The Trade Off, Part 2

Picking up where I left off, I reached out to the seller of a 2000 Subaru Impreza with the hopes of trading my 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier, if everything worked out in equal favor. We agreed on a time and place to have a look at what each other had to offer, beyond the pictures and description.

First off, I would be giving up three model years and gaining two extra doors. Some might see that as a "trading down," but those details didn't really bother me too much. I was able to get into and out of the car with only the slightest of pulling from my lower back. Granted, a two door car opens wider than a four door, making entry and exit a lot easier, but I could tolerate the Impreza and the discomfort subsided rather quickly.

The mileage did raise a "yellow flag" for me.

 

Not to walk into any deal blindly, I did some research into Subaru Imprezas of this era and read a lot of the issues with the engine, known as the EJ25. Based on the fact the ad claimed it was an Impreza, I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be equipped with the more powerful, turbo-charged EJ20, but I had high hopes....

 

 
  ....that were quickly dashed upon seeing this.

 

At any rate, the engine didn't look too bad, a few oil/fluid stains here and there, a frayed wiring cap and minor other items. To me, it looked like it was just driven and not cleaned. I asked the seller about the timing belt and head gaskets, the two major issues I read about these motors and he didn't know, having only owned the car for a year and a half.

Moving on to the exterior, the driver's side fender was wearing a very serious "war wound," the current owner claimed came with the car when he bought it. I can neither confirm nor deny his story, so I will take it at face value. I know I can't fix it myself, so a visit to a body shop for an estimate might be in order.

An odd thing to see was the weatherstripping on the bottom of both driver's side doors was dropping. Upon close examination, the rubber had separated from tiny mounting nubs on the bottom of the doors. I tried to just push them back on/up, but they wouldn't stay, so I am assuming a adhesive is needed?

 

 

The interior was a gritty, grimy and had various stickers placed in odd and obvious spots. There were only two major issues I had with what was going on in here, aside from a really good detailing....

 

 

....was a new cover for the center dash glovebox....

 

....and a new shifter knob. When I drive a vehicle with a manual transmission, I shift the gears with an open palm and the texturing on this was chaffing my hand.

Hopefully sooner rather than later, I would want to replace that with a "ball type" shifter, which would be more comfortable on my hand.

 Despite the mess you see here, the backseat area was cleanish, with no major rips or tears.

 

 

The back window tint is....past due to be removed or replaced, not something that is very high on my list for things to do.

 

As it goes for corrosion (aside from the driver's fender), only the rear quarters were showing obvious signs. I read this was common for Subarus from this era, so I wasn't too overly surprised to see it. The car is also wearing what appears to be nearly new tires on four matching, original rims. The 205/55/R16 Goodride tires are manufactured by ZC-Rubber, also known as Zhongce Rubber Group Co. Ltd, and have a decent looking tread pattern for an All Season.

Oh, did I mention it has a working, electric sunroof?

 

Even with all the issues I was told about and discovered on my own, I went ahead and made the deal happen. I traded off a 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier coupe in yellow with a manual transmission with 277,000 kilometers for a 2000 Subaru Impreza GC6 sedan, that was originally silver (some areas of the car show this color, inside the roof when the sunroof panel is back is one, under the hood is another) and repainted red and black, with 336,000 kilometers.

I guess we shall see if the stars will shine on me and this decision.

The Trade Off, Part 1

 

Almost seven months have passed since I brought a dormant 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier back to life and proceeded to rack up 12,000 kilometers (or just about 7,500 miles for you other folks). Just a short while ago (at the time of this posting, it has been a week), I decided it was time to let it go, not that there was anything wrong with it, but I believe I found something that will better cure my "nostalgia ailment." 

The more I was driving the Cavalier, the more I wanted my 1982 Toyota Supra back. Despite the two cars have very little in common (other than four wheels, two doors and both had manual transmissions), one was inexplicably reminding me of the other.

I highly doubt my old Supra is even still around after all these years and if it was, it wouldn't be the same car the last time I drove it. So, what are my options? Well, getting another Supra (like my old '82 Mk II through '98 Mk IV) is out of the question since all of them are unrealistically priced, in "not worth saving" condition or automatics (and paying to convert one to a manual would be pricey, since those transmissions are becoming more and more rare with each passing year). I can thank the social hype towards these cars for driving up the prices.

The next car on my list "that would do" were Datsun/Nissan Z/ZX cars. Just like the Supra, 240Z's through to the current 370Z (with all the models in between) suffer from the same pricing/condition/transmission symptoms. Same goes for it's cousin, the Infiniti G35/G37 (which are Nissan Skylines for the North America market, speaking of Skylines, those are "above and beyond" what I was willing to spend).

There were other cars I considered as "extreme compromises" such as the Honda Prelude and Accord/Civic coupes, Hyundai Tiburon, Mitsubishi 3000GT/Dodge Stealth and Toyota Celica to name a few. Between Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and a few other online classifieds, I wasn't liking what I was finding. Perhaps I was being too narrow in scope, so I decided to broaden my search beyond coupes.

A Subaru? To be honest, they are on my list, at the bottom....fading to black.... This ad on Facebook Marketplace caught my attention and I can't put a finger on exactly why. The pictures were decent and the description was....read for yourself....

"Scoobie the subie up for grabs. 1300 OBO Will trade for dirtbike was my daily for the last year and a half. Electric everything works (windows & sunroof) has dule 12” subs. Also has classic subie issues (burns oil) & thermostat needs to be replaced ($100)."

 

Perhaps I was having a flashback to last year when I took a Subaru Outback for a test drive and walked away due to high sticker-shock (with a lot of negative equity rolled in for good measure). However, I was cautiously intrigued and reached out to the seller of the Impreza to arrange a look, listen and sit in.

Confirming Some Conclusions

 

It has been just over a year since I traded in my 2015 Mitsubishi RVR for a 2017 Kia Sportage and I am not completely happy. I knew there was going to be a "give and take" from moving out of a naturally aspirated 2.0 litre that produced 148 horsepower through a CVT into a 240 horsepower, turbo charged 2.0 litre and a 6 speed automatic. I see the "take" part in the form of driving range and the cost to fill up with gasoline.

The old saying goes, "You don't know what you got, until it's gone." 

I didn't really keep that close an eye on fuel expenditures and range with the Mitsubishi, committing those numbers to short term memory for conversations and a few snapshots shared on this blog and a few other places. Despite being less powerful than my current crossover, I know it was much better on gas.

This little fact really didn't become more evident until my Chevrolet Cavalier was resurrected this last August. A very high mileage, naturally aspirated 2.2 litre Ecotec mated with a 5 speed manual transmission was costing me about 2/3 the price in gas over my Kia. Granted, there are a lot of other factors to consider (car vs suv, aerodynamics, weight, etc) but the more I drover the Cavalier, the more I was having a lot of nostalgic fun.

A short while ago, it was service time for the Sportage, which required a trip to the same dealer I got it from. Despite the aches and pains for me to get into/out of a car, I was exploring the idea of trading in my current Kia for something new. The Stinger is still at the top of my list, that would most defiantly be pain I could live with, but with the overhang of negative equity on top of the sticker price, that is a dream to possibly come true in the far future (I also doubted they would have opened the showroom doors for me to take the only one they had on display for a spin).

If I wanted to stay within Kia, there was a lower cost option, the Forte.

The Forte I wanted to try out they didn't have, which was the LX 6 speed manual, so I settled for the CVT and tried to let my imagination shift gears and pedal the clutch.

 The car itself wasn't all that bad, the step in and sink down distance gave me a few "pin pricks" of back pain, but once I was settled on the fabric seats, I was good to go. Despite the CVT, the Forte had decent "get up and go" from it's naturally aspirated 2.0 litre putting out 147 horsepower. Not a fast car by any means, "spirited" would be the word I would use.

I could best equate the Forte to my 2014 Dodge Dart in just about every way. However, the Dart had more power, torque (184 horsepower) and felt more stylish in the interior. My biggest gripe about the Forte....

 ....is the stand up style infotainment screen and lack of navigation (But, at this trim level, that is to be expected).

 

To give the salesman credit, he did his very best to get me numbers that would entice me to commit to a deal. Between the sticker price and my trade in value, a gap of about $4,500.00 remained to be financed. On it's own, that looked like a fantastic deal! But once I started factoring rough numbers, such as negative equity, the non-transferable warranty, taxes and dealer fees, all this before any discussion of discounts and other incentives....the deal died a quick, quiet death.

After paying for the scheduled maintenance, I collected on a promotion the dealer was having. Spend $200.00 or more and get a free dash cam. Here's a video on that....

Closing Up A Few Mistakes

 

I finally got something done that I have been putting off for a long time.

My old YouTube channel, re-titled The Driveteer, hasn't seen any new content since the last posted video, which was way back in July of 2020. It was around that time I was putting more effort to rejuvenate Behind The Wheel Experience and go forward with real life vehicles and leave those in the virtual worlds behind.

I admit, I made a ton of mistakes that pretty much killed off my old channel, such as switching content, renaming the channel and just trying to take it into a new direction that scared off some subscribers. The low view counts on the latter videos confirmed that people weren't really interested in what I was doing.

 

However, I decided to craft a "farewell address" of sorts, tying things up in my mind and putting an offer out there for any loyal viewers who have been waiting for me to come back a direction to go in.

Not So Bright To Slightly Better....Part 2

 

Well, Happy Belated New Year!

I hope all of you had a good Holiday Season and New Year's Day (as much as can be permitted in these strange times). I have made a few changes around here (such as a new header and intro for future videos) and just completed a Part 2 episode for cleaning headlights at home....

Parking Lot Review - 2007 Kia Magentis LX

 

The wife of a friend got a slightly newer car, so I asked if I could do one of my reviews on her old one, before it was gone. Obviously she said yes....

 Thanks to Leah D. for giving me this opportunity!

The Wilds Of Winter Driving, Part 2

If you were reading last time, you may recall I spent a surprising amount of money getting my 2017 Kia Sportage ready for a winter driving excursion.

The one thing that was left off the shopping list was tires. Although these Cooper Zeon RS3-G1 tires are M+S (Mud and Snow) rated, there are not meant to be driven year round (we called these "three season tires" here). Nevertheless, I had put my foul weather faith into the All Wheel Drive system and hoped for the best.

Right off the bat I was greeted with the most excellent lighting and road conditions as I started up the first mountain pass!

Although the lighting improved, the highways didn't.

I must say that I am very impressed with how the Cooper tires perform in very wet conditions, having driven around the city with heavy, pooling water on the roads. The All Wheel Drive system had plenty of traction to work with as I attempted to pass this truck and trailer.

It is hard to say for certain how this situation came about. One could speculate on the vehicles tires, how fast they were going, the level of visibility at the time, etc. This time of year on the higher elevation roads, seeing vehicles, as pictured above, is a common sight.

No, this clip isn't from another road on a different day. Same highway, same day,  just the other side of the mountains. I would be spoiled for the next eightish hours of the trip (I spent just under three hours staring at white and wet roads and welcomed this change).

There was one most "investment" I had to make, new windshield wipers. The old ones worked, but only under certain conditions, such as clearing away roadspray or draining the washer fluid reservoir. The "dry cleaning" capabilities of removing mud or bugs (I noticed this during the Summer, but forgot it when I switched vehicles) was nonexistent.  

Better to be safe than sorry and prepared for whatever the next mountain roads would drop on me.

Also being this time of year, day doesn't last long and darkness can come on very quickly. As I neared my final destination, the roads took a turn for the worse as the sun faded fast.

As the old saying goes, "I couldn't even begin to guess how that happened."

There are a lot of contributing factors to winter driving mishaps, such as improper tires (Yes, I am a hypocrite on that), poor vision (like bad windshield wipers, dim or burnt out headlights and of course, weather/day/night conditions), but speed seems to be number one on the list.

There are a lot of people who don't adjust their driving habits to the change in seasons. Late Spring, Summer and early Fall usually have longer days and clearer roads, which is good for driving at (or even above) posted speed limits. The flip-side for late Fall, Winter and early Spring are shorter days with roads potentially suffering from compact snow and slippery sections. For me, I knock off anywhere from 5 - 15 kph (say about the same in mph) from whatever those speed signs say during those conditions, more so in corners that look suspicious.

Funny thing, Winter hasn't even "officially" started yet....