Sidelining the 31-year-old Trooper Orphan

[BonzaiDuck]

The Crown replaced the Avalon. The last year was 2022. They are a bit large for me. I've never been a sedan enthusiast either, it's just good comfortable transportation.
I used to drive compacts, even has a Corolla once. I do know what you mean by cramped. That, and my Protege never seemed cramped, until I got the Camry. I could never go back now.

The Rav4 is on a Camry chassis now, I think it could have a good ride, but they all come with low profile tires now sadly. Ruins the ride on the roads around here.

And don't be too sure about your time left. My Grandma is 98 (99 very soon), she still lives on her own, and drives daily. Just gave up golf a couple years ago.

After the misery I've been going through with news of my only surviving brother's health, you have inspired me with the story of your Grandma. My own sweet Moms passed away at 98 and a half, October 2023. Watching her slowly deteriorate put some sort of fear of God or aspect of it into me. I think of it as an accomplishment in my own survival while caregiving for Moms. And she stopped driving in 2005.

That's interesting about the RAV4 chassis. Where do you live that the roads ride less pleasantly under that type of tire?

With the Trooper, the money sunk into it this year is not a major loss compared to the transfer of assets into the new RAV4. But I want to see a light at the end of the tunnel, rather than discover that I'm somehow trying to recoup sunk cost which I might more wisely just let go. If it continues to run well, I'll feel comfortable keeping it.

Collecting all the news stories and the history of the vehicle, it had also been part of my subtle "in-your-face" statement about car culture. See, I may have enjoyed the experience of reading and even seeing firsthand Tom Wolfe's description of Southern California American Car Culture in "Kandy Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby," but I'd come up in a world in which I felt pressured to spend more and more on my rides. Thus I stuck with the Trooper and administered my spreadsheet about it.

My attitude in general with my grown affection for the car should be tempered by thinking twice about putting any more money into it. This has gone too far. At least, that thought will persist as I continue to keep and maintain it.

 

[Hans Gruber]

After the misery I've been going through with news of my only surviving brother's health, you have inspired me with the story of your Grandma. My own sweet Moms passed away at 98 and a half, October 2023. Watching her slowly deteriorate put some sort of fear of God or aspect of it into me. I think of it as an accomplishment in my own survival while caregiving for Moms. And she stopped driving in 2005.

That's interesting about the RAV4 chassis. Where do you live that the roads ride less pleasantly under that type of tire?

With the Trooper, the money sunk into it this year is not a major loss compared to the transfer of assets into the new RAV4. But I want to see a light at the end of the tunnel, rather than discover that I'm somehow trying to recoup sunk cost which I might more wisely just let go. If it continues to run well, I'll feel comfortable keeping it.

Collecting all the news stories and the history of the vehicle, it had also been part of my subtle "in-your-face" statement about car culture. See, I may have enjoyed the experience of reading and even seeing firsthand Tom Wolfe's description of Southern California American Car Culture in "Kandy Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby," but I'd come up in a world in which I felt pressured to spend more and more on my rides. Thus I stuck with the Trooper and administered my spreadsheet about it.

My attitude in general with my grown affection for the car should be tempered by thinking twice about putting any more money into it. This has gone too far. At least, that thought will persist as I continue to keep and maintain it.

The 2026 RAV4 is an all new design. It comes standard now as a hybrid.

 

[WilliamM2]

That's interesting about the RAV4 chassis. Where do you live that the roads ride less pleasantly under that type of tire?

Michigan. Lots of potholes, like most freeze/thaw cycle states.
Low profile tires never ride as smooth over any road imperfections (seams, rr tracks. etc). It's just physics.
They will corner better, but like I said, family sedans and SUVs are not sports cars.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Michigan. Lots of potholes, like most freeze/thaw cycle states.
Low profile tires never ride as smooth over any road imperfections (seams, rr tracks. etc). It's just physics.
They will corner better, but like I said, family sedans and SUVs are not sports cars.

Now I understand "where you're comin' from". At least the standard tires on the RAV4s look more like the older cars I'm used to and not the more extreme examples of what you describe.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

PROGRESS
Do you want to hear today's story?

The Trooper will come back tomorrow or Wednesday. But I have to move forward.

On Saturday, I reserved a rental at Enterprise. I was going to have this vehicle to get groceries and visit dealerships, and I figured I'd rent it from Monday (today) until Friday. Pleasantly surprised that Enterprise is reasonably priced, even with the insurance extras. The bill was going to be about $450.

I arranged a meet-up with the Toyota sales rep about four blocks down the street from Enterprise. Everything is in proximity with our Auto Center here -- dealerships, rental agencies, the entire enchilada.

I had told the sales rep on the phone and in e-mail that I wanted the "Blue-Print" metal flake blue paint, but those were all sold. I couldn't get Woodland Green, either -- very rare. It was going to be Silver Sky Metallic. The Hybrid LE AWD.

I got what I asked for. The price was the TSRP shown on their web-page inventory. I wasn't going to get it for less. Not at CARMAX, certainly not Hertz, Avis, Enterprise. I don't want to talk about the check I wrote. We're past all that.

I have now been able to enter my Toyota account, and pleasantly discovered I can download the 584-page owner's manual in PDF format. Been there, did that, done that!

Tomorrow I contact my insurer and add the vehicle to my policy. Further, I got the "trial" account with Been Verified, downloading the full report on my vehicle. All very satisfied. The six-year table of expected costs of ownership was very revealing, and some of the numbers reassuring.

I'm not going to curse the 21st century and its cars. At first, I thought this thing was daunting. But if I downloaded the Owner's Manual and got this far, I'm still the crusty old sharpie I had always thought I was. Don't count me out -- I've still got some bullets!

So like the MASK MAN says in the Lennie Bruce "Thank you, Mask Man" cartoon which you can watch on YouTube -- "Hi Ho-o-o-ooo!" But let me say this: I don't want that ol' In-jun Tonto there to participate in a natural act. I'm not a GAY Mask Man!

I'm just a fuggin' OLD Mask Man!

 

[lxskllr]

Enjoy!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

MINOR AND HARMLESS EXCUSES

Let's review what I've learned so far myself, from dealer sales reps and financial, legal and other important staff. I've learned from other RAV4 owners.

However, the latest enlightenment I've received thus far came from a Triple-A / AAA insurance assistant or agent. Yvette was her name, and she had a 2020 RAV4.

Aaaa-AND! SHE says that she hasn't used more than 30% of the wonderful shit on her RAV4's instrument cluster and center console.

Yvette was very helpful in the insurance and billing areas, and I've E-Checked the insurance payment pro-rata adding the RAV4 -- $208 dollars, expiring in early March. I would venture that she didn't forge through those manuals, or that she just "figured stuff out" to build an inventory of well-figured stuff.

I suppose one could take both approaches simultaneously. Better, you could just guess how combinations of features would lend themselves to a well-figured resolution.

Ya see, I have to go to the CVS Pharmacy and pick up my drugs. I did finally call them to ask for delivery, and they are expected. The Trooper has the garage door and community gate controllers. I can just punch in five characters, and the gate opens without the remote. To live without the controller when I need to back out the new car, I must open the garage door from the wall fixture of the regular walk in entrance from behind the front gate. Then back the car out , park the car, get out and go through the gate to close the garage roll-down, exit and lock the gate, get in the car and buzz off.

I'd just as soon wait until the Trooper comes back.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

THE FINAL VERDICT
I have tallied all the damage. I spent $1,539 more on the RAV4 than I'd planned as a chosen maximum. I spent an additional $600 on the Trooper because it needed a rebuilt alternator.

Added insurance costs after the RAV4 purchase were $208 until next March 2026, when the policy renewal will be $300 less than I estimated with AAA's help this last July, using RAV4 2022 VIN numbers as proxy for the new vehicle.

I will have just what I need to pay my Federal and State taxes. I will make it through 12 months without my Social Security -- which pays my IRMAA surcharge on Medicare B premiums because I sold the house in 2024. That leaves me with about the same disposable income I had in December, 2024, since it was only two months after that when the FAIR Act adjustments kicked in, giving me a $400 boost in net social security monthly deposits.

Everything should be wonderful. I'll get by just fine, with a new car and a "used" car with no near-term repair prospects.

And! AND! Of the money I drew from my Merrill-Lynch portfolio to buy the RAV4, I can kick back about $6,000 of what remains. AND! I don't have a car mortgage. How am I worse off for this? No change in much of anything except owing the IRMAA surcharges.

But I have to read the Toyota books.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

MAKING THE TRANSITION

So my friends, who all drive 21st century vehicles are chiding me now. "Stop driving the Trooper! Drive the RAV4!" So tomorrow I will take the RAV4 out to make my walk in the park. I have to make myself do it.

I've learned how to open the hood and the rear hatch door. Familiarized myself with the instrument cluster. Dispelled my fear there were too many buttons and dials on the dashboard -- because -- there weren't.

What I now need to do is get into the "Home" screen on the RAV4's display and find the "Music" icon, then plug in my FAT32 USB drive and prove I can easily play my music library. The other thing i need to do is be familiar with the navigation feature.

But if I can just play my music, I will be more eager to drive the new ride.

Meanwhile! The repairs to the old Trooper seem to be perfect. The alternator charges to 14v, the idiot lights on the dashboard stay off (unless I set the parking brake) but the charge light doesn't go on. The transmission performs robustly. Everything is wonderful.

Now, at this point, I would ask myself or you might ask "Why did you buy the new RAV4 hybrid?" My answer is probably the same as that of anyone you see driving around in a vehicle older than two decades. I don't want to exclusively depend on a vehicle with 210,000 odometer miles, even if it seems like I can get another 50,000 or 100,000. And -- I had been planning on buying a new vehicle for (vaguely) ten years, (more concretely) five years, and after my cash-out of real-estate -- two years.

I don't think I've done anything foolish. I'm 78. I could be dead in 5. But I have to have wheels as long as I can drive them.

 

[NutBucket]

It's not an easy thing. My folks are about your age and their vehicles are about a decade old. I cannot imagine trying to get either of them "comfortable" in a newer car with buttons for everything, screens, etc.
Luckily it's highly likely their vehicles will serve them well until they can no longer use them.

 

[evident]

First off kudos to you for being an awesome poster and updating us with your saga. You're the same age as my parents.

They recently threw the towel in on their 1996 Camry , 2005 Accord and bought a brand spanking new RAV4 and UX300H. It's gonna take a LOOONG time for them to get adjusted to all the features. like you, they simply wanted peace of mind and the small issues that were piling up stressed them out way too much.

 

[NutBucket]

Wow. That is a massive plunge there. I assume they are fairly tech savvy?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Wow. That is a massive plunge there. I assume they are fairly tech savvy?

His parents had upper-tier vehicles that were variously 29 years and 20 years old, respectively. I call that "discipline". Two married people -- two cars.

Essentially they continued a loyalty to Toyota or a Toyota Lexus subsidiary or spin-off.

On a per-person basis, if they can afford those cars, it was a wise decision for people in their sunset years.

 

[NutBucket]

Well yes, but I just meant the operational differences...touch screens, keyless entry, etc. My folks would HATE it.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm a thoroughly tech kinda guy since 1982. After I stopped teaching and working, I just built desktops for myself, friends and family. When Smartphones made their debut around 2010, I was slow to catch up -- starting with an I-phone and exchanging it for an Android. I do a lot of things "around the house" with Android, like keep a tablet on my patio to watch TV out their, rain or shine. I use them for viewing my robotic security cameras.

In my old Trooper, I augmented the 20th-century vehicle with 21st century features like voice-nav and voice recognition, rear-view night-vision and integration with a very large music library on a 64GB FAT32 San Disk stubby drive.

I could understand how the 21st century automobiles might confuse people my age or older. I'm FREAKIN' WEARY of it all myself!

So -- I met my major goal or objective that makes me eager evermore to drive the RAV4. Today, I listened to the famous Bernstein-Previn NY Philharmonic recording of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", then Alicia de LaRocha playing Albeniz' "Iberia", Van Halen with "You're No Good", "Dirty Movies" and "Mean Street", followed by Dizzy Gillespie and his vibraphonist Milt Jackson.

Then my handyman called my cellphone, and I suddenly realized I was all "set up" and active for "hands free calling" without reading the Owner's Manual. Holy Shit! "Tony! Your voice is coming in through the RAV4! I got hands-free calling!" He wasn't as surprised as I was.

 

[sdifox]

Your Trooper is as old as Gismo J

 

[Greenman]

Well yes, but I just meant the operational differences...touch screens, keyless entry, etc. My folks would HATE it.

I get that. I got over gadgets in cars 25 years ago. Cars need heat and AC, a radio is nice if you drive a lot.
My wife's car has all that stupid crap and it does nothing for me. The only reason I bought it is because it was a really good deal.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I get that. I got over gadgets in cars 25 years ago. Cars need heat and AC, a radio is nice if you drive a lot.
My wife's car has all that stupid crap and it does nothing for me. The only reason I bought it is because it was a really good deal.

I get that. I understand. But my persistence in getting a "mobile concert-hall" in my old ride defined my habits and spoiled me. Now I find that the new car does everything I want, and particularly in using my USB flash drive and music collection. I only need to get familiar with AC and heating before I can take this puppy on an 800-mile round-trip.

The Trooper has Polk-Audio tri-ax speakers in front and DS18 bullet speakers in back -- surround sound, more or less. The RAV4 only has stereo, but it's "good enough"!! In some ways -- better.

It wasn't the car purchase which inspired a bit of financial panic with me in recent weeks, but home repair and prospect of temporary loss of SS payments for the IRMAA surcharges after the 2024 home sale. I'll be alright. After all, my gasoline budget should drop from $200/mo to $60/month. It's going to be OK!

My cousin and housemate was concerned about our clothes dryer making "noise". I checked it out -- it's old -- it always made those noises. I had a guy come out and diagnose it for $100. It's fine -- "Just old!" he said. I was preparing to buy a new one, but I see it can wait. He took it apart; cleaned it; put it back together. Then, I dried my change of clothes. A new dryer of known reliability and longevity should cost me no more than $800. I can put it off as long as the old one works properly!

 

[evident]

Wow. That is a massive plunge there. I assume they are fairly tech savvy?

Not tech savvy at all lol. They enjoy the ride and the backup camera and skip everything else. I think Mr bonzaiduck is probably an order of magnitude or 2 more tech savy then my parents.

 

[jmagg]

I have warmed up on new car features after initial denial. Blind side alerts are good and reverse camera/radar comes in handy in parking lots. Really radar et all is generally beneficial since you cant opt out anyway. Large screen GPS is also great for exit lane selection.

 

[NutBucket]

Not tech savvy at all lol. They enjoy the ride and the backup camera and skip everything else. I think Mr bonzaiduck is probably an order of magnitude or 2 more tech savy then my parents.

Interesting. Sounds like my folks then.

And yes, I agree Mr. BonzaiDuck is doing very well with tech.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Interesting. Sounds like my folks then.

And yes, I agree Mr. BonzaiDuck is doing very well with tech.

For both you and Evident! I always thought I was way ahead from the 1980s when I really came on-board with "microcomputers". And I said before, the Smartphone craze probably arrived after 2007 when the first I-phone was released. I put it closer to 2010. But I had no enthusiasm for it, or not enough. So I fell behind.

Now it is true that I've built all of my computers to the present day, but for an LG Gram laptop I bought with the $1,500 stimulus check (I'm sure folks remember!)

The nexus of all this goes back to 2019, when I first upgraded my old Trooper with a dash-mounted tablet, a rear-view night-vision camera, and a cassette-deck add-on device that looks like a tape and has a little bar with buttons to control it. It's called an "i-TAPE" and can be found on Amazon for $25. This is the USB-powered BT receiver that works with the dash-mounted tablet. For redundancy, I have another Chinese device that fits in a cigar-lighter, but which I separately wired and installed in the center console, such that it appears to be a second radio with dials, buttons, switches. This is an MP3 player that communicates with the digital receiver via FM on a specific channel.

So I've been pretty good about finding uses for mobile devices like my cellphone and tablets.

Now what I have to come up to speed for, is the voice communication with the new RAV4 and the cloud-based navigation feature. With the Trooper, Google Maps had to rely on map downloads from the household LAN to operate without internet on the road, or otherwise use my cellphone for a mobile hotspot. But the RAV4 has its own internet connection, and the navigation feature is based on data in the Cloud.

These are the last two things I need to master. Not sure if it's going to be easy.

But overall, I'm weary about "learning new tech" stuff. I'm just getting old. I wonder what other people do when they buy these new cars, unless their previous was so recent that they've totally familiarized themselves with technology of the recent five or ten years.

 

[JulesMaximus]

A friend in Oceanside with his wife had a 2007 Hyundai Tucson. I'd ridden in it several times, the paint was unmarred and not oxidized, and interior clean. Of course, that's an 18-year-old ride, and they took $1,000 in trade-in value to buy a 2024 Kia Sportage gas-engine for $20,000. They DID get AWD with that.

When the Trooper comes back -- and it will -- I can either exercise pent-up-demand behavior, or take more time to finalize a choice.

My brother doesn't advise buying a BEV. But he is now on board with a Hybrid or even PHEV when he had previously leaned toward exclusively ICE. He also inclines toward AWD, even as my domicile is in So Cal, and I had agreed with that all along. I may continue to consider BEV, but without great enthusiasm at this time.

Back to the RAV4 Hybrid LE -- particularly 2025 models but the 2024 vehicles may have the same or similar paint codes. A real stunner is "Ruby Flare Pearl". Next to that and just a bit brighter and sparkly compared to my 95 Trooper's Bronze Blue Pearl is the "Blueprint". After that, the Magnetic Gray Metallic doesn't inspire a lot of attention, which may be a positive feature. Certainly the Ruby red attracts too much attention from either prospective thieves or the CHP and Sheriff Buford. The Gray is low profile, but I certainly like that Blueprint.

Again, the BEV versus Hybrid choice is still subject to the classic capital budgeting analysis and speculated technical and market lifespan in a comparison to Hybrid. I'm just not sure about that comparison, but logically I might think it better to abjure gasoline altogether. Could I get a good trade-in on an EV, or when would I still be able to do it? There's a question.

Funny. I live in Oceanside.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Funny. I live in Oceanside.

I know you see the same things that I do, then. First, I can say "It's a small world." Second, I can say it's a crowded world for all those red-tile Mac Mansions and condo buildings on the hillsides between Riverside and your location. I remember when I was 12 or 13 years old, and my Moms piled us into the car to go see where Earl Stanley Gardner lived. That was Temecula then -- just a little small town with a celebrity rep. And now?!

Oceanside has its attractions, I cannot deny. I think the weather would be better than it is up here.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I know you see the same things that I do, then. First, I can say "It's a small world." Second, I can say it's a crowded world for all those red-tile Mac Mansions and condo buildings on the hillsides between Riverside and your location. I remember when I was 12 or 13 years old, and my Moms piled us into the car to go see where Earl Stanley Gardner lived. That was Temecula then -- just a little small town with a celebrity rep. And now?!

Oceanside has its attractions, I cannot deny. I think the weather would be better than it is up here.

I love it here. We have lived here since 1997.