How do you decide what your "ride" is?

[CentaurG2]

I had a Lotus Elise just like the one in the video.

Putting the top on isn't tough. 2 fiberglass support rods and the top clips into the passenger and driver side.
Maybe 15-20 seconds if in a rush.

Was a fun car! Made my lowered VW Jetta seem monster truck tall!

That was an older video featuring the last (NC) generation MX-5 with a hardtop. The latest ND generation has a rally fastback hardtop and will go up or down in 13 seconds.







The rag top MX-5 has always been K.I.S.S easy. If it takes you longer that 3 seconds to put the top up/down, something is very wrong. If the windows are up, the car will automatically lower them about 1” when you release the front or rear clamp.

 

[CentaurG2]

No more manual Accords. Major bummer.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

You were going to buy a type R anyway right?

Struggling to get the Legacy listed. Wanted to detail/wax it before taking pictures. Spent hours shampooing the seats and now am polishing the body. Going to have to give up at some point.

 

[CentaurG2]

I can’t afford 2 civic type R’s. Base bronco with a sasquatch package is looking like it might fit the other side of the bill. Simple green 50:1 makes for a good easy upholstery cleaner. Just hit the tough spots, give it a brush with a tooth brush, vac out as much as you can with a wet dry vac. Repeat the process with just distilled H20 and let it dry and you should be good to go.

Klasse all in one is an excellent auto polish, very durable and very easy to use. German stuff so it is a bit pricy but you can use it on every part of the exterior and a little goes a long way. Don’t bother with the klasse sealant. Good old Nu Finish will also work very well and is available everywhere. Top end would be 2 coats of Collinite insulator wax followed by a coat of Power Lock but that seems a bit much on a car you are going to sell.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

The problem is the paint on this Subaru is really soft and easily damaged, it does not respond to wax or polish like any other car I've had. I've tried to keep it up but everything damages it. It's not the worst paint ever, a 2008 Focus takes that cake. The paint looks worse imo than the paint on my 96 Truck up close. It's metallic black. Most wax, like reasonably expensive Meguiars synthetic wax and regular cheap turtle wax leaves the car looking greasy and streaky. I did get some Griot's Garage spray wax that seems to work okay I've been using. It's a delicate process to clay bar/polish it enough to even be waxable to not be streaky/ splotchy. Hoping the last sendoff helps me make a little better money on the car.

Several colors of the older RAM pickups like metallic green and black (all names that are discontinued colors) seem to have a similar issue. Guessing it's a paint supplier for multiple mfg's. When I took the car in to the dealership for the pine tar damage, the body tech basically said "they don't make paint like they used to, good luck with that."

 

[CentaurG2]

All modern car paint is way to thin. A pine needle falling out of the sky will scratch Mazda paint. Xpel is about the only solution I know of but it is just so expensive.

You might look into have the car professionally detailed. You could recoup the cost in resale. Another product I have found to work very well on Japan cars is Reload but it needs to be applied to clean and polished surface.

https://www.autogeek.net/cquartz-reload-spray.html



You best bet might be a can of good old mothers carnauba gold cleaner wax. Been working well for years.



https://www.amazon.com/Mothers-Cali...95615097&sprefix=mothers+carab,aps,180&sr=8-1

 

[FlyingDutchman]

I have the Mother's Cleaner wax, I haven't tried it in awhile but got the greasy/streaky effect with it too. Tried 3M Fill-N-Glaze, JaxWax spray wax, Meguiars NXT2, Wizards Paint sealant, and Turtle Wax paste. Right now what's working is Wizards Scratch Remover and paint cleaner, a Mother's clay bar and quick detailer, and about 3 coats of this stuff. https://www.amazon.com/Griots-Garag...3QE3GSEJ77RE&refRID=PWXTWXCP3QE3GSEJ77RE&th=1 There is still real damage to the paint that needs a buffer and someone who knows their compounds to get it done up right.

The truck is going to get olive drab flat paint and all the detailing crap is going in the garage sale lol.

 

[CentaurG2]

Yup. There is something to be said for flat camo, desert tan or flat olive drab paint. Best auto “paint” I have ever seen was down on the outer banks in NC. We went on a “horse tour” to see the wild mustangs. The company used real Humvees and they were “painted” desert tan with Rhino Liner. Just hose them down and you are done!

 

[stihl sawing]

No more manual Accords. Major bummer.

This new generation is too lazy to shift.

 

[CentaurG2]

They maybe too lazy, but if you can figure out how to work a cell phone, there is absolutely no reason you can’t run a Detroit with a twin stick.

 

[CentaurG2]

Good old Scotty tellin’ it like it is.

 

[Blue Oaks]

This new generation is too lazy to shift.

A hundred years ago the same was probably said about those who no longer wanted to hand crank their cars to start them. Lazy *******s.

 

[CentaurG2]

I have actually started a car with a crank handle. My Grandfather taught me how to do it properly. If the car backfired (common in them days) it can break your arm. Great trivia question: what was the last car to have a crank handle starter (option)??



From my research, it was the Citroen 2CV. Available upto 1990!

 

[Blue Oaks]

A few years ago, I had a small group of people gather around in a parking lot to watch me crank the '10 T. They were amazed and disappointed to see it fire right up when I turned the ignition switch on. The motor occasionally stops at TDC. That's a feature modern cars lack.

 

[CentaurG2]

I like Scotty’s videos but this one is almost too painful to watch.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

An update, still can't sell the car, should have taken the first offer, which I'm really regretting. Driven it 1200 miles in the last month delivering magazines. It's nice, really nice for that. 30 mpg, ac cranked up cozy as a bug with the cruise control, Vaporwave on blast from Pandora and gps directions playing over the speakers. The people who originally got the route got Covid, hope they're out of the hospital and feeling better or I'll be doing the route again this week. The money is nice, no doubt.

 

[CentaurG2]

If it is making you money, why sell it? The Subaru all wheel drive system is the best in the industry. Marketing would tell you it will sell better in the winter than summer. Winter is coming and according to the farmers almanac, it going to be a doozy. Nothing to lose by waiting a few months.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

The magazine route didn't last, once the former route runners recovered from COVID, they jumped right back into it. Good for them, really.

Had a couple potential buyers set me up to let me down at the last minute, so I've had to completely detail the car a couple times for nothing.

One has been steady requesting for a dealer inspection report and a body estimate.

Yesterday took the car into the dealership and got a battery drain update, the infotainment updated, and an inspection for a potential buyer. The rear brakes need done, and the battery was deeply discharged from the drain from sitting with the battery drain issue (purely ecm power management issue).

Took it to the body shop and that was a PP slap that I wasn't ready for. They'd have to respray the bumper cover, hood, trunk lid, roof skin, rear quarters, rear doors, and the rocker covers for a total of $5500 to make it perfect. The buyer who requested it was like WTF and wants to bail, pretty much. Tried to give context but I think they are scared away.

 

[CentaurG2]

Winter is coming. Give it some more time. There are alternatives to private sales. There are some online sites that will purchase a car, as will some dealerships. They will never give you anywhere near what the car is worth but if you really need the cash, it might be an alternative. I used to donate my cars to various charities when they got too many miles on them. It used to make for a good tax right off.

 

[CentaurG2]

Mazda is bringing back the Wankel rotary engine. Outstanding.