So Fresh & So Clean

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Old 08-13-2015, 02:51 PM
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I found some evidence of oil consumption today. First oil change to second was perfect, now I'm 3,500 miles towards the third and the dipstick level is a bit down 1/8-1/4 quart, not sure exactly. 27,000 miles on the car, using Honda 0w20 synthetic, the problem showed up after switching to synthetic, not sure if it's related. I drive my car nicely, but yesterday I found myself solo on a long on ramp and gave it a little and could slightly smell oil for a second or two.
Old 08-13-2015, 09:01 PM
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Pull the drl fuse and keep high beam functionality. I retrofitted led cluster housings in place of my fogs on my tl and they function as the drl. I still need to wire them to be on only with ignition vs always on of switch is on.
Old 08-17-2015, 07:24 AM
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Autocross Day at Road America

Took my land boat to auto-x yesterday at Road America in Elkhart Lake WI. Weather was sizzling at 90F+

I really had no idea how the TL would perform or myself rather, but my times were OK for a novice and I felt improvement and a new level of comfort with each run.





18HP coming through





LOTS of cars at the event










Here I am making sure there's no bugs stuck to the grill





As I was pulling out from the grass parking spot and turning right I didn't see the metal charcoal bin laying on its side and this happened. Fortunately the door and rim are fine...I was pretty bummed, but it can be fixed (girl who won't park the car under a pine tree)





Beginning of course<br/>





Friend's 3 series

The TL got a lot more attention than I thought, many were surprised to find a manual transmission and I saw lots of people checking it out.

I plan to continue with auto-x, but not until I have a S2K
Old 08-17-2015, 07:49 AM
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Hey PICA thanks for sharing, I love seeing people track the TL!
Old 08-17-2015, 01:24 PM
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Originally Posted by PICA



As I was pulling out from the grass parking spot and turning right I didn't see the metal charcoal bin laying on its side and this happened. Fortunately the door and rim are fine...I was pretty bummed, but it can be fixed (girl who won't park the car under a pine tree)
I think it's time for a factory body kit!
Old 08-18-2015, 06:48 AM
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This is the OEM kit?
Old 08-18-2015, 06:56 AM
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Last night I drove over this elongated bump in the road near a pedestrian crossing at a low speed and rubbed my front fenders. Seems for the past few days I've done something negative to the car. It's been living outside due to house siding construction, been sprayed with a clear oily substance by oncoming dump trucks (nearby quarry), began consuming a bit of oil (talking 1/8qt after 3500 mi), had the rocker mldg autocross incident and tire rubbing.

Can't wait til the giant dumpster is out of the driveway, can pick up all the construction nails, give Pica a good wash, polish & wax and garage parking!
Old 08-18-2015, 09:09 AM
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Originally Posted by PICA



This is the OEM kit?

Ya that TL has the OEM (A-spec?) front lip and skirts. You might as well replace your factory sideskirts with the A-Spec ones
Old 08-18-2015, 12:47 PM
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Originally Posted by PICA



This is the OEM kit?
Yup, that's the OEM kit.
Old 08-18-2015, 01:08 PM
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They look taller than my rocker moldings? Anyone know? I'm leaning towards sticking with the style I have, otherwise it leads to 5 more mods and I still need to pay for a set of winter wheels, floor mats etc
Old 08-18-2015, 02:51 PM
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Originally Posted by PICA
They look taller than my rocker moldings? Anyone know? I'm leaning towards sticking with the style I have, otherwise it leads to 5 more mods and I still need to pay for a set of winter wheels, floor mats etc
They aren't taller, but they do stick out a bit more.
Old 08-18-2015, 07:14 PM
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Found this online
Old 08-18-2015, 08:24 PM
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How did the brakes hold up at the Auto-X?
Old 08-19-2015, 11:24 AM
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Brakes were fine, but I have to say I didn't overdo it and because of the large number of cars at the event + some disorganization people got 5 runs max.
Old 08-21-2015, 12:43 AM
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Beautiful...
Old 08-21-2015, 03:59 PM
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Thanks. Felt like I bonded with the car at autox, it's nice to be able to drive it to its limits or near from time to time.
Old 09-03-2015, 02:02 PM
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Flashy cars in cities

I've been a volunteer at the Milwaukee Humane Society for 2 years now which is located downtown. I used to live in the city and drive a 02' RSX-S, since then I've moved to the 'burbs and have the TL.

TL is kinda flashy. It turns more heads than I'm used to and there's unwanted attention from ghetto-esque characters in the city. There's been a streak of bump n run carjackings lately and as an unarmed petite female usually driving solo, if something were to happen the outcome wouldn't be good for me or the car.

Today I resigned from my position at the humane society, I can volunteer somewhere else. I would hate to say to myself that I knew better. Most crimes are opportunistic.

Wanted to share. Anyone else decide to reroute life because of your bling thing?
Old 09-03-2015, 02:26 PM
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Title

In other car news the dealership 1400 miles away that I purchased the car from has requested that I mail the title back because they meant to send it to the lien holder (title says NO LIEN). I'm not real comfortable with this, what if someone steals my mail and registers my car, what a mess that would be. I'm sounding paranoid here lately, but recently my outgoing mail was stolen, then there were fraudulent checks made for purchasing out of state vehicles. I don't want to mail anything without some form of proof of ownership, what would be a good route to take here?
Old 09-03-2015, 03:52 PM
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Haven't re-routed my life due to my car, but I make decisions based on it on a daily basis. Where I go for lunch for example isn't solely decided by what I want to eat but also what the parking is like. My route home each day is almost exactly the same (regarding the lane I travel in) because I know there's minimal bumps/dips. I go out of my way if I have to in order to get gas at tier 1 stations. The list goes on and on...

I get uneasy traveling to places I've never been because of all the variables that could affect my car. Hell, I'm slightly nervous about traveling to St Pete this weekend for my fantasy football draft. What will the roads be like? Where am I going to park? Since I'm leaving my car outside all night (rare occurrence), what's the neighborhood like? Being so into my car is a gift and a curse! I get a ton of joy from it but it comes with a lot of stress at times too.

Regarding sending your title back to the dealership, send it certified mail and you should be good.
Old 09-04-2015, 12:59 PM
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Why send it all? What can they do if you don't? I wouldn't bother.

Like UCF, I also avoid places with crappy parking or bad roads and try to reroute my trips. I rarely go deep into NYC because of it and instead prefer to drive to Westchester or further upstate if possible.

Last edited by HeartTLs; 09-04-2015 at 01:03 PM.
Old 09-04-2015, 04:39 PM
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Idk...fraudulent conveyance, repossess the vehicle? I don't really gain anything by having it, still owe the bank $22k. It is kind of a neat feeling to have a NO LIEN title, but I'm not out to cause headaches. The only person I wouldn't mind having a headache is the sales manager who didn't budge $500 on the listing price after 2 days of negotiation.

I thought about sending the title to the lien holder. Or refinancing, but that's more of my time. Certified mail is what I'm going to do.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who avoids ugly parking lots and bumpy roads. There's a raised PED XING bump around here that causes the car to go into up and down fender rubbing convulsions at speeds greater than 10mph and as far as parking lots go there's none worse than the hair salon. I park across the street in a rarely used park n ride lot.

Took advantage of AutoGeek Labor Day sales and picked up some more detailing stuff:



I plan to use a polishing pad on the DA polisher with the swirl remover, then polish & wax. Goal is paint that looks like I can dive into it. Foam gun is a good presoak, mostly for fun. The items on the right were free with the purchase.
Old 09-07-2015, 12:22 PM
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Happy Labor Day!

Happy with the new DA polisher, used the blue pad followed by hand polish & wax.

A So Fresh & So Clean moment...










Sarah
Old 09-08-2015, 02:44 PM
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Very nice, which DA do you have and what compound/polish did you use with the blue pad?
Old 09-08-2015, 02:58 PM
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Porter Cable 7424XP and I used Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover on the pad...link to product: Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover 3.0, Wolfgang Auto Polish, Car polish, Wolfgang swirl remover polish, Wolfgang Menzerna

Then Klasse AIO polish (amazing stuff) and the next day finished with a carnuaba wax. I was told by a pro to wait at least 8 hrs between polish/wax, so I polished at night and waxed first thing in the AM.

It exceeded my expectations and all I could say was DAMN. Wish I was better with photography and could truly capture the effect.


And the foam gun was a really good time
Old 09-08-2015, 07:23 PM
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Whoops, feel like a noob, skipped post 101~
Old 09-08-2015, 08:06 PM
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It's cool, I like when people post in my thread
Old 09-11-2015, 02:41 PM
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Winter Wisconsin

Well with a little temp dip, winter dread has begun, I was chatting with a local Honda/Acura motorsport business owner yesterday and he was giving me some grief about planning to drive the TL in winter. I have the stock wheels and will order weathertech mats, but he's right, I'd rather keep it in the garage.

For those of you with aftermarket suspension/bling things in cold climates, what do you do? Anything I can do to keep the Tein SA coilovers from rusting, aside from not driving the car?
Old 09-11-2015, 03:05 PM
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put a good coat of anti-seeze on all the threads and all under the adjustment rings. Any time you squirt the salt off at the car wash make sure you spend exta time in the wheel wells. my tein's were rusted together in one winter, never was able to adjust them again. anti-seeze will save your coils. you have an AWD you should continue to drive it in the winter.
Old 09-11-2015, 08:05 PM
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Neat, thanks. After some googling, I see there's other options like silicone spray and plasti dip spray. I suppose I can forget about that orange 95' Bronco craigslist listing ...there was just something about that orange
Old 09-12-2015, 02:56 PM
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Not Fresh & Not Clean

About a hour ago I was checking the POB in a small town post office, meanwhile a man drove up to check out a boat for sale. As he was backing up a bicyclist rode by and while he was looking at them he hit my car...










Guy smoked nearly 20 cigarettes while we waited for the sheriff and I stood by with this weird arm tremble. I wasn't angry like I thought I'd be in that situation, just bummed with a new arm twitch. Turns out he doesn't have insurance, but the owner of the vehicle he was driving does, so it SHOULD be a non-issue.

In addition to the headlight and bumper and piece above headlight, the headlight impact buckled the fender and the piece of metal just below the hood. I'm thankful I wasn't in the car and that it wasn't worse. I'm upset that there will be a blemish on the carfax and I have to deal with insurance companies. The upside is I'll have a bumper without license plate holes (I had to find some kind of silver lining). I also want to make sure they don't use aftermarket parts and they fix the buckled metal areas and don't just say ahh it's not bad.

Let's play a game...how much do you think repairs will be?

Last edited by PICA; 09-12-2015 at 02:58 PM.
Old 09-12-2015, 03:19 PM
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Sorry that happened, maybe it's time to get new front and side OEM spoiler.
Old 09-12-2015, 04:26 PM
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2K is my guess
Old 09-12-2015, 04:27 PM
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And that really sucks....When I was hit, it was in the 2010 TL Auto, which is why I searched for and traded for the 6MT...
Old 09-12-2015, 06:15 PM
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That's more than 2K. I'd say 3-3500. Car repairs are crazy expensive today. Sorry to hear about this. People who don't pay attention are really irritating. And they seem to home in on the cars of people like us who actually care about our cars. Arggh.


By the way, on your title issue, you should check your state's law and the law of the state where you bought the car. Many states require the dealer to deliver the title to the purchaser, regardless of whether there is a lien on the car.
Old 09-12-2015, 08:11 PM
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Looking back I'm fortunate I came out of the post office when I did, he could have drove off. there were spectators at the bar across the street, but not close enough to see the license plate.

As the man backed up and turned he smacked into it. He was driving his fiance's mercury mountaineer, she didn't even get out to see the damage. The man said he didn't know how he hit it and I replied that he had goo goo gaa gaa boat brain (he was looking at a boat for sale). It does seem like the more I wax and care for this car the more damaged it gets.

Found a great repair shop and this is how they deal with insurance and aftermarket parts:

7. Many insurance companies only pay for aftermarket or used parts on their initial estimate. Barely any of them will refuse to pay to replace a part that is substandard. A professional repair facility will evaluate the quality of non-OEM parts early in the repair process and reject them if they are substandard. Provided with proper documentation, almost all insurance companies will then pay for the use of OEM parts. Choosing the wrong shop can result in a failure to go through these efforts or excuses that you would not realize as invalid.
Old 09-17-2015, 01:53 PM
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TL is in the repair shop as of this AM, brought them a kringle for good measure. I'm paying $40 out of pocket to keep parts OEM, worth it. Man I hope the repairs look good, I like to keep my cars for a decade.

I ran into the cop who was at the accident scene. He told me that he was surprised the driver had a license and more surprised the owner of the vehicle didn't have a warrant. Literally, you never know who you're going to bump into.
Old 09-17-2015, 02:05 PM
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Oh and the 2015 Camry loaner just doesn't cut it!
Old 09-17-2015, 05:21 PM
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So fresh and so...damn. Sorry to hear about this. Had a similar incident here at work where a woman decided to back her Odyssey the wrong way through our service drive and into my drivers side rear door/rocker molding/quarter panel. It's a pain having to deal with idiot drivers...

-greg
Old 09-22-2015, 09:07 PM
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Repairs Done....paint spectacular bumper not




Repaired bumper





Other side for comparison
Old 09-23-2015, 06:04 AM
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I feel like once the bumpers come off of these cars, the fit back is never perfect... Not as bad as the 3G TLs, but still bad. Its because its held on mostly by clips. I had to get my rear bumper repainted and there it pops out a little near the rear tails.


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