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Car nuts thread ?


Poloturbo

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On 10/2/2020 at 6:05 AM, Carvin' Marvin said:

Nice, John, nice.  If you ever want to let her go I'll drive down to Den in a second.

I have another car for the winter and snowboarding (a Volvo wagon). I know the Acura isn't worth much of anything but it is in really good condition and I think it is one of the nicest looking cars ever made. Everytime I walk up to it I think to myself "that's a good-looking car". I should sell both cars & get one that satisfies all needs but its hard to let go of a car I've had for 17 years. 

If I do decide to pass it along, I'll keep you in mind. 

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On 10/6/2020 at 8:04 AM, JohnE said:

I have another car for the winter and snowboarding (a Volvo wagon). I know the Acura isn't worth much of anything but it is in really good condition and I think it is one of the nicest looking cars ever made. Everytime I walk up to it I think to myself "that's a good-looking car". I should sell both cars & get one that satisfies all needs but its hard to let go of a car I've had for 17 years. 

If I do decide to pass it along, I'll keep you in mind. 

The legend is one of the best cars made. Its just got that quintessential 90s Japanese look that I love.  We've been car payment-less for three years now and I've decided I'll do anything to keep from having another.  At this point I have huge respect for anyone keeping their car alive. I wish I had something to post here, but my two main rides are old subarus that I'm just trying to see how far they will go for science sake.

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On 10/8/2020 at 10:35 PM, Carvin' Marvin said:

The legend is one of the best cars made. Its just got that quintessential 90s Japanese look that I love.  We've been car payment-less for three years now and I've decided I'll do anything to keep from having another.  At this point I have huge respect for anyone keeping their car alive. I wish I had something to post here, but my two main rides are old subarus that I'm just trying to see how far they will go for science sake.

People get rid of cars for all kinds of lame reasons: "I sold it before it lost any more value", "It cost too much to repair" or they get tired of a car and start to neglect or abuse it. It starts to look and run poorly and they treat it even worse. A self-fulfilling prophecy. 

Cars last a very long time if they are taken care of. You take care of it, it takes care of you. They depreciate at a astounding rate. One of the best car values out there is a 4+ year old used car that has been well taken care of (and maybe with low miles). Let the original owner take the lion's share of the depreciation. 

I bought my Legend 17 years ago for $12k. It retailed for about $42k in 1995. I've put about 100k miles on it since then. Granted, I don't drive it in bad weather. It spends much of its life in the garage (but it is not a show car). I have put very little money into it in all of those years. I do most of the maintenance and repair myself. If I encounter a job that is above my skill level or tools, I take it to a trusted repair shop and I know pretty well what is involved. When I hear a noise or see something that is concerning, I take care of it before it becomes a real issue. It hasn't been restored. That's not worth it. It is a survivor. 

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Every car I use as a daily driver I get used. I price them out at 10 cents a mile or less. How do I come to that cost? I take 200,000 miles minus the mileage on the car I am looking to buy, and then divide by the price I will pay for the car. This means a car at 90k mileage I would buy at $11k or less, as example. 

In addition, I then move to full synthetic oil, and I use 10w40 Mobile 1. (On Amazon or from Walmart, I get it for $22.91 for a 5 quart jug)  What many don't understand is, due to MPG ratings, oil has been getting thinner and thinner each year for what cars are using. Since thicker oil takes more power to move through the engine, the manufacturers use thinner oil so as to get that extra 1 mpg for federal standards. The challenge is, this is at the cost of more wear in the engine itself. Since no one has any engine warranty past 120k mileage, it is OK for the car to start to burn oil at 190k. By switching to 10W40, many of the engines in the cars I then sell past 200k sound better than when I originally bought them. In June, I sold our 2008 Highlander Hybrid with 265k and it had absolutely no lifter noise or engine taps. It also didn't burn any oil at all or have any smoke.

I prefer the higher end cars myself. My wife drives an ML350 and I drive the Lexus 400H. Since both are older, our insurance is low, parts are now readily available and many are OEM now, and we still get to drive vehicles that even by today's standards are comfortable and modern. I also can do the work myself, and the lock in by the dealership or worry of voiding any warranty is long past expiration.

This probably only works for me, but this formula has been my rock to never needing to use my AAA Plus, except on my toy cars which I don't follow this model on. (A Triumph Spitfire or TVR will never be considered "reliable")

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My sister has an MGB. It’s cool and all but she only drives it on days where there’s no chance of rain. The top is just too much trouble. Whereas, as soon as the snow’s melted my Miata becomes my daily driver. The top goes up or down in 3 seconds and it actually keeps the rain out. They don’t make them like they used to, thank god.

And I get the wisdom of buying used, most of mine have been used. But there is just something special about buying new. Bought the Miata new, haven’t regretted it for a second. Plus if you are buying a sports car it is comforting to know that if anyone is going to drive the bag off it, it’s going to be you. 

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13 hours ago, TVR said:

comfortable and modern

Wow look at Mr Fancy over here 😉  Im hoping to score an older Lexus for a daily once one of my Subies gives up the ghost. Thanks for the oil tip.  Im going to try it in my 2000 Legacy (designed for 5w30).  Only issue with the motor is some piston slap while cold and it burns some oil (Subaru life).

Do you think it would be ok in a newer engine (2013,160,000 mi) that was designed for 0w20?  Economy isn't my main concern, but keeping the engine running healthy is.

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Engine oil grades overlap with different temperatures ranges up or down a grade can often still fit the situation depending on how closely you fit in the range. Synthetic oil does a better job of preventing deposit of sludge from building up Pulled my 2.5 @ 230000 due to head gasket breakdown ( dirty deposits in overflow bottle is the first indicator). Engine internals looked like new due to use of synthetic oil. Oil pan and splash shield were shinny metal unlike older engines i have rebuilt. Your oil consumption is due to the oil rings beginning to seize on the bottom of the piston Due to the horizontal design. will go for many miles more if you keep oil topped up and use thicker grade of oil. Piston slap in subarus only scare non subaru people and  as you state only when cold is nothing to worry about. I bought a used subaru that had a hole up through the block under the intake and running on three cylinders no antifreeze in it and oil spalshing out of the hole. it still started and drover onto the trailer and off again into the shop. I usually run 10-30 oil for 10000k and change filter at 5000 then top up oil. Havent blown one up yet ! Not a fan of longer life filters too many stories of plugged ones leading to gasket failure.

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9 hours ago, Neil Gendzwill said:

My sister has an MGB. It’s cool and all but she only drives it on days where there’s no chance of rain. The top is just too much trouble. Whereas, as soon as the snow’s melted my Miata becomes my daily driver. The top goes up or down in 3 seconds and it actually keeps the rain out. They don’t make them like they used to, thank god.

And I get the wisdom of buying used, most of mine have been used. But there is just something special about buying new. Bought the Miata new, haven’t regretted it for a second. Plus if you are buying a sports car it is comforting to know that if anyone is going to drive the bag off it, it’s going to be you. 

If you buy a new car and keep it for a long time the financial hit isn't as big. Also, a new car has no "story". 

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A “story” is something a collector would be more concerned about. Besides, in my experience you don’t get much story when you buy used, unless you count service records. Maybe if you’re buying something that was raced or otherwise notable, but mostly you’re just buying an old car. You mainly do that either to save money or get a model that is no longer available new. 

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On 9/22/2020 at 8:46 AM, JohnE said:

Wow Pat - did you just acquire that? Looks beautiful! Buying an older well-cared for used car can often be a real value. 

Its a '98 or '99?

Hi John - Sorry, I just saw your post.  Yep.  We just got it.  It's a 1999 and in showroom condition.

 

 

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Edited by patmoore
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47 minutes ago, queequeg said:

That's an outstanding bump in power for what I assume is basically just an ECU update!

Correct, no physical mods.  It just unleashes what's already there.  Rumor is Audi detunes the S cars so they don't compete with the RS models.

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5 hours ago, JohnE said:

Is this a turbo - 4? The hp went from what to what? Have you noticed that the fuel economy suffers (if you don't push it hard)?

Supercharged 3.0L V6. 333 to 433hp. Actually mileage is supposed to increase during normal driving. When driving like you stole it, not so much. Just got the chip today. 

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