So here's what happened today.
Our 2010 Mazda CX-7 iSport had a stuck rear caliper that Firestone replaced, but never could get a squeak out of the emergency brake.
It burned out a headlight on average every other month, and they were a pain in the ass to replace. I tried LED bulbs but they weren't bright enough.
Because of the odd tire size they cost $250 each and one of the tires was starting to come apart.
Then this morning I changed the spark plugs to hopefully take care of an intermittent hard-to-start condition (at 128K miles) and discovered that oil was leaking down into the holes for the plugs.
We were at AutoZone trying to figure out what direction to go in with the headlights, considering maybe installing aftermarket fog lights to make sure Heidi had lights on both sides when those damned $14 bulbs keep burning out, and I kinda lost it and said "fuuuuuuuck this."
I think I was just going to confirm to myself that we were, indeed, stuck with the Mazda. But they happened to have a fully loaded used 2013 Cmax Hybrid in white, pretty much the ~exact~ car I wanted. Other than not being electric blue, it was the exact car Heidi wanted, too. The Ford dealer made us a hell of an offer on our Mazda (somebody's getting' fired tomorrow for appraising that wrong!), and we couldn't say no. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
John replaced his Flex with a more practical Transit Connect just last night, so we're a three-Ford family now: Shelly's Focus, John's van, and our Cmax. Of course I still have the Vibe, but that's really a Toyota underneath.
Just a few years ago we were an all-GM family: Vibe, Venture, Uplander, and HHR. That's what a few years of GM's downward spiral and Ford's new direction can do. Of course the only survivor is the one based on a Toyota!
If only Chris Ducey could see our garage now.
www.chrisnelson.net
Our 2010 Mazda CX-7 iSport had a stuck rear caliper that Firestone replaced, but never could get a squeak out of the emergency brake.
It burned out a headlight on average every other month, and they were a pain in the ass to replace. I tried LED bulbs but they weren't bright enough.
Because of the odd tire size they cost $250 each and one of the tires was starting to come apart.
Then this morning I changed the spark plugs to hopefully take care of an intermittent hard-to-start condition (at 128K miles) and discovered that oil was leaking down into the holes for the plugs.
We were at AutoZone trying to figure out what direction to go in with the headlights, considering maybe installing aftermarket fog lights to make sure Heidi had lights on both sides when those damned $14 bulbs keep burning out, and I kinda lost it and said "fuuuuuuuck this."
I think I was just going to confirm to myself that we were, indeed, stuck with the Mazda. But they happened to have a fully loaded used 2013 Cmax Hybrid in white, pretty much the ~exact~ car I wanted. Other than not being electric blue, it was the exact car Heidi wanted, too. The Ford dealer made us a hell of an offer on our Mazda (somebody's getting' fired tomorrow for appraising that wrong!), and we couldn't say no. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
John replaced his Flex with a more practical Transit Connect just last night, so we're a three-Ford family now: Shelly's Focus, John's van, and our Cmax. Of course I still have the Vibe, but that's really a Toyota underneath.
Just a few years ago we were an all-GM family: Vibe, Venture, Uplander, and HHR. That's what a few years of GM's downward spiral and Ford's new direction can do. Of course the only survivor is the one based on a Toyota!
If only Chris Ducey could see our garage now.
www.chrisnelson.net