Danielsand
New Member
- Posts
- 574
- Location
- SoCal
I would NOT sell my wife's Hippo, for what we have in it. This is Southern California, where cars don't have rust (unless one drives in the surf, or lives on the ocean). We are good 1,5 hours away from the ocean. The car lived in the neighborhood with the original 75 year old owner.
We are about 4K USD in it, with 95K miles on the clock. There is NOTHING with ANY kind of 4x4 drivetrain on, one can buy in CA for that kind of money (except Hippos!).
I experienced the same issues with garages, as some of you stated. People are biased against the Hippo, and/or don't have a clue about it's built, issues, and systems. Most will not work on them. But I will! I owned two car dealerships in the past, I have MANY connections in the business still, and I am a kind of guy who doesn't have the word "impossible" in his vocabulary. Or did I mention that I LOVE a good challenge?
In short. We are planning to move North (out of CA) next spring. We will live on a huge horse ranch in the Continental Divide mountains, and we are "gearing" out vehicle pool for that (we had six cars recently, and we are down to four). The plan is to take only three up North. 06 Range Rover, 02 Hippo, and 95 GMC truck (used to pull the horse trailer, and as a ranch vehicle). We are also taking two motorcycles (K1200RS, and LC4), and our Cessna 210.
We will most likely never buy any other vehicle again.
Hippo will be a "grocery getter" in the mountains, RR will be family vehicle for the longer trips (e.g. accross the mountain range to Las Vegas), and for the West Coast trips we will use Cessna.
Hippo will provide MANY years of use, on the CHEAP. Why sell it? Even if the engine goes (again!), I have a spare engine and transmission. The rest is easy. Parts are available, and no repair cost can even come close to the expense of buying a new vehicle. Not only that,......once I'm done learning about this little critter, it will hold no secrets for me. Buying another "used" vehicle, WILL come with it's problems, and/or hidden issues by the previous owner! And the learning process would have to start again.
IF the vehicle meets one's needs, vehicle's age doesn't matter. Except for the people that "have to" impress someone, make a statement, or fall for the 'Johnson Syndrome' (need to have bigger, and better than the neighbor, or at least match them). When you live on 1100 acres of your land, there is nobody around to compete with, or to "impress".
We are about 4K USD in it, with 95K miles on the clock. There is NOTHING with ANY kind of 4x4 drivetrain on, one can buy in CA for that kind of money (except Hippos!).
I experienced the same issues with garages, as some of you stated. People are biased against the Hippo, and/or don't have a clue about it's built, issues, and systems. Most will not work on them. But I will! I owned two car dealerships in the past, I have MANY connections in the business still, and I am a kind of guy who doesn't have the word "impossible" in his vocabulary. Or did I mention that I LOVE a good challenge?
In short. We are planning to move North (out of CA) next spring. We will live on a huge horse ranch in the Continental Divide mountains, and we are "gearing" out vehicle pool for that (we had six cars recently, and we are down to four). The plan is to take only three up North. 06 Range Rover, 02 Hippo, and 95 GMC truck (used to pull the horse trailer, and as a ranch vehicle). We are also taking two motorcycles (K1200RS, and LC4), and our Cessna 210.
We will most likely never buy any other vehicle again.
Hippo will be a "grocery getter" in the mountains, RR will be family vehicle for the longer trips (e.g. accross the mountain range to Las Vegas), and for the West Coast trips we will use Cessna.
Hippo will provide MANY years of use, on the CHEAP. Why sell it? Even if the engine goes (again!), I have a spare engine and transmission. The rest is easy. Parts are available, and no repair cost can even come close to the expense of buying a new vehicle. Not only that,......once I'm done learning about this little critter, it will hold no secrets for me. Buying another "used" vehicle, WILL come with it's problems, and/or hidden issues by the previous owner! And the learning process would have to start again.
IF the vehicle meets one's needs, vehicle's age doesn't matter. Except for the people that "have to" impress someone, make a statement, or fall for the 'Johnson Syndrome' (need to have bigger, and better than the neighbor, or at least match them). When you live on 1100 acres of your land, there is nobody around to compete with, or to "impress".
