Agree. 10 hours I think is about the cut off point. 12 hours is just getting into too long. On the last 12 hour long drive, by the end of it, I was getting fatigued enough to start having weird out of body experiences.
If I recall correctly, that 470 mile tank averaged out to about 27mpg, just like my current car. Too bad I'll never see a 470 mile tank in my current car, though.
Agree. 10 hours I think is about the cut off point. 12 hours is just getting into too long. On the last 12 hour long drive, by the end of it, I was getting fatigued enough to start having weird out of body experiences.
I didn't keep track of the time when I drove back from San Francisco, but I was on the road from around 9am until midnight without much downtime in between, so I think that drive was my record. Really goes to show how much the car you use matters, because I didn't feel so mentally fatigued afterwards like I did when I drove home from Denver.
Seems like I make about two posts a year in this thread, so let's make the second post of the year before the month wraps up. When I made the last post in June, I did not have a lot of driving time in the Lexus since it was lowered. It started the year at 152,000 miles, and it has a little under 157,000 now. Not that many miles, but short trips during the week don't add up very much. I had the E39 for about 6 months after it was lowered, so I've broken my previous record of how long I could tolerate a lowered car for. I think it's cheating if you have a factory height car to drive instead, though. So the Lexus has fully transitioned from being a daily driver to being a car that I drive when I feel like it. I'm not gonna call it a weekend car because that's a title best reserved for a cool car. But I digress. The car is probably at the ideal compromise between ride height and usability. I could definitely get away with being slammed in my area, but I like to go other places, too. I can still drive it like a normal car 95% of the time. The main recurring thing that I don't like is going slower over the speed bumps in my neighborhood. I am patient and don't mind slowing down to <10 mph to go over a speed bump without the tires rubbing. But it's annoying if someone is behind you and they aren't expecting you to slow down so much. Usually I drive it at low traffic times so it's not a big deal.
The only thing I changed about the Lexus since my last post is the exhaust. I was so tired of having a V8 and never hearing it. In regular driving, it really didn't sound like anything at all until you revved it out. The LS430 at least has a deep tone at low rpms too. The LS400 has an extensive exhaust system with four mufflers. Many people delete either two or all four mufflers. Removing two of the mufflers barely makes a difference, and even removing all four doesn't make it super loud. I didn't want it to be super loud, I just wanted it to sound good. That's what everyone says to justify their exhaust choice. I got rid of the resonator and all four mufflers for two Magnaflow mufflers and an x-pipe. I wasn't going to make a post until I recorded the exhaust, but I didn't do that and I'd rather post sooner than later. This is a first generation car with the same exhaust setup. The nice thing about not driving the car every day is that every drive begins with a cold start. The car idles high with the a/c off (looks like it's winter in Phoenix), 1500rpm. Sounds nice outside the car. Sounds nice idling while in gear. Has a drone to it if you're light footed. It has a nice tone under harder accelerations. These aren't very good descriptors, I'll have to get a video of it. The car doesn't look any different for having the exhaust. I don't like how exhaust tips look on these cars so I kept it hidden.
More cars should have hidden windshield wipers. You just noticed that these have hidden windshield wipers.
I think I put about 9,000 miles on the E39 after I lowered it. So, still considerably less seat time in the Lexus since lowering it. I took it to some of the mountain roads up north to form an opinion on the handling. I learned no new information. It doesn't rub in the corners until you push it. After driving it in town for months, I forgot about it ever being an issue. Once I got it onto curvier roads, it was apparent right away that it was out of its element. I probably don't have any business getting a true feeling for the handling on the road anyways. What can I say about the suspension that I didn't say in the first post after lowering it? It's still noisy, not like that was gonna go away. It's disappointing that that is an issue, but I think I got used to it. The reduced body lean is nice, but now the limiting factor is the steering ratio. You can go around that corner quick, but the steering feel isn't what you'd want for doing it. I don't know what I expected. I didn't lower it to improve how it drove, that's for sure. That's always the dilemma of doing stuff to cars. At least it's nothing drastic. Is it worth it? It's up to you to decide. The car drove the best when it had the 17" wheels when I bought it. It was the right balance of soft and firm. It felt fine around corners. Who would've thought that cars are usually best the way they're designed from the factory? I'm just playing devil's advocate. So many people spend money on their cars and only rave about it to feel good about their choice. The strength of this car definitely lies in the aesthetics for me. It drives okay. You get used to stuff after a while. Nobody ever accused these cars of being fun to drive. I think it's more fun to look at than drive. It's nice to go to a car show and park it next to another lowered Lexus, too. It's fun talking to other people who are chasing the same goals with these cars.
As I said before, it's not that it's really impractical. I haven't had that many low car gaffes. It's scraped a handful of times. It's just that the issue of lowering cars that weren't fun to drive before creates cars that still aren't fun to drive, and now you have to be more vigilant because it's lowered. Is it worth it? I'm conflicted. I like driving cars. I appreciate the things that go into making cars drive well. I never drive just to drive. When I had the BMW, the majority of the mileage came from driving it just because I liked to drive it. But now, I use my cars for transportation and that's it. I didn't stop enjoying going for a spirited drive, or taking a day trip to visit better roads. But neither of my cars make me feel like doing that. I used to drive the Mini when I wanted to drive a fun car. After the transmission started slipping this year, I didn't drive it much anymore. Better to just remember all the times I drove it when it was in good shape. Unfortunately for the Mini, this is the last post where I will mention it. My mom finally decided to buy another Mini Cooper. It was the scenario you always hear about old cars: enough issues snowball until the owner doesn't want to fix it anymore. I am aware of a transmission solenoid fix for these cars, but among that it was due for brakes, needed an O2 sensor, and the driver's door got backed into. The cosmetic damage was what finally did it in for my mom. She sold it to a junk yard. I didn't see it when it was hauled off. I thought it was a very anti climactic ending for that car. I went for one last drive that week to take some pictures of it. The R53 will probably always remain as one of my favorite front wheel drive chassis; the BMW of front wheel drive cars. It's the reason I collected over 150 Minis in Gran Turismo 5. An influential car for me.
One time my mom was driving me to get my car after an oil change. There were road dividers separating the left turn lane from the other lanes which were merging for construction. The Mini can fit where many can't, so she went through the wrong space and hit the mirror on a road divider. So that's why the mirror had an orange gash on it.
Dent!
Bonus: the house changed color since whenever I last took a picture of a car here. I hope nobody expected anything other than brown because this is Phoenix.
Like the blue Mini, the sparking silver Mini also originated in California. Unlike the blue Mini, the silver Mini was already in Arizona. No roadtrip needed. I didn't involve myself in this car search because I was opposed to getting rid of the blue Mini. I just made sure to tell my mom not to buy a Mini older than 2011. Hopefully the reliability of the LCI R56 is better than the facelift R53. This is the first used car that still had the window sticker. The window sticker noted that it was a service loaner, so the paint was probably broken in by drive through car washes every day for a year. At least that was the fate of loaners when I worked at a dealership. I drove the car once, it wasn't anything I didn't expect. Considerably more comfortable than the R53, but anything is considerably more comfortable than the R53. The R53 is the worst riding car I ever drove. At least every other car seems comfortable in comparison. The transmission shifts smoothly; I think my Accord could take some notes there. It doesn't sound as good as the R53, but the supercharged Minis aren't my favorite sounding four cylinder either.
So what about the Accord? I passed one year of ownership a month ago. I put about 17,000 miles on it during that time. It's at 210,000 now. The weaksauce brakes of the Accord weren't a match for the mountains in Colorado. After that trip, it was time for new brakes. New rotors, pads, and fluid. The fluid really brought back the proper pedal feel. When I bought it, it was very on/off feeling, and it took me thousands of miles to really get used to. I tinted the windshield, because parking a car with leather seats outside in the summer is horrible. As my maintenance dollars towards the car grew, I did not feel like re tinting all the windows to the standard that I wanted. Any window tint I was gonna buy was gonna be good. One weekend, I had a new windshield installed, then I had it tinted, and then it cracked. All in the space of a weekend. The window didn't crack from a rock chip, so it was replaced for free. Then I had that windshield tinted too. I had six days of tinted windshield in between replacing the first one after it cracked, and I wasn't gonna go back. I didn't want it to look too noticeable, so I went with 50% ceramic tint. I think the actual percentage is lower. It's not very noticeable during the day, looks the same as looking out of the other windows, which have tint that's probably the same age as the car. At night, it's nice. Cuts down on the glare of street lights and oncoming headlights; really takes the edge off. 50% is a good level for maintaining visibility in the dark. I had the windshield tinted towards the end of the summer, so I can't speak to how it cools the interior on the worst days of the year. I think it brought the temps down by a few degrees.
After 12 years of occasionally catching the sun's rays, a year of constant exposure turned the headlights from clear to pretty faded.
I detailed the E39 a couple times when I had it. I had the Lexus detailed once. I had the Yukon detailed, too. So a detail was in the works for the Accord. Washing cars was driving me insane. My methods could not produce results that were up to my standards. Automotive paint is such a rabbit hole. Once you notice nice paint, nothing is ever satisfying again. Every wash scratched my cars in new ways that left me feeling disillusioned with the idea of keeping a clean car. I didn't want to pay for a detail, because it would just be steadily undone by every wash I did afterwards. I needed better stuff. I bought the full suite of things needed to make cars look good. Washing mits, countless microfibers, polishes, waxes, sealants, a polisher, polishing pads, glass cleaners, wheel cleaners, detailing sprays; anything I could possibly need. I used to have some of these things when I had the BMW, but my supplies diminished and I lost some things to the heat of being stored in the garage. I had never machine polished a car before, so I practiced on the Accord. I compounded it beforehand, but I didn't want to spend the time needed to do a true paint corrective polish. I was mostly concerned with two corners of the car that were scraped. The front corner was scraped... somewhere, I have no idea. I think it happened when it was parked somewhere in public, but I drove home at night and didn't notice till I saw the car in the morning. The next day, I backed it into a rental car trying to back into a space where one car was parked over the lines. I never park in difficult spots, I don't know why I went against my judgment that time. Also, the car was dusty at the time and someone wrote "Hi" on the trunklid, so if you're reading this: Hi. I focused the compounding on these three areas with different levels of success. The scrapes on the front corner were not very deep and they came out easily. The damage that I did to the rear corner didn't quite come out, but isn't noticeable now. I think the trunklid would've turned out better if I had done a better job of decontaminating the paint beforehand. The entire process of washing the car, compounding and polishing it, waxing and sealing it took several afternoons. What a task. I wasn't going to do anything about the headlights, but they made the car look so ugly, so I decided to polish them even if it didn't last. I went over it with a sealant, but it was a paint sealant rather than a UV coating specifically for headlights, so we'll see if it holds up. I have no expectations. The car does look a lot better, though. I'm really dreading carrying this out on the Lexus since black paint is so difficult. In the meantime, it benefits from higher quality washes.
As I said before, I'm conflicted. The goal of having two cars was to have a good car to drive every day and a car that's fun to drive. In a perfect world, both cars are fun to drive. If you compromise, it's one fun car and one normal car. But I have two cars that I never drive just to drive. I like comfortable cars, but both of these cars are on the firmer side for me. I like fun cars, but the only fun part of driving the Lexus would be the sound, and that's only one aspect. I had a good time driving the Accord on canyon roads in Colorado, and I'm sure it would be enjoyable on the canyon roads here. As far as regular driving, I don't know what I expected, it's normal. I am no stranger to thinking the grass is greener on the other side. What car guy isn't constantly hearing the call of something new. When I drove the E39, I wanted an LS400. After I got the LS400, I got another car in addition to it, so the thought of replacing it wasn't on my mind. But now that I've had each car for a little bit of time, I wonder if this is the best fleet for myself. I have always swayed towards cars that are more livable for daily use. As I drive more fun cars, and especially more manual transmission cars, I want something more. I miss the sense of occasion of driving. Then there's the question of whether I would be better off with the peace of mind of upkeeping one car rather than two.
Finally, the LS430. I have not mentioned this car in my thread for a long time. I included the Mini in my posts since it was at my house and I had access to it whenever. But my dad has lived elsewhere since we all moved. I assumed my dad would buy another house and I would mention his cars in my posts once again, living between two houses. I don't know where he'll end up living, but ever since we moved, the LS430 has been garaged at my grandma's house. He's spent some time in California, where he took the Highlander (a car I haven't mentioned in even longer) to use while he was there. He always drove the Highlander most of the time anyways, so it's stayed that way now that he lives in Arizona again. The last time I drove the LS430, it had 117,000 miles. I think he'll sell it to me one day, but he keeps cars for a long time now. This year he did the brakes, and presumably an oil change at some point. It hasn't seen much maintenance in the last few years. I urge my dad not to wash it so that it doesn't get scratched. I wash it once or twice a year. Not very informative, but not much has happened to the LS430 in the last couple years anyways. I know even less about the Highlander. I moved it in the driveway at my grandma's house the other week, the first time I've been in it in a while. It crossed the 200,000 mile mark, but compared to the Accord, which is the same age and has the same mileage, it's far worse for wear. The paint on the roof is gone, it's just a matte silver type of color now. The hood is pretty faded, it's starting to get pretty pale like beige Toyotas tend to do. I saw the car in the shade and thought it didn't look too bad, but then I saw the other side in the light. Just really faded all over. The front has years worth of rock chips, road debris and bug splats everywhere. It hasn't been washed in a few years, but cars don't get too dirty when it never snows. At this point, you just pretend like the layer of crap all over the car is a protective shield. I would include a picture for reference, but I haven't taken a picture of it in years. The most recent picture I have of it is not how it looks now. There were a number of lights on the dashboard, but that doesn't really matter since it's a Toyota.
The tone of this post is unsure. I don't know what I want to do with my cars. We'll see what I end up doing when I make another post in six months.
Good write-up, and good to hear an update on them all. I'd forgotten you had the LS400. Find it quite funny how many mufflers it has - I drove a perfect stock example three or four years ago and it was amazingly quiet. A review back in the day commented that it was a car you could walk up to from outside, get in, and then turn the key, only to realise it was already running - it was just so quiet you wouldn't know from the outside or inside.
Your comments about modification really resonate with me too. I had a bunch of things I wanted to do to my Miata, but no longer have the time or money for, so I'm selling it. But some of the things I did do genuinely improved it. I went out in it yesterday and thought, "hang on, this is really good as it is".
For me I think the future of modifying cars isn't really modifying them, but more an "OEM+" approach. I get changing stuff for the sake of changing it, or aesthetics, or modifying a car for the track or whatever, but I've started to question myself on how much is really necessary. In future I think I'll simply identify areas in which a car is deficient and improve those, rather than identifying areas in which I think I could improve on what's already there.
I'm getting a handle on that with Miatas now after working on mine. What it does need to genuinely make it better are good tyres, a slightly more dynamic alignment than stock, good brakes, and some body bracing to stiffen the shell. What it doesn't need to genuinely make it better is more power (seriously), stiffer suspension, firmer bushes (mine has them, not sure I'd do it again), stickier tyres. People can do all that stuff if they want, to reach a certain goal (even if it's just aesthetics), but I've realised I can have fun with the car just improving the stuff that it's not so great at as standard, i.e. braking and chassis stiffness.
But you articulated the dilemma really nicely and it sparked something inside my head, so thank you for that.
Your comments about modification really resonate with me too. I had a bunch of things I wanted to do to my Miata, but no longer have the time or money for, so I'm selling it. But some of the things I did do genuinely improved it. I went out in it yesterday and thought, "hang on, this is really good as it is".
For me I think the future of modifying cars isn't really modifying them, but more an "OEM+" approach. I get changing stuff for the sake of changing it, or aesthetics, or modifying a car for the track or whatever, but I've started to question myself on how much is really necessary. In future I think I'll simply identify areas in which a car is deficient and improve those, rather than identifying areas in which I think I could improve on what's already there.
Yeah, I think that's the right way to look at it. I'm very skeptical when it comes to mods. I think a lot of people take it very lightly, and I see the appeal in not caring so much. I think for those folks, it's more about the act of doing mods to the car than what those mods are. Whereas for me, anything I do, I think about it for a long time... do I really wanna do it?
You make an interesting point about the Miata. I would've been in the camp of adding wider tires or stiffening up the suspension. Those things help, but it needs a good base (stiffer chassis, better brakes) to get the most out of it. Or else it'd be like when I put Michelin Pilot Sports on the Lexus. The car had enough grip for what it was before, but now it just felt like the tires could hold the road better than the suspension ever could.
Yes. It does. I'm also happy you didn't go down the path I went with electronic cutoffs because I now officially hate them and it's not worth the hassle/price.
Yes. It does. I'm also happy you didn't go down the path I went with electronic cutoffs because I now officially hate them and it's not worth the hassle/price.
I kept having issues with them even though they were from what a lot of people considered reputable whether it be from the electric motors failing to the butterflies not closing all the way. Right now they're left open because, for the second time, the butterflies do not close all the way and sounds like a car with a leaking exhaust more than anything else.
Whoa whoa whoa, a post in my thread sooner than six months since the last? That can only mean one thing (that you already know since you saw the title). So what happened since last time? At the beginning of the year, I returned to working around cars (not working on cars, this is Doog's car thread) and got a job as a valet. Another semester of school began, and with the busy tourism season that Phoenix and especially Scottsdale experience during the winter, I kept busy with work and school. Compared to washing cars for a living, parking cars for a living is pretty easy. It's a nice little job that gives me about 5 minutes of seat time in all kinds of cars rather than just beige RX350s and ES350s all day long at the Lexus dealer. But what about my cars? Well, last month I was driving to my nice little valet job when a small pileup occurred behind me on the freeway. I entered the freeway and was on it for just enough time to move over to the left lane and catch up when traffic when suddenly everyone slowed down significantly, and fast. Whenever I have to make a hard stop, I keep my eyes on the rearview mirror to see if the cars behind me are gonna stop. My following distance was fine, but a Saab 9-7x two cars behind me made a fast lane change from the left lane to the carpool lane to avoid braking. Behind them, a GMC Terrain was not at all ready to come to a stop, so they rear ended the hell out of the car behind me (another Accord, nice). That Accord took a lot of damage from the back, and it was also pushed into the rear corner of my car. Compared to what I watched unfold in the rearview mirror, what I actually felt felt more like a fender bender.
So needless to say, the car was totaled. Obviously the bumper and the taillight took most of the damage, but there was also a gash on the quarter panel in that area. I couldn't tell you the specifics of what would've needed to be done to fix it because I really wasn't trying to fix it. I had actually gone through the trouble (okay, I have a little bit of fun when I do it) of crafting a beautiful Craigslist ad for the Accord about a week prior to the accident. So now you can see why I wasn't interested in fixing it, because then it would just be worth less to sell. It took about a week shy of a month, and many phone calls, but finally they rang me to give me the numbers on the Honda. I bought the car for $4300, and had it listed on Craigslist for $5250 because I'm cocky. But apparently the insurance company felt even $5250 was a little low and sent me $6k, or $6500 when the deductible is returned. I really lucked out there. Just like with the Mini, I'll be keeping an eye out for the Accord on Copart. The license plate and frame now hang with the rest of the license plates in my bedroom, and I also have the second key for the car. I offered the second key to the body shop, but they were of the opinion that the car would be crushed and said don't bother. I disagree, and I can just imagine someone buying a salvage title 2006 Accord and only getting one key. Annoying! If you happen to buy a salvage title 2006 Accord in the future and it only has one key, hit me up.
Where it sat till insurance collected it last week
The Accord was wrecked on February 27th. After that, I drove it to my house, and then I drove it to the body shop and parked it for good (so dramatic). Did that mean daily driver duties for the Lexus? Nah, I can only go over the two speed bumps in my neighborhood so many times in a day before I want to commit acts of violence. In reality, I did put some mileage on it, although most of that came from me driving it to San Diego for spring break. You might've thought that I was planning on taking the Accord, but I actually wanted to drive the Lexus anyways for this trip. I knew I was gonna place it for sale afterwards, so I wanted to create a nice memory before I did that. Despite this, driving was not the focus of the trip. I went with a few friends, and our prerogative was the things you do on spring break. My friends set up the lodging, which ended up being in downtown San Diego. If you've never been to downtown San Diego, there are steep hills like you would find in San Francisco. I've been to San Diego many times, but never downtown! So I angled my car over a lot of stuff that weekend... And for the love of god, why does every parking lot entrance in downtown San Diego have to be so effing steep? I couldn't catch a break. I also got a $45 ticket for an expired parking meter. My friend got a $60 ticket for not turning his wheels towards the curb. It was nice to cruise by the beach in my car though. In a stock car it would be so-so, but a lowered LS400 just has the right attitude for kicking back and driving by the ocean.
I didn't have to leave the state to see interesting scenery in the Lexus, though. This winter was pretty damn cold by Phoenix standards (leave me alone, snow people), and in February it actually became cold enough to get a decent amount of snow in some places. So of course I had to visit the snow and take a picture of my car by it.
I also finally took care of two things that I let slide for too long: the center console and the grille. The center console was never right after I totaled the car in 2016, but it still functioned for a while until the plastic latch broke. The LS400's center console springs up when you open it, so without a latch to restrain it, it would just spring up goofily unless you wanted to rest your elbow on it constantly. Well I didn't wanna deal with that, but I also didn't wanna buy another center console, so I went through a series of cheap-ass fixes. One of my friends was nice enough to rubber band that latch down, and it restrained the center console very well until it dried out in the summer and broke. Succeeding rubber band fixes were not as effective, so I said **** it and taped the center console shut. Of course, the tape had had about enough after a few months, and when I peeled it off, it took some leather with it. So now the center console was broken and looked like ****. However, my cheapness in this one area still prevailed, and I taped it again. Finally I decided that I should stop tolerating that crap, as it made me avoid using the center console altogether, and I love my interior storage. So I ordered a center console on ebay, and ordered a grille too since I was addressing the things that bugged me about the car.
So the Accord was gone, and I was using the Lexus for my personal trips near the house and using either of my mom's cars to drive to work or drive to places that might be annoying for low cars (except for downtown San Diego). Not a bad setup. But I didn't want to do that forever, so I put my usual Craigslist browsing into overdrive and probably looked at every car for sale in Phoenix online. Whatever I was going to buy would function as the replacement for the Accord and the Lexus, because I don't feel like having two cars at this time. What did I want, though? In the past, I usually had an idea of what car I wanted, or a few cars that I wanted, and sought them out. This time, I really wasn't sure what I wanted out of a car. Did I want a big, comfy car? I test drove a P71 Crown Vic, a Chevy Caprice (more out of surprise that a dealer would have one, and no not the Holden-based Caprice), a Grand Marquis (it was everything I dreamed of), and a Buick Lesabre. Strange choices for a guy my age. Did I want an SUV? I test drove a '99 4Runner. Loved it. I had one on my final shortlist of privately-owned cars that I was gonna consider. Test drove a V8 4Runner as well, which was kinda fun. I test drove a W211 Mercedes E350, and an E550. I wasn't really gonna consider an E550, I just wanted to drive one to see how it compared to the E350. It was a pretty nice car... I test drove an E60 535i as well. Again, wasn't really gonna consider an E60, let alone an N54-engined car, but I wanted to see how they felt compared to the E-Class. But these were all at used car dealerships, obviously. I'm a private party sale type of guy, so when it came time to make my choices, I picked out a few cars on Craigslist to go through, and whichever car I looked at that turned out to be clean would be the car I buy. My top three picks were a 2009 E350, a 2005 Escalade, and a 1998 4Runner. I can't imagine many people who would consider a 4Runner and an Escalade against eachother. You never know what you're gonna get with me.
First up was the E-Class. I chose to look at it first because it was the best model year of the W211, it was a color I liked, and it had the sport package. Like the Accord, the 'owner' of the E350 had bought it from a dealer's trade-ins. I test drove the car, and wasn't really sure if I trusted it. It had a TPMS light on, and the tires were low on air. The car drove like the tires were flat spotted, but after I bought the car I noticed that one of the front wheels is a little bent by the sidewall of the tire. Not a big deal to me, the wheels could use a refinish anyways. But like I said, I wasn't sure if I thought the car was legitimate. However, the price wasn't bad, so I got a mechanical inspection on the car the following day. Surprisingly, they affirmed to me that the car was not a crapbox. The rear brakes were getting low, and the oil cooler gasket at the front of the engine had oil dried on it. But that's not a very expensive part. Other than that, they said the car was in pretty good shape. So I bought it. On the last three cars I bought, I always offered less and paid less than the asking price. However, this time I paid the asking price, which was $7k. It seemed to be in the ballpark for these cars, and the seller claimed that after I looked at the car, someone else was ready to buy it for $10k, but they were gonna wait for me since I expressed interest in getting the car looked over by a mechanic. Who knows if that's true. But regardless, the risk of rocking the boat and trying to get it down to $6500 or so outweighed the possible reward to me. So I handed over a very unsubstantial-feeling envelope for having $7k in it, and in return I was the owner of an extremely dirty car. It was so damn dirty! In the past, the cars I bought were reasonably clean (although the Yukon had mud in the door jambs, that's a little borderline for me), but I don't think this car had seen a wash since it was traded in, and we had a lot of rain this winter. If it was just dirty on the outside, I wouldn't still be bitching about it. But the interior, oh my god, probably every surface that could be dirty was dirty and so, so dusty. The car smells bad, too. I think I'm gonna have to seek professional help for that, but at least it cleaned up nicely. I also polished the headlights.
That sticker next to the license plate comes from Certified Benz and Beemer (god, why couldn't they be cool and use Bimmer), a bigger used car dealership that sells... Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars. I'm generally opposed to dealer stickers, but this one doesn't bother me very much so removing it isn't a very high priority to me, despite it being easy to do.
I bought the car last Thursday. The day I'm posting this is Monday. So I'm deep into the honeymoon phase right now. What can I say about the car that actually has substance? Well... it's very comfortable. I was worried that the 18" wheels and the sport package would degrade the ride quality compared to the non-sport E350 I test drove, but it's not too far off. The sport package E-Class had staggered tires from the factory, 245/35 in the front and 265/35 in the rear. I was kind of hoping for a square stance for rotating tires, but I guess I'll just have to enjoy whatever handling benefit that tire setup has over stock. One thing that surprises me about this car is how easy it is to carry a lot of speed through a corner. The steering is hard to describe. It feels like you're steering a large car down the road, but in the corners, it's so easy to point where you're going, and then the car sticks to that line. Perhaps these are the benefits of the staggered stance... But the rest of the car, it's great. One thing I liked about the E-Classes when I first test drove them was that they felt more like an S-Class than a C-Class on the road. Of all the cars I've driven, a trade-in W221 S550 that I drove when I worked at Lexus was one of my favorites. Anything that gets close to that feel is good. Other things I like about the car include the three pointed star being on the hood. Part of it is snob appeal... but it's also a helpful marker for parking! I have always preferred having it on the hood rather than on the grille like on most newer Mercedes-Benzes. Sigh. The powertrain is a strong suit for this car. It's a little faster than the Accord, making this officially the most hot rod-y car Doog has owned. 268 horsepower, baby. I'm finally competitive with the majority of the cars on the road today. Torque peaks from 2400-5000 rpm, nice and accessible for getting around without really pushing it. The transmission kind of just operates in the background, which is all I've ever wanted from an automatic. The best autos are the ones you don't notice.
I wasn't the only one in the family to buy a car recently. Surprisingly, it was my dad who bought a car. The last time my dad bought a car was ten years ago when he bought the LS430 in March of '09! Time flies. Someone ran a stop sign and hit the front of his Highlander at around 5 mph. Unlike the Accord, the Highlander was not totaled from this minor accident. Cool fact: when my parents first bought that Highlander and it was my mom's car for the first four years, it got rear ended two times and was once struck by a giant toolbox on the freeway. But after that, it had a nice little decade of no accidents! The Highlander was not mechanically 100% before the crash, and my dad wasn't sure if he wanted to fix it or buy something else. So he did what anyone would do and bought another 2006 Toyota Highlander. Don't forget that my dad also used to have a 2003 Toyota Highlander before he bought the LS430. He knows what he likes! Unlike the first two Highlanders, the second 2006 Highlander is not a base 4cyl. This one has a V6, leather seats, and power seats. Other than that, it is largely the same. I'll have to take a photo of both Highlanders with my camera some time. The V6 improves the NVH considerably compared to the 4cyl Highlander. Currently he drives the second Highlander mostly and occasionally drives my uncle's car, which shares the garage with the LS430. The reason he drives my uncle's car is to keep the battery charged, because my uncle drives less and less. So with four cars at the house and effectively one driver, my dad's seat time is spread a little thin across the cars, and I have no idea when he last drove the LS430. I know the battery died a few weeks ago; I don't think he jumped it since he doesn't drive it much. He drives it so little that he took it off his insurance indefinitely. Currently he is considering making a cross country drive to New York and staying there for some time, so he doesn't see much sense in paying insurance for the LS430. He'll probably task me with going to my grandma's house to take the LS430 out during that time. Geez, what a job, right?
So the Accord is out, and the E350 is in. I mentioned that I wanted to go from two cars to one, and I still have the LS400. Well, it's after spring break, so I did what I said I would and made a nice little Craigslist ad for it. I'm sure I'll be sitting on it for a good while because it's not stock. I'm not very emotional about cars, despite getting so much out of them as a hobby. I think it's weird that people name cars, or call them feminine pronouns. Yeah, my car has a name, it's called Lexus LS400. But I had to take pictures for the ad, and for the last pic, I pulled out all the service records. For that moment, I felt sad. I wonder how selling the car will go. I don't really want to park the Mercedes or the Lexus outside, but the driveway needs to stay clear because sometimes my mom takes the Mini out of the small garage and sometimes she takes the Hyundai out of the big garage. I'd love to park on the rocks next to the driveway as much as the next guy, but I think it pisses off the homeowner's association if I do that a lot. Their loss. A slammed LS400 makes a nice lawn ornament! So I may go ahead and keep the Lexus at my aunt's house, who, with an RV garage, has considerably more space for cars than I do at my house. Plus it's five minutes away so it's not super far 'off-site'.
The posts in my thread just keep getting longer and longer. Thanks for reading if you didn't skim it all the way down!
That Mercedes is really nice! It sucks to read that your accord was bashed but glad to know you're ok from it as well! Ask your dad if he wants another LS430
If you werent on literally the other side of the country from me, I might be interested in the Lexus. Damn near impossible to find rust free/nearly rust free LS400's in New England. What hasn't rotted into the ground by now is way overvalued, because no rust. Congrats on that Mercedes. Driven a few at work and they are very nice to drive.
Using "Benz and Beemer" as a dealership name is interesting, because I've heard there's actually a difference in the BMW community between "Bimmer" and "Beemer," and they're very particular about it. The former refers to the cars, and the latter (or is it "Beamer"?) to the bikes.
The dealership I got my RSX from uses the silhouette of a Countach in their logo, so I left mine on as well
Using "Benz and Beemer" as a dealership name is interesting, because I've heard there's actually a difference in the BMW community between "Bimmer" and "Beemer," and they're very particular about it. The former refers to the cars, and the latter (or is it "Beamer"?) to the bikes.
I agree! But I've never heard someone say Bimmer unless they were "in the know", so I guess they wouldn't want normies thinking they got the name wrong by using Bimmer when in fact that would be the correct word.
Well, this update comes at an even shorter interval than last time, what could that possibly mean?
As I said in my last post, I placed the Lexus for sale on Craigslist. I sold it two days ago, so it was for sale for a little over a month. When I sold the Yukon in 2017, I think only one person contacted me before the person who bought it got in touch with me. When I placed the Accord for sale, it was for sale for about a week with radio silence, and then it was totaled. So despite being on car number five now, I don't have much experience selling the cars when I'm done with them. I knew it was gonna be a pain in the butt. Who wants to sell a modified car? Not me. Who wants to sell a salvage title car? Not me. So I had my work cut out for me. My original price was $4750, but I sold it for $3000. In the meantime, quite a few people texted me, generally wasting my time with stupid questions and bogus offers. It was really starting to become a nuisance as I lowered the price, and got more and more attention for it. Maybe I'm some sort of outlier, but I only look at cars that I can afford the asking price of. Ditto, I would never make someone an offer unless I was actually seeing the car. To haggle on an used Playstation before you buy it is one thing. But really, selling any car for under $5k is like taking offers from the peanut gallery. The buyer of the LS400 showed up in a Lexus GS430 to look at the car, so I think it will remain in decent ownership.
Before I sold the car, I did end up making another roadtrip in it. This one was impromptu. I had taken the car home for the night from where I stored it, so that I could wash it in the morning. @Davis hit me up and told me to go to Stancewars with Las Vegas with him the following day. Being during the school semester, this was a quick trip. I left on Saturday morning and came back Sunday evening. I had not driven the LS400 much since storing it off-site, but whether it sits for a day or for a month, it seems to be pretty resilient. I drove it around Las Vegas a little bit, and also rode around in the E39 that Davis brought out for the trip. Stancewars was alright, the LS400 would've fit in if not for the fact that it was dirty before I left, and now it had a lot of bugs on it. I parked it in the parking garage next to the show, so close enough. I had not been to Las Vegas since 2017, when I drove through it to go to Salt Lake City. Since then, the I-11 was built around Boulder City at the border of Arizona and Nevada. Before, the freeway from Las Vegas and the 93 from Arizona would go into Boulder City, down the main street. Every time I drove to Las Vegas this way, traffic was bad in Boulder City. Now, the highway simply continues around Boulder City goes to Las Vegas. Anyways, it was good to have a more car-centric trip as a sendoff for the LS400. On the way back, it passed 160,000 miles, making my total mileage on the car an even 40,000. This beats my mileage on the E39, and I think the length of ownership was slightly longer than the E39 as well.
I thought I would feel sad when I sold the Lexus, but I just feel relieved. Really, it feels like there were two cars. There was a pristine LS400 that died a month after I bought it. Afterwards, there was a salvage title Lexus that was to be slammed. Two different cars. I think my biggest regret is that it was only pristine for a month. I hate that it got totaled right away. But otherwise, I got my enjoyment out of it. I am not sure what the perfect configuration for an LS400 is. The pre facelift UCF20 has the nice squared front fascia, but it's also very boring. The facelift UCF20 has a more modern front clip, but it doesn't go with the flow of the car like the pre facelift front fascia. Static ride height is an annoying guessing game, but I can't remember any severe mishaps this time around. I still wouldn't want rolled fenders, and would entertain custom bodywork. But a facelift, air ride LS400 with custom fenders is a bigger financial ask than an LS400 + coilovers + wheels and being done with it. As far as the stock configuration goes, I always thought it was very nice. A stock LS400 on 17" OZ wheels kept clean would've been a much different ownership experience. I probably would've died of boredom, though. When does a car guy find satisfaction?
So since I had the car for a little bit, here are the pros and cons of a lowered LS400:
Pros
- It's dope!
- Hard parking
- The exhaust
- If you drive it to a car show, you can park in the car show and sometimes people will show interest in it
- Random people react positively to it
Cons
- Speed bumps at 10 mph in my neighborhood. Doesn't sound bad, but this is more of a "going outside of typical driving behavior" thing, so nobody expects you to slow down to 10 mph. Meanwhile, I've been zooming over those things at 20 since I got the E-Class.
- Sometimes it rubs
- If you travel, who knows what the roads, or god forbid the parking lot entrances are like where you are going
- Squeaky brakes. They were squeaky before I did the brakes and squeaky after I did the brakes. Probably related to the offset of the wheels. I'm just glad I never have to hear that sound again.
- If you post it for sale, people will want to buy the wheels (I don't wanna sell you my wheels, you can buy the wheels but they come with a free car)
- It's slow. It'll do 150 mph (don't worry, I haven't driven it that fast), but it doesn't put you in the seat on the way there. Really just needs the powertrain updates of 1998 LS400.
- You can't go for a fast drive on a curvy road. I guess you could, but you would be smelling rubber and it would be really noisy. This would be a huge drawback if I lived near any curvy road.
So basically, it's better to look at a slammed LS400 than to drive it. It drove okay, it just didn't do it for me anymore. The stock LS400 drove pretty nicely. It did sound pretty good, though. When the buyer test drove it, I sat in the backseat, where I discovered that the acoustics of the exhaust were superior. I am exaggerating the difference, but the sound you heard in the front seat was more distant and droney. Meanwhile in the back, you heard the actual tone of the exhaust. If there's an exhaust configuration to give me that volume in the front seat, maybe I would've kept the car longer. I haven't bought a car based on sound, but I rate sound disproportionately high in importance. A good sounding car is a pleasure every time you drive it. And yes, I have finally stopped holding out and made an exhaust clip to describe it better than me:
So how's the E-Class? It's good, it just keeps having insane luck with tires for some reason. I found a nail in one tire, then another tire lost a bunch of air on the freeway. After filling it up again, it was fine. Then it happened again on a different tire, and I filled it up again, only this time it blew out shortly after. Despite all the debris and garbage and stupid crap I've plowed over that shouldn't be on the road, and a blowout, the car didn't suffer cosmetically. With the last tire incident, I had the pleasure of trying out the little spare tire. The front wheel bent again because the tire on it blew out. I suspect that the wheels could be cracked? It seems there are a lot of documented issues of cracked wheels on Mercedes cars. If I changed the wheels, I would only go for a different set of Mercedes wheels. I don't know if I want to go through the effort, I wasn't trying to buy a project. The second tire incident I had with the car, I had it at the shop afterwards. They suggested transmission mounts and possibly rebuilding the driveshaft, which would explain the mysterious drivetrain vibration that persisted after I fixed the bent wheel initially. It's the same vibration that made me unsure if the car was good or not when I test drove it, but I assumed it was a bent wheel. I have no problem doing these fixes, but with the wheels, this has the potential to turn into a project, and I don't really wanna get involved with that. Since the other wheel is bent, I will take it to a wheel shop and get it fixed. There, I could see if the wheels were cracked or not. It's too bad, because I like the wheels that are on the car.
I did have the car detailed, which remedied the bad smell and made the car look really nice until it got rained on when I parked it outside some time later, and I haven't washed it since because I can't be assed. It's also spent the majority of the time with the tow hook cover taken out, since the plastic clip to the piece broke. I don't know if I did it or the tow truck driver did it, so in this type of scenario I think you're supposed to blame the tow truck driver. The cover sits inside the car until I figure out how to fix that.
And since I did pros and cons of the Lexus, here are the condensed pros and cons of the E-Class from what I can tell after a month:
Pros
- It's dope!
- Really comfy
- Highway cruising is its specialty
- 450 mile tanks
Cons
- It costs about as much to insure a 2009 E-Class as it does to insure a 1996 LS400 and a 2006 Accord together
- I can't think of any other cons
While the Lexus was for sale, I put a note in the ad that I would entertain trades for 1997-2001 Camrys or 1996-2002 4Runners, because I've never had a beater. However, reading comprehension is poor. The trades I can remember were a lowered Audi A4 wagon, a lowered Audi A4 sedan, a Prius, and a brown Toyota Sequoia. I would later revise my ad with "NO TRADES". I would still buy one of those cars I was looking for as a trade, but that is more of a plan for after I do what needs doing to the E-Class. But now with the tires, we will see if I stick to that plan or not.
And yes, I did make sure to get a picture of the Toyota Highlanders. The ultimate beater? Sadly, I am not disciplined enough to buy a true beater, a car that I don't even like. You can't drive a Highlander after driving a 4Runner. It's the minivan feel verses the truckier feel. I know of car enthusiasts who appreciate minivans. I don't feel any particular way, but I loathe the way minivans drive. The high seating position in a car-like vehicle bothers me. To me, high seating position = it's a truck. And cars ought to have low seating positions. But I'm preaching, and I don't see how a minivan could have a low seating position. But crossovers feel similar because they are. So I loathe the way Highlanders drive too. For a car that I truly would not give a **** about, the Highlander on the right would be perfect. But I just can't buy a car that I don't like. A Highlander Hybrid blurs that line because they're quicker and the hybrid battery holds up, but I'm not sure if hybrid speed beats the general badass truck feel of a traditional SUV.
215hp vs 155hp. 3705 lbs vs 3520 lbs. Curb weight of the E-Class? 3740 lbs. 7.5 seconds 0-60 vs 9.5. Price of a V6 over the 4cyl? Almost $2k. I'd say it's pretty worth it for the NVH benefits and a little more gutsiness for driving. I don't know how the V6 does on gas but the 4cyl Highlander got 23 or 24 mpg when I drove it.
A case study of what sun exposure does to a car? The camera sure makes the paint look reflective at some angles. It's definitely a "fair" condition car now.
As you would expect, the damaged Highlander is not in use. I doubt my dad will make a decision about what to do about it for some time. I don't really see him selling it, I just see it sitting indefinitely. The mechanical condition is fine, but the power steering pump should be replaced, among whatever else might be wrong with it.
If you had any bets against this statement, now would be the time to collect your winnings. I had an inkling that the LS400 could return to the marketplace, so I checked Offerup periodically to see if it would resurface. I didn't have to check too many times before I found it listed for sale again in early June. Its new owner cited "loss of interest" as the reason for selling. It stayed listed for two months, starting at $3700 (I let it go for $3k) and later $3200, so I guess the market price of a lowered salvage title LS400 really is around $3k. Last week, the listing finally disappeared, so we can presume that it either finally sold, or the owner simply gave up on trying to sell it.
I also tried seeing what happened to the Accord, but Insurance Auto Auctions doesn't keep a detailed record after the car is sold, like Copart did when my mom donated the Mini earlier this year. All I can tell is that it was sold on April 1st, and I haven't seen it appear during my obsessive Craigslist browsing.
But anyways, I put a few miles on the E-Class. It's been five months, and I've added a little more than 5,000 miles. In summers past, I've racked up way more miles, but driving in Phoenix kind of sucks lately. Historically, traffic is heavier in Phoenix during the winter due to a lot of winter visitors living here part-time. But this year, traffic just didn't seem to improve once summer hit. For the past three years, Maricopa county (where Phoenix is located) has led the nation in population growth. So it's very likely that the current population is now the same as the "snowbird-adjusted population" in the winter that makes traffic noticeably worse. Plus, it's been a big year for road construction here. All I'm trying to say is that my driving has been purely for necessity, and definitely not for pleasure.
As I mentioned in the last post, the car had strange issues surrounding vibrations and wheels. There were two particular things causing a lot of problems. I suspected the wheels were at fault, so I went to a wheel shop and they confirmed that all of the wheels will bent. There was also a vibration felt from the drivetrain. This was remedied by rebuilding the driveshaft, replacing the transmission mount, front and rear coupler, center support bushing, and center support bearing. This fixed basically all vibrations in the car, although I'm adding motor mounts to the to-do list. With all of these fixes applied, the effects of four bent wheels on the steering and ride were very apparent.
I searched online to see if others had encountered trouble with Mercedes-Benz wheels. I found threads complaining of bent wheels across many models going back to when these cars were new. There was also a dismissed class-action lawsuit alleging that 17, 18, and 19" wheels on Mercedes cars were 'overly susceptible' to cracking. Fixing the wheels didn't seem worthwhile to me. I liked the way the car looked as is and wanted to keep it stock-looking, so pretty much any reasonably priced aftermarket wheel was out of consideration. I considered the AMG II wheels from the W210 E55 AMG. I wasn't sure if monoblocks would be a good look on the newer W211, but the main reason I passed on these was because I didn't want to have a TPMS light on forever. So I looked for W211 E55 AMG wheels. Having never shopped for OEM wheels before, it took a little bit of trouble to locate some for sale, but I did find a set in good condition.
With the wheels installed, the car now drives as it should. I had a hard time getting excited about buying wheels this time since it was gonna be more expensive this time around than past times when I bought wheels, but they sure do look nice on the car. I liked the look of the chrome AMG III wheels that were on originally, but I think these E55 wheels will age better.
With the car sorted, I feel I can offer more impressions now. I like the exterior styling. Usually a car 'wears off' for me after some time, but I just love how this car looks. The front bumper looks so sharp in pictures, but in person the crease is not so pronounced. I think the styling occupies a good middle ground between a luxury car and something more athletic. I've driven some W212s and I will concede that the interior quality is improved, but other than that I prefer how the W211's interior looks, along with basically everything else about the W211. There are a few plastics that feel cheap, and the location of the climate controls above everything else is strange. Newer Mercedes-Benzes have remedied this by moving the climate controls to the bottom, which falls to hand more easily. One thing I appreciate is that the navigation screen can be turned off for driving at night. It took some time to get used to the seat controls being located on the door, but now I have to say that that's a better configuration because you can see what you're doing. The a/c is rather noisy for this kind of car, but it doesn't bother me because the cooling is always sufficient.
It's a great car to drive every day. It's not a car that encourages you to drive spiritedly, but in my world of traffic and urban sprawl, this is exactly what I needed - just a comfortable, laid-back car. The gas mileage is okay. It can see 27 mpg if you drive around the speed limit on the freeway, and it doesn't drop off that much even above 80. But usually I average 21 mpg with some city driving. It costs about the same to fill up as the LS400 did. One area where I got whipped was insurance. It costs more to insure one E-Class than it does to insure an LS400 and an Accord together, but it makes sense to me why it would be that way. Oil changes call for 9 quarts. So not the cheapest car to run, but every car has a cost of entry. But, the nice folding sunshade I used for the Accord is almost a perfect fit for the E-Class' windshield, so I got a little bit of relief there.
My uncle has an E-Class too, so I got a good photo op out of that. It's too bad he won't let me drive it, so I can't speak for how they are to drive other than the few times I've valeted other W213s. He did at least let me drive the W218 CLS400 he had before this, and much of what I liked about that car is what I like about my own car as well. I've never really warmed up to Mercedes coupes, but the lack of a B-pillar makes a nice aesthetic when you roll all the windows down. Unfortunately my uncle isn't in that great of health, so despite being over a year old at this point, the car has a little over 1,000 miles on it. I think my dad drives it from time to time, but his only impression of it is that he doesn't know how to turn the radio off. To be fair, I don't know how to turn the radio off in that car either. There is something to be said about cars that don't have a learning curve for operating the user interface.
The tow hook cover is missing from my bumper there, but I did get around to buying a new one:
Other than keeping up with the maintenance, there's not much that I'd like to see done to this car. I really need to get some sort of bluetooth solution, but that is a very well-covered topic online so it's only a matter of time before I remedy that. One thing I'm not crazy about is the color of the wood trim. When I swapped out the trim in my E39, there were a lot of parts available online, and many BMW Individual variants. So when it came time to search for trim for this car, I had grand visions of many different trim options and maybe even some Designo pieces. But I haven't found much on either front. I really just want the Birdseye Maple trim that has been in literally every other facelift W211 I've driven except for mine. I'd also like to do something about the headliner. There's nothing wrong with it, I just hate how cars with black interiors always have gray headliner unless it's an especially high-end car. I saw a few E63 AMG black suede headliner sets for sale for laughable prices online, so when the day comes I suppose I'll go to an upholstery shop and get a quote for something equivalent.
That's all I have to report for now, so here are a couple pictures of the E-Class and friends:
You saw it above with the tow hook cover, now here it is again without. Great continuity in this post.
Never driven a W211, but have driven W212s and W213s, and in general I've quite liked them. Probably more so than the equivalent 5-series I've tried. The W213 feels like a proper mini-S-class in a way the previous ones maybe didn't and once you roll in the coupes, convertibles, wagons etc and the different AMG variants there's so much range to that platform. E53 Coupe is probably my favourite of the lot.
Have you considered a CLS? Or have prices not quite softened enough on those yet?
It seems like as time goes on, the E-Class and the 5-Series are converging into the same car. I still need to try a W210 to compare to the E39, but the E60 I drove was more muted and easier to drive compared to the E39, but being muted and easier to drive were really more of an E-Class thing. I only rode in an E34 one time, but I'm sure if I drove one, then I'd be saying the E39 is more muted and easy to drive in comparison... Then there's the F10, which was so isolated and muted that the fourth gen Lexus GS ended up being more true to the old BMW balance of nice steering and good ride quality.
I haven't put in the time to learn too much about the W219 CLS. It seemed like they had a pretty poor used reputation online, so I never considered them very seriously. Only the 8-cylinder W219s were sold here, and it looks like they go for about the same money as a V8 W211 nowadays. There seems to be a lot of faith in the 5.0 liter V8 and the supercharged 5.4, but all the 8-cylinder E-Classes and all CLSs came standard with the adjustable suspension here, which is the main thing that'd scare me away from those cars. I do wish there was a way to have the CLS interior in the E-Class, though.
While the Lexus was for sale, I put a note in the ad that I would entertain trades for 1997-2001 Camrys or 1996-2002 4Runners, because I've never had a beater... I would still buy one of those cars I was looking for as a trade, but that is more of a plan for after I do what needs doing to the E-Class.
I didn't care about 4Runners for a long time. I think that started to change in 2017 when I worked at Lexus and drove GX470s at work. Those were nice, but the mechanically similar 4Runners didn't do it for me. That was the year that I drove the Yukon, and at the time, you would not have been able to convince me to pay more money for a Toyota SUV than the classic full-size, far more appealing GM SUVs. After finding third generation 4Runners ugly for my whole life, I achieved enlightenment and recognized the merit of a tall, sturdy SUV without V8 gas mileage or a 4L60-E transmission.
There are a lot of people who enjoy nature in Arizona, so finding an used 4Runner for sale is not an issue. This rule doesn't translate to Subarus like you would think unless you are in Flagstaff, AZ, where it snows annually. But the market for older 4WD, body on frame Toyotas is strong. There are plenty of rust-free Tacomas and 4Runners available, although you need to be a multi-millionaire to comfortably afford an used Tacoma. My criteria was as follows: V6. A 2.7L 4-cylinder was available in the base 4Runner, but a 4-cylinder Toyota SUV would feel uncomfortably close to the 4-cylinder Highlanders that my parents had. The 3.4L V6 is no powerhouse anyways, and I definitely wouldn't want a 4-cylinder because my next criteria was: 4WD. Most people want their 4Runner to have 4WD because they have visions of putting on a cargo basket, 33" BFGs, and a huge metal bumper and then going camping every weekend. I'm not much of an overlander myself. My reasoning for wanting 4WD was a matter of principle. Why buy a 4Runner if it isn't a 4WD? It would be like buying a muscle car that isn't a V8. Acceptable for many, but not to me. I also wanted cloth seats. Twice I have bought a car with absolutely no intention of garaging it, and twice I have bought cars with leather seats that suck when you step inside on a 115 degree afternoon in the summer. Maybe I'm realistic now, or maybe I'm just wise, but no more leather seats for cars that will never be garaged. Finally, whatever 4Runner I bought had to already be "broken in" cosmetically. Once again, twice I bought a car with absolutely no intention of garaging it, and twice I have bought cars with paint still decent enough that I felt bad about parking it outside. This time, cars that had already been beat into submission by the sun were better.
I spent most of the year checking Craigslist daily, hiding out in the bush, observing the market, seeing which cars sold and which cars stuck around. Lots of 2WDs, but the ratio of 4WDs to 2WDs in AZ appears to be better than in any other state's listings I saw. Lots of Limiteds. I didn't want a 4Runner Limited because they all have leather, and I don't think the additional body flares do them any favors cosmetically. They also have automatic climate control which I really wanted a break from. After five cars with automatic climate, I was looking forward to a car with easy analog controls. There were some 4-cylinders, but they only represented maybe 10% of all used 4Runners at best, so they were easy to avoid. I was partial to '99-'02 4Runners, mainly for their interior updates, like an improved cupholder and center console situation, and better looking gauge cluster. However, I do think the '96-'98 4Runners look better due to their more tucked-in front bumper and fender flares. During my searches, I saw all sorts of things. Clean 4Runners asking over $10k for a truck that is at its newest, almost 18 years old now. Twice I saw 4Runners with over 500,000 miles, and they didn't stay for sale for long. I saw a few with over 400,000, and regularly saw examples with over 300,000 miles. Sometimes you would see 4Runners in the $1k range, but that was usually for a salvage title 2WD with leather... not desirable.
Over time I saw a few 4Runners here and there that caught my eye, but I knew it wasn't prudent to buy another car before I had gotten my current car up to date. Eventually I accumulated 7,000 miles, or more like 8,000 by the time I finally got around to taking it to the shop for an oil change. Actually, an oil change, a cabin air filter, transmission fluid (it takes longer to shift into reverse than any other E-Class I've driven), investigating the noisy power steering, motor mounts, and an oil cooler. Naturally, the same week that I took the E-Class to the shop was the week that I saw a 4Runner that I liked at a time where I felt I could finally do something if I wanted to. I saw a 1996 model presented in a fairly wordy ad, detailing $4800 (also the asking price) worth of maintenance since last summer. Generally speaking, a lot of recent work would raise a red flag, but the long ad, and the fact that it was a Toyota 4Runner, made me wonder if it was legit. Some of the highlights were a timing belt service, power steering service, new tires, a transmission oil cooler, and many, many smaller items that I did not list. I emailed the seller and he called me back. To my surprise he only owned the car for a month because he obtained it in a trade along with a trailer that he was after. The car he traded for the 4Runner and a trailer? A bus. He already had a 4Runner of his own, so I figured he was legitimate enough. We had a nice phone conversation and he agreed to hold the car for me until I came to see it. The car was located in Cornville, a small town near Sedona, Arizona. The seller graciously gave me a $50 discount for making the 90 mile trip to see the car.
My dad and I drove to Cornville the following week to view the 4Runner. I had no expectation of whether or not I would buy it, but I came with an envelope of $4750 and hoped that I didn't come home empty handed. I took the 4Runner for a test drive and parked it so I could inspect it. The seller mentioned that the car was most recently owned in Utah from 2018, and a dilapidated dealer plaque on the tailgate and a sticker on the windshield would suggest that the car originated in Idaho. My chief concern was rust, so I inspected the undercarriage from every angle. I couldn't find anything beyond surface rust. Otherwise, it looked about the same as a car from the desert. Since I wasn't in my comfort zone of Phoenix, I didn't bother with trying to bring the 4Runner to a mechanic to be inspected properly. For this buy, I was going to ride the coattails of Toyota reliability and hope that I didn't buy a crapbox.
I did pretty well against my criteria this time, except it is older than what I envisioned. I really don't like the two-spoke steering wheel of the '96 and '97, but I always saw myself having a green 4Runner. These two things don't seem to be related, but usually green 4Runners came with the Oak interior, which was fine, but I'm still tired of beige interiors from my time in the LS400. What I really wanted was the Moon Mist interior, which, aside from having a much cooler name, is actually a light shade of blue despite appearing more grayish in person. This was the first 4Runner I had seen in green Evergreen over Moon Mist, so I caved on the year requirement in order to get the color combo that I wanted most. If you are noticing a trend with the cars I buy, it's that I'm really sensitive to color. If it's not the right color, we can't be friends.
The Yukon had 214,000 miles when I sold it, as did the Accord when it was totaled. Upon purchase, the 4Runner had 214,500 miles, so it's like I'm picking up where I left off. The 4WD appeared to be in good working order during my rigorous 10 second test in the dirt during the test drive. Mechanically it feels fine other than the steering wheel pointing to 11 o'clock when driving straight, although I will have to replace the lower ball joints for peace of mind so that I can rage over the speed bumps without ending up like this. It came with a few goodies, like a generic double DIN head unit. I am generally against aftermarket head units because I place aesthetics over everything, but it doesn't look too out of place in the 4Runner's pretty basic interior design. Sound quality is excellent considering the speakers are stock and there is no amp. The steering wheel had a cover on it - which I hate - so I took it off. Sadly the steering wheel underneath was not pristine. It came with seat covers that really go with the whole 4Runner aesthetic, but I am against seat covers as a rule and there's no way I was going to cover up those blue cloth seats. The car came with a bike rack that attaches to the roof rack which I promptly uninstalled upon arriving home in it for the first time. I still need to remove the trailer hitch, because I've always felt that the hitch assembly on third generation 4Runners is extremely ugly. The only thing I'll be hauling is ass, so the hitch isn't needed. I look forward to the visual height gains from taking it off.
There isn't much to the 4Runner SR5, so most of the accessories work. Critically, the rear sliding glass works. Less importantly, the sun roof does not slide open, but it does tilt, and you can look at pictures of my old cars to figure out which of those things are more important to me. It has a cool power antenna like the LS400, but it no longer moves so it remains at half mast. Some people pay money to have a short antenna like that! When you turn the car off, the electric motor whirrs for about 10 seconds in vain to move the antenna down, but it never moves. The horn barely works, so I hope I don't miss out on too many valuable left turns sitting behind inattentive people at the light. It came with two keys, sadly not the classic Toyota key but instead two newer Ilco keys. After reading the owner's manual, it does not appear like keyless entry was available for '96, but it worked from such a short radius in the LS400 that I almost feel better off without.
After being in the sedan camp for the past two years, it sure is nice to step up into an SUV again. As soon as you leave the driveway, the differences are already known. Rolling over the sidewalk curb in the E-Class is a careful exercise in riding the brakes to minimize suspension travel and harsh impacts inside the car. In the 4Runner, you simply back up (with a little mechanical sympathy still - I did just buy it, after all) without consideration for the wheel travel. When you drive in traffic, you can actually see things! In the E-Class, sometimes I will follow people only to come over a hill or around a curve to see that the road is wide open ahead of them. I give myself enough time to go places, but every car guy laments time spent behind a slow driver that turned out to be unnecessary. When making left turns with poor visibility, no more am I limited by tall vehicles making the opposite left turn to me.
Most of the 4Runner's advantages for me come from being a traditional SUV. Most crossovers are functionally the same for street driving, but I haven't driven many CUVs that I like. There's just something about the third generation 4Runner. It's civilized enough to drive every day, but truckish enough to never remind you of a minivan, unlike a CUV. Impacts are felt more harshly, but at the same time, the 4Runner feels better equipped to handle the dips, potholes and other undesirable parts of driving. The steering is on the slow side and the center of gravity is apparent unless you corner especially carefully. The seats are narrow, especially for my usual manspread seating position. These 4Runners are known for being under-braked, which I already agree with, but the brakes are sufficient if your driving style is defensive. A popular upgrade is switching to Toyota Tundra brakes to buy a little more time before brake fade. I was expecting the engine to feel more sluggish, and it does if you want to accelerate hard at lower speeds, but for general driving purposes, it is adequate. It keeps up with more modern traffic just fine, and for comparison, it maintains speed over hills much better than the Yukon would. Toyota V6s definitely have a bizarre exhaust note, but luckily the engine doesn't make itself too known. If you want to know what the 3.4L V6 sounds like, play Gran Turismo 5 and drive the Toyota Tacoma X-Runner '05.
me
Eventually I accumulated 7,000 miles, or more like 8,000 by the time I finally got around to taking it to the shop for an oil change. Actually, an oil change, a cabin air filter, transmission fluid (it takes longer to shift into reverse than any other E-Class I've driven - annoying!), investigating the noisy power steering, motor mounts, and an oil cooler.
Anyways, the E-Class was in the shop for like ten days. For the first week, it was the perils of having only one car again. When the car is away, you can't just drive your other car! This was me for that week. Luckily my mom also subscribes to the two car philosophy, so there was always a car. It returned a few days after I bought the 4Runner, but not before it was recipient to some bonus maintenance like a transmission mount and an oil separator housing to resolve a surprise oil leak. I feel like I understand what motor mounts do, yet every time I hop into a car with new motor mounts, I'm always surprised at how much of a difference it makes. It's the difference between feeling a little vibration here and there like a regular car and feeling no vibration, even when you first start the car. Other than the maintenance, there isn't much to say about the E-Class. There was a stretch over the summer where I didn't wash it for a few months, but it still looked good, because it's an E-Class! Just ignore the rear wheels as they get progressively darker and darker than the fronts...
As you can see, the headlights need to be to resolved, like yesterday. It really invalidates the rest of the good work (like buying E55 AMG wheels and not washing it for four months) I've done to the car. It didn't make sense to buy new lenses until I bought another car so that my effort wouldn't be steadily unraveled by parking outside regularly. With the 4Runner being the preferred choice for dealing with the lamer parts of driving, the E-Class can now level up to garage queen.
Welcome to the 4Runner world. Same as you, I enjoy being able to just drive over things with little worry about ground clearance. It's also a vastly different experience than low slung cars, and hey, it's going to be the car that you take and not worry about.
Interesting how you ended up with the 96. I've read that between 96-99 the stock springs got slightly taller year over year, until 2000 when it start dropping due to roll over fears around that time. And I think the 99+ bumpers have that big lip to help with crash protection. At least I don't think it is too difficult to retrofit the 99+ center console into the older ones with plenty of them being parted out.
If you're not riding your breaks down mountains all the time, the base brakes are adequate. If you're going to do the Tundra brake upgrade, you're going to have to change your wheels. 99-00 16" 5 spoke star wheels are the only stock 4Runner wheels that clear the Tundra brakes. Your 6 spokes won't fit them.
In the end, this gen 4Runner is still tough as nails, and I better read about at least some off road trips.
Interesting how you ended up with the 96. I've read that between 96-99 the stock springs got slightly taller year over year, until 2000 when it start dropping due to roll over fears around that time.
Yeah, I've read that '99 springs are the way to go if it's sagging in the rear. At a glance, mine seems to be level, although I haven't measured the clearance in the front and rear to confirm. The rear may be slightly lower, but the wheel gap is so similar between the front and rear that I can't tell if it's actually lower just from eyeing it.
If you're not riding your breaks down mountains all the time, the base brakes are adequate. If you're going to do the Tundra brake upgrade, you're going to have to change your wheels. 99-00 16" 5 spoke star wheels are the only stock 4Runner wheels that clear the Tundra brakes. Your 6 spokes won't fit them.
Thanks for the tip. I thought all of the stock 16" wheels including mine would clear the brakes, so it's good to know before I buy brakes and have a difficult time. Luckily I am a fan of how the five spoke wheels look on green 4Runners.
Ive been looking for a 3rd gen 4runner ever since mine was written off but they all had frames rusted away, you guys are luckily to have them so clean!
This time I decided to stretch out my usual thread update interval from six months to over a year. The thread's a little overdue for maintenance, but I think we'll be alright. I actually attempted to make this post a couple of times earlier, but I kept having car-related developments that made me want to push it back into what is now the biggest update to my car thread, probably. This year, I conducted a long-term road test of the 1996 Toyota 4Runner. Not really, but ostensibly I did, because I ended up owning it for one year and six days. I added 14,000 miles, from 214,500 to 228,500. When I bought it, I felt no worries because it was a Toyota, and I was drinking the Kool-Aid. Later into my ownership, I never did find anything to worry about, but along the way I was curious about the viability of a 24 year old car as a daily driver. In many ways, it's still sufficient. In my head this sounds like a "no duh" statement, but my line of thinking is that in 1996, a 24 year old car was from 1972... quite old already by '96. But today, the third generation 4Runner isn't even the oldest model of car I see regularly. The gap between those cars from 1996 and today is the improvements in chassis rigidity, NVH, better materials, and a host of things I'm glossing over. Then, there's the degradation of all of those materials since '96 that make it marginally worse than it was when new.
All of that crap means that the 4Runner is a perfectly fine car for getting around. I found no trouble in accelerating briskly on days when the traffic hivemind (mercifully) had a lead foot. I could brake significantly and scrub off a lot of speed, but in general I was never a fan of the braking performance. I compensated by increasing my following distance. On the freeway, it keeps up with the classic 80 mph speed of traffic fine. The only trouble comes when passing other drivers downhill. They gain 5 mph because they're absent-minded, meanwhile I'm trying to keep it under 90 so that I don't die, and before I know it I'm taking part in the classic American pastime of being in the left lane and matching the speed of the car to your right. The gas mileage was fair. I usually got 19 mpg but it could see over 20 with a lot of freeway driving. It didn't cost a lot to fill up, but it also didn't last hardly at all. The fuel light would come on around 13 gallons, which was less than 300 miles in my circumstances. The comfort is adequate if you use it as a short distance car in the city, or if you live in a treacherous area for cars. As a highway car, I simply got tired of the wind noise, and the foam in the driver's seat had been thoroughly smushed down with time. Luckily, most of my driving in the 4Runner was trips under one hour.
This was a frustrating reality because the 4Runner satisfied a lot of other things for me. It looked good from the outside. The seating position was decent for me - I've come to find that in some cars it's impossible to find a good seating position. In this car, I enjoyed sitting lower relative to the dash compared to most SUVs where you're seated quite high even with the seat at its lowest. The ride height was good for visibility, but all the other cars are SUVs anyways so I still couldn't see as much in traffic as I would've liked. The exterior dimensions were small and boxy, so parking was easy. I could park it in any parking space or any location and not worry about it whatsoever. The interior looked fine, not great, but I think it's aging better than some newer interiors. It wasn't very ergonomic, I always had to lean forward to use the climate or the radio. It wasn't the most comfortable car in the world to use, but it seemed to do alright on the rare crappy roads in my city. It even takes common neighborhood speed bumps up to 40 mph, but the shocks will make a noise that sounds as if the car had collapsed in on itself. I liked what the 4Runner could do, I just wanted more isolation, more mindlessness.
Like when I bought the Mercedes, I was feeling open-ended. Actually, I didn't think buying a car this year was a good idea in the first place. The availability looked worse, and the prices were higher. Eventually I wanted a new car enough to look for cars anyways. I thought the E-Class and the 4Runner would satisfy me, but I wanted more. I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy a newer daily driver type of car, so I did my rounds and test drove some used cars at dealerships. I test drove a 2008 Prius to satisfy a long-time curiosity. I liked the second generation Prius whenever I drove it at work because it felt small and nimble compared to the third generation at parking lot speeds. Sadly I wasn't as fond of driving it on the freeway, it felt oddly floaty and overall I was disappointed because I thought people's complaints about the Prius were overblown. The rear visibility was crappy, also. As a city car, I wouldn't mind it, but I don't understand why the Prius has to have such bizarre steering; I wanted to be able to throw it around. The worst thing about the Prius is that it beeps in reverse - annoying. I drove a 2011 Camry Hybrid which solved all the beefs I had with the Prius. It felt more substantial on the road, the acceleration was improved, the ride quality was far better, and the steering was mercifully normal. Having ridden in many Ubers, I was of the opinion that Prii rode like crap, and sadly test driving one didn't change my view. I think the Camry Hybrid is the perfect daily driver as far as regular cars go, if only I could find a miled-out one for peanuts and then spend more on maintaining it than if I had just bought a clean one.
I test drove a Toyota RAV4 V6, because I thought it could be a neat transition from the 4Runner. The V6 transforms the RAV4 from a car that makes me want to kill myself into a car that I can tolerate. I drove a FWD model, and the choppy roads in the area showed that putting the power down was an issue. Regular acceleration was beautiful, it was like an economy car with a luxury car powertrain. Because of the lower floor height of the Toyota crossovers, their seating position ends up being more tall and upright than that of traditional Toyota SUVs. The seating position in the RAV4 was like sitting on a stool, but I wasn't able to find a decent seating position for driving. I don't remember whether the steering wheel could only tilt or telescope. My main complaint was with the lower seat cushion, which felt too short to be supportive. The ride quality was choppy because this RAV4 was a Sport with 18" wheels, which sucks because that's the one I would want. The RAV4 would be a nice daily driver, it seemed to be fine on the freeway, but it needs a different seat entirely, AWD, and a smaller set of wheels to be perfect.
I drove two fourth generation 4Runners. I've already test driven a fourth gen 4Runner as a later model V8, but I wanted to see what some more "seasoned" ones felt like. I found a V6 and a V8 at the same dealership with 259k and 347k miles, respectively. The engine situation in the early fourth gen 4Runner was interesting because the V6 had 10 more horsepower than the V8. Obviously the V8 had about 30 more lb-ft of torque, but the V6 was sufficient. I've driven many fifth gen 4Runners at work so I'm familiar with the 4.0L V6, but in the fourth gen 4Runner I was surprised at how much it reminded me of the 3.5L V6 that's been available in nearly every Toyota or Lexus since 2005. Truthfully I would've been satisfied with a V6, but after driving the 3.4L 4Runner around all year, I was ready for a *little* excess. Even at 347k miles, the 4.7L V8 was still so smooth; it was barely felt at idle.
I also drove one oddball... I never was a Saab guy, but after driving some Volvos at work, I was left feeling disappointed (alright, there is one Volvo I liked, the S90 T6). That's when I began to give Saabs the time of day. I had never driven a Saab, but I liked the idea on paper the internet, so I test drove the one used Saab that was available at a dealership, a 9-3 wagon with the turbocharged 2.8L V6. This particular car had a BSR badge on the back, so at some point it was tuned. The car was pretty much what I expected... I expected strong mid-range and a lot of boost. I really liked it; I would rather have a Saab 9-5 than a 9-3, but I really enjoyed the characteristics of the turbo.
I was interested in daily driver-type cars, but I was also interested in cheaper notable cars. These pursuits were wildly unsuccessful. I was going to look at a 2006 BMW 330i, but then they sold it before the earliest time they would show it to me. I saw a 2004 Mini Cooper S for sale and decided to sleep on it, it was gone the next day. I looked at a yellow 2001 Lexus IS300. This car was located in Tucson, which I've never been to. I got to see a new city, but the car was a waste of time. It had too many undisclosed issues, and naturally the seller wasn't favorable to my adjusted offer. That car was for sale for a while after that. I emailed someone about a 2004 Jaguar S-Type R for only $3500, but they never responded, and the ad expired on Craigslist. I can only surmise that maybe the car vanished into thin air or something. I texted someone about a 2009 BMW 528i, but they had sold it earlier that day. I asked my aunt to reach out to somebody on Facebook marketplace for me, to see if a 2004 330i ZHP was still available. The seller deleted the ad soon after.
Finally I came across a 2004 4Runner for sale, and although I had thoroughly romanticized the idea of a cheap, cool car at this point, the previous car-buying pitfalls that I listed told me I should view it as soon as possible. Surprise! The 4Runner was not as described. The suspension was shot, and this particular 4Runner was a Sport Edition, having the X-REAS suspension. Basically, it was a suspension where the shocks were cross-balanced. Other than that, it felt fine. The seller described to me about how he had driven this car when he was dating his wife, but at this point I was jaded, I took everything with a grain of salt. I had already sent over the VIN to @Davis anyways, and he was able to tell me that it was a one owner car bought at auction two months ago. There was a tell-tale yellow stock sticker in the cupholder anyways, so I after I test drove it I asked the seller "What's that?" He took a few seconds to answer and then feigned ignorance. I didn't really care... at this point I was very tired and wanted to go home, so I just offered him less on account of the suspension being shot. He was asking $5800, I bought it for $5300. Compared to paying $4750 for the '96 4Runner, I felt $550 was a good price for a being 8 model years newer, albeit it wasn't quite as well-off mechanically as my '96 was from the day I bought it.
The new 4Runner is a Sport Edition V8. This time I got a 2WD because the only time I used the 4WD in the '96 was on select dirt roads in order to maintain the actuation of said 4WD. When I was growing up, my neighbor had a 2003 4Runner from new until after I moved. I always thought it was such a contemporary-looking car even as the years went on. Now that I have one of my own, I will concede that the front end styling is weak, but the current 4Runner looks like this, so I could have it much worse. If I was gonna buy a fourth gen 4Runner, it had to be the Sport Edition. It's a silly name for a trim level, but the SR5 of this generation was too plain looking, and I didn't want a Limited.
The fourth gen 4Runner resolves a lot of the quality of life issues I had with the third generation. The interior storage situation is superior. There's better places to put my phone and my wallet without it being in the way. It has a sunglasses holder, which is a feature I've only had on the Honda Accord, out of the seven eight cars I've had now. Instead of the generic keys and no key fob on the third gen 4Runner, I have the correct keys and two key fobs. The ignition is automatic, so you flick the key over for a second and it starts right up. The 3.4L V6 in the third gen 4Runner was not a super advanced engine. It was rather loud from outside the car, and it wasn't very refined when you ventured into the higher revs. It wasn't very fast, which I got used to, but also tired of. The 4.7L V8 is a far more pleasant engine. It's quiet in the cabin, and feels understressed. I've filled it up a few times now, it seems to be good for 350 miles of range and 17.5 mpg, although the most recent time I got gas, it got 18.5 out of nowhere. It costs about $10 more to fill up than the third gen, so I find the extra range to be well worth it.
It's a local, one owner car so the condition is pretty average. It's faded on top, I didn't care because it precludes me from worrying about what that paint looks like when I wash it. The interior was extremely dusty, in a different way than the E-Class was when I bought it. All of the interior plastics and especially all the panel gaps had accumulated a lot of dust. It took a while to clean, but it didn't improve the smell because the car smells like smoke, as many old cloth interiors do... For some reason the smell of smoke in cars was never super offensive to me, but there's a difference between an old car smelling like stale smoke, and an active smoker's car where there's cigarette butts ashed in the ash tray and a bottle of spit in the cupholder. I don't know whether the smell is able to be removed entirely, but there is enough left to do like having the interior steam cleaned and maybe even running an ozone generator for a short time. I hope I can at least bring out the old Toyota plastics smell, rather than the the current smokey fabric softener smell.
So after I picked up the 2004 4Runner, the clock was ticking to sell the 1996 4Runner. I wasn't hurting for cash, but I was definitely looking forward to depositing a '96 4Runner-sized sum back into my account after making that initial withdrawal to buy the '04. I was busy at this time, so I alternated cleaning both 4Runners inside and out on different days. I drove the '96 to Tom's Thumb, a hiking trail that I like to go to for taking pictures in a desert setting... more deserty than the rest of Phoenix, I guess. I took some very 'purposeful' photos of the 4Runner, like so:
I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. As you may have noticed from the pictures, I changed some small things about the 4Runner during my ownership. I added a wind deflector to the hood because I felt the front end looked too soft. I had the front windows tinted to 20% with some nice ceramic tint. I guesstimated that this would match the existing tint on all the other windows and it worked out. I also had the windshield tinted to 50% with 'invisible' tint. I never bothered to replace the windshield because the crack wasn't visible from inside due to the curvature of the dashboard. I also happened to like the weathered Department of Defense sticker on it; I like items that point to the car's history. I bought some gray carpeted floor mats, because the generic ones that came with it just wouldn't do. This will be hard to replicate with my '04 4Runner, because the fourth-gen mats appear to be discontinued, yet you can still buy third-gen mats easily online. It doesn't make any sense to me.
The '96 4Runner originally had a generic double-DIN head unit. I hate most aftermarket head units as a rule, and I didn't really see how a big, flat screen was supposed to make the interior look any better. I substituted it for a Continental-branded head unit, except I screwed up and bought the model without bluetooth, so I had to go back to plugging my phone in. The head unit itself is pretty unexceptional, and pressing the buttons inspires the least amount of confidence ever. All I was concerned with was that it looked like it belonged, and it did. The last item I addressed was the horn. The horn would be appropriate if the 4Runner was a kei car in Japan, I guess. I had it swapped out for a set of four Cadillac horns, which in conjunction, have a classic train horn note without actually being a train horn. I was particularly satisfied with this little mod. I also had the trailer hitch assembly removed early on, because its rustiness really made the rear end look junky.
Unlike my past cars, I feel that I didn't actually do much with the '96 4Runner, but that's alright, because that was what I was looking for at the time: a regular car that I liked, that I could drive around and not fuss over. Last year I was focused on some BS in my personal life anyways so I didn't feel motivated about anything at the time. I went to Sedona once, but that's as much traveling as I did in this car. As such, most of the driving I did in the 4Runner was crap miles: commuting, driving around the speed limit, driving from red light to red light, getting rocks flinged all over from construction, etc. One night I actually got a speeding ticket in it, taking my usual freeway exit, which happened to be under construction for a year as they transitioned from two roundabouts that were choked by a two lane bridge in between to a diverging diamond interchange that should've been there ten years ago. I thought the timing of the speeding ticket was funny, considering I had just driven across town at way over the speed limit, and the ticket occurred when I was coasting on the offramp. I guess I didn't start coasting far enough in advance for their liking. If I was going to get nabbed in any car of mine, of course it was gonna be the slowest one I've ever had.
When it came time to sell, I didn't want to waste my time answering any questions. I posted a too-much-information ad on Craigslist, and some idiots used the cryptic email function instead of simply calling or texting me about it. I then posted a severely dumbed down version on Offerup, where a buyer quickly materialized and proceeded to ding me for the crap I forgot to leave in the ad. I knew I wasn't gonna be able to get as much for the 4Runner as when I bought it, as I found the mileage to be rolled back, as well as a couple accidents on the Carfax. For those curious, it said the mileage was rolled back in Idaho or Utah, when the mileage was around 225k back in 2014, then went back to around 200k some years later. So maybe it had somewhere in between 228,000, where I left off, and 300,000. I listed it for over $5k, being ballsy, but let it go for $4,000 flat in the interest of getting that cash back quickly. I probably should've taken an inventory of what maintenance I did during my ownership before I gave the service records to the new owner. Here's what I can remember having done: valve cover gasket, lower ball joints, diff fluid, rotors were resurfaced, I rotated the tires once or twice, several oil changes due to using conventional oil at a shorter interval, and there had been a slow leak near the rear main seal for quite a while. The last item was remedied by powerwashing the underside of the car. The final time I took it in for maintenance, it had started to leak again, resulting in many seals being replaced, like the cam seal, crank seal, and several other items of that nature that I can't recall. I think I spent over $2k in maintenance for my ownership of just over a year. I could've gotten away with a lot less work, but I felt like maintaining it like a durable good: you treat it well and it treats you well. There's always some market for a maintained Toyota.
Here's some photos I took throughout my ownership last year:
After selling the '96 4Runner, I was back to having two cars after temporarily having three. Except, along the way of this car search, I had been flirting with the idea of having a third car. Like I described earlier, I was wanting a cheap, notable car, but ended up buying the '04 4Runner, which wasn't exactly what I meant by cheap or notable. My reasons for wanting a third car were a little all over the place, but they felt pretty valid for me. I like a wide variety of cars, so even many normal cars have something for me to like, but after buying another 4Runner, I felt I had been playing it safe with every car I'd bought. Even the E-Class, which was a way for me to 'have my cake and eat it too', sort of a way to practice owning a German car without getting something that was too demanding. The E-Class experiment was mixed, it was a bust at first, but ever since then, I've been smooth sailing. Last year was uneventful; I took it from 114k to 122k miles, and it had an oil change at both of those numbers. The rear brakes were also due last year, but that only costed a few hundred bucks. One thing I continually disliked about the E-Class was paying the insurance. I could understand paying $200 a month for an Infiniti G37, because I always notice Infinitis driving however they want to. For the E-Class, I'm left scratching my head... a decent amount of the W211s I see are still in respectable (not making insurance claims) ownership. But whatever... all I knew was that I'd really like to switch the Mercedes to a low-mileage insurance policy if such a thing was possible, since my annual mileage on it was about half the supposed average for Americans. I could've done this already and happily driven the 4Runner primarily, but I wanted the Mercedes to be in a position where I could drive it as much as I wanted without even worrying about going over some arbitrary low mileage limit. The solution, clearly, was to throw another car into the mix. Can't get too much seat time in one car if you've got three seats to divide your time between...
Before I bought the '04 4Runner, and before a lot of the cars I described attempting to look at during my search, I saw a 2002 BMW 330i on my Craigslist. It was a slicktop (no sunroof), sport package, 5-speed car. Personally I like sunroofs, but I recognized it as a respectable enthusiast car. It was asking $4500, so I passed at the time. I later saw it for $3500, and then $3200 as I got further into my new 4Runner ownership. I couldn't resist, it felt like the time was right. Here I saw an opportunity to finally get proficient at driving a manual in a rather easy car, and if I ever had days where I felt like I couldn't deal, there were two other cars I could drive. I had always wanted another BMW since selling the E39, especially from that era. I texted the seller the day after Christmas, and from his manner of speech, I could tell it would be an easy transaction. I got a friend of mine to accompany me as we drove to Tucson (now for my second time!) to look at the car. Tucson was still annoying to drive around, but the car was pretty much as-described, with some typical BMW BS issues. The car was very functional, although at 223k miles, the shifter could be rebuilt. 3rd and 5th seem to be intimately acquainted. The power windows work, the power seats function properly, all of the pixels on the displays are present, and the interior is in decent shape for being 19 model years old (wow). The leather is doing pretty well, although the headliner material is struggling, as they all seem to do. The outside of the car has various dings and scratches all over, on the driver's side it was keyed, and the passenger side was scratched on a trailer. The paint on the hood is pretty ******, and the BMW roundel has fulfilled its destiny of fading to silver. All of the plastic trim on the bumpers are faded, and the headlight lenses are faded. It was originally a leased car in California, so it has the front license plate bracket. I figure a replacement hood, factory headlights, and removing the front license plate bracket for the regular "impact strip" would make the car look presentable enough.
The '96 4Runner came from a different county than the one I live in, but I emissions tested it and I was good to go as far as registering it. The 330i was also located in a different county, so I would have to emissions test it after buying it. It had a check engine light, which I figured would be solved by O2 sensors. The seller showed me the codes, and there were a lot: P0242, P0243, P0203, P0246, P0245, P0142, P0241, P0202, P0228, P0227. It had a vacuum leak, which sounded like more typical BMW BS to me. I wanted to buy the car for $3000 but the seller wanted to meet me in the middle, so I bought it for $3100 instead. I had to resolve the check engine light in order to do anything with the car, so I took it to my mechanic where it was worked on over nine days. The source of the vacuum leak was a crack in the valve cover, so a new valve cover, intake manifold gasket, intake manifold actuator, throttle body gasket, engine oil separator (the seller did warn me about this one), a spark plug and an ignition coil (I didn't even know it had a misfire), and an oil change. I paid $1700 for the privilege of getting the car ready for the stupid emissions test, then I could finally do the title and insurance after having it for over two weeks.
I haven't driven it a whole lot, only a couple hundred miles. I knew how to drive stick already, but I'm not very good at it. It's kind of hard to drive in certain areas where traffic acts like idiots. Mostly I've been having a good time, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I never did any type of sports or anything like that, so I was never really kinesthetically-minded. I've pulled off some satisfactory shifts here and there, but it's hard to consistently sync up the motion of my left foot and my right hand at the exact same time. I've stalled it some times, never really in any inopportune situations, but one time a car did honk at me, and many cars have been confused, but they get over it, and I'll get better... eventually. So far I like driving it, I'm not sure if I prefer the size of this car or the E39 as far as how it feels on the road. The seats are nice, the suspension is in good shape and it rides fine, it seems like it handles well, but the only area I have to really test it is on a freeway onramp that curves all the way around. I haven't done much performance driving to speak of since I'm still learning how to drive it, but the M54 inline-6 feels livelier in the E46 with a 5-speed than it did in my E39 with the automatic. It's nice to go through the gears, you get up to about 60 and then you coast back down to the speed of traffic on the various main roads in my area where traffic is already flirting with that speed on a good day. It would be nice if it was a 6-speed for the sometimes advanced speeds you find yourself reaching on the freeway, but with the 5-speed it feels happiest around 75. At 80 mph it does around 3100 or 3200 rpm.
This post started to get lengthy about halfway through, so I'll wrap it up now. Since December 2013 when I got my first car, I've had eight cars in seven years (2021 doesn't count as a full car-year till December), or an even seven cars in seven years if we exclude cars that I didn't pay for. I like to buy cars based on what color they are, yet I ended up with three gray cars here. I've had one American car, three German cars, and four Japanese cars. Three were SUVs and the rest were RWD sedans except for the Honda Accord. I haven't really branched out unless you count quantity now, but I feel like I know what I like: RWD sedans and V8 SUVs. The fourth gen 4Runner and the E-Class make a pretty good fleet, but both are kind of vanilla. With the 3-Series, I feel like I now have a car to reasonably satisfy whatever driving mood I'm in, so I would consider all of this car shuffling a success.
I saw a little ways back how you compared the E350 comparably to an S550 ride-wise, with the E being closer to an S than a C. Good call.
Having replaced my S55 with a big Jaguar, I'm still riding comfortably, but I must say I miss that Kompressor!!!! The Jag is a hair over 300 horses, so no slouch, while the Merc was a hair under 500!
I saw a little ways back how you compared the E350 comparably to an S550 ride-wise, with the E being closer to an S than a C. Good call.
Having replaced my S55 with a big Jaguar, I'm still riding comfortably, but I must say I miss that Kompressor!!!! The Jag is a hair over 300 horses, so no slouch, while the Merc was a hair under 500!
The E-Class feels great... till you drive an S-Class, at least for me. At my job, I drive the same couple of W221s regularly and it's easy for me to rationalize trading up whenever I'm behind the wheel of an S550. I'd rather drive the E-Class than a lot of other cars, though. I don't think I've ever had an X350 Jaguar come in at my work, but I've driven plenty of new ones and one X308. If I got a Jaguar I think I would make a beeline towards an R, there's some early XFs and a later S-Type with the V8 at work and none of those cars really do it for me.
I've never like the S-type. It tried too hard to be retro, and it was too small to be a "Jaguar" sedan. Rather hideous, as well.
The X350/X358 line is to me, the last of the fine, elegant Jaguar sedans. After that, they got to glitzy, and those pig-snouts are simply awful!
Mine is the L version, so S-type room in the back, although not as loaded as my S55 was. That thing had the reclining rear seat, climate control at every seat... and did I mention 493HP? I think I did... It wasn't without issues, though, as the A/C had died, and i was pretty sure I was gonna junk the ABC system, but with Progressive Insurance buying it from me, none of those expenditures were necessary.
X350s are rare enough, but XJRs are unicorns! At the moment, cargurus.com has three nationwide.
Surprisingly, that MTech 1 Bumper on your E46 is rather rare, very hard to source new, or second hand! Looks like a great find, enjoy it! If you need any info - help with the E46 I could gladly help! Only thing I could note is when was the expansion tank replaced, and the DISA Valve? They all tend to go bad and cause some lovely damage.
On another note, this was a rather pleasing update! Looking forward to the next one.
I never even realized it existed because most E46s I see are base models or ZHPs. Even after I became aware of MTech 1 and MTech 2, I had trouble determining which I had because they looked so similar in my eyes.
I had the DISA valve replaced when I took it in for some work a couple weeks ago. I don't have many service records associated with the car because the previous owner was a hobbyist mechanic, so he worked on it himself. I'll take a look at the expansion tank and see if it looks old.
It wasn't without issues, though, as the A/C had died, and i was pretty sure I was gonna junk the ABC system, but with Progressive Insurance buying it from me, none of those expenditures were necessary.
