I did a thing.

[— kung fu jesus —]

You mean my wife’s car?

[—Bryan—]

You mean my wife’s car?

Oh, didn't realize it was.

I was wondering what you drove when you don't drive the Miata.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Yeah, I shrunk down to two cars soon after I bought this one. I have owned it about 42 mos and have accumulated about 17k miles in that time.

My wife’s company has literally closed most of their office leases about 2 years ago and has arranged for the majority of their staff in her position to work exclusively from home. I believe we have accumulated just shy of 10k miles on her car over 2.5 years.

This new position for me is going to require me to commute about 50 miles round trip M-F, so I’m looking at a more comfortable car for that.

The longer I have been searching, the more I am leaning towards a third car for this role. It leaves me with a backup ride (Miata) and I can take a longer time to see how this all goes.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Today’s update is one I knew was overdue, so I did it before it became an issue: the battery.

I was having some slow starting issues over the winter. The car sits in an insulated garage so temps never get below freezing. I have never replaced it on this car, and I forgot to check the date on it when I had the trunk apart for cleaning and detailing.

I was airing up the tires with a 12v pump and noticed the voltage was falling a little quicker than I preferred.



It was definitely time:



May 2015. Yup. It was heading for its demise sooner than later. I had shopped batteries off and on over the past 6 months, and there was not much difference among them. I understand these are largely made by the same company on the east coast and re-labeled.

I prefer chain store batteries because that $40-50 I save buying a Westco online means nothing if it dies under warranty. Been there done that, never again.

I went with the Oreilly 36 month warranty ‘platinum’ AGM. I can get replaced coast to coast, and the extra 12 mos warranty over other stores is a $20 premium.

The battery compartment still looks pretty fresh since the cleaning:



Still, room for improvement. I cleaned it all down again, wiped it with acetone and laid down a few coats of rubberized undercoating.



While waiting for it to dry, I took the old one with me to exchange it as a core for the new one. Fresh battery ready to go!



The coating had dried by this time and I started reassembly.









Prepped the posts with some dielectric grease.



Centered the battery under the hold-down, attached the cables, plugged in the vent tubes, and added a drop or two of penetrating oil on the terminal bolts.



Tidied up the trunk



Then spent the next 20 minutes trying reset the custom sound settings on the radio. #firstworldproblems

[—Bryan—]

The longer I have been searching, the more I am leaning towards a third car for this role. It leaves me with a backup ride (Miata) and I can take a longer time to see how this all goes.

I tihnk that's a good idea. I'd assume you don't owe money on the Miata, so why get rid of it?

[— Agent☣Orange —]

Me too. I'd keep the Miata and get a third car. Looks like plenty of room on the property so space wouldn't be an issue. I wish I had kept mine instead of using it for trade. I'll pick up another some day, even if just to hold on to for future projects.

[— John J —]

Another reason that you should keep that Miata now, its getting harder to find a Miata in good condition at a reasonable price in todays world!

[— kung fu jesus —]

The NBs are still shaky in value. With the exception of the MSMs and a few SEs, the value on this car is pretty low.

At some point I will be looking for it’s replacement or going big on a wish list car.

[Sharpie]

If Tina isn't driving for work, just drive the RAV4 and let her use the Miata for the limited driving she has to do. She had a nice ghost flamed Miata when I first met her.

[— kung fu jesus —]

I considered that. Two things: I would not want her to need the larger car if she needs to take one of the dogs to the vet, go grocery shopping, etc. Secondly, not really fond of her driving the Miata. She is hard on equipment.

I’m shopping older Lexus sedans for this duty.

[MiataQuest]

Here is an option: 41k-Mile 2000 Lexus SC400

V8 with the timing belt and water pump already replaced.
RWD
Nakamichi Premium Audio System
Original retail price $62K

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2000-lexus-sc400-5/





Spend 2 weekends on it.

Weekend one - Fluid changes
* Trans fluid & filter
* Engine oil change and filter
* Power steering partial fluid change using a siphon
* Anti-freeze change
* Rear end fluid change
* Bleed the brakes

Weekend two - mild detailing
Your selected method of body paint and interior protectants.

Throw the keys to your wife!

[—Bryan—]

All Altezza.

ALL.

THE.

Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime .

[— kung fu jesus —]

NGL, I love the gen1 SCs. I followed a late 90s LS400, beige/gold (of course) down the Alpharetta Autobahn for a ways on my commute this week, I was a little jelly how smooth and effortlessly that thing was moving through traffic.

My logical brain looks at SC400s and thinks “too old”, but my animal car-enthusiast brain says “V8 Japanese luxo-GT cruiser gooooooood”.




We will see .

[— Agent☣Orange —]

Hellz yeah I'd love a V8 super cruiser.

[Slampen]

Hellz yeah I'd love a V8 super cruiser.

Is there not already one on jack stands in your garage ?