Sucky Jeep

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 18:12:00 -0500

I would show you a picture of the last non-Jeep that I drove, but to do that, I would have to go through film camera rolls, find a picture, and have it converted to a digital format so that I could post it.

I'm sure digital photography existed when I bought my white 2-door Wrangler, but they weren't something that we always had with us yet.

So speaking from experience, I can tell you that there are two times when a Jeep does not have a warning light turned on: the first few minutes that you take it off of the lot, and when the screen that displays warning lights breaks. I keep buying the damned pieces of junk, driving through my entire adult life with rain dripping on my shoulder while twinkling in the lit check engine light.

All of this is to be able to take off the top and swap out the doors during those few weeks when the weather is glorious.

A Jeep of yesteryear. Zoom in and find the sniper.
You won't have seen my black Jeep Gladiator on the big cross US & Canada camping trip a couple of years ago. (It was in the shop.) But it's still my every day vehicle, and it has been the shittiest one of them all.

It's in the shop yet again. The current issue is that the screen between the speedometer and tachometer is fried. As I hinted about earlier, this is the screen that shows warning lights. It's also got a clock, the compass heading, info about the current gear, and several other unimportant bits of information. Mostly, I'm fine without it.

But it would be nice to have a fuel guage.

Several months back, I ran out of gas. It was right around 4:30PM, and I wa right on College Drive.

Yes, I was why you ran late that day.

It didn't take long for a cop to show up, and he just parked behind me and turned on his lights to make the stall more visible. But it sure made it look like I was being arrested.

The current piece of junk.
Eventually, V got a gas can out of the garage. Probably the one that Big George gave me after this whole debacle.

The car has been in the shop 3 weeks so far, and there are three more weeks to go. You see, this little piece of electronics also contains the odometer. So to get it fixed, I have to bring it in, have them measure the mileage, and send it off in an order to Jeep. Then, Jeep has to make a new circuit board with that odometer reading burnt in as the starting number and send it back. But if I drive it off, they have to start the process over from the beginning.

Hopefully all of this wraps up in time to enjoy some of the glorious weather.