Out of Steam
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2017
- Messages
- 1,685
We're just a few months into retirement, having moved away from our old home this year. I've always been comfortable with long-distance driving (up to 500 miles one-way), and we have taken several road trips this fall.
This week's trip was just punishing, even though we were less than 300 miles from home. Weather and traffic were both OK. Having moved away from the Northeast Corridor, highway speeds are much faster on trips to the south, often over 75 mph. Both road noise and ride quality (too soft/floaty) were issues, and I ended up limiting my speed to about 70 mph. The only vehicles I passed were box trucks and boat trailers.
My current car is a 2015 Subaru Legacy with just over 120K miles; the tires have about 40K, and look like they could go another 20-25K. I've never loved the ride, but found it well-suited to my old commute, and had planned to keep it about two more years. Our adult daughter has always found this Subaru quease-inducing.
I certainly didn't plan to buy a car in my first year of retirement, and am concerned that a more comfortable replacement would be $30K plus, even a couple of years old. I'm not sure I like our current car enough to spend money on tire/strut/suspension changes for comfort reasons. Renting a newer/quieter, perhaps luxury, vehicle for our next road trip seems like a reasonable thing to try.
Though I'm not really sure it's a car issue, perhaps it's anxiety or environmental sensitivity instead. I rejected an otherwise-suitable house during our pre-move search because of a low hum from an industrial area not far away, which my wife didn't notice at all.
Has anyone else had a sudden change in attitude towards driving at retirement? Or am I feeling an entry in the Blow that Dough thread coming on?
This week's trip was just punishing, even though we were less than 300 miles from home. Weather and traffic were both OK. Having moved away from the Northeast Corridor, highway speeds are much faster on trips to the south, often over 75 mph. Both road noise and ride quality (too soft/floaty) were issues, and I ended up limiting my speed to about 70 mph. The only vehicles I passed were box trucks and boat trailers.
My current car is a 2015 Subaru Legacy with just over 120K miles; the tires have about 40K, and look like they could go another 20-25K. I've never loved the ride, but found it well-suited to my old commute, and had planned to keep it about two more years. Our adult daughter has always found this Subaru quease-inducing.
I certainly didn't plan to buy a car in my first year of retirement, and am concerned that a more comfortable replacement would be $30K plus, even a couple of years old. I'm not sure I like our current car enough to spend money on tire/strut/suspension changes for comfort reasons. Renting a newer/quieter, perhaps luxury, vehicle for our next road trip seems like a reasonable thing to try.
Though I'm not really sure it's a car issue, perhaps it's anxiety or environmental sensitivity instead. I rejected an otherwise-suitable house during our pre-move search because of a low hum from an industrial area not far away, which my wife didn't notice at all.
Has anyone else had a sudden change in attitude towards driving at retirement? Or am I feeling an entry in the Blow that Dough thread coming on?