I take it Honda does a 105k timing belt change? If you do it yourself, not bad...but 4 digits big money at a dealership or almost that at an indie. Great car though.

They were replaced on campaign. For free. I love me some VW campaigns!

Good cars but expensive maintenance on the 6.

My mom’s 1989 MPV, that I was basically raised in, lost the crankshaft of the 18 valve V6 at 110k and then the Nissan transmission at 120k. Same powertrain and platform as the 929, but with a live axle out back. Definitely a disposable car for most, but after replacing the engine and transmission, it soldiered on…

Probably size and packaging. GM small blocks are tiny for their output. The V8s from Audi also have timing chains on the back of the engine, so perhaps being shoved that far rearward would not dissipate enough heat?

It was a Nissan transmission. There were bolts that were too long and they scratched metal inside the torque converter and sent it throughout the transmission, resulting in dead transmissions around 120k miles. They had it corrected by 1994 I think.

I’d shamefully be tempted to just repeatedly bang the door of my non beater car into that Skyline, or at least allow a shopping cart to give it a nice bruise.

My 2007 GTI’s front suspension bushings creak like an old barn door for a few minutes when it’s below freezing. The engine coolant takes a full 10 miles of driving to reach full operating temperature unless you keep the heat very low. Otherwise it’s pretty good.

I’m sad to admit that I would almost love it if it was in a nice color. Black, very dark blue, black cherry...something classy and dark. Those rims look terrible on this car too.

To be fair, you will also be suffering from broken door handles and leaking oil (rear main seal) on this thing. But this Camry is like the fwd equivalent of a w124 E-Class. Built and engineered to a higher standard than basically anything else of that time. They’re boring to drive, but smooth and quiet. The only fwd…

If I was a cop, I would primarily write tickets for people driving without their lights on when they’re needed (dark, rain, snow, etc.), and I think I could fill my quota with tailgating and overt use of their phones.

Burning oil briefly might just be normal direct fuel injection behavior. If you drive lots of short trips in town for a period of time, and then take a road trip, it’s normally the time that you would have some oil consumption...maybe that applies?

Very nice price! Even though I am sure it needs some “maintenance,” a refreshing of the seat, and a respray to cassis or saffron, it is a definite unicorn.

Try to color over the light with a permanent marker or maybe fingernail polish. Tends to dim it down to a reasonable brightness...

SMH...You should have said, with a puzzled look, and a completely straight face: “But officer, it’s just a Geo, it couldn’t *possibly* go that fast!”

This is true, I don’t think I have seen any first gen dustbuster vans in a long time! I did see a mint Aerostar the other week while waiting for the drawbridge at Wrightsville Beach...of course behind a G550 which was behind a Model S. Only at Wrightsville Beach would you see that.

Well, I finally think I got it figured out, from reading way too much about the Five Hundred...evidently some of the first year FWD Five Hundreds came with a CVT, but most of the FWD versions had an Aisin 6 speed auto (that Toyota transmission is probably why most of them don’t break when properly maintained). The CVT…

Pretty sure all Freestyles had the Luk CVT, FWD or AWD, like you said. I’m pretty sure the FWD Five Hundred had an Aisin 6 speed auto, though.

And wth were they thinking only tinting the 3rd row windows?!? They corrected that in the Taurus X, but it was stupid to not tint the 2nd row on the Freestyle.

You’re welcome. My folks traded the Explorer for a C-Max over a year ago, so I’m going by memory. But I really think recirculating the front hvac basically makes having the rear hvac running a non issue (it’s always on recirculate). If you don’t have rear seat passengers, and it’s not like 98° or <40°, then you will…