OnTheReel

Next move will be killing it off in the US a second time due to “poor sales”. I admit there’s already a narrow market for that configuration, but only offering it with one engine, in one trim level hurts it even more.

I usually do at least a little sound treatment on all my vehicles. For the Ram it was the back side of the doors and and the cab back wall. Wanted to cut the drone a little and make the doors close with a more solid “thud”. SoundSkins Pro is a great product. Followed up with 3M Acoustic Thinsulate. On this Jeep I’ll probably do the doors and that’s it. It’s very quiet as it is but could be a little better.

Presumably it has plastic wheel well liners. You could pull them down and apply sound deadening to the back sides of them. My Ram has that done from factory. Sheets of MLV can also be a miracle worker when laid under the carpet. But it’s a huge job. I’m not sure why Hondas are so loud but that’s been my experience too. They just seem unrefined compared to my GM and Mopars. Never mind the VW. That thing is like a tomb.

I hear ya. I still like a little driving engagement these days. Doesn’t need to be at TRX or 442 levels but I try not to buy anything too boring. Because I know I won’t keep something like that very long and my wife will get pissed at me playing musical cars again. At any rate…the Jeep I looked at today is a keeper and followed me home. Maybe you can’t always go by appearances alone but the one that looked horrible also drove horribly compared to this one. No coincidence, I’m sure. This one starts faster, rides better, clutch feels smoother, and just runs like a new car should. It’s actually unbelievable how different two vehicles of basically identical make, model, age and mileage can be. Everything clean, tidy and in order. Inside, outside and underneath. Came with records of oil changes every 4 to 5,000 miles and a nice fresh set of Michelins. It’s your typical “old man owned car” and that’s what I was looking for. I’ve driven it a bunch already today and can’t come up with anything to fault it on. It does NOT seem to need them but I have NGK ruthenium plugs to install, and HPL EC to run through it with cheap Farm and Fleet synthetic. After that I’ll bring it onto my normal maintenance / oil change regimen. HPL Premium Plus and Fram Ultra should work well. Would like to do Red Line in the trans and diff before winter but I would also like my wallet to recover ASAP! Wasn’t gonna finance something like this in the current environment so I have to cool it a bit now and get back to work!

Good thing you’re a Texas guy because as I see it, the Maverick really only makes sense in its most basic FWD form. Otherwise you’re spending way too much on a truck that isn’t very capable or economical. Just adding AWD to a base Maverick pushes the price to nearly 28k. It also forces you into the Ecoboost and the fuel economy drops into the abyss. A hard pill to swallow considering I bought a brand new Sierra SLE 4x4 5.3 for 26k just 7 years ago. Ford is well aware of their hot hand and I know we all pay more for less these days, but I’d hate to be reminded of that every time I look at my driveway.

Looks like the Versa has MPFI. Unfortunately no AWD and still a bit small for my needs, but definitely bigger than the Mirage and probably better to drive too. I can’t imagine the Mitsu’s 3 cylinder and a CVT being a very pleasant drive but it’s sort of the Geo Metro reincarnate and kind of endearing for that reason.

Get pretty good value with both the Versa and Mirage. Not sure I’d be in for a CVT though. Rented an Accord with one and it was pretty lousy. Not enjoyable at all.

I assume it just received it’s first (and probably last) oil change because the oil was surprisingly clean. Or the rate of consumption just guarantees it doesn’t stay in the sump long enough to get dirty. Either way in this situation I’d like to see at least a little brown in the oil. Clean oil makes me think “cover up” considering the state of the rest of the car.

Since I got the OK from my wife I’ve been looking for a company car/ winter car/ short trip vehicle to take the load off my truck. Saw this little Jeep and figured it would fit the bill. Simple, economical vehicle. New enough to be nice, old enough to be affordable. Looked OK in the low resolution pictures…but in person…DAMN this had to be the WORST 5 year old car I’ve ever seen. In fact it’s worse than any 15 year old cars I’ve owned. I knew within seconds I wasn’t gonna buy but I played along a bit just to amuse myself. I popped the hood and the first thing I see is the airbox not even screwed shut. I quickly borrowed a screw driver to “repair” that for them and continued my look around. Things under hood didn’t get any better though. Crust, dirt and corrosion everywhere. We have salt up here in WI but I’ve never seen something corrode this bad this quickly. Clearly just abused, run on a dirt road and never cleaned. Interior was equally filthy, scratched and just beat up. Obviously no effort was made to present it better either. Don’t have any outside photos, didn’t wanna make it too obvious that I was only there to rip the thing apart after the first 10 second glance. But as you can imagine it wasn’t good. Deep scratches everywhere and embedded filth. I did take it around the block. It ran fine, but the rotors felt extremely warped and the whole thing just seemed loose and tired. 81,000 miles and soon to be ready for the dump, IMO. I’m keen on this model because it’s the perfect size for what I need and seems to have the makings of a good car. Simple, non-turbo, non-DI engine. Manual trans. All wheel drive for the snow. Minimal useless “tech features”. So I am looking at another on Monday. Same age, similar mileage. Should be interesting to see how different the two are. At least assuming this other one was owned by someone who gave a crap. Has good maintenance records so that’s a better start.

Yeah, I set my mom up with DTV stream. Got in when it first came out under the AT&T brand. It was like 40-50 bucks a month. It's went up since but still reasonable. I prefer cable because it doesn't freeze up or buffer like the streams do. But the cost just sucks. Pluto and Roku both have a ton of programming we watch for free. Pluto especially. Old Top Gear, Baywatch, Walker Texas Ranger, etc.

Insurance is one of those things. If you aren’t changing companies every couple years you’re probably getting screwed. We had American Family for nearly 20 years. Never made a claim, no tickets, nothing. Back in June they showed appreciation for my loyalty. Sent me a $1200+ bill for 6 months coverage on two vehicles. A $200 increase over the last period (which I already thought was too much). Anyway, that pushed me over the edge and went to GEICO. $572 for the same coverage levels. Thankfully the TRX isn’t penalized as a sports car. Now if I could just address the $200 cable & internet bill. Another one of “those things”…

Did half a brisket point. Only cooking for 3 today. Tried a new brand of pellets that seemed better at generating ash than smoke. But still got great bark and could eat it with a spoon.

2022 Tiguan, 10,532 total miles, 2,293 on interval. M1 0w20 and Mann filter out, Amsoil Euro 0w20 and Fram XG11784 in. Also gave her the old Italian tune up on the interstate. Wife only drives it a few times a week, and when she does it’s never above 40 MPH. Needed to stretch it’s legs a little, methinks.

4569603.pdf The latest one. RL 5w40 Euro, Fram XG2

The early SRT engines actually used Mobil 1 as the factory fill. Mobil stopped extending them products on credit once Chrysler’s bankruptcy began looming. Then they moved to Shell when Fiat got involved. They obviously can’t force you to use a certain brand of oil, but it doesn’t stop them from making it seem like their previous oil partner is now totally unacceptable in the same exact engines. Another fun fact, the 6.4 Hemi cars initially called for 5w40 but quickly went to 0w40, which is where we are now for all 6.2 and 6.4 Hemis. And the 5.7 just got bumped from 5w20 to 0w20 in the last year or two. Fuel economy above everything, I guess.