Well, it finally happened. After almost 300,000 miles, my 1999 Toyota Solara finally bit the big one. 12 years is a long time to own a car, I guess, and I knew I was on borrowed time for the last two years or so, but it was still sad to see the old gal go.
The events culminating in her death came in quick succession, as these things usually do. Symptoms first presented 3 days ago with the Check Engine light. I contacted my mechanic to make an appointment to have it checked out. I wasn’t too worried. In the intervening days before the appointment, the car began to shake and hiccup on acceleration. The next day, it began to emit what seemed to me to be an ozone-like smell, and the hiccups got worse. Yesterday morning, it took a number of tries to start, and she actually stalled twice as I was on the way to the mechanic. By now she was noticeably lurching on acceleration.
I left her with the mechanic and waited for his call. At around 11:00 AM, the mechanic called with his his initial prognosis, which wasn’t good. He advised that he received 9 codes when he hooked the car up to his computer. He advised that some of the codes would probably be resolved by a tune-up, but that the vehicle’s issues are much more serious than a tune-up would fix. He asked if he should proceed with the tune-up as perhaps this could help to narrow down the issues. Otherwise, I could just pick up the car. I told him to go ahead.
At 3:00 PM, he called me back to advise that after the tune-up, the computer still showed 4 codes and that if I wanted the remaining issues to be repaired it would be in the range of $1800 to possibly up to $3000, which is much more than the entire vehicle is worth. He advised that the Check Engine light was now out and the car was riding better, but there’s a CO2 emissions issue, among other significant problems, and that it definitely would not pass any type of safety inspection. He also advised that, if it were his car and decision, he wouldn’t put another dime into this vehicle, adding “listen, I’ll take your money if you want it repaired, but there’s a lot of miles on that engine, and it’s in bad shape. You have to decide if it’s worth it.” I told him that I was coming to pick up the car.
When I got to the mechanic’s garage, I paid him for the tune-up, and told him I’d have to think about what I wanted to do next. He reiterated that the car was driving better, and that the Check Engine light may come back on tomorrow, next week, or next year, but to give him a call if I decided to bring the car back in.
I drove out of his lot and noticed the drive was smoother and, with the Check Engine light out, began to convince myself that maybe things weren’t as bad as he’d advised. 5 Minutes later, the Check Engine light came on and the car began to lurch. I turned around, barely making it back to the mechanic’s garage. He tried to restart her, but she wouldn’t turn over. He was pretty sympathetic and offered to refund half of his charge for the tune-up, which I declined; he did the work after all.
I told him he was probably right, that it didn’t make sense to put any more money into the vehicle at this point. He asked if I wanted him to call a tow service. When I asked if he’d take it from me, he said “the engine’s the car and this engine’s shot.” He opened the hood and tinkered around for a few minutes, then asked me to try to restart it. It wouldn’t. He tinkered around a little more and asked me to try again. This went on for about 10 minutes. After the 6th or 7th round of this, she finally started. He said, I don’t know how long you have, but you should be able to make it home. I said to myself “Home? What the heck am I going to do with it there?” I sat there for a few minutes before coming to a decision.
The Search
I began calling the local automobile dealerships in my area. After about 30 minutes, 8 calls, and taking copious notes, I finally settled on Honda. I thanked my mechanic for everything, drove out of his lot, and down the road about 2 miles to the Honda dealership. I parked in the dealership’s customer parking lot, removed my remaining personal effects, and went inside the showroom.
The main criteria for any new car I was considering is that it must have a manual transmission. Never having owned an automatic, or driven one more than 5 or 6 times in my life, and hating the experience each time, I knew it was not even going to be an option unless I was forced into it. Needless to say, most dealerships either had no manual transmission versions of the vehicles they sell, or had none in stock. My goal was to buy a car and drive away with it that night. Not only did Honda have a number of vehicles with manual transmission options, they had a few of them in stock, which surprised the heck out of me.
I took a look at the S2000, which is a nice, sporty car, but that went against my second criteria, which is that it had to be less than $25,000. I looked at the Fit, which has a manual transmission option, but they only had automatics in stock. The price, at $16,000, was right though. The last car I looked at, and what I ultimately settled on, was the CR-Z EX. At $21,000 it’s $5K more than the Fit, but it’s also a better vehicle, and a Hybrid.
After the requisite haggling (why are dealers such bloody, smarmy liars?), filling out the almost endless paperwork, and transferring my insurance over, I wrote a check for the down payment and waited for the vehicle to be brought around. They gave me $500 as a trade for my Toyota; I guess I should be happy I got anything for it.
First impressions
The CR-Z is a kind of space-age, very aerodynamic looking vehicle on the outside. This look carries through into the driver’s compartment, which almost has a cockpit feel with all the gauges and dashboard complements angled toward the driver.
The transmission is a 6-speed manual, which “wants to” shift way earlier than I’m used to; perhaps all 6-speeds are this way, I don’t know.
The car has 3 driving modes that can be switched to on the fly.
[ul]
[li]Sport Mode, which increases throttle, pick-up, performance, and tightens the steering, and presumably uses the most gas[/li][li]Normal Mode, which loosens the steering, and loses a little of the off the line kick[/li][li]Econ Mode, which is downright sluggish, especially off the line, but is the most economical on gas[/li][/ul]
It’s rated 31 MPG City, 37 MPG Highway. The vehicle provides real-time MPG stats, which I think is kind of neat. This morning, I drove it to work in Econ mode and was able to get it to 48.3 MPG. It calculates and adjusts the average MPG the longer you drive. I have a fifty mile commute to work and, as I was driving on the NJ Turnpike, the MPG indicator kept going up about a 10th of a point every few minutes.
The vehicle came with a navigation package which, to be honest, I don’t really care about. It’s a DVD system, which means I’ll have to get an updated disc when the one I have becomes outdated. My Droid phone has great navigation and I’ll never have to worry about always having the latest navigation information.
One cool thing about the vehicle is that when I pull up to the light and break to a stop, the engine goes into auto stop mode. Releasing the clutch restarts the engine automatically; another gas savings.
The CR-Z is Bluetooth enabled, so I can make and receive calls without touching my phone at all just by hitting the talk button on the steering wheel and saying “Call XXX XXX XXXX.” The phone call audio is played through the car’s speakers, so no more need for a headset.
Cabin temperature can be controlled by voice as well. Want 72 degrees, just hit the talk button on the steering wheel and say “72 degrees.” The car then acknowledges in a woman’s voice “Temperature 72 degrees.” The temperature indicator in the dash changes and the temperature adjusts. The Radio, CD player, and navigation can be controlled by voice as well. Yeah, it’s a gimmick, but it’s neat as a new toy I’ll surely tire of after a couple of months, reverting to making adjustments by hand, which is quicker anyway.
As far as the driving experience itself, it’s much quieter than my old Toyota, although that may not be saying much. The seats, although manually adjustable only, are very comfortable. I feel much lower to the ground than in my Toyota, which will take a little getting used to. Road feel is very nice and smooth, even over uneven or pocked surfaces.
Downsides
[ul]
[li] The gas cap cover doesn’t lock and there’s no release inside the car.[/li][li]There is no dedicated trunk lock. You unlock the trunk by unlocking the driver’s side door. I think that’s strange.[/li][li]Unlike the Japanese version, the US version of the CR-Z has no back seats. Instead, there are two storage compartments where the back seats would normally be. Seems dumb to me right now. Perhaps I’ll appreciate this feature more with time.[/li][li]Although I’ve only driven it for a few minutes last night and about an hour this morning, I can see myself easily becoming obsessed with the barrage of information on fuel economy that is constantly provided through various gauges and displays in the dash. There are even virtual awards that can be achieved based on how well and economically one drives the car, which can be taken away if the car is driven poorly. Great. Something else for me to agonize over.[/li][li]There are two huge blind spots in the two rear quarters.[/li][/ul]
All in all, it’s fine for what I will use it for, which is getting back and forth to work. It’s a sporty-looking commuter car with a few extras.
If it can match my old Toyota’s 12 year lifespan, I’ll be thrilled.