We decided to hold off for a little bit and instead, pay everything off and keep going with the GTI, W212, and 2013 Highlander. Get the financial house of cards in a better position and then replace the Highlander with something nice, another 3 row SUV. Wife sideswiped my dad’s minivan this Christmas in the driveway, so I think she’s trying to tell me something...

Whatever we end up with for her - you can bet it will have ALL of the parking assist features known to mankind.

we looked at the new GLE, but the rake of the back glass doesn’t work for us. Too steep and prevents a large boxy item to be carried in it (like our travel crate for our Labrador retriever). She liked the previous style of the GL(S), but we both liked the new interior of the new GLS. However, as hard as we are on an SUV, it felt a little out of place for us, almost guilty feeling to have something so nice knowing our kids will cover it in chicken nuggets and dog hair. So we decided to fix the Highlander (aka the “booger bucket”) and take it to 150k miles (currently 120k).

end of the day, I struggled with parting with the GTI and E350 for an amount of money that couldn’t buy me a Honda Accord. The VW is at 50k miles and the E is 46k. I’m going to fix a few things on the E and keep on cruising in it. New motor mounts, new fluids, and a new seat cushion insert for the drivers seat. My fix from a couple of years ago has held up quite well, still very comfortable, but have started to notice after about 4 hours of seat time, those wires are poking me again in the legs. End of the day, the previous owner must’ve been a big boy. The passenger side (hardly ever used) is perfectly comfortable. Just going to replace the cushion with a new one.

 

I have parktronic on W212 but the thing annoys more than helps. We have car lift in other space in double garage, so drive in with 2-4" of clearance. Parktronic beeps constantly all the way.
On other hand I have 360 cameras on my dually. Those are amazing, especially on vehicle of this size.

 

I like those 360 cameras! For her, she just needs the beep sensors to get her attention and stop to look again. Tapping the minivan (rear ¼ panels) was an honest mistake - trying to do too many things at once (take dog to vet, had kid in the car, minivan usually not here, etc).

I really love the looks of the previous GLE, but my financial self awareness (which took 46 years to arrive) just tells me it’s not the right move right now. Wouldn’t be bad, but I’d be back to one car putting 20k a year on it. Two let’s me split that and slow down the cycle.

my E is now 6 years old. Hard to believe when you look at it and drive it (same for all E’s). I figured after 6 years, $1,500 or so invested to reverse a few aged items to bring it back to new feeling, is money wise at this point, especially considering the 10k/year aspect that I’ll drive it.