A retrospective look at life:Post-SVX.

[Matthewmongan]

This afternoon I was internet shopping for a new car. I was juggling a few models in my mind (911, Boxter, BRZ, Miata). All of a sudden, I found myself giving serious consideration to the Nissan Leaf, I had the website open, I was running the numbers. How could this happen? How could I start with a bouquet of sports cars and conclude with a golf cart? The answer is simple, I am a member of the walking dead. Don't be mislead by the popular t.v. show, we don't mindlessly crave living flesh, just Starbucks and buy-one-get-two-free sales at Jos. A. Bank's. We enjoy reading the Daily Record, and researching evergreen ferns for our homes in historic Roland Park. But how does one become a Yuppie? I wasn't born one, a Yuppie didn't bite me, and I always wash my hands.

Friends, I was duped, lured by the empty promises of reliability and economy. The greener pastures I hoped to find on my automotive exodus became a landscape of despair. The extra MPG comes at a heavy price. Every time I turn the key on my 2002 honda accord, some small element of my soul is extracted by that bland mechanical succubus. Like the storied Shylock, the honda demands a pound of flesh, and it excises it with deep cuts.

I am a husk of a human being, a shadow of my former self, doomed to roam the city of Baltimore in a four-door chariot of mediocrity. I sold my soul to the company store, but it's not too late for you. For the love of all that is good in this world, keep your SVXs. Drive free, carry a surplus of oil in your trunk, and refuel often. If you happen to gaze upon my lifeless face as I stare remorsefully at your car, remember that I was once like you before I lost my way.

[kingbobdole]

I've fell pray to the same demons. I drove a leaf and really rather liked it. I ended up buying a first gen Prius, which I liked, for a while. Putting $30 in it and driving for two weeks was nice, but I was sooo bored. It's about the only car I've had trouble staying awake in. Not even a year after I bought the Prius, I found myself back in my XT-6. Way more fun, but I don't like having it as my daily because its supposed to be my toy. I got offered my SVX at a steal (provisionally) and knew it could replace the Prius as my automatic traffic killer. It's $60 a week in gas, but I'm awake, and alive!

[svxfiles]

Originally Posted by Matthewmongan

This afternoon I was internet shopping for a new car. I was juggling a few models in my mind (911, Boxter, BRZ, Miata). All of a sudden, I found myself giving serious consideration to the Nissan Leaf, I had the website open, I was running the numbers. How could this happen? How could I start with a bouquet of sports cars and conclude with a golf cart? The answer is simple, I am a member of the walking dead. Don't be mislead by the popular t.v. show, we don't mindlessly crave living flesh, just Starbucks and buy-one-get-two-free sales at Jos. A. Bank's. We enjoy reading the Daily Record, and researching evergreen ferns for our homes in historic Roland Park. But how does one become a Yuppie? I wasn't born one, a Yuppie didn't bite me, and I always wash my hands.

Friends, I was duped, lured by the empty promises of reliability and economy. The greener pastures I hoped to find on my automotive exodus became a landscape of despair. The extra MPG comes at a heavy price. Every time I turn the key on my 2002 honda accord, some small element of my soul is extracted by that bland mechanical succubus. Like the storied Shylock, the honda demands a pound of flesh, and it excises it with deep cuts.

I am a husk of a human being, a shadow of my former self, doomed to roam the city of Baltimore in a four-door chariot of mediocrity. I sold my soul to the company store, but it's not too late for you. For the love of all that is good in this world, keep your SVXs. Drive free, carry a surplus of oil in your trunk, and refuel often. If you happen to gaze upon my lifeless face as I stare remorsefully at your car, remember that I was once like you before I lost my way.

Hi Fucfase! Diana just asked/spoke of you a couple of daze ago.
Three days in Baltimore will kill your Soal.
(Nissan/Toyota/ otherwise)
Come out to The Country,
hop in a canoe,
float down The Potomac while sipping/chugging wine/shine,
and you will be reborn!
The phone #s are thje same.
It's good to hear from you , Kid.

[Sean486]

Keep the commuter car and buy a SVX for the weekend.

[Landshark]

an SVX has the reliability and cheap low maintenance of a Honda Civic compared to the beast 928 i just bought.

your senses come alive, not only with the thrill of driving it, but with the heightened awareness and paranoia that at any time, you could kiss several paychecks goodbye if something goes wrong.

[dcarrb]

Originally Posted by Matthewmongan

For the love of all that is good in this world, keep your SVXs.

Aww, man, I really didn't need to read this. When I let mine go, I'm going to be like Tom Hanks in that scene from "Cast Away" when Wilson vanishes over the horizon.

dcb

[mikecg]

I went the opposite direction. I started modifying my SVX. (JDM STi 6-speed, ECUTune Stage III supercharge kit, ect.) The car became less daily driver friendly. I started out getting a Nissan Sentra Spec-V. It was a fun car to Auto-X and great on gas. The SVX started only coming out every other weekend or so.

Then the New Camaros acme out in 2009 as a 2010 model. I was looking for a daily that was more cofortable and in line with my tastes. I got a nice large bonus from my work. In December of 2009, I bought myself a new Camaro SS. It may be a heavy car, but there just isn't anythig as fun and smooth as 425 factory horse power. It was easier to drive then the SVX, had great looks, and was faster then the SVX. And believe it or not, if I can keep my foot out of the fun pedal, It can get 21MPG, but regardless, here in sunny San Diego, My motorcycle is my economy commuter. I ride it nearly everyday.

After the poor SVX sat an entire year in the garage without moving, I decided it was time to let someone that would appreciate and use her more then myself. I sold her for about 1/3 what I had invested in her.
Now I have my SS, a K5 Blazer, a Yamaha Motorcycle, and a 2001 Full Size Chevy conversion van. SS adverages 19mpg, K5 gets 10mpg, motorcycle get 50mpg, and van gets 15mpg.

[Scoobyru]

Originally Posted by Matthewmongan

This afternoon I was internet shopping for a new car. I was juggling a few models in my mind (911, Boxter, BRZ, Miata). All of a sudden, I found myself giving serious consideration to the Nissan Leaf, I had the website open, I was running the numbers. How could this happen? How could I start with a bouquet of sports cars and conclude with a golf cart? The answer is simple, I am a member of the walking dead. Don't be mislead by the popular t.v. show, we don't mindlessly crave living flesh, just Starbucks and buy-one-get-two-free sales at Jos. A. Bank's. We enjoy reading the Daily Record, and researching evergreen ferns for our homes in historic Roland Park. But how does one become a Yuppie? I wasn't born one, a Yuppie didn't bite me, and I always wash my hands.

Friends, I was duped, lured by the empty promises of reliability and economy. The greener pastures I hoped to find on my automotive exodus became a landscape of despair. The extra MPG comes at a heavy price. Every time I turn the key on my 2002 honda accord, some small element of my soul is extracted by that bland mechanical succubus. Like the storied Shylock, the honda demands a pound of flesh, and it excises it with deep cuts.

I am a husk of a human being, a shadow of my former self, doomed to roam the city of Baltimore in a four-door chariot of mediocrity. I sold my soul to the company store, but it's not too late for you. For the love of all that is good in this world, keep your SVXs. Drive free, carry a surplus of oil in your trunk, and refuel often. If you happen to gaze upon my lifeless face as I stare remorsefully at your car, remember that I was once like you before I lost my way.

You'll be back. i let mine go too and now am a few weeks away from my next one. character is more important than fuel mileage.

[Matthewmongan]

Tom, I was in your neck of the woods on the 11th doing a client visit at WCI. The commute was insane, 14 accidents on rt 70. It took four hours. I have already informed april that she needs to select a weekend for a trip to the mountains, and the next time I have to drive to WCI I'll prearrange a lunch with you.

As for my midlife crisis, I'm considering getting a pilots license and a small aircraft. I drive the the eastern shore twice a week and Cumberland once a month. April believes that I will JFK Jr myself, it's a risk I'm willing to take to cut down travel time.

[Subix]

I want to move on but I can't. Recently my DD sort of blew up (Suzuki Aerio) and I've been finding myself needing to find a replacement.. but I still have the FWD SVX in the driveway and is just a registration / few bugs away from being my DD.. and for that, I'm excited.

Looking at the Leaf and even a iQ, purely for gas mileage and price, it still doesn't add up. I'll just chuck away on the nearly 30mpg I get with the FWD Laguna and look for a project SVX sometime next year. It'll be years before electric vehicles will become affordable enough, imo, to seriously look into. It's a shame, because I really hate throwing away money at the pump.

[wdb]

Ditch the Accord and pick up a Honda Fit. Same reliability, better gas mileage, surprisingly large and very flexible carrying capacity, and the car is a hoot to drive. Slap summer tires and a Beatrush underpanel on it and the car becomes an exit ramp carver extraordinaire.

I just sold my SVX. Character is one thing the car had in spades. But I have an early (2005) STi, which also has a lot of character, so I'm covered there. What I miss, and have begun to search for, is a true GT; something fast enough, with good enough handling, but also capable of delivering us safely, comfortably and happily to the other end of a long day's drive. It needs to hold no more than two people, but it needs to hold their luggage too. I was thinking Boxster or 911, I hear they're surprisingly reliable - also expensive when something does go wrong. I also dallied with the idea of a 1990's BMW 8 Series coupe; very pretty to look at, but I don't know if I want to go that far back in time again.

It sounds to me like what you really need is a GT car yourself. It'll take care of that SVX jones and get you through those long drives in style. Plus no chance of auguring in to the Atlantic Ocean.

[Matthewmongan]

"Ditch the Accord and pick up a Honda Fit" - wdb

I own both, but yes, the Fit is like driving a Jack Russell Terrier. It really is the modern mini cooper. I have a pending factory recall service order on the traction control system that I haven't done yet, and I can't find tires that maintain decent grip in the rain. (its probably more of a right foot problem). I will have to look up this Beatrush under panel.

I received my bar results this past friday and apparently the examiners liked my answers so much they invited me back to take it again! I was off by 18 points. I scored abnormally well on the day two multistate exam but poohed the bed on the day one local essay portion. I suspect test anxiety got the better of me. Realistically, within the same week I spotted a mole on April's back, she was diagnosed with skin cancer, had a large portion of skin removed, her grandmother died, we bought our dream home, and I took the bar. So, take a collection of the most stressful things you will ever have to go through and compress them down into a seven day period. That was my exam week. I suspect February will be calmer.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by Matthewmongan

I own both, but yes, the Fit is like driving a Jack Russell Terrier. It really is the modern mini cooper. I have a pending factory recall service order on the traction control system that I haven't done yet, and I can't find tires that maintain decent grip in the rain. (its probably more of a right foot problem). I will have to look up this Beatrush under panel.

Traction control, eh. Yours must be newer than mine (I have an '08 Fit Sport, 5spd manual). It too has a recall notice, something about leaving the window open in the rain causing the door-mounted window control to go blooey. Well duh.

Yes, the car is not exactly Captain Traction off the line, especially with the wheel turned. I had a set of Michelins on the car for summer, and they were fabulous rain tires; unfortunately they wore out and now I'm running these. Not as quiet, not as nice of a ride, but they stick like mad.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...m=955VR5GFSPC2

I'm not sure if a Beatrush underpanel will fit your car but here is some more information nevertheless. They're made for Japan-spec cars so some modification of mounting points is needed. Nothing spectacularly hard, just a relocation of the rear mounting points. If you have the correct mounting kit (I did not) it may be a simple as drilling two holes.

Full thread:
http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-s...nderpanel.html

My install in a bit more detail:
http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-s...tml#post479897

[Matthewmongan]

Small world, I read that thread the other night. I have a 2013 standard. I'm considering upgrading the wheels to a wider profile, but I don't want to loose the tire pressure sensor.

[Matthewmongan]

Well, I passed the Maryland bar exam and scored high enough to waive into DC. I take the oath December 17!