig that could handle it.

I've done my research, talked to my coworkers at ATJ and my new friends from JonFund, and compiled the following list of requirements for my double duty off-road rig/daily driver:

Jeep TJ -- Despite Mike's undying love of his XJ, I want the openness of a Wrangler. I just can't afford a JK. I don't think I have the skills to restore and modify a CJ, but someday I will. So, the decision between TJ and YJ came down to the TJ's move away from the leaf spring suspension -- coils just provide a much smoother ride on the highway. Less importantly, I prefer the look of the round headlights.

Manual Transmission -- Definitely a personal choice thing. Lots of people on different boards swear by their automatic transmission, but there's just so much more control with a manual. NB: Automatic transmission are more expensive to replace.

Never Been Off-Road -- If you've already beaten it up off road, I don't want it. I want to be the one to beat it up! I've become extremely wary of tow hooks and lifts, even if I know they were only added for show.

V6 Engine -- Bad ass girls drive bad ass toys. Enough said.

So, over the next few (insert undetermined unit of time) I'll be keeping track of everything from the test drives, to the modifications and into hitting the trail. Be you novice or experienced, come along with me. It'll be fun.

Next time: The first test drives and dealing with the dealer.

Well, it's that Dads and Grads time, and if you are like me, you are wishing you didn't have to come up with something thoughtful and clever to send to your favorite Dad or Grad. It's busy enough this time of year without having to be thoughtful.

So we are making it easy for you. Pick up anything you need for yourself at http://www.allthingsjeep.com/ and if you spend $25 or more, we'll toss in a Free Jeep Hat absolutely free (oops, guess I already said that.) And the hat is a cool one, so any Jeep Dad or Grad will be happy with it.

So yes, this Jeep blog article is nothing more than a promotional blurb about our latest promotion. Sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Here's the Free Jeep Cap for Dad's Day. (You get to choose the color.)

 

Here's the page where you add it to your shopping cart for free (with your $25 purchase)

 http://www.allthingsjeep.com/fathers-day.html

Here's our favorite picks for terrific Father's Day Gifts for Jeep Dads.

Supplies are limited on the hats. Promo is over when they are sold out. Thanks!