So it's known here that we are currently on the hunt with our wholesaler for a new to us, 2010 4cyl 5AT.
It's my belief that the wife's current ride knows this too.
Last Saturday I had to pull a self tapping machine screw from the right rear tread block. About 1.5" long, maybe 3/8" thick. $14 for the plug, no problems since.
Last night I get a call from her around 6pm. About half way home (22 mile commute) she destroyed the left front around 65mph. I still have no idea what caused the complete and total destruction of the outer sidewall, but the entire circumference was seperated from the bead. She claims that she heard nothing, so no blow out, but her radio was up a ways. She "felt" a vibration for maybe 1/2mile at the most, and then a sudden jerk and thumping as the tire split, I assume. So it'll remain a mystery to me.
Luckily the wife kept the car under control, pulled over safely, and waited for me (~20 minutes) and AAA (~90 minutes) because like a dummy I didn't check the spare last weekend...which is FLAT. By the way, it hit 98 degrees here yesterday, probably 115 on the pavement.

While waiting I get a call from our wholesaler who says that he has some potential cars for us coming up on the blocks this weekend. NICE right? Except for that blown out left front. $80 for the cheapest 185/65/14 I could find in town...no one had one "used", so new it is.

Glad the wife is safe, not too happy about sinking $80 into a car we'll have another week, but excited that we may be in a '10 by next weekend if all goes well.

Just thought I'd share.
Happy Thursday morning.

~Chandler

 

Glad she's ok and didn't freak out when encountering the issues with the car. It could've been an entirely different story otherwise.

Best of luck on your continued search. There are still plenty of TSX's out there, new and used.

 

dagger! Glad she's ok though. Did you check craigslist, there are always poor people selling tires on craigslist .

I hope you can get her in something safer by the weekend. Post some pics when you get the car!

VA HEAT FTW!

 

Whilst not exactly the same situation, i experienced a fit of "rebellion" from my old car right before i bought my TSX

Just a month before, i was driving around town when the red battery indicator light suddenly turned on the dash. i ignored it completely until i noticed that the car's acceleration became sluggish and the interior lighting became perilously dimmer. i drove the old battle ax until it just gave in. i luckily was on the right side of the road, so i coaxed it to a full stop before a busy intersection in LA

Car wouldn't start and even futile attempts with an automatic battery jump starter failed. Called insurance for a tow truck and an hour later, someone came and brought out the same jump starter that i had. The idiot told me to keep the car revving or drive around to get the battery running again. Nevertheless, the batt just died completely as he drove offf, thinking "job well done". Called insurance again and asked them to tow the car to my friend's shop in a more seedy part of town. Nearly three hours later, the car got towed to the shop but i had to park next door to a motel. Since it was already late, i decided to check in for the night. The next morning, my friend saw: installed battery was smaller than original, it had no juice left and the terminals were corroded and not making contact with the batt. Replaced those two things and went off

Three days later, battery indicator came on again and car died once more. Towed it again to friend's shop and he determined that the alternator died. Replaced that the next day (didn't have one in stock)

As soon as i firmly decided on buying a new car, methinks the old ride knew it was on its last hours. It decided to send me off in its special way lol

Hope you find your TSX soon! It will be worth it; i'm happy

 

Thanks fellas. It could have been much worse, and she was in a shockingly good mood when I arrived on scene.
I only called a few places looking for a used tire. It's that whole time value of money arguement. Most places were closed by 7pm last night anyway. An hour or more on the phone isn't worth $30 to me in the end. Plus, the car is now just a mile or so down from my office, so I don't have to be too far outta my way to get it.

What scares me more is that she's driving my F150 SuperCrew today...for just the 2nd time. Not sure if I'm more worried for her, or my truck.

 

I feel your pain... I'm working on my old car to get it ready to sell, and keep running into all sorts of annoying little issues - cross threaded bolts, broken rusty heat shield bolts, squeaky belts, etc.

As already posted, at least she was okay. All the best with everything.

PS - nice to see the VA folks in one place, lol.

 

man, good to hear she was calm and kept everything under control.

good luck on the new ride

 

LOL that's why you have to surprise your old car... We just decided to test drive some cars on a Friday... My truck was sold on Monday, and I think I drove home in my TSX Wagon on Tuesday...

 

So another day, and another day truckless as I made the wife take it to work. I cannot wait for the phone call from our guy saying he found a new TSX for us.
When I got home in her Civic last night I could smell something burning off. Not burning, but just the faint smell of residue burning off. I opened the hood and the back side of the block was slightly smoking...less smoke than a cigarette would put off just burning on its own. My first thought was that the steering rack was giving me fits (it "groans/moans" slightly turning left, almost inaudible). The PSF level is where it should be, and the color is still normal. No visible leaks on the rack.
After further inspection I believe that what I was seeing was oil burn off from around the oil filter. Filter is difficult to see from the topside, and they did an oil change yesterday (car was overdue, but was trying to stretch it out til the new car arrived. Since it was in, we had them do it, $9.99 special). My conclusion is that there was some oil spilage left over that the tech did not wipe away, thus the initial burn off.
Regardless, since the wife has a 22 mile all hwy commute, and my commute is 3.2 miles in town, I'm now driving her Civic to work. I didn't have a good feeling sending her off in the Civic not knowing exactly what was going on. I'd much rather break down a couple miles from my house, work or my folk's place, than have her 15 miles from home or work in BFE in West Richmond.
I thought that would get me some "good husband points" but instead she responds with "I hate parking that truck". Awesome.
That phone call cannot come quick enough! I miss my gas guzzler.

Happy Friday!

 

Keep pressing your salesman. Don't count on the fact that he/she will find you one. Make sure you do your due diligence!

BTW, I just did an autotrader search on 2009-2011 TSXs for Richmond, and 15 listings came up within 50 miles of a Richmond, VA zip....

 

Yeah there are some available in Richmond. Problem there is that we're using the wife's family friend who is a wholesaler in NW New Jersey. He tacks on a small fee over his actual auction price paid. It'll save us about $5k in the end.
Her family has bought 7 or 8 vehicles through this guy in the past 10 years. He's got a good rep, it's just that he's not overly responsive, and I don't normally work that way. I like to be in the know.
He's buying @ Manheim today in PA, as well as the Fredericksburg VA auction and has guys in Ohio as well. I'm praying that I get a call this afternoon.

 

Manheim is a great company. I used to place several IT consultants there. If you need any additional contacts, let me know. I still know some of the corporate guys over there. They are about 5 miles away from where I work.

 

Yeah Manheim is great. I have a good friend who is a lead purchaser for CarMax and they buy the majority of their vehicles through Manheim.
I'm trying to tell myself that I need to be patient, but it's just not working.