Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Thinking about reset-buttoning the 1st gen Legacy project because there's just too much rust.

There are currently 9 for sale in the entire country.

Their locations:
1 with a factory Turbo in ski-country Colorado
1 at the 4 corners
1 in Albuquerque
2!!! in Reno
1 in Jefferson/Ultra-Norcal
1 in Portland
1 in Seattle
1 in Spokane


My interior is nicer than any of those.
 
I *REALLY* want to own the outcome of that project. Problem is that the chassis I have is just ruined with rust. Easy thing would be to just scrap it...

But it's got an absolutely pristine interior. And a gutted interior takes up more space than an actual car does, somehow.
 
Eh screw the factory turbo, this is all about the 25 year newer NA engine. I actually literally have everything I need to pull it off (minus a custom exhaust and integrating the dash), it's just I can't be arsed putting it into a chassis made of iron oxide.
 
Alright, little over a year and nearly 29,000mi (close to 50,000kms) the Alltrack has had it's first "hmm, this is too new to have this problem" issue.

I went to a service call this morning and then had to leave and get parts. This one on ramp I'm very familiar with I like to take at more brisk speeds than most sane people would because it's fun. After the road straightens out, I get "coolant level low, please refer to the service manual" warning. So I immediately pull over as there's a large shoulder before the toll booths to the highway. Shut the car off, and pop the hood to find the overflow bottle showing about 1/2 inch below the lower limit. because I was above the inlet tube for overflow, I decided that no air should be in the system and that my brisk ramp driving might have caused a freak out. Turned the car on and drove back to the office 30 minutes away. The alarm never came back but as a precaution, I swapped out cars and have scheduled a service at the nearby VW dealer. Dipstick and oil cap look fine with oil, no white stuff or anything creamy looking. I didn't see any dampness around the intake manifold either.

It's a 1.8L...

Currently driving the 108,000 mi 2017 jetta with a 1.4L. boo.

EDIT

It would seem I found a stray fastener by way of rolling over one at the nut/built factory I was at. It’s bad enough I was only in the office for 2 hours when I got back and when I left for the day, it was flat. Since I didn’t want to deal with that at 4:30PM, I chose to dump that in the warehouse and call on an old acquaintance, the last Jeep Patriot in the fleet. I left my house keys in one of the other cars so I had to go to moms and get the spare key.

After yesterday afternoons fun which ultimately led me to going home without my house keys (left in one of the cars in the warehouse) I went to the dealer this morning. Service writer gets up and grabs a jug of coolant saying "Yeah, a bunch of 2019 model years left the factory with lower then required coolant. We can fill you up now and let us know if it continues to drop."

Ok, well hopefully this was a fluke.
 
I like these for all the wrong reasons.

https://historygarage.com/doesnt-everyone-remember-goodyears-illuminated-tires-awesome/

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By the way, does anyone even care that Ford has stopped making the Mustang GT 350?
 
It's better looking than the 500. If given the choice, I'd probably go with the 350. If for anything, the sound of the flat plane crank.


I thought the flat plane crank was only for the R version.
 
I'm thinking I'd like an Arteon. Someone please tell me this is a stupid idea.
 
Remember that time you had a BMW and the BMW began to disintegrage for no apparent reason after a couple of years?

That but cheaply built and much much slower.
 
Remember that time you had a BMW and the BMW began to disintegrage for no apparent reason after a couple of years?

That but cheaply built and much much slower.
It was six months, actually.... not even a couple of years, but I digress.

EDIT: guess I better not tell you this would involve trading in the Challenger....
 
It's basically a Passat.

I'm more curious about your thoughts on the Stinger. :)
It's not a North American Passat. That car is VW's middle finger to our market.

Stinger is undeniably a good car, but I just didn't click with it. It has good performance... but the soundtrack is 100% fake (it makes almost no noise on the outside). People think it's a good looking car.... I say "sure.... for a Kia." It doesn't look all that great to me. It doesn't look bad, mind you. I'm indifferent.

It had a nice interior.... but you can just tell it will not stay in good nick (and this is not a slight at it being a Kia, you can just tell if you actually spend time in it and see some used samples).

Overall, I respect that it exists, but it doesn't do anything for me.
 
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It was six months, actually.... not even a couple of years, but I digress.

EDIT: guess I better not tell you this would involve trading in the Challenger....

1 MzqQm_K3sdO8RFibufJJBA.jpeg
 
I would like to point out that the Arteon is built in Wolfsburg and the NMS Passat is made by rednecks in Tennessee.
 
I would like to point out that the Arteon is built in Wolfsburg and the NMS Passat is made by rednecks in Tennessee.
You really are a self-loathing American, aren't you?

It's not who builds the NA Passat that makes it a crap car, it's Wolfsburg telling VW NA what product they're gonna get.
 
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