The Death of the Urban Assault Vehicle

In 2000, we bought a brand new Toyota Sequoia to replace our old 4Runner.  The 4Runner was too small for us - it wouldn't pull our new tent trailer, and with 2 growing kids and a dog, family trips were seriously cramped.  The Sequoia met our needs perfectly.

In time, we camped, went on ski trips, surf trips, and road trips all over the place.  Erik was 8 when we got the Sequoia, and Lindsey was 4.  Aside from the family trips and adventures, I've used the Sequoia as a base camp for climbing in the Sierras, transported bikes all over the place for great rides, taken the kids to karate tournaments, used it with our Sasaki Kenpo team for Ragnar Relay ultra marathons, mud runs..... We called it the Urban Assault Vehicle.  It was perfect.

The UAV hit 300,000 miles in 2014 on a trip to San Diego

Three years ago, my daughter, just learning to drive, was involved in an accident, and the UAV was totalled.  I kept the vehicle, and I rebuilt it.  For a while, I thought the Urban Assault Vehicle was indestructible.  Friday night, I learned it wasn't.  The passenger side upper ball joint failed, resulting in the right front wheel becoming disconnected from the rest of the suspension.  That's a catastrophic failure..  Luckily, I was not driving fast.  Had I been driving at highway speed, it may very well have been a fatal accident, and could have involved other vehicles.

It's hard, but after fifteen years and 311,000 miles it's time for the UAV to go.  It's simply not worth repairing the vehicle.  Rationally, it's an easy decision.  Emotionally, we have so many great memories, from so many great adventures in that car that letting it go is really tough.

  

When the bikes in the car are worth more than the car

So now, the question - what do we replace such an awesome vehicle with?

Meet the new UAV, Jr.:

2015 Suburu Outback 3.6R