12 years, 153k miles, 3 kids, lots of fun, and a 5 sets of tires
My p5 is now off to the scrap yard. I started it up today to limp it to the local u-pull place and on it's way the serpentine belt broke, she started to over heat so I pulled her into a gas station and had it towed the rest of the way. Thank goodness for AAA. Didn't get much for it, as I already had a bad valve, needed new shocks and something really goofy was going on with the gas tank. I'd already replaced it in January when one of the valves started to go, so she was driven very minimally since then, which I'm guessing is the reason one of the pulleys probably failed and caused the belt to break.
Fairly sad day, I'll actually miss that car, even though it was a bit cantankerous to me, I will admit I drove it quite hard and my job didn't help a lot making lots of short trips generally in quick time in an urban environment. Heck I went through oodles of tires and had to replace my clutch at 90k.
Things I loved:
the handling, the handling the handling!! nothing beat bombing down an on ramp and getting into traffic at or well above the speed limit.
Easy maintenance: even though I had to fix a number of things on it, EGR valve, a number of seals, plugs etc. This was above and beyond one of the easiest cars I've had to repair. The motor was amazingly simple to tear apart and get into.
Parking being a hatchback, it was very easy to park in the city, especially compared to the Cx9 now.
Things I struggled with:
Lights, I had to replace the head lights about every 6 months or so. pain in the neck.
Tires, I went through a lot of tires, most likely due to my at limits driving, but still I went through a set roughly every 30k.
Rust, my car was rusty, especially the back wheel wells. The last windshield I got was almost a major body repair job as they couldn't get it to seal right because of all the rust around the windshield frame and roof.
loudness, the thing was loud, one could hardly hold a conversation at freeway speeds. Never mind that road noise, the engine had to be around 3500 rpm at 80mph.
Mileage, again most likely due to my driving style, I very seldom got above 30mpg, If I did it was a long freeway trip. My wife's protege on the other hand is pretty consistent at 33mpg.
Oil usage, This was a regular thing since I got it new. It pretty regularly went through a quart every 3-5k. for the first 100k I used synthetic and went about 8k between changes, usually having to replace a quart or two in the process.
Despite all my complaints, I still did really like the car. It was fun, very practical, and one of the last lower tech cars out there. (non abs, non traction control, etc.) I've now given it up for the other side of the spectrum, a family truckster (Cx9 AWD)
My p5 is now off to the scrap yard. I started it up today to limp it to the local u-pull place and on it's way the serpentine belt broke, she started to over heat so I pulled her into a gas station and had it towed the rest of the way. Thank goodness for AAA. Didn't get much for it, as I already had a bad valve, needed new shocks and something really goofy was going on with the gas tank. I'd already replaced it in January when one of the valves started to go, so she was driven very minimally since then, which I'm guessing is the reason one of the pulleys probably failed and caused the belt to break. Fairly sad day, I'll actually miss that car, even though it was a bit cantankerous to me, I will admit I drove it quite hard and my job didn't help a lot making lots of short trips generally in quick time in an urban environment. Heck I went through oodles of tires and had to replace my clutch at 90k.
Things I loved:
the handling, the handling the handling!! nothing beat bombing down an on ramp and getting into traffic at or well above the speed limit.
Easy maintenance: even though I had to fix a number of things on it, EGR valve, a number of seals, plugs etc. This was above and beyond one of the easiest cars I've had to repair. The motor was amazingly simple to tear apart and get into.
Parking being a hatchback, it was very easy to park in the city, especially compared to the Cx9 now.
Things I struggled with:
Lights, I had to replace the head lights about every 6 months or so. pain in the neck.
Tires, I went through a lot of tires, most likely due to my at limits driving, but still I went through a set roughly every 30k.
Rust, my car was rusty, especially the back wheel wells. The last windshield I got was almost a major body repair job as they couldn't get it to seal right because of all the rust around the windshield frame and roof.
loudness, the thing was loud, one could hardly hold a conversation at freeway speeds. Never mind that road noise, the engine had to be around 3500 rpm at 80mph.
Mileage, again most likely due to my driving style, I very seldom got above 30mpg, If I did it was a long freeway trip. My wife's protege on the other hand is pretty consistent at 33mpg.
Oil usage, This was a regular thing since I got it new. It pretty regularly went through a quart every 3-5k. for the first 100k I used synthetic and went about 8k between changes, usually having to replace a quart or two in the process.
Despite all my complaints, I still did really like the car. It was fun, very practical, and one of the last lower tech cars out there. (non abs, non traction control, etc.) I've now given it up for the other side of the spectrum, a family truckster (Cx9 AWD)
