1. How did you come to the decision of buying this car?
It actually started two cars previous to this. I owned a Honda Accord coupe and really liked it. I even drove it all the way to the top of Mt. Evans in Colorado, over 14,000 ft high, and it ran perfectly. But it was bought with the expectation of a certain lifestyle, namely that I’d be spending the foreseeable future working in an office in Houston.
Long story short, some events in graduate school killed that future for me and I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out where my life was going. I decided to finish my PhD, which I thought might take a couple of years or so, and then get more seriously into the outdoor life. In support of that I ended up buying a Honda Element. I had a particular mission in mind for it, namely supporting my cycling, hiking, and camping trips. I wanted something that could drive down a fairly rugged dirt road without too much trouble, could carry my gear, and be reasonably cheap to operate. I could even sleep in it. The Element did those things very well but my future ended up getting delayed as grad school dragged out for years. I ended up using it mostly for long distance highway driving and it wasn’t ideal for that. The driving position was uncomfortable for me after a couple of hours, it was noisy, and I began to wish for more modern driver assist features. Also, it was orange. I was sort of forced into buying that color due to the buying circumstances, but I never liked it. It’s a fine color, I recommended it, but it’s also the color of my school. I was reminded of what I had been though every time I looked at the car, which was incredibly painful. So for those reasons I decided to sell the Element and get something different.
The Jeep Renegade had just come out and I almost bought one. But when I test drove it I discovered it was hard for me to get comfortable and that it was too small for my bicycle to fit easily in the back. I still wanted that “bad road” capability, which is why I was looking at Jeeps in the first place, so I test drove a Cherokee, liked it, and was able to negotiate a screaming deal on this pretty much fully loaded 2016 Cherokee Trailhawk. I think I got it for something like $7000 or $8000 off MSRP, which is nuts.
2. What has your ownership experience been like?
It’s been good. The downsides are that it isn’t anywhere near as roomy as my old Element, and it uses more fuel, but it also doesn’t cause emotional trauma, which is nice. It obviously is far more capable of handling rugged terrain than the Element and it has things like a low-range gearbox, a locking rear differential, and so on. I wish it had Apple CarPlay but that came the following year so I just missed it. It had a few minor issues, and a number of recalls, but I wouldn’t hesitate to drive it across the country. I’m not in love with how it looks but I think I got the most visually appealing trim (Trailhawk) and color combination. It’s a bit like having a very lovable and loyal mutt dog that looks a bit goofy but you don’t care at all.
3. What is your fondest memory with this car?
The first year or so I owned it was my last year of mega-commuting, 500 to 600 miles per week, and it was a huge improvement over the Element. Probably my happiest memory is realizing how the quieter cabin and driver assist technology made all that driving hugely less fatiguing in comparison to the Element, which significantly improved my quality of life.
4. Why do you love cars?
I try to reserve love for living creatures but I do really like cars (and motorcycles, and aircraft, and most mechanical things that function at a personal scale). I’m an engineer but I also have strong opinions about aesthetics and culture and the history of things. So things like architecture, industrial design, vehicle design, all appeal to me. Mass market vehicles, especially, are interesting because they combine aesthetics with technological requirements. Cars are like sculpture that does work, and making something that fits into both domains is endlessly fascinating to me. A functional object is, in a way, the thought process of the designers instantiated into solid form and I really adore the process of becoming acquainted with it.
Ed: John is a smart guy. Go check out his blog.
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If you would like to participate, just answer the above four questions and submit one to three photos of your daily driver to milhousevanh at geemail. Thanks and have fun!
