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We bought two brand new vehicles in 2015—the first time we’ve ever done that. I bought a 2015 Toyota 4Runner Trail, and my wife bought a 2015 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. We looked at a RAV4 for her, but she didn’t like it. I actually tried to steer her to either the Isuzu Forrester or the Outback because I thought she’d have a much happier ownership experience. They’re not as fancy as the Cherokee, but they’re dead nuts reliable. Her Jeep has had a couple of issues...not the least of which was the ease with which the management software could be remotely hacked through her cellphone, a problem which became public knowledge not long after we bought it. It also has had a repeating glitch with the setting that switches the engine off when she stops at a light. It’s a fuel saving measure, and it stops working each time it’s been turned back on. But she’s happy with it because it suits her self image, so there is that.

I bought my 4Runner as a replacement for a 2002 Nissan Pathfinder SE 4x4. I was 63 when I bought the Toyota, and based on the experience of other family members with Toyotas, I figured that it would last at least 300,000 - 350,000 miles if I just stay on top of the oil changes and maintenance schedule...if not more than that. I chose the Trail model because I wanted a pretty off-road competent SUV, and I couldn’t afford a TRD Pro. I’ve put 34,000 miles on it since March of 2015....and 6,000 of those were road trip miles to California and back twice. So really, my annual mileage is around 5,600 miles. At this rate, it’ll take me 53.5 years to hit 300,000 miles. In other words, this is the last car I’ll ever buy.