The so called "Dream car" - by Jeremy Hampson

Here’s the thing,
Let’s talk about what is in the mind of every single person reading this, every single enthusiast, every single person that never even thought about picking up a wrench, the ever elusive dream car. Why should we talk about this? Because, when you really think about a dream car, what it is, what it means, what it represents, it deserves more thought and discussion then simply, “my dream car is a 308 Ferrari!” or something to that tune.

Slowly getting older, not growing up mind you, I’ve noticed that my tastes in cars has changed. Not for the better, or for the worse, it has just simply, changed. Now of course having a young daughter and a wife does change your priorities, but my tastes in vehicles always remains the same. Or so I thought. Stay with me here.
When I was growing up, my dad bought me a 1989 Honda Civic DX, a nice little 3 door hatchback. It looked something like this but with a nice fade to the red.

It had power nothing in it, yet was a joy to drive in. Before I got my car, what I wanted was either a lifted truck of some sort, like an older Tacoma, or like what my friend had at the time, an 1988 Chevy Camaro with the 5.0L V8 in it. It was fast, mean, and quite an enjoying experience to drive. But I got my car, with it’s little 1.5L inline 4, didn’t have quite the punch. However, after a while I didn’t mind, I began to like the little thing more and more. This is where I got my first lesson in power to weight. As in, even though it’s not as powerful, it’s also lighter then a third generation Camaro, it won’t beat it in a drag race, but it won’t feel as slow in the Civic as opposed to another car the same size/weight as the Camaro, but with just not as much power. This was my thinking at the time anyways, it’s not like I was doing freaking physics calculations in my head or anything.


 (Pictured, freaking physics)

So, even though I had this car, I still wanted my “dream car”, which was something along the lines of a Tacoma that I could build up, I wanted something that I would show off my personality, which, in high school was that of an overly aggressive asshole. And I tried multiple times to get a truck, it never worked out, because I slowly realized that, at the time, my dream car wasn’t some stupid truck that I kind of wanted, it was the very car I was driving. The car did what I wanted it to do, it represented my personality, it was fun, I enjoyed it, and most importantly, it was a car that I could handle, because so often, you’ll get way ahead of yourself, jump into a car you don’t properly understand, and something bad happens.

And then I went and picked up my 300, my wife picked it out because it was going to be her car after I got a car for myself. Even just a few years ago when I bought it, I still wanted a truck or a certain type of suv. After I drove the 300 for a while, keeping In mind it was my first RWD sedan, I started liking it more. And also realized that if I don't have a reason for owning a specialized type of vehicle like a truck there is no point to owning one. My commute usually averages a good 30 miles one way. Yeah I could have had a truck but a buddy of mine made the same commute and had a Ram 1500, he filled up twice a week, that's painful.
So when I bought my 944, I thought,  you know I finally accomplished one of my car dreams, get a RWD sports car that I can wrench on. Well that was before I realized if you own a 944 you really own two cars, the 944 and the car you drive daily while you work on the 944.

So, the search began, in the meantime I drove my roommates 89 corolla GT-S, it was a decent car. The gearbox had that very satisfying 'click' every time you put it into gear. So when I found a car I immediately jumped on it, it was my 86 Honda Accord LX-i. For a while I just used it as as car I drove, and then I realized that I really liked the car, it was was a fun ride, had a decent amount of horsepower, and didn't quit on me until the parts literally broke in half.

However the car had over 200,000 miles on it and it wasn't maintained nor did it have it’s 200,000 mile interval servicing, it was having so much repairs that it was like having a car payment. Again, the search began. I didn't really know what I was looking for, my wife and I would have liked a new car, but we wanted to pay off the 300 first. So I decided I was going to try and get a car off craigslist for 5,000 or less, a decent starting position for an early 2000's that runs well.

I must have run through a hundred listings for cars that I replied to. One had a good seller, and that's the number one thing I look for. So I started talking to him, the car? A 2001 Volvo S80 T6. Had the color I wanted, had a turbo. Just one problem, the 99 to 2004 Volvo S80's, among others had a fatal flaw. The transmissions were GM sourced transmissions, and failed very early, but this guy had a rebuilt transmission put in. He had it done by his mechanic who used to be a Volvo tech, but not in a Volvo dealership shop. Anyone who's owned a Volvo you need their computers to program stuff from the tip tronic to the window buttons.

So I go check it out, turns out had a massive problem with the transmission, it would get stuck in gears and not shift right, I was going 5 mph through an intersection.  Next!

Over the next few months nothing really came about, until one morning I decided to look on carmax but with a caveat, for no reason at all I put the price range up to 23,000 dollars. And within a few pages I found a vehicle that I now own, my 2014 Ford Fiesta ST. The strange thing with it is, as soon as I saw it online, I immediately called and made an appointment for later that day to go check it out and ended up buying it - I knew the second I saw it that I was going to be buying it.

That is just the thing, when you find a car you know you like, or love, it can come in all forms, it can be love at first sight, or it can creep up on you. You know you love your car, when you are about to get in and look at the seats and say, “I love this car, I can’t wait to sit in it.” And then say it again as you’re getting out of it. There is no problem with lusting after that one car that seems so far away, but never forget there is a perfectly good car out there right now for you, just waiting to be driven. I don’t like the phrase “Dream car”, because just in those words it insinuates that this car only exists in your head. So get your head out of the clouds, and under that hood, because especially with today’s cars, there are so many to choose from, that finding that perfect one to fit you perfectly is even easier, and that in essence is really a dream car, one that seems built for you.

And that, that’s the thing about having your head in the clouds

- Jeremey

Sporting Intentions

Here's the thing,

Honda released the current Accord nearly two years ago now, and to great fanfare. Their party piece for this new model was the Sport trim. With the combination of the new Earth Dreams 2.4, a classic bolt-action Honda 6-speed, and a slightly sportier suspension setup, it was just enough to satiate aging Honda fans, while not alienating casual buyers. That last point is due to the fact that it is also available with Honda's new CVT setup.

If you opted to bypass the rubberband Rube Goldberg Device, the car became a bit of a grown-up's Si. However, the car left a lot of hardcore enthusiasts unimpressed. That's mostly because Honda didn't take the extra steps to differentiate it from the standard Accords that surround it in the lineup. The Sport's seats are LX seats with "sports cloth" and the slightly stiffer suspension comes standard on everything from the EX on up. For lack of a better description, it was the sportiest assembly of the parts in their bin. It seemed like a good enough plan, but today I drove something that I think could easily blow it out of the water.

It was the Passat Sport, and it was phenomenal. Starting its run this year, the Passat Sport represents the best version possible of the Passat SE. It has completely one-off wheels with tires usually saved for sportier models, and a carbon fiber lined interior. It also gets the seats from the much more expensive Volkswagen CC, with a possible two-tone scheme. And being powered by the new Turbocharged, Direct Injected 1.8, the car feels sprightly and moves down the road faster than its low 7s 0-60 suggests. The Passat (in all forms) already handles better than the current Accord as wll, so the base platform already bodes better for a Sport version.

And herein lies the quandry. Neither company will commit to making a dedicated sports model. Both have V6 versions, however those are cushy mid-market models with larger engines, or pseudo-luxury trims attempting to catch random cheapskates unwilling to spend actual luxury money. However, the Volkswagen wins due to the fact that the Passat is committed to the idea of giving the customer more, including features and items not available on normal models, as where the Accord feels like it was built by pulling out anything the customer wouldn't miss. In essence, it's built to a purpose, not to a price point.

The aftermarket already has tuning available for the Passat as well. For people like me that buy a car not only for what it is, but also what it can be, that can make all the difference in the world. It also shows how others feel about each of these offerings "Sport" credentials.

And that, that's the thing.

- Shawn

Dumping the Jalopy

Here's the thing,

Getting rid of a car is never an easy proposition. Whether you are giving it away, selling it or donating it. You have to plan for people coming and test driving it, hoping they don't notice that the muffler is half rusted out and hanging on by a thread. Or, like in my case, have a tow truck come and get it because you are donating it, and then break your phone so they can't reach you. Just hope they come when you aren't home. Any way you go about it, it's stressful and a bit depressing because you are doing away with your car. First and foremost, because it is your car, and nobody really, deep down, wants to get rid of their car. Yeah, they may get rid of it to make space, or they can’t afford it, or it breaks down so often it’s like having a car payment, but you still really don’t want to.

So I had this car, an 1986 Honda Accord LX-i, and man did I pick the more troublesome of the bunch when it came to the 3rd generation Accords. This is the only picture of my Honda I have not on a tow truck, I didn't take many pictures of it.

The best way to tell all about it, I suppose, would simply be from the start. Back in late September of 2013 the car I was driving (a 1989 Toyota Corolla GT-S, not a bad car by any means by the way, but it’s still no AE86), belonged to my roommate, and he had to sell it to get back home. He sold it without letting me know ahead of time, so I was scrambling to get a new one. I searched on craigslist for anything under 1,000 bucks, and it’s true by the way, if it costs 1,000 dollars or less, you cannot afford it. Anywho, I find this Honda Accord. And my first car was a Honda, so I figured, “What the hell, even if I have to fix stuff up, it will be cheap.” I knew I would have to do some work, but also knew parts were dirt cheap, which was the driving force behind allowing myself to purchase the vehicle.

I contact the guy about checking out the car, and I ride out to take a look at it. As expected, it looks like an 800 dollar car. I do a quick look over, there is rust around the vehicle as expected, but the engine bay looks cleanish for a 200,000+ mile car. Save for one tear per seat on the seams, and a messed up shifting boot, the interior was next to perfect (save for some stains, but those are easily fixed with elbow grease.)

I didn't get an inspection done or do a real thorough look through to be honest, however, I did at least take it for a test drive. It leaned a little and I heard the control arms making their trademark kill me now noises, but the engine and transmission were solid. So, I decide to purchase it. The guy wanted 950 and I gave him 950, but he gave me back 100 dollars. That should have been been a nuclear alarm, if someone gives money back to you when you are buying a car it's because they feel guilty that you are buying a piece of shit. The reason he said he was selling it was because he wanted a car to work on, but like so many people before him he was in over his head with it, thus he sold it to me.

I got it home and I noticed that the breaks were a little weak and it leaned to the left on the drive home, so I looked as to why. Three of the tires were 165's, and one of them was a 185 winter tire with the tread readily separating. I couldn't help but think 'wow this guy is is a dumbass'. I was planning for new tires anyways, and it's a good thing I planned for a harsh winter and got good winter tires all around, because this last winter was absolutely brutal. Definitely glad I drove that car through it and not my Porsche.

That, however, was only the beginning of my issues when it came to this car. Because I am used to things breaking and needing work, but what went down on this car, was more on the rarer side of things that go wrong. All of it, as it soon became apparent, was because this car wasn't maintained properly for at least a good 20,000 miles or more.

This is the fuel filler neck for the Honda. I was sitting in my living room, and decided on a whim to go look at my newly acquired vehicle before I wen to register and title it. The first thing I looked at was the gas filler area, and boy was I surprised. The thing had completely rusted out, and I wouldn't have been able to put gas in it. So, before I even really got to drive the car I already had to make a repair. Luckily the filler neck only ran 60 bucks, and to put it on was 200. I brought it down, got that and tires put on, and new brakes. I talked to one of the mechanics, and he said to put it on he had to drop the gas tank. Thank God for set factory maintenance times, or it would have been a whole lot more than 200 dollars.

Things were relatively care free until I got an oil change. The day after I got it, the temperature sensor went out, I found out by it overheating like a beast. So, thank God for being a part of USAA, free tows! I got it towed back to the shop that did the oil change where they did a block test. It was good, but they couldn't figure out what was wrong, so I had to bring it to a Honda dealership. A few hours later it turns out it was the temperature sensor, I gave the go ahead to fix it since it had to be done. After all, I needed my car. Necessity is an evil that costs more money then need be, because the part cost 60 bucks, on Rock Auto it costs about 7. Needless to say, however, I got it fixed, and everything was grand.

Up until 2 days before I go to take leave, that is. I heard a weird sound during turning, and a mile down the road I take a right turn and my left CV axle snaps in half. Talk about some breaking news. About a month later I hear the same sound and I need to replace the other CV axle, it wasn't as bad though. A hundred bucks each side for a whole new axle, and 100 each side to put it in. Like I said, this car was very poorly maintained. And speaking of maintenance, let me tell you. In order to put in the number 4 cylinder spark plug without putting it in at an angle, you had to disconnect a power steering hose, it was one of the hardened ones that wouldn’t budge. So you're left with 2 choices: either you add on several hours of work, plus refilling and bleeding a power steering system, or risk creating a misfire in cylinder 4. This car was nothing but compromises.

After a while, it just started to really beat down on me. I was constantly having to repair this car, and it was to the point that I had a car payment, because every month I had to get something fixed. Near the time I got rid of it, I had to figure out something, because April was when I needed a new safety inspection, and I was still fighting with the Honda Dealership to fix my seat belts. Both of them blew. And my whole front suspension, exhaust, and EGR valve needed replacing in order to pass safety, the EGR because it tripped a check engine light. Let me break it down:

October: Tires/Brakes/Fuel filler neck/Temp sensor

November: Upper rear control arms

December: Left CV Axle

January: Right CV Axle

February: Heater hose busted, needed to replace that along with radiator flush

March: Bought a new seatbelt to replace busted one, didn’t fit

April: Finally got seatbelts fixed by dealership under lifetime warranty, got rid of car.

Every month the amount of money I had to pay in order to keep this car going was at least 200 bucks, and that is ridiculous considering that right now I pay less than 300 a month for a brand new 2014 Fiesta ST. But I suppose that is the folly of us car guys, no matter how worthless the car is, we always want to keep it running and keep driving it. Because hell, that is just who we are. We love cars, we love to keep them going, and we hate admitting defeat. I loved that little car because it reminded me of my first car, and it was just this little daily driver that I got attached to because I spent 3 hours a day in it. But then I remember other things, like before the heater hose broke it constantly overheated because the hose got plugged up. No way I could be in stop and go traffic. Or it could be the fact that I always had to make sure that I was ready for it to break down.

In the end, I couldn't rely on the car, and that is a serious problem, when your daily driver isn't reliable. And it’s a serious problem when every time it goes in for a repair you are spending 1/4th of it’s original purchase price, especially when it’s a dime a dozen Honda. I love my cars like I would a dog that I love coming home to. I try my best to take care of it, keep it going, keep it happy, but in the end, sometimes when they get too sick, or try to kill you too many times, you’ve got to put them down. It hurts, but it just makes sense. I spent a few months making this car an economically unsound decision, and it was just time to let it go. I donated it to the Purple Heart Foundation, so hopefully it goes to someone who spends a few bucks and fixes it up the way it should be fixed, and keeps it going.

Here's me talking to the tow truck driver, and my daughter playing in the grass. Notice that missing quarter glass!I replaced the car with my new daily driver, my Fiesta, and I’ll tell that story another time. People talk a lot about taking chances, especially with cars. 'Hey, buy this one, fix it up, it’ll be great!' Or, 'fix this one up just a little, and you’ll have a great reliable DD'! But no one ever talks about when you need to get rid of these cars, everyone just sort of says, “I got rid of it.” And that is that, sort of an unspoken agreement that you never talk about getting rid of a car, that it’s just gone. And I can understand that, mainly because to a lot of us, selling a car, especially an older one that needs work, is seen as giving up, or quitting on it. No one wants to admit that a car was too much for them, but it happens. In my case, I just couldn't justify spending money on keeping it running anymore, and my love affair with Honda’s has waned considerably, so, it’s been passed along to whoever else receives it.

With that said, always remember that even when you finish a journey with one car, there is always a new adventure starting up with another…

And that, that is one thing about getting rid of your old busted car.

-Jeremy

Introducing: Jeremy Hampson

Here’s the thing –

 I like to think of myself as a car guy, up until something breaks on one of my cars. Then, there I am wondering why in the hell there is half a gallon of coolant on the ground. And then I finally figure it out, asking myself why I didn’t think of that, and commit it to memory so it doesn’t happen again. Then, some other new thing I’ve never seen happens. Such is the vicious cycle of trying to keep a 30 year old car running.

For those that didn’t read the title, my name is Jeremy, and how I became a gearhead is a little strange. Allow me to explain. So I grew up mainly with just my dad, and he was (yes, was, not so much anymore, more of an armchair gear head then a ratcheting one these days) a pretty huge gear head while I was growing up. He took me around sometimes in his ’57 Chevy Sedan Delivery. It had a 454 big block, was fully restored, and done up for one of the stories in the magazine he worked for, Super Chevy. I grew up just looking at that thing, and also being hauled around in his ’95 Chevy Silverado. A Silverado that he put on coil overs and threw a supercharger on, just for the giggles. I’m pretty sure it was around that time he had the truck that I developed an unhealthy affinity for speed.

Let’s fast forward to my first car. While he may have been a gear head, and I learned car spotting from him, he never even taught me how to change my oil. But he did buy me my first car, a 1989 Honda Civic DX. It was one of those 3 door hatch backs, with a 5-speed, and power nothing. At first I thought he was crazy, no power steering or anything like that. But then I came to realize that it ended up making me a more cognizant driver, seeing as how I have to turn the wheels and all that before I stop moving. It helped me pay attention more. Anywho. So I blew the clutch in that thing, and he had it replaced for me for my birthday. That is when I learned the glory of a 5 speed, that is, being able to spin the wheels while changing gears, it was glorious.

Then, I joined the Army. After I got to my duty station, first thing I did was talk to my dad about getting my car. He said that it needed more work then was worth, had been sitting for roughly a year, and apparently the entire brake system needing replacing. Oh well. For a while I drove my wife’s Cavalier, but the gear head in me came out when I picked up a 2007 Chrysler 300 Touring with 27,000 miles on the clock. What had happened was the dreaded pink thingy problem, and after researching I found that I wasn’t going to pay a dealership several hundred dollars just to put in a new shifting column. Not when it was just going to happen again. So I took matters into my own hands, borrowed a tool set from a friend, and ripped my center console apart. It was right then that I realized I had no idea what I was doing. I ended up driving it around for a few days by sticking my finger against the pink thingy and getting it into gear that way. I ended up getting the replacement part, and it even came with instructions.

So, I ended up putting the new part in and putting everything back together. Everything was fine, except for the fact that tiptronic didn’t work anymore. Luckily that stuff doesn’t matter much to me anyways. It was like a light switch flipped in my head. All of a sudden, I had successfully fixed something that would have normally cost me hundreds of dollars to get fixed. It was an amazing feeling, and I had to do it again. I started getting tools, and workshop manuals, looking for something to fix. But nothing really came up on the 300.

So, I did what any sane person would do, I went out and bought a 1986 Porsche 944. Something I knew needed a bit of work. It soon came up that it needed a new clutch, and I’m in the process of doing that now. But that is a story for a different time. Sometimes, you may not even know that you are a gear head until fate forces you to do something, and all of a sudden it’s like a whole new world has opened up to you. You don’t even really have to know anything, you just have to be willing to learn, and that is what I did. Now, I have screwed up plenty of fixes, botched repairs just because I forgot one simple thing, and narrowly avoided dismemberment. I really don’t care when it happens though, I just look at it as a learning experience. It’s just one that hurts the wallet really bad sometimes, so it pays to remember.

~ Jeremy