DEFEND YOUR RIDE: Kelly At Big Dog Coffee

Q: Welcome to Defend Your Ride Pittsburgh, Kelly. Neat Jeep! Looks ideal for road trips?

A: I go home to visit my parents. They live in Lower Burrell, so it's about a 45-minute drive. I take day trips and weekend trips. I'm doing a lot of weekend trips. I have a lot of friends from college who live on the other side of the state, so I go there a lot. My car is a great companion for those trips.

Q: Where is "the other side of the state" exactly?

A: Dallas, Pennslvania.

Q: Ah, so let's talk about rules. Do you have any rules in your car?

A: No smoking! And you have to have your seatbelt buckled. Those are my two rules. You can eat and drink in my car. That is one of my favorite things to do. I love those activities!

Q: Any rules about the radio? Can passengers pick the music?

A: My passengers can pick things. It does bother me a little if you have never asked for permission to change the station and then you just think you can, especially if we're not really friends. Like, let's say I met you through a friend and I'm just taking you home and you decide to change the radio without asking. Know what I mean? Or if it's on a CD and then you change it to the radio, I think that's even more ballsy than just changing the radio!

Q: I totally understand. Where did you originally get your car? Did you buy it new?

A: It was a journey. My brother needed a car. My dad said, "You can give your car to your brother and you can get a new car." So I traded my car in to my dad, probably at a lower resale value, and then I put that money toward my car.

Q: Ha! What made you pick a Jeep?

A: I wanted to get an SUV because I recently moved to Beechview. Whenever I was looking at houses out there, I wanted one with a driveway. But when I bought my house, I didn't test the driveway out. My car ended up dragging on it. So I needed a vehicle with a higher clearance. An SUV was the only thing. The Jeep was the most affordable. The sales people were very nice.

Q: So you had a car before and switched to an SUV. How do they compare?

A: My parents always had SUVs when I was growing up. Just driving theirs, I've always liked being higher up. The one thing that I've found though, is that I can't see my frontend because it's blunt, whereas it's more sloped with a car. With a car, I could see better where I was parking. Sometimes I think I'm very close to things when I'm actually not. Then I have to repark.

Q: Other than the reparks, any fun stories to share?

A: I had my friend's son in the car. He's in first grade. He's in the backseat and he says to me, "Hey Kelly, what is this thing on the door?" I turn my head and saw what he was talking about. So I said, "That's the thing you use to make the window go up and down." He just gasped and said, "Ohhh, I've never seen one of these before!" He was really amazed by it. For the whole car ride, he just kept winding it up and down, up and down.

Q: Cute. OK, so last question. What do you think your next car will realistically be?

A: I think I'll stay with a Jeep. I like to support American-made companies. That's another reason why I went with Jeep. My family has always been a Chevrolet family, so it was hard for me to change. But I actually love my Jeep. I don't think I would ever go to anything else.

Photos and interview by Sarah Beth Martin

View previous Defend Your Ride features as well as other great stories for people who love cars at CBSPittsburgh.com/Autos.