Posted by shadowedsmile Friday is new truck day! It'll be a couple of weeks shy of exactly 11 years that I've been driving a TDI wagon. This week's project is to get the wagon posted for sale. It's very bitter-sweet. I didn't even get to be the last person to drive it. After I got it running (again), my boyfriend decided to take it for a rip around the block (having never owned a VW and not understanding what a risky maneuver that was...), as soon as he pulled into the road it died. Again. It had to be dragged home by our ATV. Unfortunately neither of us had our phones with us, because it would've made for a good last photo. So if anyone wants to give a 5spd ALH wagon a good home...

um.. no... every Volkswagen I have ever driven or ridden in has done its best to kill me. It is a brand I avoid due to self-preservation.

and before you get that look on your face, i am being serious. Volkswagens are always trying to kill me.

The Taco has been getting acquainted with its new home. I definitely like the truck, but I'm also pretty sad to see my wagon in the driveway everyday.

I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of adventures the Taco will get into this year. One of the downsides of having a full sized truck has been how narrow some of the trails get around here so having the Taco will be nice once we get some time to go adventuring in the next couple of weeks. Also planning on purchasing a set of KO2s for it in time for hunting season.

I rebuilt the front of the Fiero over the winter and have been driving the shit out of it since pretty much all car shows and stuff are cancelled this year. Took it a few hours downstate to a drive-in concert last month.

So I have a new obsession... I retired the Fiero from daily driving 8 years ago but now have a bug to daily a sports car again. Drove this last week:




Fiat body and engine. The rest, Miata.

Wrong transmission in this one, but I'm sold on this based on everything else. Lighter and smaller than the Fiero yet I fit like a glove and it has a deceptively-comfortable ride. Corners are fun, like the Fiero. The turbo doesn't throw you in the seat but it *is* quick and really wakes up in sport mode. A good tune and some bolt-on mods to help it breathe and I could easily get stupid with one of these. With a turbo upgrade, they easily push 220whp... same motor from the Abarth 500.

Thinking next year, trade my Charger in.

Don't do it!
Get a Miata instead.

The worst thing to have is a Fiat engine, or anything etc.

The 1.4 MultiAir is a solid engine when not put in bloated Chryslers, Jeeps and Dodges rendering it anemic. Dart owners report them throwing timing belts by 100k which... who cares, I maintain my shit.

The rest of Fiat's reliability issues lie mostly in electrical gremlins... which is all-Mazda, here. That said, I would not consider anything else from them - even the Abarth 500.

Official end of an 11 year era. I took my black wagon on its first exploring adventure during the August long weekend of 2009, drove it until it grenaded on me on April fools' day 2017, and have driven Vincent since. Two evenings ago I attempted to start him to turn him around to get a photo, and rather appropriately, he wouldn't start. He decided to co-operate last night though, so I got one family photo before the new owner came to pick Vincent up this morning. He's now a Manitoba resident.

It's a very sad day, but I realistically just can't justify keeping it. I definitely plan on owning another in a couple of years.

Posted by jonrev The 1.4 MultiAir is a solid engine when not put in bloated Chryslers, Jeeps and Dodges rendering it anemic. Dart owners report them throwing timing belts by 100k which... who cares, I maintain my shit. The rest of Fiat's reliability issues lie mostly in electrical gremlins... which is all-Mazda, here. That said, I would not consider anything else from them - even the Abarth 500.

But I would seriously urge you to get the Miata.
Have you driven one yet?
The fact that "engine reliability issues" are even mentioned.
I have never heard that term used with a Miata.
The engine is much better for the Miata. It is naturally aspirated, and much more stout.
That 1.4 is already tapped out for the most part, and still it is Fiat.
Is the 1.4 better than the Miata engine? No.
Miata aftermarket will always be bigger, simple bolt-ons for the Miata give it a much better lead, retaining reliability, and resale value.

The ND Miatas had transmissions blowing up a while ago, Fiat retained the NC trans. I'm not finding anything to convince me the 1.4t - in this application - is unreliable beyond "it's a Fiat", Fix-It-Again-Tony was decades ago. SCCA drivers are racing these hard without any problems.

That said; sat in and read up on both, driven the Fiat, only other option I'd cross-shop is the RF which I may drive just to rule out what if's. Still prefer the Fiat's retro styling over the weird nose and rear designs on the Miata, plus the Fiat has a slightly larger trunk.

My wife's 755,000 km Jetta is getting a little tired for some reason, so we bought a $1000 Volvo S40 with some issues a few weeks back. ABS light on (LF and RF speed sensors), wicked bearing noise, speedometer cutting out with a CEL for "vehicle speed sensor". Also the footwell was getting very wet after rainfall.

After lots of research and reading, I couldn't find a VSS, no electrical connector on the transmission (manual) aside from the reverse light switch.

I replaced the noisy bearing (LF), and the speedometer issues stopped, the LF speed sensor fault went away and the CEL never came back so I guess it just used the average of both front speed sensors. I ordered a RF speed sensor, went to replace it and realized the damn thing wasn't plugged in all the way. Pulled the driver's side A pillar trim off, and the sunroof drain wasn't attached to anything. No ABS faults, no CEL, no wet floor in a week or 1000 km so I'm quite happy. Parts are damn cheap for the thing, surprisingly.

This car drives like it's carved out of a single piece of very heavy steel, I love it. The inline 5 sounds nice (needs a muffler delete). I'd really like to try the turbo version. I want a wagon one now.

nice.

KO2s finally went on sale for a decent price, so I got some ordered in. I think this is the first brand new set of tires I've ever bought. I'm hoping to run them year round, so we will see how they do in the snow in a few weeks. My boyfriend runs Wranglers year round on his truck, but I wasn't super impressed when I've driven with them on the Taco in the winter. I'm sure it's going to be a bit of a learning curve with the truck, since I've only ever owned a FWD car.

I still miss my wagon, but I do really enjoy not worrying about whether or not my vehicle is going to start after nightshift. I also miss the fuel economy, haha. Thankfully since COVID the fuel prices have come down and stayed down - when I moved up here gas was around 1.30/diesel 1.35, now it's down around 1.05/L.

My boyfriend surprised me with this recently. "See? I told you that you could have another wagon!"

And because he's oh-so-hilarious he also said that this one is more reliable. I think he's still traumatized by my wagon dying in the middle of the street when he drove it for the last time, haha.

It's been 5 months since I got rid of my wagon and it still makes me sad.

The Taco has been nice to have up here but the fuel economy in the winter with mostly city driving is painful. So painful. And it's nice after a 12h crazy night shift to know my truck is going to start so I can get home to bed.

New daily driver. Was looking for a hatchback for more cargo room, a compact for better fuel mileage, a dead brand for affordability, and something Japanese for reliability. This checks all of those boxes. Paid $3,300 with 151k on it and a bunch of factory options.
Pretty happy with it so far. I now have a Jumpy Li'l Compact (the Vibe), a Highway Cruiser (the Fusion), and a Couch (the Delta 88). Will be selling the Fusion as soon as I get the Vibe's title notarized.
My buddy up in Youngstown is on his fourth Vibe, and if they can survive that shithole, they can survive anywhere.

The best car GM never made. Those things still have a ridiculous resale value here.

Posted by bandi My wife's 755,000 km Jetta is getting a little tired for some reason, so we bought a $1000 Volvo S40 with some issues a few weeks back. ABS light on (LF and RF speed sensors), wicked bearing noise, speedometer cutting out with a CEL for "vehicle speed sensor". Also the footwell was getting very wet after rainfall. After lots of research and reading, I couldn't find a VSS, no electrical connector on the transmission (manual) aside from the reverse light switch. I replaced the noisy bearing (LF), and the speedometer issues stopped, the LF speed sensor fault went away and the CEL never came back so I guess it just used the average of both front speed sensors. I ordered a RF speed sensor, went to replace it and realized the damn thing wasn't plugged in all the way. Pulled the driver's side A pillar trim off, and the sunroof drain wasn't attached to anything. No ABS faults, no CEL, no wet floor in a week or 1000 km so I'm quite happy. Parts are damn cheap for the thing, surprisingly. This car drives like it's carved out of a single piece of very heavy steel, I love it. The inline 5 sounds nice (needs a muffler delete). I'd really like to try the turbo version. I want a wagon one now. https://i.imgur.com/jUBrcRs.jpg?1

Love our Volvos. This is one of 7 we've had, I'll have to get some pics of the other ones. We're down to just this and my 98 V70R, but we've had 3 V70s, an S90, and a 940SE that had a 5.0 under the hood.

click to view

On top of that...between us and the roommate, we have way too many cars. Some of the highlights being a turbo-LS 6 speed Sierra, an HHR SS, and a Forester with a WRX engine in it.

the HHR SS is a very rare beastie... the HHR itself was based on the Delta, or Cobalt/G5-Pursuit/Ion, much like the PT Cruiser was based on the Neon chassis. They weren't a bad car, but the styling was VERY polarizing, running the gamut of "oh that's really cute' to 'that thing looks like a fucking hearse!'.

Posted by Harvestman https://i.imgur.com/r8uVYjuh.jpg New daily driver. Was looking for a hatchback for more cargo room, a compact for better fuel mileage, a dead brand for affordability, and something Japanese for reliability. This checks all of those boxes. Paid $3,300 with 151k on it and a bunch of factory options. Pretty happy with it so far. I now have a Jumpy Li'l Compact (the Vibe), a Highway Cruiser (the Fusion), and a Couch (the Delta 88). Will be selling the Fusion as soon as I get the Vibe's title notarized. My buddy up in Youngstown is on his fourth Vibe, and if they can survive that shithole, they can survive anywhere.

all that toyota 'build-quality' at a GM price.
remember when Toyota used to build cars and not earth-tone painted appliances with styling straight out of some twisted anime?\

Posted by Samurai all that toyota 'build-quality' at a GM price. remember when Toyota used to build cars and not earth-tone painted appliances with styling straight out of some twisted anime?\

Their cars/wagons masquerading as an SUV/crossover are pretty boring, but the Tacoma and 4Runner are very capable vehicles. They're popular in the overlanding community for good reason. Even if it looks like my dashboard clock was picked out from the pile of leftovers from an early 90s Tercel.

I do kind of miss working on cars though. All I've done with my Tacoma in the almost year that I've had it is oil changes and replaced a socket. This time last year I was about to enter another round of "which wire in the ECU is fucked up this time?" with the wagon.

Posted by jellybeans95 Love our Volvos. This is one of 7 we've had, I'll have to get some pics of the other ones. We're down to just this and my 98 V70R, but we've had 3 V70s, an S90, and a 940SE that had a 5.0 under the hood. click to view

I love that thing! The V70R is cool, would love a wagon for myself of that era but they've gone crazy in price around here. Almost bought a '92 850 GLT last month but the seller was way too much of a moron to deal with. If not a wagon, a C30 would make me very happy.