First new car that I have ordered. It's going to be a while before steps 2, 3, and 4 are done, but I can be patient. I have signed paperwork from the dealer locking in price. The only price changing allowed is if there are available incentives or rebates that will decrease the price of the vehicle (not likely).
Base, manual Sasquatch with the heavy duty bumper and roof rack. Tis all I need until I start accessorizing on my own. I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I'm pretty darn happy.
My GX finally came home today. I still have to detail myself. Could they possible slather any more tire shine on there? Probably, since most of what was on the tires is now all over the body.
Anyway, as a 4Runner replacement, it's rather familiar in most ways. The cooled seats are quite nice, though, and my son really likes the rear controls/ceiling vents. The leather could use some refreshing, but it's not torn or ripped anywhere, just typical wear spots.
Overall, I'm happy. I'm hopeful that it will be a capable and comfy family hauler for some time to come. I've always felt a tinge guilt having a project car, throwing money at that, AND making payments on another vehicle.
I happened to see my neighbor drive by in this today and shot him a text to ask him about his new toy. Ends up he’s babysitting it for a friend for the week. I asked my son if he wanted to go check it out and he barely even got his shoes on as he scrambled out the door.
Neighbor fired it up, backed it out of the garage, and let my son hop in. I’m sure he’d have taken him around the block had I asked. As soon as we got back home, my son ran upstairs to play Forza and buy a 911 in the game.
It’s a lovely car.
Sometimes I get overwhelmed at what I want to get done. That can be true whether it's work, home projects, and car projects. Since this is (mostly) a car blog, I'll focus there.
In May of 2020 I found and bought the Mustang. The previous owner stated he wouldn't drive it anywhere, but that it did at least start. His biggest concern was the transmission and that it didn't shift well or easily. Given that information, I rented the Uhaul trailer and towed it home.
The list of things to get it on the road wasn't terribly long, but it did need to get done. Brakes rebuilt (i put fluid in the master cylinder and it proceeded to spit fluid out of many different orifices), dry rotted tires replaced, transmission rebuild.
The transmission rebuild was user error (although it does leak, and I still haven't poked around to see if it's something as simple as the coolant lines). He didn't know how to operate the B&M shifter. The brake system, I completely replaced everything. New tires and wheels, and for good measure, rebuilt the steering system when the old steering box went kablooie. Throw in the title woes from an out of state title signed in the wrong spot, and the previous owner moving to another state, and the start of Mustang ownership was a bit frustrating.
Anyway, I know everyone has heard the above before. When I look at the Mustang at times and think of the work still to come, I easily overlook what has already been accomplished. It wasn't until the middle of October 2020 that I was able to title and register the Mustang. I haven't even been on the road a year! No, I didn't go all Overhaulin' and have the car done in a week, but I have managed to get a lot done in a year. A previously undrivable vehicle is now drivable. That's pretty cool.
That's my self affirmation pep talk for today. Now I can go back to searching for parts for the Mustang and GX.
I replaced it with a 5th Gen V8 4Runner, AKA a 2011 GX460 Premium. Net gain for me is about $20k, $5k towards payoff, $15k in the bank. Selling price was $4800 more than I paid for it new.
New vehicle will be ready early next week, there was a parts delay for some of the service it needed. Two owner, no rust, full service history. In the meantime, I’m driving around my old 4Runner, it makes for a nice loaner vehicle.
Pics of the new to me ride once I take delivery.
I’m comfortable running errands in it, and with the rear seat belts installed, I’m much more comfortable having my son ride in it, and willing to take him with me on trips outside the ‘hood The front belts arrived today and while I have the correct bolts for one belt, I needed to order one for the passenger side. Since my ‘68 came with shoulder belts originally (and were oddly removed and headliner installed over the mounts) mounting the new ones will be easy. I’m not sure why the previous owner decided to ditch seat belts, but they did.
I need to do a coolant flush and a host of other tuneup things, but it really does run quite well. The next major job will be suspension. Oh, and fix the reverse lights...
Really, though, my son and I ran to the store this evening and took a couple of pictures, so here I am.
My GX had two previous owners. The first owner kept it for 8 years. The second owner kept it for two. It appears owner number two probably got fed up with repair bills and dumped it for a new car. Here's what is new in the last 6 months:
Rear air suspension replaced in December
Radiator
valley plate coolant leak
Battery
Rear rotors/pads
front pads
Timing Cover Gasket, water pump
etc, etc
Quite a few of these are common on the "what to look for" buyer's guides for the GX, so I was quite pleased to see they had been recently taken care of. I added up all service performed since December. $8545.10. The cost of the service that apparently drove the previous owner over the edge? $3,285.13. They traded in rather than pay that, but the dealership still performed the service before the sale.
Some people might view this as "uh oh", but I view it as stuff I know I shouldn't have to deal with anytime soon. It also tells me I'm glad the 2 previous owners took their cars to the dealership for service. Woo. And third, it tells me service at the dealership is expensive.
Pulled the Mustang out today to shuffle around some things in the garage. I took it out for a drive last weekend so it fired up easily today. I noticed my reverse lights are always on, so I’ll have to check that out. It looks so much better outside than it does inside the garage.
I'm a bad doggie dad. At his annual checkup last month, the vet found a broken/abscessed tooth. He's in today to get it taken out. At least as far as surgery goes, it's relatively minor. He was happy to go for a ride, less happy when he discovered the destination.
He also needs to be groomed, but I wasn't about to add to the stress of surgery with a grooming appointment, too.
But hey, I'll take a Typhoon. I usually only see them in black when I do see them. I have a coworker that recently picked up a Syclone to match his Typhoon.
Yes, I asked him about the trail of fluid under the Syclone, he said he had just washed it.
@benjrblant Before my MIL's husband retired at JRM (Nascar), he offered to have a welder shipped out to me. They replace the welders annually in the shops. Should've taken him up on that offer, would've been cool to pick up a welder off a Nascar hauler!
@just-jeepin I'm with you. The dealer revealing yesterday that there are 200 orders at the dealership in front of mine was a gut punch. I give it absolutely 0% that I get a Bronco until 2023, at the earliest. Oh well, more time to save $$ for it, but it gets me perilously close to my normal vehicle trade in window (18-24 months).
What's been interesting is reading on various forums about folks that have leased Wranglers for 2 years to tide them over until their Bronco arrives.
@chariotoflove A Sport vs the Full size would make for a huge difference in delivery times. There are day 1 reservation holders that still haven't received a build date for their Bronco, yet. That's over 500 days for this folks now, and heck, build dates for February are going out this week, so a minimum of another 3-4 months if you're notified on Thursday that you're scheduled for production.
At least my deposit is 100% refundable ($500), but I can't say I'm particularly thrilled with floating $500 to the dealer for a year or more.
@chariotoflove Nice!
I just learned that I'm about 2-300 deep in my Bronco order at the dealer I ordered from. I guess my hope now is for 2023, but that might be pushing it. 
@chariotoflove On a related note, I have been meaning to tune it a little more with the proportioning valve, balance is a little off. Maybe now, I'll hold off on any future brake work.
@taylor-martin looks similar to this one.
@just-jeepin I’ll place a friendly wager you receive yours at least 8 months before mine.
@stuckmtb I took the fun car for errands this morning. Chilly, but bone dry here.
@wacko But, but, I love Quebec. I spent many days of my youth in the area before I moved away, and still have my ticket stubs from '93! Most recent visit was about 4 years ago, when my son did this:
Sorry you don't feel welcome.