Mazdaspeed in shop

The Speed 3 developed a weird clanking noise when you start the car cold. Since it already has 33,282 miles I figured I better get it taken care of before I hit the end of the 36,000 mile warranty. The good news is they found the problem but had to order 1 of the 5 needed parts and the order takes a week. Probably has to fly in from Japan. This means I have to go back again to get the actual problem finally fixed. I also had them rotate the tires while they had it there.

While picking up the car I got the obligatory, while we were rotating your tires we noticed you need new front brake pads and rotors. I immediately knew what that meant, wait for it, wait for it, I know I’m going to get the same line I got when I had the Trans Am. “Unfortunately, these Speed 3 pads are not cheap, you’re looking at $275 for the pads, $180 for the rotors, and 1 hour of labor.” It was all I could do to keep from laughing at her. Like I would let the dealer do my brakes.Ten years ago Pontiac told me the Trans Am pads were $110 a pair, I found Performance Friction pads for $49 which were better than the AC/Delcos.  A quick search today found Mazdaspeed 3 brand for $193 (still way to much for my tastes) and Hawk brands for $84.  So I know I can find them much cheaper than $275.  Then I’ll save the labor costs by doing it myself.

Weekend projects

This weekend I changed the oil in both the Grand Caravan and the Mazdaspeed 3. I used Mobil 1 for both vehicles. While under the van I noticed that the power steering bypass hose the dealer put on a few months ago was hanging below the frame in what looked like a dangerous situation.

I ended up zip tying the hose to the frame to keep it out of danger, the thought of ripping out the power steering hose seemed like a bad idea

The other project I did this weekend was to replace the Kenmore 1/3 hp disposal with a new Kenmore 3/4hp disposal. The installation was pretty easy, I only ran into one issue, the drain hose for the dishwasher was cracked, so I had to run to Lowe’s to get a replacement. I was almost done putting it back too.

The disposal wasn’t ‘disposing’ very well, and the rubber seal at the top was completely malformed and didn’t cover up the drain very well. Plus it was just time for a new one. Here is the old one before I ripped it out:

The new Kenmore 3/4 hp disposal ready for installation.

Everything is out, time to start the installation of the new disposal.

ALL DONE! So far no leaks, and it works pretty well. I’ll monitor it for the next few days to make sure we don’t start leaking.

Shuddle [sic] service

On Thursday (June 4th), I scheduled an appointment with a nearby Mazda dealer via email (using their web form). I scheduled the appointment for today (June 10th). As of Wednesday morning I had not heard anything so I assumed my appointment was not confirmed so I drove straight to work.

During my morning routine email checking I see an email from the dealer confirming my appointment. I got the email at 5:44pm on Tuesday evening. It’s a bit annoying they would wait that long to confirm an appointment for the following day. But what really got me was the horrendous spelling and punctuation of the email I received. Based on the email alone, I wonder if I really want to take my car there for service.

I think I’ll try another dealer nearby.

Pontiac is dead :(

I fell in love with Pontiac’s after the 1977 Pontiac Ventura my dad had. When I finally could I bought a 1995 Pontiac Trans Am.

Sadly today GM has officially killed off Pontiac, say good bye to the Solstice and G8. Read more

2010 Chevrolet Camaro

My favorite car of all time has always been the 1969 Chevy Camaro. I’ve always thought that the perfect car would be a first generation Camaro with today’s engine technology and transmission. This new revival of the Camaro is an excellent rendition and one of the better retro cars available today.

2010 Chevrolet Camaro (Courtesy of autoblog.com)

new spark plugs

Turns out the Trans Am which I thought needed a new Optispark distributor simply had a bad spark plug wire. Oh well, live and learn. I could’ve had this fixed months ago, but the plugs on the LT1 are a royal pain in the butt. Oh well.

Iron Man weekend

This morning, Grandpop, Grandma, the kids & I went strawberry picking at Vollmer Farm in Bunn, NC. We came home with 3 buckets full. The berries are plump, red and sweet!

This afternoon, Grandpop Frank & I took the boys to see Iron Man. Usually I don’t see movies the weekend they have been released, but I promised the boys I’d take them today.  The movie was AWESOME! Adan & Marco loved it, as did I.

Then finally this evening, I drove the Trans Am to it’s new owner at RDU.

Trans Am SOLD! (officially this time)

I had to relist the Trans Am after the non-paying bidder fiasco, but this time it sold! The money has been collected.

cardomain pages

I created pages on cardomain.com for my cars.
Mazdaspeed3
Trans Am

non paying bidders suck

So the winning bidder motorcyclessparker showed up to pick up the car this afternoon. Then asks “how negotiable is the price?” First of all it’s ebay and you put in a bid, but I’ll be nice. I replied “I was hoping to get the winning bid: $3,050.” He looks the car over, gets in and starts it. He continues to let it run while looking around the car.

I let him take it for a test drive. He returns, says “wow, it misses through the gears” referring to the fact that the car runs rough and needs a new distributor. Well no shit! Did you read the post?

The car starts but runs rough. I’ve been told it needs a new Optispark distributor. The car also has an oil leak from the front of the oil pan. The 6-speed manual transmission is strong and works great. The ABS INOP light comes on occasionally, needs a new sensor on the passenger side, but brakes work just fine as I’ve driven it this way for more than 8 years.

So he proceeds to offer me $2,500. I’m annoyed now and tell him “no way, I turned down an offer from a guy on Friday for $2,600. Best I can do is let it go for $2,950 which is the price of the next ebay bidder.” Turns out I was wrong the next ebay bidder was $3,000 and the one before that $2,900, but oh well. Dude then mumbles something about “I didn’t want to put that much money into it.” Should’ve thought about that BEFORE he bid. He continues, “How about $2,750″. To which I replied, “nope, $2,950 is the best I’ll do”. At this point, I’m done. He walks away. Being the nice guy I am I tell him, “, sorry it didn’t work out. It was nice to meet you.” He says, “likewise, I might turn around halfway “. The thought that went through my head was “Yeah right!”

I get in the Trans Am, start it back up, and back it into the garage, then go inside. The guy sits on my driveway for a good bit on the phone and chatting with his father. Probably trying to decide if $2,950 was a good price or not. Then he drives away.

Then, at around 6pm he called my cell phone (which I had left upstairs and missed his calls). He left me a voice message, “Jesus, listen. About half way home I was gonna turn around, but I got a call and had to come home. But I’d come over if you let the car go for $2,950.”

Seriously? You’re kidding right? So he expects me to still honor that price? HA! Yeah right. F*** off dude! If anything, the price goes UP! I haven’t called him back and don’t plan to either. I’ll give him negative feedback on ebay and mark him as a non-paying bidder, then offer the car to the other two buyers. If that doesn’t pan out, I’ll relist it and keep this @$$hole from bidding.

The part that gets my goat is he had a chance to see the car when it was on craigslist. But since he didn’t show up, I put it on ebay. Had he shown up that day, I would’ve let the car go for $2,500, but not now, especially not to him. Well, that’s the risk you take when selling on ebay.