Slverback213
New member
Hey Everyone,
My daughter and I are first time Jeep owners and even newer to a forum site....so please bare with me vas I learn how to navigate the site....hopefully with minimal embarrassment and or annoyance!
So when my daughter expressed interest in either a Camaro or a Jeep for her first vehicle.....I laughed and said....I'm thinking a Hyundai Sonata? She didn't sulk or fight back.....but she immediately went to work on ways to sway my opinion! Too late because part of me liked the Jeep idea.....and no way was she getting a Camaro!
I travel a lot and figured I was going to have to buy her a reliable car....simply because I wouldn't be there to fix this thing or help her if she gets stranded. Although my dilemma was the lack of earned respect.....being given something without earning it?
I started looking for Sonato's and new cars were going to be expensive! While I found a salvage website with numerous possibilities for Sonato's. On the side the discussion continued about a Jeep and promises were being made that maybe her Senior year we would get her something special..... if she stays in the top 10 of her class. At that time she ranked number 12 of 728. I only point this out as part of my justification....lol!
She eventually makes the pitch that we shouldn't waste money on a car when we could save money and she promised to keep her grades up! She sweetened the deal offering me the Jeep if her grades slip.....now who could resist?
My search instantly switched to jeeps...although I didn't tell her a thing....on October 11....days before her 16th birthday, I joined multiple auctions around the Country. Watching several jeeps in hopes of successfully winning an auction. My younger daughter (12)sat beside me....nervously watching several failed attempts. Surprisingly the vehicles we thought we had a chance at skyrocketed well past what I considered them to be worth. Until our last option for the day..... a black, 2012 Sahara Unlimited with only 53k. It had been rolled by it's previous owner. The damages appeared contained primarily to the driver side. The window frame was crushed, the drivers door was pretty bad, rear door was unsure, the hard top looked pretty damaged.
The bidding started low but quickly ran up to mid $6k. I told my youngest that $8500....maybe $9000 was my max. Then the bids slowed and promise was there. Each bid came slower than the previous. I grabbed my daughter with excitement as it looked like we might win this one.....I entered another bid at $8200 at we sat on the edge of our seats. The timer counted down.....and no one up'd our bid. The timer reset to bonus time......and again it wound down. The screen flashed and said we were the successful bidder pending bank approval...... We jumped with excitement!
We barely made it to the dinner table and couldn't contain the excitement in front of my older daughter. We showed her what picture of what we had just bought for her 16th birthday. The reaction was priceless as she began crying from joy and excitement.
Later that evening we were informed that the bank accepted our offer. Five days later my daughter's hopped in the truck with me and we drove 8 hours from Indianapolis to Alabama to pick up our prize! It was a very energetic drive....as we were all super excited to pick up this mangled jeep.
Over the past six months my daughter and myself have stripped the jeep, taken it to the frame shop, then yo the body shop for each phase of it's return to glory! I've instructed my daughter on each step and piece removed. In fact she has turned 70% of the wrenches during the restoration....we learned the back seats were incredibly hard to break free....hahaha.
Today we finally took the jeep to the police inspection for re-built titles. We passed the inspection successfully. Hence our Sahara Waves hello to everyone from the Grave!
My daughter and I are first time Jeep owners and even newer to a forum site....so please bare with me vas I learn how to navigate the site....hopefully with minimal embarrassment and or annoyance!
So when my daughter expressed interest in either a Camaro or a Jeep for her first vehicle.....I laughed and said....I'm thinking a Hyundai Sonata? She didn't sulk or fight back.....but she immediately went to work on ways to sway my opinion! Too late because part of me liked the Jeep idea.....and no way was she getting a Camaro!
I travel a lot and figured I was going to have to buy her a reliable car....simply because I wouldn't be there to fix this thing or help her if she gets stranded. Although my dilemma was the lack of earned respect.....being given something without earning it?
I started looking for Sonato's and new cars were going to be expensive! While I found a salvage website with numerous possibilities for Sonato's. On the side the discussion continued about a Jeep and promises were being made that maybe her Senior year we would get her something special..... if she stays in the top 10 of her class. At that time she ranked number 12 of 728. I only point this out as part of my justification....lol!
She eventually makes the pitch that we shouldn't waste money on a car when we could save money and she promised to keep her grades up! She sweetened the deal offering me the Jeep if her grades slip.....now who could resist?
My search instantly switched to jeeps...although I didn't tell her a thing....on October 11....days before her 16th birthday, I joined multiple auctions around the Country. Watching several jeeps in hopes of successfully winning an auction. My younger daughter (12)sat beside me....nervously watching several failed attempts. Surprisingly the vehicles we thought we had a chance at skyrocketed well past what I considered them to be worth. Until our last option for the day..... a black, 2012 Sahara Unlimited with only 53k. It had been rolled by it's previous owner. The damages appeared contained primarily to the driver side. The window frame was crushed, the drivers door was pretty bad, rear door was unsure, the hard top looked pretty damaged.
The bidding started low but quickly ran up to mid $6k. I told my youngest that $8500....maybe $9000 was my max. Then the bids slowed and promise was there. Each bid came slower than the previous. I grabbed my daughter with excitement as it looked like we might win this one.....I entered another bid at $8200 at we sat on the edge of our seats. The timer counted down.....and no one up'd our bid. The timer reset to bonus time......and again it wound down. The screen flashed and said we were the successful bidder pending bank approval...... We jumped with excitement!
We barely made it to the dinner table and couldn't contain the excitement in front of my older daughter. We showed her what picture of what we had just bought for her 16th birthday. The reaction was priceless as she began crying from joy and excitement.
Later that evening we were informed that the bank accepted our offer. Five days later my daughter's hopped in the truck with me and we drove 8 hours from Indianapolis to Alabama to pick up our prize! It was a very energetic drive....as we were all super excited to pick up this mangled jeep.
Over the past six months my daughter and myself have stripped the jeep, taken it to the frame shop, then yo the body shop for each phase of it's return to glory! I've instructed my daughter on each step and piece removed. In fact she has turned 70% of the wrenches during the restoration....we learned the back seats were incredibly hard to break free....hahaha.
Today we finally took the jeep to the police inspection for re-built titles. We passed the inspection successfully. Hence our Sahara Waves hello to everyone from the Grave!
