an 8 hour drive to look at a car, to possibly trade wasnt something I was intersted in. If it were local thats a different story. Also, I was never a big fan of the Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited because of problems with the electrical systems and trany problems. He also wanted like 3k on top plus I have to pay taxes and title stuff. So in the end, I would be putting around 5k out of pocket for a vehicle I wasnt too thrilled to have in the first place.
I did tell him if he sold his car and was still intersted in mine to give me a shout.
I'm not going to argue with you, but I live directly between you two so it wasn't an 8 hr drive, the Jeep has never had a problem and still has a full warranty, and the money difference was less than the any book value difference between vehicles. You also stated you wanted an SUV and he has a nice one.
No big deal, obviously this isn't going to happen but good luck with the sale.
-J