Our 1999 Jimmy has been showing signs of aging lately. U-joints have been replaced, AGAIN. Brakes are making nice violin noises. Fuel pump went last month. The water pump went a few weeks later. Since its our only vehicle, we decided to go and get a reliable car (a second one). That’s exactly what we did this weekend.
We test drove the Honda CRV first. It was a nice drive (anything newer than our 11 year old car is a nicer drive). We happened to have torrential rain during the test drive, so it was a good opportunity to test the traction control, the anti-lock brakes. They all worked great. It didn’t have a lot of pickup when I needed it, but it was a nice drive. I told the sales rep that we were testing the RAV4 afterwards, and he only had one thing bad to say about that; they hatch opens outwards as opposed upwards with the CRV. A straight comparison of both cars, they’re pretty much similar. It just depends upon your preference. After a few hours of debate and testing, we decided on the…RAV4 4WD!!
Ben’s going to like it. It’s go 4 doors, so he’ll have his own entrance (unlike now, he’s got to crawl pass the front seat…the Jimmy is only a 2 door). I have nothing bad to say about the Jimmy. Mainly because we’re going to keep driving it until it won’t drive anymore…and hopefully that’s going to be a few more years 
Ironically, today, Ben climbed into the Jimmy by himself…UNASSISTED! I was putting his car seat back in, and when I turned around, he was pretty much in the back. No one was behind him to help. Mount Everest, here he comes!!