I've spoken quite often about my 2006 Honda Civic on this blog.  It has been both an enjoyable experience owning and a bit of a curse as well.  I traded in my 2004 Jeep Liberty after Hurricane Katrina damaged my Jeep Liberty.  I had been having trouble with the Liberty (almost flipped it over on I-65 one time in a rainstorm) prior to Hurricane Katrina.  My Honda Civic has saved me enough in gas to where it basically paid for itself (well, not quite, but you know what I mean).  It's been a good little car.  It has a very attractive color and styling for a compact car.  It is the EX style of the Honda Civic class.  It only has 65,000 miles on it.  I attribute that to having used my '95 Nissan truck quite a bit over the past eight years as well.  That helped keep miles off my Civic.  Plus, not having a job to go to each day keeps miles off a car as well.  I have had a series of problems with this Honda Civic as of late.  The latest adventure was the ECT sensor had to be replaced.  The Civic's temperature display indicated it was running hot.  But, after checking under the hood, the car was not running hot at all.  It took some doing, but I finally convinced the Honda service rep there was something wrong.  The price tag to replace the ECT sensor was $426.  That isn't the catalyst for trading in the Honda Civic.  It's eight years old and it is becoming more and more difficult to get in and out of the car.  I am 6'1.  That made getting in this little car an adventure, as well as getting out.  I have a bad back as I have discussed several times here.  All in all, it's time for me to move on to something else.

That "something else" is going to be another Jeep.  I really miss that Jeep Liberty I had.  I didn't miss the gas mileage.  I feel I overreacted to the rising gas prices after Hurricane Katrina.  The Jeep I have in mind is the 2014 Jeep Cherokee.  I have built and rebuilt that SUV online about 50 times, I think.  I had originally thought about the beige color exterior.  But, I remember I had an '85 Ford Escort the same color.  No matter how much I washed that car, it still always looked dirty.  So, I am about to settle on either blue or red.  I'm leaning toward the red color.  The 2014 Jeep Cherokee, while not being a true Jeep Cherokee, is getting rave reviews around the world.  I love the front grill.  A lot of people hate it.  I don't understand why.  It looks really good to me.  People will probably ask why am I going to a Jeep with terrible gas mileage after having a Honda Civic with great gas mileage.  Well, the Honda Civic did have great mileage at one time.  But, the gas mileage keeps going down.  After this latest episode with the ECT sensor, it has gotten even worse.  I'm not going to take it back to have the Honda service department take another look at it.  I'm convinced they are not very competent.  I am taking the 2006 Honda Civic for one last drive on I-10 for about a 30 mile drive.  I will examine my gas mileage afterward.  If, as I suspect it will, the gas mileage is still not normal for a Honda Civic, then my decision will be made.  Time for a new vehicle.  It will be back to the future for me, a 2014 Jeep Cherokee.