12-12-2009, 12:50 PM
Bored waiting out a few hours for an appointment this afternoon so I figured I'd update this even though probably nobody cares :lol:
I was really on the fence lately about potentially selling / trading this car in to get something new. For a few reasons, the main one being the ridiculous deals and financing options dealers are giving out right now for new and preowned cars. As many of you know I have severe ADD when it comes to video games, girls and cars. I will usually go through at least one car every year to a year and a half. I also REALLY would like the utility of an SUV. I was looking specifically at previous gen FX35/45s (I don't like the new body styles) or the newest MDXs which are really nice vehicles. Even though I have a ton of trunk space in my car (I can fit ~3 golf bags if I smash them in) I hate having to borrow a friend's SUV or truck if I need to pick up or haul stuff.
After checking my payoff on the car (~$22k) and my mileage of 75k+ (I'm on the road 75% of my working day) and the damage on my bumper from where I backed into a concrete pillar in a parking deck (don't ask), I would most certainly get hosed on a trade in. And I'd like to for once just pay a car off and not have a car payment. Above all that though, this has been *knock on wood* a very reliable and very very good car. For as much time as I spend driving it has almost everything I need (I would trade heated seats for AC seats here in the south) and gets pretty reasonable gas mileage especially on the highway.
A few small issues that have come up:
- Leather seats on driver side are cracking noticeably. This is very common in Hondas in general. I may consider taking it to Katskin or something like that if it gets a lot worse in the future, for now I'm just trying to keep it conditioned. Any recommendations on a good product? I use some cheap generic Turtle Wax shit I found at Target.
- Stock rotors are getting chewed up by the new ceramic pads, which I was warned about and expected. I planned to just burn through them and get some different rotors where this isn't an issue, but I haven't noticed any bad pedal feel or vibrating yet. The rotors on these cars from the factory are actually woefully small, I think the newest gen Accord has bigger ones.
- The motor for the auto mirror turn down on reverse on the passenger side is starting to go. It's kind of jerking when it rotates down. I would switch it off or switch it to the driver's side but I've gotten so used to it I'll just replace the motor when it burns out I guess.
- This car just eats tires, there's no way around it. There's something about the suspension setup from the factory that causes excessive wear on the inner edge. I'm rotating my tires at every oil change to prolong their life, but I'm curious as to how much I actually get out of them.
Other than that it's been great. Even with all of the new car models coming out, it still looks aggressive and very stylish. I get lots of compliments from clients, and even got a compliment on my JMU Alumni license plate frame haha. I installed the mud guards a while back which look awesome. I don't have a pic of them yet because my car has been so dirty but I'll take one eventually. I'm going to buy my buddy's Progress RSB this Christmas as well as a Jpipe eventually just to add some more horsepower. I still love the exhaust note on this car, I'm going to open up the exhaust by removing that second resonator at some point in the near future and that's it. Since it looks like I'll probably keep this one around for a while, I figure I'd have some fun with it
I was really on the fence lately about potentially selling / trading this car in to get something new. For a few reasons, the main one being the ridiculous deals and financing options dealers are giving out right now for new and preowned cars. As many of you know I have severe ADD when it comes to video games, girls and cars. I will usually go through at least one car every year to a year and a half. I also REALLY would like the utility of an SUV. I was looking specifically at previous gen FX35/45s (I don't like the new body styles) or the newest MDXs which are really nice vehicles. Even though I have a ton of trunk space in my car (I can fit ~3 golf bags if I smash them in) I hate having to borrow a friend's SUV or truck if I need to pick up or haul stuff.
After checking my payoff on the car (~$22k) and my mileage of 75k+ (I'm on the road 75% of my working day) and the damage on my bumper from where I backed into a concrete pillar in a parking deck (don't ask), I would most certainly get hosed on a trade in. And I'd like to for once just pay a car off and not have a car payment. Above all that though, this has been *knock on wood* a very reliable and very very good car. For as much time as I spend driving it has almost everything I need (I would trade heated seats for AC seats here in the south) and gets pretty reasonable gas mileage especially on the highway.
A few small issues that have come up:
- Leather seats on driver side are cracking noticeably. This is very common in Hondas in general. I may consider taking it to Katskin or something like that if it gets a lot worse in the future, for now I'm just trying to keep it conditioned. Any recommendations on a good product? I use some cheap generic Turtle Wax shit I found at Target.
- Stock rotors are getting chewed up by the new ceramic pads, which I was warned about and expected. I planned to just burn through them and get some different rotors where this isn't an issue, but I haven't noticed any bad pedal feel or vibrating yet. The rotors on these cars from the factory are actually woefully small, I think the newest gen Accord has bigger ones.
- The motor for the auto mirror turn down on reverse on the passenger side is starting to go. It's kind of jerking when it rotates down. I would switch it off or switch it to the driver's side but I've gotten so used to it I'll just replace the motor when it burns out I guess.
- This car just eats tires, there's no way around it. There's something about the suspension setup from the factory that causes excessive wear on the inner edge. I'm rotating my tires at every oil change to prolong their life, but I'm curious as to how much I actually get out of them.
Other than that it's been great. Even with all of the new car models coming out, it still looks aggressive and very stylish. I get lots of compliments from clients, and even got a compliment on my JMU Alumni license plate frame haha. I installed the mud guards a while back which look awesome. I don't have a pic of them yet because my car has been so dirty but I'll take one eventually. I'm going to buy my buddy's Progress RSB this Christmas as well as a Jpipe eventually just to add some more horsepower. I still love the exhaust note on this car, I'm going to open up the exhaust by removing that second resonator at some point in the near future and that's it. Since it looks like I'll probably keep this one around for a while, I figure I'd have some fun with it
Posting in the banalist of threads since 2004
2017 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD Premium
Past: 2016 GMC Canyon All Terrain Crew Cab / 2010 Jaguar XFR / 2012 Acura RDX AWD Tech / 2008 Cadillac CTS / 2007 Acura TL-S / 1966 5.0 HO Mustang Coupe
2001 Lexus IS300 / 2004 2.8L big turbo WRX STI / 2004 Subaru WRX / A couple of old trucks
2017 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD Premium
Past: 2016 GMC Canyon All Terrain Crew Cab / 2010 Jaguar XFR / 2012 Acura RDX AWD Tech / 2008 Cadillac CTS / 2007 Acura TL-S / 1966 5.0 HO Mustang Coupe
2001 Lexus IS300 / 2004 2.8L big turbo WRX STI / 2004 Subaru WRX / A couple of old trucks