@ttyymmnn I don't understand how there are people out there that are smart enough to afford a $60,000 Mac, but stupid enough to spend $60,000 on a Mac.

One is going on the rear quarter window this weekend!

In this thread I was soliciting advice on a potential warranty claim. I got an email from the service manager at the dealership saying it was approved!

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement to push a little; I generally avoid conflict like the plague.

Here's a picture:

Today marks exactly 8 years since I bought my first car, a 2011 Mazda3 GX.

My 3 is an off-lease rental car with 56,000km that I bought on April 13, 2013. It has some options added, such as:

• 16 inch alloy wheels
• Automatic transmission
• I think AC and power winders were standard..soo..that's it?

First picture after I got it home!

Last week I crossed the major mileage threshold of 200,000km.

This car has been incredibly reliable, despite being a former rental car. This is what I've done to it in the last 150,000km:

• Oil every 8000km [Full synthetic]
• Brakes, twice [Wear item]
• Rear struts [Wear item]
• Broken rear door lock
• Replaced rusty transmission pan [preventative]
• 1 battery replacement [Wear item]
• 2 sets of tires [wear items]

Pretty short list, eh? This car has never left me stranded; it owes me absolutely nothing.

Little red was there for me to drive a 4000km road trip on a moments notice when my Miata's radiator started leaking. I was lucky that the Miata started leaking before the trip started! I was also lucky that the 3 had a proper spare tire. The gravel logging roads of New Brunswick took the life of one Ventus Evo2, and I was hour away from civilization.

Speaking of tires...these are definitely on the aggressive side for a basic commuter car!

Bonus Miata pic with the 3 ever lurking, ready to step in.

Around the time I bought my BRZ, the 3 got shunted over to wife-duty. She put 120km/day on it carpooling for work, trouble-free, until The Monster was born. The Monster was brought home in the 3, and gets shuttled to and from daycare every day in it!

Down to 2 cars now.

Bonus picture. This has happened several times unfortunately. Poor little red!

Though the little red Mazda owes me nothing, I'm still hopeful to get a few more years of time with it. When the time comes I hope to replace it with another red Mazda!

@way2blu

I click mine back and forth until I find the right way.

@carsoffortlangley If we're talking new? Right here:

Me, an intellectual:
"I CAn fIt FoUr tIreS fOr TraCK dAy"

I dragged up a couple old portable AC units out of storage to clean/sell. The #1 rule with toddlers is that if you can't hear them, they're up to no good.

That's my (superbox) mailbox key.

We also bought him a brand new pair of shoes that we're convinced he took one of shoes and threw them into a box on the way out to the curb for recycling.

To say it drags on your sanity is a tremendous understatement.

Wife had to go into the office early today. Usually I take the 3 to drop the monster off at daycare, but she took it 50 miles away before he even woke up! Today was his first ride in the BRZ and he enjoyed it!

Due to the "buckety-ness" of the back seat, the front passenger has a surprising amount of room remaining for their legs; at least on par with my other car. Does that mean road trips will become more fun going forward?!

@sn4cktimes You've reminded my I need to empty my hoses and bring the pressure washer inside...

@adversemartyr I added these to the map. In contrast to Maui, where I had a Miata rental, I had a miserable cockroach-infested Versa on the Big Island, so fun roads were not top of mind

@AestheticsInMotion
Sidenote since I see lots of people mentioning Hana:

Do be careful with Hana as there are many completely blind sections that go down to one lane, and it has the potential to be busy. I found Hana a bit stressful, so much so that I didn't include it in the Oppo Map. I saw no less than 3 accidents on it when I went for the day, and they were all Jeeps/Trucks that were too big for the road. Also, I also heard that some car rental companies will not cover you on that highway. (Not sure how true that is - you'll def want to double check). Would I do it again though? Probably. Just make sure that you don't go during peak hours.

@aestheticsinmotion Maui has a couple great driving roads. Check the oppo map!

You can rent Miatas from the Maui dive shop.

@urambo-tauro I asked the guy who changed it this afternoon how bad it actually was. He said it wasn't too bad - I probably didn't have enough leverage to get a proper go at it. (my face was literally 3 inches away from the block)

I watched them do the filter hand-tight today, which gives me hope for the future.

In the future I need a lift. Getting my car on the ramps was a freaking production in and of itself. I taught the neighbours new words! In the end, I just couldn't make enough room for myself.

@opposaurus-wrx

Update:

I've been defeated because Donkey Kong must have put on my drain plug last time. Couldn't get it off. Then I figured if the plug was that bad, the filter would probably be worse.

@cé-hé-sin 5 bucks is 5 bucks

@old-busted-hotness When I got my Miata I found a pen for an auto auction service under the seat. That's when I realized I might have fucked up real bad.

@nth256 I'm not supposed to spend oodles of money on the 3 gosh darnit!