Thursday June 29th 2023

It was another dry day with manageable humidity. The partly cloudy sky allowed the temperature to rise into the mid nineties. Overall it was a nice day.

Over the last few months it has become obvious that my exploration has been constrained by my Honda CR-V. I don’t trust it to get me where I want to go and back without something breaking. The result is I’m continually doing a risk vs. value trade for every potential trip away from the RV park. Getting maintenance performed while traveling is not always easy. First finding a good place to have it serviced is a challenge. I usually end up using national chains or franchises like Firestone or Pep Boys. Second, it is very hard to leave the vehicle for service. I don’t have friends at every stop that could give me a ride and very few of the service locations are within walking distance of the RV park.

At the end of April or beginning of May I planned a stay near a Pep Boys to get the brakes replaced and as it turns out I also got the struts replaced. It was a significant investment that I hoped would raise my confidence level in the vehicle. Within a couple of weeks other sounds, squeaks and groans were back to work on my automotive paranoia. Added to all of these issues most of the rubber gaskets around the windows were breaking down and more significant to Florida in the summer, the air conditioning was also problematic.

The bottom line is I was ready for a new car. The Honda CR-V was almost twelve years old with 132K miles. In the past I always traded for a new car after five years, so I was well over due for something new. The issue is that the number of vehicles capable of being four down towed behind a Motorhome has gone down over the last few years. I did the research and settled on a Chevy Equinox.

Over the last week and a half since I arrived in the Jacksonville area I have stopped at several Chevy dealers. Most had an Equinox or two in stock, but they weren’t really what I wanted. Today I stopped in at yet another dealer. This one had four models to choose from and I found a suitable choice. Four and a half hours later, most of which was spent after the sale setting up the My Chevy app and a bunch of other questionable value stuff, I drove away in a brand new 2023 Red Equinox.