MikeMa

So, I've seen the most TSXs in the last few days than I've ever since the car came out!

Wednesday (Aug 27), I saw a Satin Silver Metallic right in St. Albert turning towards the IGA on the 'Trail (those mirror turn signals looked wicked!)

I saw one, an Indigo Blue Pearl, travelling towards Edmonton on 127th on Thursday (Aug 28) around 6:00pm or so.

Friday (Aug 29), I saw another SSM (possibly the same one) parked in the Canadian Tire around 4:00 or 5:00. There was a girl sitting in the passenger seat, so I didn't oggle to closely.

Anybody here the proud owner of these cars?

Oh, not to be negative, but if you're the owner of the last one, you really gotta polish those exhaust tips!

majormojo

MikeMa, I have an IBP, but that wasn't me on 127th. I live in west Edmonton and I get out to St. Albert every now and then. I see another IBP one almost every day parked in a driveway on 142 St just south of the McKenzie bridge.

Just in case you see mine some day, I've made an extra effort to clean the exhaust tips really well. Even used some chrome polish on them, just for you.

However, the kids fingerprints on the doorhandles continue to be a problem. Please don't dis the car if you happen to notice them. I've instructed the children to only touch the vehicle while wearing soft cotton gloves, but I don't think it sunk in...

What colour is your TSX?

MikeMa

Well, majormojo, I'm very sad to say, that at this time, I'm really just a poseur....I don't have a TSX yet!

Yeah, it's sad, but true. Right now, I'm driving a 2001 SSM 1.7EL Touring. I just can't afford to get the TSX right now, as I have to buy a new laptop first (since my old one is really impeding my web design skills, being so slow!)...and, on a school computer tech's salary, it's either one or the other.

I figure by the time the 2005 TSX rolls out (I've learned my lesson about being an early adopter in the car world...the 2002 EL had a bunch of features that are missing in my car!), I'll have saved enough money to put 9-10K down on the car. And, being conservative, maybe get 18-19K on my EL on a trade (It's only got, like 12,000Kms since I only drive it inside St. Albert...and it's been to Calgary three times). After all that, I'd be looking at financing the rest. I did some rough calculations when the TSX came out in Canada, and it looks like I'd be around the same amount I borrowed to pay for the EL--about $8000. I put down, with my parent's help, about $16,000. (But, that was because it was my first car--they have to help out my brother and sister with their first cars eventually too!)

So yeah, I'm just sitting around, twiddling my thumbs, trying to save up as much as I can. I'd probably get there faster, but I'm putting away quite a bit of money towards my RRSP (quite a bit, from the perspective of my paycheque).

Oh, and for the record, I do have a chrome exhaust tip on the EL....and it's polished.....mostly . It's one of those $12 dealies from Parts Source, though, so after the winter, it had muchos rust on it. But, from far away, it looks pretty good. I was going to look for a polished stainless steel tip, but was told I'd have to probably get one custom made, since most of the stainless tips either need to be welded on or, are way too big for my tastes. I decided, I'll just stick with this one for now, and save my money!

majormojo

Poseur, eh? tsk, tsk. Hey, the EL is a nice car, worth the premium over the Civic for the engine and upgraded interior and especially for the additional sound insulation. If we didn't have a need to do so much highway driving, and mostly needed a 'zip-around' car for the city, we probably would have saved the pennies and picked up an EL.

Re: Part Source, I got some real 'tude from a guy there when I went looking for a fold-up sunshade to put in the front window. He gave me a look like I'd just asked for fuzzy dice or a lavender bouquet air freshener or something and with a snobby tone, told me I'd have to go to CanTire or Wal-Mart for something like that. So I showed him, I went Wal-Mart and found what I wanted for only $8.



Are window shades totally uncool now and I'm just too old to notice?

MikeMa

They definitely don't seem to be very popular these days. I don't personally like them, but can definitely see the advantages of using them. I think those round-ish ones with the foil surface are kinda neat....they collapse down into a little 1-foot circle.

As for Parts Source, now that you mention it, I think I didn't get the thing from there--I got it from Cdn tire. I've seen the line that makes the tip around some other places too. We had one on the family's MPV, but it rusted so bad I just had to take it off.