So after owning sports cars for years..
I have always had the yearning for a good off-road vehicle.. 
Well... the car was run over by a tanker truck Feb. 6th...
and with a tiny new addition to the family.. (6month old daughter)... and the wife's request for a 4-door.. I turned to Jeep...I've seen them in action.. driven many.. father owns a CJ-7.
...so the hunt began...
a month later and having stared at enough used jeeps to drive ANYONE insane...
I set 2 papers in front of the wife...2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited Hemi (FULLY Loaded) 93K miles, $15,500... in our city of residence
OR
2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland CRD (FULLY loaded and THEN some more!) 81K miles, $29,000 (closest CRD I could find)... 651 miles away...
after 4 days of convincing her to at least give me a shot at the CRD... we had no other choice, lol... the HEMI was sold the previous day.. lol
So we drive from Amarillo to San Antonio... I arrive to see something OTHER than what was "advertised"... -_-... grrr
but it is fixable... so after a THOROUGH inspection.. I take it for a spin... they had informed me that the glow plugs for cylinders 1&4 had stripped ports in the heads.. easy fix.. heli coils... but the dealer is not authorized to perform such a repair.. JUST before I pull back into the lot.. LIMP MODE!...
lol.... so I ask if I can pop the hood and take a wrench to it.. 
they looked at me funny.. said "..uhh... okay?"The genius who had worked on it at the dealer never put the bolts back in the ERG valve!!
So after some handy work and showing my knowledge of the vehicle... we discuss price.. after the vehicle sat on their lot for over 160 days and no one wanting it because of the glow plug issue... and having worked my magic on the engine... the original price of $29,000 was lowered to a WHOPPING!! $16,000!!!
...the wife could not resist all the gizmos and the fact that we were over $10K on top of the vehicle value without paying a dime!
(father-in-law suggested I fix it and flip it around to make a killer profit... but this thing is not leaving my ownership till its DEAD! lol)
LOVE the forum here... gave me an OVERLOAD of intel before heading down to make my decision... so thanks to all who posted.. hope I can return the favor over the next few years...