Keep or trade in?

I've had the same two vehicles since 2005. My car is a 2003 Pontiac Vibe. It's basically GM's version of a Toyota Matrix. They're essentially the same car, but with a different shell and logo on the steering wheel. Great little wagon with All Wheel Drive that has been excellent in the winters of northern NH

I got the car when I came home from Iraq in early '05. It was my father's car that he bought new. I let my younger brother borrow my Kia Rio while I was away and he was in college. I had my heart set on buying a Jeep Wrangler. Always loved those vehicles! My father talked me out of it though. He was biased on one hand. He shared a couple stories with me about trips to Canada with my Uncle Rick, his older brother , and having to travel in that jeep with a broken heater in the middle of winter. That and he'd seen one of his co-workers have consistant problems with his Jeep.

I just knew I wanted either four wheel drive or all wheel drive, but I'm not a truck guy. Me in a pickup truck just didnt seem to fit, like knowing what kind of leather jacket or hat looks good on you. The pontiac was a good deal: I take over the payments, which actually equaled to what I would have paid had I bought it used. Plus, my old man takes care of his vehicles. My old man bought my Kia Rio for what it was worth and gave it to my little brother. Good deal all around... then I realized no one bought me a car when I was in college! First world gripes :)

The Vibe has been excellent to me. It runs great year 'round, awesome in the snow and doesn't kill me on gas. Only got about 106k miles on it, and since it's technically a Toyota (says so on the engine) I could run it for years. Overall it's been the right decision too. My car is so much more user friendly than a jeep would have been. And besides, if I bought a jeep, I probably never would have bought a motorcycle, since in my reasoning there'd be no point in owning a motorcycle if I had a 4x4 convertible. Now, my car is like a swiss army knife: it can do a lot of things pretty well, but it's not the kinda vehicle that's there to show off.

Now the motorcycle. The Honda VTX 1300s that I bought was the second bike I'd owned, the first being a smaller Kawasaki Vulcan 800with a chain drive that I wasn't thrilled with. All in all, I think I should have kept that bike, but I felt like I needed a bigger motor and gas tank.

Nearly 8 years later, the bike just feels right in so many ways. The ergonomics fit me perfectly for my stocky 5'10 frame. The center of gravity while riding it is perfect, and that big gas tank means a lot less stops at gas stations. I usually get around mid 45 mpg on it too, so I occasionally call it my hybrid. Also incredibly reliable. I'd test ridden other bikes, Harley Davidson, Yamaha, Kawasaki, but the Honda just felt right, plus Honda is known for reliability, where as Harley Davidson definitely not. One good point as well: my bike was built in Maryland, so I can throw that into any conversation with a Harley owner whose bike has just as many foreign parts as mine.

As much as I love my vehicles, I still like to look around. Funny thing is, I'd only replace my vehicles with clones of what I got now. Like a subaru type for the car and any decent cruiser for the motorcycle with a 5 gallon gas tank and either belt or shaft drive. Eight years is a long time to own any vehile though. Strangly enough, I could probably get eight more good years out of either vehicle, but more and more I feel it may be time to trade my reliable steeds in for new ones.

My parents never keep a car more than a couple years. They trade in vehicles often, and always seem to make a good deal on them. I've seen my old man trade in a Prius for a Diesel big cab pick truck, and have the dealership owe them money! I'm odd though, I get stay attached to inanimate objects. I still keep and use a generic backpack I bought during my one failed semester at Keene State College back in '97. Since then, that back pack carried uniforms to martial arts classes, books to culinary school, miscellaneous stuff while I was in Iraq, and my books for Paramedic school.

This could be the year though... some new rides possibly...