Car Upgrade: Pioneer AVH-X2500BT Media Center

I just paid off my three-year loan on my 2009 Mitsubishi Galant. I bought it as a 1-year-old used car to replace my very aged 1998 Jeep Wrangler, which I'd owned for 9 years. My goal with this car is to keep it for nearly as long, to remain car-payment-free for as long as I can, or at least before non-warranty repairs start becoming annoying and expensive.

Photo of the X2500BT from Pioneer's page

The problem with keeping a car for a long time is that you get bored with it. It starts to look out of date and old, even if you take care of it. And you start to get new car lust. Not only do newer cars start to look sexy, but you start to notice the new features and toys available in newer cars that yours just doesn't have. With my Jeep, I had no air conditioning, no power windows or locks, no extra goodies whatsoever. I'd forestalled new car lust for a while by buying an MP3/CD player to replace the factory audio, but true to its nature, the Jeep just didn't have much "extra."

This is what Mitsubishi supplies
with higher end Galants. Mine
doesn't have the pop-up section.
But note the silver lower part.

That's why my seemingly pedestrian, boring family sedan purchase felt like buying a Lexus to me. Even in the basic "ES" trim, the car felt cushy by comparison. The automatic transmission was a pleasure after driving stick for so long. I had power windows and locks. All I lost was the convertible aspect, but I'd had enough of it, actually. What the car didn't have that later cars started to feature was traction control, bluetooth, back-up camera, USB-input, or any other kind of input besides CDs.

I actually started the "love your car" project when I still had eight months to go on the loan. The main aesthetic drawback to the design of my car was always the headlights. Though my car had been refreshed and updated from its 2003 design, they left the big honking headlights through each facelift the design received. It probably wouldn't bother most people, but it bugged me. So, I purchased "eyelids" for the car, and I think it vastly improved the car's appearance. The next step--which I stipulated only would happen after the payoff--was a new car stereo with all the goodies.

This is how it looks in my car.
Note the boring flat black.

I'll back up, and admit that I even prepared for this eventuality by purchasing a dash kit for the new, larger stereo. My car's dash--like most newer cars--had a dash insert that encompassed not just the stereo, but the climate controls. So, you need a kit that replaces the face of all that. Buying one in advance saves you the hassle and delay of having the retailer order one. There are only a couple of companies that make the kit, and they are decidedly low-frills. More on that in a bit. But anyway, I had that ready to go, and after some research headed off to Fry's Electronics to purchase the unit I had my eye on, which happened to be on sale.

The head unit I decided upon was the Pioneer AVH-X2500BT, a mid-range model from their DVD double DIN (that means double height) series. I didn't need a navigation system--having one in my phone and rarely needing it--and wasn't interested in HD radio. But, I figured, if I'm going to have a
display screen, I might as well get a back-up camera with it. This, of course, increases the installation price, but it all gets done at once. I opted for a $30 mounted camera, which seemed like the way to go. You can find them cheaper, but Fry's alternative was a license plate-mounted one which was much more expensive. Anyway, the difference in ability was minimal, so I just got the permanently mounted one.

One thing I'm learning about modern stereo/multi-function devices like this, is that they are not particularly user friendly. I'm a techie, and even I had to look things up online and in the manual, and discover just by trial and error. The Other Half recently bought a new car, which also has a Pioneer stereo, but it's single DIN, with a less advanced display. That one is very tricky and counter-intuitive. The X2500 is much easier to figure out. I was able to change the overall color scheme to match my dashboard lights (orange), change the background image, pair my phone with the bluetooth, set my radio stations and--most importantly to me on this project--attach my 64 GB USB drive, loaded with music!

I'd already made a 32 GB USB drive for The Other Half for his new car. I spent 10 hours or so paring down our massive music collection into individual folders (both by artist, and with some hodgepodge 60s/70s/80s/90s/00s groupings). What I'd discovered then, and forgotten how to do, was how to get the stereo to understand the proper order of the drive. It would seem that the default setup for these things is to group the music folders by date created. That would be the date that the folders and/or music was digitized in the first place. I copied the original drive on the new 64 GB drive, and discovered that  Taco - After Eight was my de facto first folder, period. Everything flowed after that, some in alphabetical order (because I'd apparently created them that way), and some in random order. It was a mess.

It comes with a remote, but
it's pretty pointless in
a sedan.

After a few fruitless Google searches, I found the secret. There is a simple program out there called MP3dirsorter. Find it and bookmark it. You don't even have to download it, per se. You find it online, bring it up, and it puts a window on your desktop. All you do, is access your USB drive (already loaded with music, of course), and drag the whole drive right into the window, and then wait. It will chug along, putting everything in alphabetical order, and will make your experience with your car stereo so much easier. If you add music to it later, you can just repeat the process. My 32 GB of music took just a few minutes.

The X2500 does not have front-panel access to the auxiliary ports, which as it turns out, is preferable, but be sure to pay attention if you're not installing it yourself. The unit has inputs available on the rear for a standard input (earphone jack size), USB, and iPhone (USB, but for use with a special, optional cable). This frees up your dash from having wires or drives sticking out of it, and puts the connection in your glove box or console. You have to specify where you want the connection to be, but you also have to specify how many connections you want. I asked for the USB, but didn't think to ask for the AUX. It's really okay, I don't need it, but you might want it.

A drawback to the X2500 is that it is iPhone/iPod-centric, but this is true of most advanced audio equipment, and even some low-end stuff. Attention electronics makers! Not everyone has Apple products! *Ahem* But even that issue is okay, it just makes some of the additional features of the unit beside the point. I am still able to listen to audio content on my phone through the unit with no problem at all. It also has Pandora built in, and takes no extra effort to use. It's awesome.

My next object of lust.

I haven't yet tried a DVD in the unit, and doubt that I'll really ever need that. I also haven't encountered a problem with the Nevada state-required law that has some features disabled unless your emergency brake is set.  Apparently, you have to double-set the brake in order to get some functions to cooperate, to make absolutely sure that you're sitting still. Also, after trial and error, I've discovered that I need to put the car into reverse, into neutral, and back into reverse in order to get the backup camera to show the measurement grid overlaid on the image.

Since Mitsubishi designed the dash to have the radio rather low in the center stack, placement of the backup image isn't optimal. Their plan (for their higher trim levels) was a screen at the top of the stack, but aftermarket units won't fit there. Fine with me, I think it would look rather clunky, as you can see. It just leaves me with a clock where my rudimentary radio display used to be, and an odd "E-Comm" message. I'm sure I'll get used to the placement.

Anyway, I'm very pleased with my purchase. Every time I've gotten out of the car since it was installed, I've got a smile on my face. I must've said, "have I mentioned how much I love my stereo?" a dozen times. I am very satisfied, and I'm now immune to new car lust, at least for the time being. The only thing I still want to buy to complete my car is a rear deck spoiler, to make the car look a little more sporty. Probably later this year. In the mean time, I'm set!

Pros	Cons
Attractive	Will not look like it came with the car
No delay when changing songs	Menus for large USB drive is sluggish (not surprising)
Bluetooth setup almost effortless	Non-intuitive setup for non-techies
Remembers what you were listening to last, even through blutooth.	No off button! Buttons not identifiable by touch.
Smooth, non-cluttered appearance	No volume knob (no knobs at all)
Sounds better than base factory stereo	Overwhelms factory speakers (duh)
Offers multiple choices for music, only limited by the size of input device	The listing order of the tracks on USB/MP3 drive requires special software
Bluetooth phone makes answering and calling legal!	Bluetooth phone requires that a visible microphone be installed
Multi-color programmable display lets you match your dashboard lights or set your own style	Animated wallpaper choices are limited, and curiously the animation is mostly obscured by album art icons

My added touch.

Now, a word about the dash kits. You can find them on Amazon or eBay, and there are basically just two manufacturers to choose from. There doesn't seem to be a radical difference between them, and they're not very expensive. But you'll need to be satisfied with a fairly bland looking end result, and hope that the "wow!" factor of the stereo erases the "meh" of the dash. With my car, I had to go from silver to matte black. A supplied little bezel/gasket snaps in around the unit, and it is flimsy and warped. It doesn't seat well, and just looks cheesy to me. Since I work in a sign shop, I may try to design something that obscures it a little. If I do, I'll upload it to the blog. Maybe there's a market for dressing these things up a little.

UPDATE: Tired of the look of the dash kit, I designed a simple fix at the sign shop. I matched the existing silver dash front to a satin silver applique (a plastic material used to make raised text on signs), and used it to make a frame. Because the Mitsubishi has a compound-curve and rotary knobs incorporated into the center stack, I needed to keep the design limited to the area around the head unit. So, I measured the maximum flat area, measured the opening (approximating the radius corners around the unit), then brought my dimensions in by 1/64" so that it wouldn't be too tight of a fit. The finished look isn't amazing or anything, but I think it looks better. If I had it to do again, I would have taken my cut piece of applique, and lightly sanded all of the edges with a fine-grit sandpaper, to blunt the edges. Otherwise, I'm happy with it. Every town has a sign shop, and a piece of applique shouldn't be too expensive. It's an idea if you hate the look of your after-market stereo!

Paying Off Cars and the Passage of Time

To keep my interest up (and after the bumper needed repair),
I decided to upgrade "Rusty."

I was just disucssing time with my sister. In the past 5 years, she's had two children, after having been married since the nineties. I've discovered that the passage of time is not just subjective, but different in relation to different things. Whenever we got together in the past, the passage of time was incidental. Other than gaining or losing weight, things remained pretty much the same between us whether it was 3 months or 18 months between visits. I've seen her perhaps a little over a dozen times since she first got pregnant, and now each visit is vastly different. There are monumental changes in her life, from my perspective, though they are probably slower for her.

In a similar way, perspective of time around other things in life can be skewed. I've been in the same job for 16 years, been in the same relationship for 15, the same house for 14, the same cat for 10, and until I bought my most recent car, drove the same Jeep for more than 9 years. Passage of time on my end was especially hard to gauge during these years. Pegging what happened in any given year between 1999 and 2011 is very difficult, outside of earth-shaking events. What year did I buy the fridge? When was that trip to Ensenada? When did Six Feet Under go off the air? All of these things are kind of hazy. And they can feel simultaneously recent and a long time ago.

. . .so, I didn't let them drill the bumper for a license plate,
and I got some "eyelids" to streamline the appearance.

Such it is with my current car. I bought it in early 2010, and it was a bit over a year old. But it was the newest car I've ever owned, and since it was replacing a 11-year-old vehicle, it might as well have been brand new. Also, seeing as how it replaced a Jeep, it might as well have been a luxury car. 2010 as a date seems distant, but the purchase of the car seems recent. Paying a monthly payment for 35 months (I paid off the loan a month early) felt like a very long time, but I still look at my car and see it as my new(ish) car. The car itself was built in August 2008, meaning it's going to actually be five years old this year, even though it's a 2009. 2008--having been in the Bush era--feels like a long time ago.

I may get a spoiler to pass the time. . .

Due to frustration with the Bush era, I started this blog in June 2007, which if you do the math is over 5-1/2 years ago, though it spans seven. In this case, it does feel like a long time, a really long time.  Life itself wasn't all that different then for me, though. Since then, we've gotten a new big screen HDTV, and shed all of our old fashioned glass-tube televisions and computer monitors. I've gone through two Macs and at least 4 PCs. We replaced our grill (originally purchased the weekend I met The Other Half), upgraded our stereo, gone through a couple of DVD players, then upgraded those to Blu-ray. And The Other Half got his own new car.  I did get a part time, work-at-home job.Otherwise, life here is pretty much the same.

And I'll almost certainly get a nifty new radio.

But my car is now paid off, and I'll get to experience more fuzzy time between getting the title, and years down the line where I either get new-car lust, old-car hate, or go (late) middle-age crazy. You never know though, a gas crisis could change everything, and my next car could be a whole different animal. That would freeze time for moment, wouldn't it?

For now, I'm going to be marking time by tarting up "Rusty" over the next year. First up will be a blue-tooth capable, touch-screen stereo that will work for today (CD/MP3/DVD) and tomorrow (USB/iPhone/Android input), and a back-up camera. That will quash the new car lust, at least for the nifty new toys. Later, I'll probably get a spoiler. It's not too pricey, and will give the ol' gal a little more sleek appearance. Beyond that, it will just be the inevitable upkeep: tires, brakes, washing.  I won't mind that I can't place when any of that happens.  The best part is that I won't have a car payment for several years.

Blast from the Past: See the USA in Your (Shitty) Chevrolet!

The car from hell. Image from AOL.

This post is a combination of my usual Sunday Blast from the Past feature, and a complaint to General Motors and its Chevrolet division. Now, I will concede that the modern-day fleet of Chevys is pretty cool: the new Malibu, Sonic, Spark, Volt, Corvette, Cruze and Camaro are awesome to look at. And I'm also aware that the Chevy Impala is due for a complete makeover. But it cannot be said loudly or often enough, the 2013 Chevrolet Impala sucks for air! Not only does the body style date back to the Bush era--2005 for the 2006 model year--but it has either been de-contented or has never been good, at least for the rental market.

Our recent trip to the Oregon coast was fantastic in nearly every way, except for the rental Impala, driven nearly 600 miles each way from San Francisco. The front driver seat was tolerable, barely. The front passenger seat had no back support, and the seat was insufficient for long drives. The backseat? intolerable. Horrible. We actually thought that it had been folded down, then reinserted improperly. It was like sitting on a foldout, convertible sofa from the 1970s. 200 miles into our adventure, we stopped at a Walmart for dining room chair cushions, just so that we could mitigate the torture! We used them for the rest of the jouney, and still weren't comfortable. Add to that a set of barely usable cup holders (wobbly coffee, anyone?) tiny visors, and a glovebox the size of a macho burrito, and you have a fairly shitty driving experience.

A Chevrolet I actually owned and liked!

Beyond all of that, for a full-sized car, the passenger cabin was woefully cramped. We had two six-footers with us, true. But we have more room--far more room--in the backseat of our Toyota Corolla-based Scion xB at home. And the cabin of the car was no bigger than the interior of my mid-sized Mitubishi Galant. The only place the Chevy excelled was in the trunk, which sleeps six. The car sucked. Hard. So, here then is my salute to all the shitty Chevys over the years (even though one of my favorites was my 1986 Chevy Cavailier RS). GM, you can do so much better.

Blast from the Past: The Cars I've Owned!

I've previously run (and rerun) a blog post on the cars I've owned. But I never tried to find commercials for them all. I think it's about time I did!

1. My first car was a 1973(ish) Toyota Corolla. This ad misses the mark by about six years. But I'm still not sure if it was a '73, '74 or '75.
2. My second car was a 1980 Datsun 210. The one in the ad is a year older-- and a hatchback--where mine had a trunk. But close!



3. My third car, a present for graduation, was a 1978 Dodge Colt Station Wagon. Try to find a commercial for THAT! And believe it or not I did, but missed it by a year. Mine did NOT have faux wood grain sides, however.
4. This was the first car I bought for myself, the 1980 Toyota Celica. And while the commercial is EXCATLY the right year and car. . .they used a 1979 model for the ad! You can tell, because the '80 had rectangular headlights and a different grille.



5. After paying off my first car, I got restless and bought an '86 Chevrolet Cavalier at auction (for $2490!), only two years old. Mine was the red, sporty model.
6. My sixth car was an ill-advised purchase, also at auction. The '87 Nissan Pulsar was cute, but it leaked and had all sorts of problems.



7. When my Pulsar threw a timing chain, and turned into sculpture, I bought a 1989 Mazda 626 Turbo hatchback. Loved that car! In Japan, it was apparently called the Capella, as shown in this ad.
8. After the Mazda was near death, I bought a 1998 Jeep Wrangler, which had been a vehicle I'd wanted all my life. Since I held onto it for nine years, you can be sure I loved it. But all good things must come to an end. . .



9. And we come to my current car, which is oddly enough, currently at the body shop after a minor collision. The 2009 Mitsubishi Galant--which is only superficially different from the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Galant--may not win any awards, but I love it. And I don't expect to add a tenth car for a while.

So, that's it for now. Happy Monday!

The Worst Cars of All Time

Is THIS the worst car of all time?

What is the worst car of all time? Your mileage may vary, pun intended. Of the eleven cars I've owned, only one falls in this list, and I disagree with it. My 1986 Chevrolet Cavalier RS was the cheapest miles I've ever driven. Sure, it had a severely underpowered engine, and over-eager "stylish" but square design. But I remember it fondly! I do thank them for leaving out my current ride, a 2009 Mitsubishi Galant. I love my car, but it would be easy to skewer it in the space of a paragraph!

But, how on earth could they leave out my leaky, slow, ridiculously designed 1998 Nissan Pulsar NX SE?

[Excerpt]

100 Worst Cars of All Time

If there weren't bad cars, how could the world appreciate the good ones? Since we already went through the Top 100 Vehicles of All-Time, here's a look at some truly awful vehicles. Some of them were fragile. Many were dynamically iffy. A lot were underpowered. And a few would melt into a pile of rust before your eyes.
Terrible, for this list's purposes, is loosely defined as a car that shaped current American automotive culture around its bad example. That doesn't mean that all the cars here were big sellers, only that their undeniable stink made everyone notice. . . 

Read more at: Inside Line

My Car is Dead: Mitsubishi is Moving On

It was inevitable, I know. There is a limited window in which you can drive a car that is current, one that hasn't been replaced, upgraded, or facelifted beyond your car's current visage. My 2009 Mitsubishi Galant is identical to the 2010 and 2011 models except for some minor differences in the grille and the headlamps. We're talking some plastic bits here. But soon, very soon, my car will not only be not current, it will no longer be made at all! I'll be with those sad Pontiac, Saturn and Mercury owners. . .orphaned! I'm a victim!

[Excerpt]

Mitsubishi Planning to Build Lancer-Based Models in the US, Axe Galant and Eclipse



. . .According to Automotive News, Mitsubishi will build vehicles based on the Lancer/Outlander platform at the Normal, Ill. facility in two years time. As a result, the current models being built there could get the axe entirely. They include the Galant, Endeavor, Eclipse and Eclipse Spyder. . .
 
Read more at: AutoGuide.com

UPDATE 06/15/12: I was at Courtesy Imports last weekend for an oil change, and they had at least five new 2012 Galants, in basic and in tricked-out versions. They may be killing this car, but they're killing it slowly. Thats 2004-2012 with only modest redesigns. Nine seasons. Way to milk it, Mitsubishi!

My Car (Mitsubishi Galant) Makes Canada's Worst Sellers List

I just paid my tenth payment on my three-year loan for the 2009 Mitsubishi Galant I bought to replace my 1998 Jeep Wrangler Sport. After driving the Jeep for nine years, I decided that the repair and maintenance costs were just too high, and bought a new(ish) car. Even after ten months, I still view it as my "new" car, and I'm still digging it.

But I know it isn't a crowd-pleaser. It is in the same class with the Toyota Camry, the Honda Accord, the Nissan Maxima and Altima, the Mazda 6, the Ford Fusion, the Hyundai Sonata and the Kia Optima. It's prettier than the Optima (at least of its age), and the Fusion. It's comfortable, has reasonable acceleration and gas mileage, and kills my old Jeep in countless comparisons. But the front end looks kind of brutish, and the car is basically the same (if a bit better looking) as when it debuted in 2003 as a 2004 model. That's a loooong time in car years.

The Mitsubishi Galant is in its eighth year of production in its current form, which is not usual for car models. Usually, a car goes through 4-year cycles, and is then completely redesigned. Around year two, they do a facelift/butt-lift, and then at year four you get a whole new car. The Galant got the plastic surgery treatment (sorely needed, what with the ugly nose and taillights it used to have) in 2007 and again in 2009. But in 2010, they just swapped out the black louvered grille (which I have) to a chromed plastic mesh thingy, and a little smoky film on the headlamps.  The 2010 and 2011 cars are identical, and essentially the same as my (now) two-to-three year old car.  So it's really no surprise that the car is not a huge seller. You can get away with keeping a van or a truck essentially the same for 10+ years, but a car for eight? Almost unheard of.

[Excerpt]

Auto-industry dogs: Canada’s worst-sellers list released

The Honda Civic is again the best-selling new car in Canada this year (49,000 sold) , with the Ford F-150 pickup being the top vehicle seller overall (85,000).


But what’s the worst-selling car to date in Canada?


Glad you asked, says respected Canadian automotive journalist, John Leblanc, who lists the Acura RL luxury sedan as this year’s biggest automotive dog in the Canadian market, with just 33 sold. Leblanc’s 10 Worst Selling New Cars in Canada in 2010 list appeared in the nation’s largest-circulation newspaper, the Toronto Star, this week. . .

Read more at: MarketWatch

In Defense of the Mitsubishi Galant

[UPDATE: I finally got my camera and computer to cooperate, so here are some glamor shots of my car! Click picture to embiggen!]

As I've already posted previously, I recently exchanged my 1998 Jeep Wrangler--proud owner for 9 years--for a 2009 Mitsubishi Galant. I wasn't looking for this particular model. It sort of snuck up on me. I'd gone, at the behest of The Other Half, to the dealership to check out a special they were running on Kia Optimas. It was $3,000 off, and the special ended that night. So, I went, and I test drove the thing.

Bo-o-o-r-r-r-ring! I was totally underwhelmed by the car, as was TOH. So, we decided to go take a look at the used cars. There, my designated dealer lead me to the 2009 Mitsubishi Galant. This one had 30,000+ miles on it, and was $14,999. I liked it, but the miles were too steep. No problem! They had two more, and they both had 16,000 miles on them for around the same price. Cool. I test drove a red one, and liked it. A lot.

Keep in mind, I'd been driving a Jeep. A bouncy, rough and tumble Jeep. So driving a mid-size car was a dramatic departure. And thinking of the service my Jeep needed that week, my mind was quickly being made up for me. Had they shown me a Toyota Camry or a Honda Accord, would I have been as ready to buy? Maybe. Probably. But neither of those cars would have been as cheap in the same model year and mileage.

I ultimately made the purchase, at a slightly steeper than average price, though I got a good trade-in. And I have been for the most part extremely satisfied with my purchase. The only drawback? The automotive press' reviews of my automobile. They are uniformly moderate-to-negative. See, even though my car is only a year old, the model was introduced in late 2003. . .seven years ago. It has since had a modest and then a more dramatic face lift, first in 2007 and then in 2009. But it remains--cosmetics aside--essentially the same car.

For some reason, there is an abundance of 2009 Mitsubishi Galant ES models for sale in Las Vegas. And by abundance, I mean a dozen or so. But there are no SE (sports edition) or Ralliart (super-duper sports edition) models at all. I'm curious and perplexed by this. Is it regional or something? I dunno. So, I find out after my purchase that my model is the base model, and it is considered blah by MotorTrend and Automobile and Edmunds. Meh.

I look at my car out in the garage, and I smile. It's pretty. It's sleek. It has a forward stance, looks aggressive. Driving it, there is no problem getting up to speed in residential areas or on the freeway. It's smooth (at least compared to the Jeep). It has the power windows and locks. It's roomy and comfortable. And on those rare occasions that I see other (usually older) Galants, I'm impressed at the facelift and butt-lift the car got in 2009.

They took the front end, and got rid of the strange nose that came out in 2003 (2004 model), and put a nice Maxima-like grille on it. They sculpted and molded the hood and bumper to make sense of some lines that were originally kind of confused. They inexplicably kept the headlights, which are a little old-school. And in the back end, they totally transformed the sort of Dodge Charger-like rear into a more Lexus-y looking tushy. Some widening of the back window and a little creasing action to the cowl and trunk lid completed a nifty transformation of the rear view.

All in all, I'm very happy with my choice. I like the fact that I'm driving something bordering on unique. I especially like that the previous owner elected for no badging outside of the Mitsubishi "three diamond" logo, rendering the car something of an enigma. But I'm a little deflated to know that the car is on the "worst sellers" list. That Mitsubishi is not only not planning to continue the car, but seemingly is ready to abandon the whole mid-size segment. So my ninth generation Galant is likely the last of its kind. The upshot of that, is that there will not be a tenth generation to supplant it. Mine's the newest! Well, outside of the 2010s, which look exactly the same.

The competitors to my car are the Toyota Camry (lookout, it won't stop!), the Honda Accord (boring), the Ford Fusion (over-sized Focus), the Mazda 6 (sexy!), the Hyundai Sonata (decent, but soon to be supplanted by the awesome 2011 version), the Kia Optima (snooooooze), the Nissan Altima (super sexy) and Maxima (very similar to my car), and the Chevrolet Impala and Malibu (both rental car bland). Of those, I'd take either Nissan and the Mazda. The Sonata is also still a favorite. But my Mitsubishi is likely mine for the next 5-10 years, and I have no--or relatively no--qualms about that.

Cars I've Owned (UPDATED)

This is a re-posting of piece I put up a while ago, on the various cars I've owned. It was inspired by a few other similar write-ups I'd seen around the internets. I've since found a few photos of the actual cars, and decided to put them in this revised piece. Personal photos of my own cars are larger. And since I got a new car last week, I thought it was only appropriate that I add it to my list. It's only been nine years!

Have you ever tried to compile a list of all the cars you've owned? It's more difficult than you might think. And finding the pictures is even more difficult.* Here's my list [years driven in brackets]:


#1 - 1975 Toyota Corolla [1982] - Mine was yellow, had a good deal of rust, a black vinyl interior, no air conditioning, automatic transmission and an AM radio. It was one of Mom & Dad's "fixer-uppers," bought on the cheap for runabout use and then resale. It was loaned to me instead of the blue VW Beetle that had been promised to me--which was sold before I turned 16. Dad & I pulled a FM radio from the junkyard and installed it. . .but it only had 1 dash speaker! I did learn that songs meant for stereo (Monday Monday, Twist & Shout) are kind of hilarious out of one speaker.

#2 - 1980 Datsun 210 [1982 - 1984] - Red 2-door with a nice comfy black vinyl interior, FM stereo, air conditioning and a stick shift. Which meant I had to learn to drive stick--a challenge for uncoordinated little me. Mom & Dad loaned me this one too, an identical situation to #1. But this one was only 2 years old at the time and had square headlights! How cool! Trashed the right side of the car, and had to have it fixed before Dad got home from a trip. Pulled that off, and then the neighbor creamed the left side!

#3 - 1978 Dodge Colt Station Wagon [1984-1985] - My graduation gift was a bit of a step back, two years older (plus two years later), and it was a silver station wagon. I made the best of it. I removed the AM radio, installed an under dash AM/FM/Cassette player, and speakers in the doors. I blacked out all the chrome, and rocker panels. It was certainly not cool, but I got by. This was my only 4-speed manual transmission. Blew the engine, 'cause I was a reluctant oil-changer. Oops.

#4 - 1980 Toyota Celica GT Liftback [1985-1988] - This is the first car I purchased myself, with my own loan. I loved this car, even if it did have a large discolored spot on one side, and so much rust underneath that Dad was amazed I didn't fall through the floor. It was silver, a 5-speed, had cloth interior, air conditioning, but only an AM/FM radio. I blacked out the chrome and rocker panels again, but this time it looked cool. It was the first car I ever bought and paid for myself (although, with a co-sign from Dad!). It had a broken gas gauge, so I had to use the trip-odometer to calculate fill-up time!

#5 - 1986 Chevrolet Cavalier RS [1988-1991] - My first car that seemed like a grown-up's car. Not a dream car, but only two years old, and an excellent deal bought at auction. And this was the first model that took the stodgy Cavalier, and made it semi-cool. It was red, had a nifty dash, a cool luggage rack on the trunk, and no chrome. It was a 5-speed manual, but a dog going up hills. Nice red cloth interior and upgraded dash were eye-catching though. Oh, and only an AM/FM radio again. My sister got this car after me, and drove it into the ground!

#6 - 1988 Nissan Pulsar NX SE [1991-1994] - Back to a sporty red number, with T-tops, a cockpit interior, and an allegedly removable hatch back. This was a two-seater, very sporty with dual over-head cam 16 valve engine, 5-speed transmission, and--yep--AM/FM stereo--no tapes or CDs. This car was a maintenance nightmare. And it leaked. And it eventually became little more than a sculpture after its timing belt broke. But it looked cool. Oh, and I forgot, I had a run-in with a ditch in the winter (might have been around the time of the photo), and had another car land on TOP of it.

#7 - 1972(?) Mercedes Diesel Sedan [1991] - The first and only time I had two cars. Mom gave me this car, which she had purchased from a little old lady who only drove it on Sundays--literally. It was dark green, and looked very cool. But the car had been sitting outside in Ohio for years, with no maintenance. I drove it to my house, and it promptly lost its timing chain. I gave it to a coworker for free, and he eventually had to pay somebody to take it. A real lost opportunity.

#8 - 1989 Mazda 626 Turbo [1994-2000] - Beautiful car, it looked very similar to the Audis of its day. And with the turbo, it was amazingly zippy. It was back to the automatic transmission, but had a gorgeous interior, and was quite a ride. My only complaint was the driver's arm rest, which was torture. Oh, and the air conditioning absolutely could not keep up with Nevada heat. And the fact that once it started to wear out (at 190,000+ miles), it really decided to wear out. Two, two, TWO transmission replacements! It had a tape deck, but it ate tapes. Can't believe I can't find a photo of mine to post. . .mine was cooler, with cast aluminum wheels.

#9 - 1998 Jeep Wrangler Sport [2000-2010] - My previous ride was always my dream vehicle. I loved it, warts, rough ride and all. It was red, with a removable hard top, with full doors, custom bumpers and side steps, and a (worn, and covered by fake tiger-skin!) leather interior. It was my first (and only) 6-cylinder, with a 5-speed transmission, and get this--no air conditioner. Which even in Las Vegas is no big whoop, since I took the doors and top off every summer. It came with a Mopar tape-eating AM/FM player, but I replaced it with a CD-player. The 4-wheel drive honestly didn't get much use, but was great in the rain. It was very pricey in its final years, with a series of fixes and maintenance issues. I'll miss it, but I won't miss the cost and hassle of repairs. With only 52,000 miles on it, you'd think it would have had better reliability.


#10 - 2009 Mitsubishi Galant ES [2010- ] Finally, a car made in this century! With the Jeep facing even more repairs, we finally bit the bullet and bought a new (well, slightly used) car. It is a rust-red (redder in person) 4-door sedan, but has a slightly forward stance, and a nicely updated nose and tail from earlier models. It is at once unassuming and different. Non-car people will not know what it is (largely because it has no identifying badging outside of the Mitsubishi 3-diamond logos), and you don't see them all over the place like Camrys or Accords. Many reviews will tell you that the Galant is an also-ran in the midsize car segment, but after driving a rugged, creaky, bouncy Jeep for nine years? Smooth as silk and an upgrade in all areas. I'll miss you, Jeepie, but the new Galant (nicknamed "Rusty") is my new girl. Guy? Haven't decided yet!



Honerable Mentions - Early 70s 4-door Nova, my brother's car I drove for a month when mine was down. Early 70s Toyota Corolla, my brother's car I drove for another month when mine was down and his license was suspended (I nearly totalled it!). 1990 Nissan Stanza, rented for a month when I lived in LA. And The Other Half's cars, 1991 Mazda 626, 2000 VW GTI, and 2003 VW Golf (pictured with my Jeep above).

That's it! For now, until the next dream vehicle catches my eye.


*Photos culled from all over the internet. I've lost the attributions, and hope that nobody minds. If I've used one of your photos, and you'd like it attributed (or removed), please contact me at the email address at the upper left of the page. Thanks.

"Cash for Clunkers" Runs Out of Gas?

Image from source, WSJ

Well, crap! I am not yet in the market for a new car. But let's face it, my 1998 Jeep Wrangler has seen better days, even if it only has just shy of 50,000 miles on it. It looks great, but it needs about $1,500 in repairs just about every year. And at 15-16 mpg, it falls in the "cash for clunkers" program, even if it isn't a clunker, per se.

I could probably get more (possibly significantly more) than the $4,500 allowed in the program. But our local Jeep dealer was offering (up to) $4,500 in matching cash back. In other words, whatever the government would give you, they would match if you bought a new Jeep. I'm fairly confident that I'd be near the maximum allowed value, meaning I'd be eligible for $8,000-$9,000 for a trade-in! That's a good chunk of the cost of a new Jeep, and at least would end up being far cheaper than this Jeep was when I bought it at two-years-old (in 2000!). Heckuva deal! But alas, the program seems to be out of money. RATS!

[Excerpt]

'Cash for Clunkers' Runs Out of Gas

White House officials and lawmakers were studying late Thursday how to keep alive the government's cash-for-clunkers incentive program because of concerns the program's $1 billion budget may have been exhausted after just one week.

Obama administration officials warned congressional leaders Thursday it planned to suspend the program at midnight. But the White House released a statement late Thursday saying that completed deals would be honored and the program is still under review. . .

Read more at: Wall Street Journal

Car Repair Woes; Again

I've had my dream car--truck actually--for just about eight years now. It was found as a surprise; a red 1998 Jeep Wrangler Sport, parked in the driveway of a friend's house where we were to have dinner. It was November, 2000. A world away from this one, only marred by the ongoing mystery of just who was going to be President, Al Gore or George W. Bush. It's hard to even put yourself there now, isn't it?

I'd always wanted a Jeep. What's more, I'd always wanted a red one, and here it was, being sold for a friend, by a friend. At the time, I was only recently beginning the long climb out of a debt hole. Buying it was a real challenge, and I was fortunate to have The Other Half to help me out, since my old car was at death's door. The old 1989 Mazda 626 was barely hanging in there, and had become a money pit. A two-year-old, barely driven Jeep was the answer.

But that was eight years ago. I still love my Jeep like a member of the family. It is long paid off, and I am long out of debt. It gets abysmal mileage, but I only drive it about 4,000 miles a year. At nearly 11 years old, it only has 46,000 miles on it, and still looks great. Even with newer, remodeled Jeeps running around everywhere, it's still my dream vehicle.

But now, like clockwork, every year when I get a new smog check before registration, I am beset with costly repairs. For four out of the last five years (at best recollection), I've been treated to expensive new problems, when all I want is a $25 smog screening. This year, it was the water pump and an oil leak, total price: $557. Less than a week later, with oil puddles in the garage, I went back to find another $600 to fix a leak caused by patching the earlier leak. Not to mention a combined seven hours waiting around for repairs.

I realize that $1,157 amounts to only three or four car payments. And the $50 registration ain't too bad compared to $400-600 for a new car. Still, I'm now wondering, when does this sort of perpetual repair work become more trouble than it's worth? Would a new car, with payments every month but no problems, be an even trade? Especially if it got better than 15 mpg.? Not sure. But I have a deal with the other half that in 2010, I deserve a vehicle made in this century!

Behind the Blogger, Pt. 10.5: Cars I've Owned (Revised)

This is a re-posting of piece I put up a while ago, on the various cars I've owned. It was inspired by a few other similar write-ups I'd seen around the internets. I've since found a few photos of the actual cars, and decided to put them in this revised piece. Personal photos of my own cars are larger.

Have you ever tried to compile a list of all the cars you've owned? It's more difficult than you might think. And finding the pictures is even more difficult.* Here's my list [years driven in brackets]:


#1 - 1973 Toyota Corolla [1982] - Mine was yellow, had a good deal of rust, a black vinyl interior, no air conditioning, automatic transmission and an AM radio. It was one of Mom & Dad's "fixer-uppers," bought on the cheap for runabout use and then resale. It was loaned to me instead of the blue VW Beetle that had been promised to me--which was sold before I turned 16. Dad & I pulled a FM radio from the junkyard and installed it. . .but it only had 1 dash speaker! I did learn that songs meant for stereo (Monday Monday, Twist & Shout) are kind of hilarious out of one speaker.

#2 - 1980 Datsun 210 [1982 - 1984] - Red 2-door with a nice comfy black vinyl interior, FM stereo, air conditioning and a stick shift. Which meant I had to learn to drive stick--a challenge for uncoordinated little me. Mom & Dad loaned me this one too, an identical situation to #1. But this one was only 2 years old at the time and had square headlights! How cool! Trashed the right side of the car, and had to have it fixed before Dad got home from a trip. Pulled that off, and then the neighbor creamed the left side!

#3 - 1978 Dodge Colt Station Wagon [1984-1985] - My graduation gift was a bit of a step back, two years older (plus two years later), and it was a silver station wagon (and not a race car as in the photo!). I made the best of it. I removed the AM radio, installed an under dash AM/FM/Cassette player, and speakers in the doors. I blacked out all the chrome, and rocker panels. It was certainly not cool, but I got by. This was my only 4-speed manual transmission. Blew the engine, 'cause I was a reluctant oil-changer. Oops.

#4 - 1980 Toyota Celica GT Liftback [1985-1988] - This is the first car I purchased myself, with my own loan. I loved this car, even if it did have a large discolored spot on one side, and so much rust underneath that Dad was amazed I didn't fall through the floor. It was silver, a 5-speed, had cloth interior, air conditioning, but only an AM/FM radio. I blacked out the chrome and rocker panels again, but this time it looked cool. It was the first car I ever bought and paid for myself (although, with a co-sign from Dad!). It had a broken gas gauge, so I had to use the trip-odometer to calculate fill-up time!

#5 - 1986 Chevrolet Cavalier RS [1988-1991] - My first car that seemed like a grown-up's car. Not a dream car, but only two years old, and an excellent deal bought at auction. And this was the first model that took the stodgy Cavalier, and made it semi-cool. It was red, had a nifty dash, a cool luggage rack on the trunk, and no chrome. It was a 5-speed manual, but a dog going up hills. Nice red cloth interior and upgraded dash were eye-catching though. Oh, and only an AM/FM radio again. My sister got this car after me, and drove it into the ground!

#6 - 1988 Nissan Pulsar NX SE [1991-1994] - Back to a sporty red number, with T-tops, a cockpit interior, and an allegedly removable hatch back. This was a two-seater, very sporty with dual over-head cam 16 valve engine, 5-speed transmission, and--yep--AM/FM stereo--no tapes or CDs. This car was a maintenance nightmare. And it leaked. And it eventually became little more than a sculpture after its timing belt broke. But it looked cool. Oh, and I forgot, I had a run-in with a ditch in the winter (might have been around the time of the photo), and had another car land on TOP of it.

#7 - 1972(?) Mercedes Diesel Sedan [1991] - The first and only time I had two cars. Mom gave me this car, which she had purchased from a little old lady who only drove it on Sundays--literally. It was dark green, and looked very cool. But the car had been sitting outside in Ohio for years, with no maintenance. I drove it to my house, and it promptly lost its timing chain. I gave it to a coworker for free, and he eventually had to pay somebody to take it. A real lost opportunity.

#8 - 1989 Mazda 626 Turbo [1994-2000] - Beautiful car, it looked very similar to the Audis of its day. And with the turbo, it was amazingly zippy. It was back to the automatic transmission, but had a gorgeous interior, and was quite a ride. My only complaint was the driver's arm rest, which was torture. Oh, and the air conditioning absolutely could not keep up with Nevada heat. And the fact that once it started to wear out (at 190,000+ miles), it really decided to wear out. Two, two, TWO transmission replacements! It had a tape deck, but it ate tapes. Can't believe I can't find a photo of mine to post. . .mine was cooler, with cast aluminum wheels.

#9 - 1998 Jeep Wrangler Sport [2000-present] - My current ride was always my dream vehicle, and it still is. I love it, warts, rough ride and all. It's red, with a removable hard top, with full doors, custom bumpers and side steps, and a (now worn, and covered by fake tiger-skin!) leather interior. It's my first 6-cylinder, with a 5-speed transmission, and get this--no air conditioner. Which even in Las Vegas is no big whoop, since I take the doors and top off every summer. It came with a Mopar tape-eating AM/FM player, but I've since replaced it with a CD-player. It's been a little pricey over the last year, with a series of fixes and maintenance issues. But I'm keeping it, unless gas hits $5 or something--it only gets 15 mpg. UPDATE: Price of gas as of April 26, 2008, $3.59 for regular unleaded.

#? - Dream Car I Can't Justify: 1975-1978 Volkswagen Super Beetle Convertible - See, I love cars, but I don't need to have super-fast, or super-expensive. For some reason that even I'm not sure about, I've wanted one of these since I was a kid. Hey, I got the Jeep eventually, so who knows?

Honerable Mentions - Early 70s 4-door Nova, my brother's car I drove for a month when mine was down. Early 70s Toyota Corolla, my brother's car I drove for another month when mine was down and his license was suspended (I nearly totalled it!). 1990 Nissan Stanza, rented for a month when I lived in LA. And The Other Half's cars, 1991 Mazda 626, 2000 VW GTI, and 2004 VW Golf (pictured with my Jeep above).

That's it! For now, until the next dream vehicle catches my eye.


*Photos culled from all over the internet. I've lost the attributions, and hope that nobody minds. If I've used one of your photos, and you'd like it attributed (or removed), please contact me at the email address at the upper left of the page. Thanks.

Behind the Blogger, Pt. 10: Cars I've Owned

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post has since been updated, here.

Every once in a while, I like to post a little background information on me, James Greenlee, editor of Greenlee Gazette. Why? Oh, a little self-indulgence, a little basic record keeping for my aging brain, and a basic desire to "flesh out" who I am for anybody who might be interested.

This post was inspired by a few other similar ones I've seen on the internets lately. Have you ever tried to compile a list of all the cars you've owned? It's more difficult than you might think. And finding the pictures is even more difficult.* Here's my list.

#1 - 1973 Toyota Corolla [1982] - Mine was yellow, had a good deal of rust, a black vinyl interior, no air conditioning, automatic transmission and an AM radio. It was one of Mom & Dad's "fixer-uppers," bought on the cheap for runabout use and then resale. It was loaned to me instead of the blue VW Beetle that had been promised to me--but was sold before I turned 16. Dad & I pulled a FM radio from the junkyard and installed it. . .but it only had 1 dash speaker!

#2 - 1980 Datsun 210 [1982 - 1984] - Red 2-door with a nice comfy black vinyl interior, FM stereo, air conditioning and a stick shift. Which meant I had to learn to drive stick--a challenge for uncoordinated little me. Mom & Dad loaned me this one too, an identical situation to #1. But this one was only 2 years old at the time and had square headlights! How cool!

#3 - 1978 Dodge Colt Station Wagon [1984-1985] - My graduation gift was a bit of a step back, two years older (plus two years later), and it was a silver station wagon (and not a race car as in the photo!). I made the best of it. I removed the AM radio, installed an under dash AM/FM/Cassette player, and speakers in the doors. I blacked out all the chrome, and rocker panels. It was certainly not cool, but I got by. This was my only 4-speed manual transmission.

#4 - 1980 Toyota Celica GT Liftback [1985-1988] - This is the first car I purchased myself, with my own loan. I loved this car, even if it did have a large discolored spot on one side, and so much rust underneath that Dad was amazed I didn't fall through the floor. It was silver, a 5-speed, had cloth interior, air conditioning, but only an AM/FM radio. I blacked out the chrome and rocker panels again, but this time it looked cool.

#5 - 1986 Chevrolet Cavalier RS [1988-1991] - My first "grown-up" car. Not a dream car, but only two years old, and an excellent deal bought at auction. And this was the first model that took the stodgy Cavalier, and made it semi-cool. It was red, had a nifty dash, a cool luggage rack on the trunk, and no chrome. It was a 5-speed manual, but a dog going up hills. Nice red cloth interior and upgraded dash were eye-catching though. Oh, and only an AM/FM radio again.

#6 - 1988 Nissan Pulsar NX SE [1991-1994] - Back to a sporty red number, with T-tops, a cockpit interior, and an allegedly removable hatch back. This was a two-seater, very sporty with dual over-head cam 16 valve engine, 5-speed transmission, and--yep--AM/FM stereo--no tapes or CDs. This car was a maintenance nightmare. And it leaked. And it eventually became little more than a sculpture after its timing belt broke. But it looked cool.

#7 - 1972(?) Mercedes Diesel Sedan [1991] - The first and only time I had two cars. Mom offloaded this car she had purchased from a little old lady who only drove it on Sundays--literally. It was dark green, and looked very cool. But the car had been sitting outside in Ohio for years, with no maintenance. I drove it to my house, and it promptly lost its timing chain. I gave it to a coworker for free, and he eventually had to pay somebody to take it.

#8 - 1989 Mazda 626 Turbo [1994-2000] - Beautiful car, it looked very similar to the Audis of its day. And with the turbo, it was amazingly zippy. It was back to the automatic transmission, but had a gorgeous interior, and was quite a ride. My only complaint was the driver's arm rest, which was torture. Oh, and the air conditioning absolutely could not keep up with Nevada heat. And the fact that once it started to wear out (at 190,000+ miles), it really decided to wear out. Two, two, TWO transmission replacements! Oh, it had a tape deck, but it ate tapes.

#9 - 1998 Jeep Wrangler Sport [2000-present] - My current ride was always my dream vehicle, and it still is. I love it, warts, rough ride and all. It's red, with a removable hard top, with full doors, custom bumpers and side steps, and a (now worn) leather interior. It's my first 6-cylinder, with a 5-speed transmission, and get this--no air conditioner. Which even in Las Vegas is no big whoop, since I take the doors and top off every summer. It came with a Mopar tape-eating AM/FM player, but I've since replaced it with a CD-player. It's been a little pricey this year, with a series of fixes and maintenance issues. But I'm keeping it, unless gas hits $5 or something--it only gets 15 mpg.

That's it! For now, until the next dream vehicle catches my eye.


*Photos culled from all over the internet. I've lost the attributions, and hope that nobody minds. If I've used one of your photos, and you'd like it attributed (or removed), please contact me at the email address at the upper left of the page. Thanks.