Ronnie
Jetboaters Fleet Admiral
- Messages
- 8,775
- Reaction score
- 12,188
- Points
- 667
- Location
- SF Bay Area
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2010
- Boat Model
- Limited S
- Boat Length
- 24
My wife and I got and refurbished a 2005 Acura TSX for our son and gave it to him when he graduated high school last June (he was supposed to use the car through college 500 miles away). Before this I got him a 2003 Toyota Matrix to teach him how to drive a stick in (it was a real beater / POS). Originally I traded in my Chevy truck and bought a ridge line for us to share. Fast forward to early January when he showed me a used Subaru hatchback with a 5 speed for sale in SCal (500 miles away).
Long story short, he had saved the bulk of its cost already (I “spotted” him the difference), we called the seller in the morning, were on our way there by noon, test drove it at 9 that night and drove it home the next day.
It is a 2010 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport with Momo rims, Pirelli tires and 195k miles. Turns out we are the second owners and the original owner had all Maintnence done by the his dealership. According to the car fax the engine was replaced in the last two years (the original owner only told me he had the head gaskets replaced). Anyway, there are no leaks, the engine looks clean enough to eat off of and my mechanic looked it over a few days after we got it and said the car is in great mechanical condition for its age and miles.
After haven’t a screw removed from one of the tires, I discovered it’s needs new struts all the way around, I was not surprised. The cost for my mechanic to replace the struts is about $1,200 ($400 for parts $800 for labor). My son and I are planning to do it ourselves before he leaves for college next fall.
So far we have peeled the rear window tint, replaced both head lights (I tried restoring one for over 3 hours, what a waste of time), installed a rear view / dash cam with a touch screen built into the mirror, cleaned up /hid the routing of the the Aux and USB cables to the stock stereo, replaced the shift knob and fuel door and painted all the brack calipers, both bumpers and spoiler/rear window visor. Yesterday we put the car back together after a week being out of commission.
I just ordered a CD player mounted wireless charging cell phone holder and a rear window defrost repair kit for the car and will have a spare/duplicate key made as soon as ace hardware gets more blanks in stock (ace charges $100, the dealer $300 both include the key’s cutting and programming). I will put the tsx up for sale oncethe pink slip for this car is sent to us.
Although I think the TSX is a better car and was hoping to keep it around and use it for the next five years (whenever my son wasn’t using it) I’m happy that we were able to help my son get the car he wanted. Finally I note that he was happy with it “as is” when we got it but is ecstatic now that we have fixed her up a bit (even though he only drove it around the neighborhood since because we are on a road trip now in the SUV).
Here are some pics:
Edit: I forgot to mention he named the car “Suke” after a character in the last air bender animation series which seemed appropriate given the character and car are of Japanese origin. I note this car was manufactured in Japan not Mexico, I didn’t think it mattered until I bought the wrong key fob for it.
Long story short, he had saved the bulk of its cost already (I “spotted” him the difference), we called the seller in the morning, were on our way there by noon, test drove it at 9 that night and drove it home the next day.
It is a 2010 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport with Momo rims, Pirelli tires and 195k miles. Turns out we are the second owners and the original owner had all Maintnence done by the his dealership. According to the car fax the engine was replaced in the last two years (the original owner only told me he had the head gaskets replaced). Anyway, there are no leaks, the engine looks clean enough to eat off of and my mechanic looked it over a few days after we got it and said the car is in great mechanical condition for its age and miles.
After haven’t a screw removed from one of the tires, I discovered it’s needs new struts all the way around, I was not surprised. The cost for my mechanic to replace the struts is about $1,200 ($400 for parts $800 for labor). My son and I are planning to do it ourselves before he leaves for college next fall.
So far we have peeled the rear window tint, replaced both head lights (I tried restoring one for over 3 hours, what a waste of time), installed a rear view / dash cam with a touch screen built into the mirror, cleaned up /hid the routing of the the Aux and USB cables to the stock stereo, replaced the shift knob and fuel door and painted all the brack calipers, both bumpers and spoiler/rear window visor. Yesterday we put the car back together after a week being out of commission.
I just ordered a CD player mounted wireless charging cell phone holder and a rear window defrost repair kit for the car and will have a spare/duplicate key made as soon as ace hardware gets more blanks in stock (ace charges $100, the dealer $300 both include the key’s cutting and programming). I will put the tsx up for sale oncethe pink slip for this car is sent to us.
Although I think the TSX is a better car and was hoping to keep it around and use it for the next five years (whenever my son wasn’t using it) I’m happy that we were able to help my son get the car he wanted. Finally I note that he was happy with it “as is” when we got it but is ecstatic now that we have fixed her up a bit (even though he only drove it around the neighborhood since because we are on a road trip now in the SUV).
Here are some pics:
Edit: I forgot to mention he named the car “Suke” after a character in the last air bender animation series which seemed appropriate given the character and car are of Japanese origin. I note this car was manufactured in Japan not Mexico, I didn’t think it mattered until I bought the wrong key fob for it.
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