Today I had to do the almost unthinkable. I traded Gloria, my 1999 Acura TL 3.2 towards a 2002 Toyota Highlander :'-(
I loved that Acura for all of the 70k miles that I put on it. over the last five years. However, the gremlins of automatic transmissions particularly like to show themselves in those cars and it had been shifting harder and harder of late with the occasional gear slippage. Plus, I caught the Traction Control Light pop up on the dash a couple of times although I did not activate the feature, which is indicative of a severe tranny problem. The diagnosis for repair was a transmission rebuild for $2700. But that's not all! The check engine light was lit permanently due to the damn catalytic converter, which was another $1100 repair for OEM Acura parts.... which I was told by several people was the only one Cat that would really make the check engine light stay off permanently... So, basically I was looking at $3800 in repairs for a car with 171k miles on it, just so that it could end up worth $6500 or so on a good day... I don't think so...! Plus, it had a couple of spots where the clearcoat on the paint was showing that white crusty look that happens when a dark car has been in the sun too much and I had a lot of love-bug pock marks on the front end. Sad as I was to do it, I totally realize that the smart move was to let Gloria go.
So, with the birth of our son several months ago and having dealt with the PITA of getting the car seat in and out of the back seat, and even more of a PITA dealing with loading the folded up stroller in and out of the trunk... My wife and I both thought it was time to bite the bullet and get an SUV.
I gotta say, the new Toyota is downright awesome. It is a fully loaded "Limited" model with gold trim, V-6, full-time four wheel drive, power leather seats, moonroof, 6-disc changer with tape and upgraded JBL speaker system. It's in fantastic condition and we also added a 3yr/36,000 mile extended bumper to bumper warranty into the deal. It has 80k miles, which is really not much for a Toyota V-6. We also have a 97 Avalon with the same 3.0 V-6 in it and it has 217k miles on it and have only ever required standard preventative maintenance. Toyota cars are ultra reliable.
Eventually, we will sell the Avalon and I'm getting a free '85 Mercedes 190E 2.3 given to me by my cousin as a project car (with only 89k miles) it needs a tune up and a paint job.
I loved that Acura for all of the 70k miles that I put on it. over the last five years. However, the gremlins of automatic transmissions particularly like to show themselves in those cars and it had been shifting harder and harder of late with the occasional gear slippage. Plus, I caught the Traction Control Light pop up on the dash a couple of times although I did not activate the feature, which is indicative of a severe tranny problem. The diagnosis for repair was a transmission rebuild for $2700. But that's not all! The check engine light was lit permanently due to the damn catalytic converter, which was another $1100 repair for OEM Acura parts.... which I was told by several people was the only one Cat that would really make the check engine light stay off permanently... So, basically I was looking at $3800 in repairs for a car with 171k miles on it, just so that it could end up worth $6500 or so on a good day... I don't think so...! Plus, it had a couple of spots where the clearcoat on the paint was showing that white crusty look that happens when a dark car has been in the sun too much and I had a lot of love-bug pock marks on the front end. Sad as I was to do it, I totally realize that the smart move was to let Gloria go.
So, with the birth of our son several months ago and having dealt with the PITA of getting the car seat in and out of the back seat, and even more of a PITA dealing with loading the folded up stroller in and out of the trunk... My wife and I both thought it was time to bite the bullet and get an SUV.
I gotta say, the new Toyota is downright awesome. It is a fully loaded "Limited" model with gold trim, V-6, full-time four wheel drive, power leather seats, moonroof, 6-disc changer with tape and upgraded JBL speaker system. It's in fantastic condition and we also added a 3yr/36,000 mile extended bumper to bumper warranty into the deal. It has 80k miles, which is really not much for a Toyota V-6. We also have a 97 Avalon with the same 3.0 V-6 in it and it has 217k miles on it and have only ever required standard preventative maintenance. Toyota cars are ultra reliable.
Eventually, we will sell the Avalon and I'm getting a free '85 Mercedes 190E 2.3 given to me by my cousin as a project car (with only 89k miles) it needs a tune up and a paint job.
But Heidi is SMOKING....Nice ride!!!! :sin:
I have 210,000 on my 97 V6 Camry and the only thing beyond fluids, tires, battery and brakes that I've done is replace the radiator around 150,000. I would like to get a newer car but it's hard to justify taking on a car payment when the Camry just keeps on going. I average 24 to 25 MPG's with it to boot which is pretty good for a car like this.
