I actually found the truck I bought last week with just a couple days left on the auction and attempted to put in a bid on it, but something screwy happened.  I signed into my ebay account and clicked the box to stay logged in for one day, but a few hours later that evening when I clicked the bid button it took me to the log in page.  I always bid with about 20 seconds left, so I missed out on that one.  I was so aggravated I couldn’t stand myself, but Audra encouraged me to let it go.  Then 2 days later I got an email from ebay saying it had been relisted, and after emailing the seller he told me some kid put in a bid with his mom’s account so of course the sale didn’t go through.  Audra and I talked about it for a day, I called the seller and talked for a while about it, and then feeling good about what we were doing I hit the “buy it now”.

The next day I was in a rental car on my way to pick it up, excited and a bit nervous at the same time. I wasn’t nervous that I’d find a piece of junk, but I was a bit nervous that I was feeling so good about it. It turns out the truck was everything and more than I thought it would be. The guy really didn’t describe the vehicle well enough because it was just so nice and had more options than he listed. It’s a one owner vehicle and the guy used it for his highway commute, so the other seats have almost never been used and it shows. The driver seat is practically brand new too.  Buying it felt very good.

Initial impressions of the thing from the trip home are fantastic.  The ride is so fantastic, this is a road trip machine.  The AC is freezing cold, which is great because the Explorer never had the best air in the world.  The Explorer had a bit more pickup off the line, which I suspect is because it’s so much smaller, but aside from that this new engine is so much better.  The merging and passing power is great and it doesn’t have to work nearly as hard as the Explorer.  This truck is a 4×4, but even still my gas mileage doing 75-80 on the interstate was 19.5, which the Explorer would have only gotten about 17.  Off the interstate and doing 60 on the highway, I averaged 21.7 mpg.  Needless to say I was very happy, and in a bit of disbelief as well.  We used to drive a Ford Windstar that would have only managed 23-24 on the highway, and the Explorer would get 19, so I had no problems with what I got.

The kids are happy, I’m happy, and most important, the wife is happy.  The end.