Windshield Cleaning

The inside of my car windshield gets filthy (and I don't smoke!), so I tried making my own windshield cleaner from equal parts of rubbing alcohol, ammonia, and water. It worked, I suppose, although there were some streaks.

So I decided to work on the streaking angle. This time, I used an old sock with a hole and water. After I rubbed the windshield, I went over it with a squeegee to remove all traces of water. Guess what? That worked really well!

So pick the window cleaner recipe you like best or use water; my best advice is to use a squeegee immediately afterwards!

Key Battery

Last week, Daddy drove to a meeting on a carpool day. The parking permit was up when he left, but not when he got back. PANIC! Our joke was that parking is so bad around here, the worst thing a thief could do would be to leave your car in the lot after taking the most valuable item, the parking permit!

Today we switched off who was at work over lunch, and Daddy reminded me to move the parking permit from my car to his when I left. I slogged through the rain, got to his car, and then remembered that I don't have a key to it anymore. The key was at home waiting for us to repair it because it quit working.

In this case, if I had had the dead key anyway, I could have used the valet portion of the key to unlock it to hang up the permit. Oops. I decided that this was a gentle reminder to fix the key. Annoying but not urgent, so don't wait until it is urgent. I can take a hint from life.

Of course, other than replacing the battery (since I have the oldest key to that car), we didn't know where to start. Like how to access the battery. So I asked Google. And thankfully, the internet knows!

The answer is to remove the valet key, use it to depress the button just under the ledge of the valet key, and the battery portion slides out. I know that sounds vague, but that was enough for me once I had the key in my hands. But of course if that's not enough for you, there's even a YouTube video. Good old internet to the rescue!

Wagon Back Soon!

Lisa from Performance just called. She says she just got the pick-it-up call from Mercedes, that they checked out the steering (Performance was worried about getting it just right), checked fluids, checked alignment, and reset the airbag light. She is going to send a driver out to fetch it. She also needs to total up the final bill ($7865.79, less than we had expected), and then get confirmation that insurance is going to pay it. As soon as those steps are done, she'll call me to pick it up!!! Yay! Of course, we don't want to inspect a paint job on a rainy, overcast day like today, but tomorrow will be soon enough! ... As long as there's nothing screwy with insurance. Can't wait to get rid of the gangsta rental car!

UPDATE 2:52 PM: My wagon's ready to come home! I'll pick it up tomorrow. Happy, happy!

Wagon on the downhill

Lisa from Performance called me this morning about my wagon. The body shop is done, but they're waiting on a washer fluid cap and transmission fluid (it's not standard ATF but Dexron Mercron III). As soon as it's drive-able, they'll drive to the Mercedes dealership (hmm, I should have asked which one; Leith in Raleigh has never impressed me with service) to take care of the alignment and of turning off the airbag warning light (as a result of replacing the door). Lisa said Mercedes is pretty good about a one-day turn-around (for them!), so she'll probably call tomorrow ... either to give me an update, or to schedule a pick-up! Hurrah!!! So that was very nice to hear: my wagon is on the finishing up stage and I might see it soon. It has been over a month now, and that Dodge Magnum is not an impressive replacement (in comparison to my Mercedes, this Magnum has poor suspension, a loud engine, bald tires, and cigarette stink that's getting stronger and older with time; only those last two are cure-able relative to what I'm used to driving).

Progress!

Hurrah! When I got home, the answering machine told me that my wagon has gone to get painted. It's been in the body shop for almost a month, but this is the home stretch. The remaining steps are: paint, final body shop check, and then dealership for adjustments the body shop can't do. A Mercedes E320 station wagon really is a lot more comfortable (comfy seats, better suspension, quieter engine) than a Dodge Magnum. Not to complain, mind you; I'm glad the accident was minor. But it'll be nice to have the right wagon home again.

SUVs

I have this rant fairly often so I thought I'd post my reasons that I will never buy an SUV. (Note that this doesn't apply to mini-vans, but personally I'm quite happy with my station wagon ... at least once it comes back from the body shop.)

1. Safety: an SUV only has to pass truck safety standards. Those safety standards were designed for farm trucks that didn't drive on the interstate. IIRC, you don't have to survive a crash over 35 mph to pass SUV and farm truck safety standards. So those folks who think they are safer in an SUV, probably the ones who fly past me on the interstate, I bet they don't know that. A false sense of safety is very dangerous.
3. Comfort: most SUVs use leaf springs. That's 1970's technology! Suspension has improved a lot since then. (But hey, leaf springs are cheap, and farm trucks still use them.) I consider a comfortable ride to be very important. I bought my first Mercedes (old even then, a 1983 300D) when I was 25, and after one week, the back pain I had had since I was 17 went away. I used to wake up at 7 am every morning with excruciating back pain. One night before exams in college, we all had a lot to drink, and I think I crawled on the couch about 4 am. When I woke up at 7 am in pain, the room was still spinning and everyone else was still asleep. I walked around patting the cat until my back eased up and I could go back to sleep. And wake up at noon with everyone else. So when I say that I always woke up in pain at 7 am, I really mean it. It was rotten. But after one week in a comfortable car, I've rarely had that level of back pain again. I've never even had a long commute, maybe 20 minutes each way tops, but I never thought I did enough driving for my car to be related to my back pain. But the timing sure was suspicious ... and my back hurts again if I drive a rental for more than a week ... Perhaps comfort is more important to me than to most people.
5. Fuel Economy: there's just no technical reason that SUVs have to have such terrible fuel economy. Have you seen the bumper sticker, Osama loves your SUV? My 1987 diesel station wagon got 36 mpg on the interstate when I drove it home. My 2002 gas station wagon got 32 mpg on the interstate driving back from my grandmother's house while fully loaded (roof carrier even! worst case!). Both wagons are considered "full sized" and have a large amount of cargo capacity. I sure don't need an SUV for hauling stuff when I have all that open area in the back and a roof carrier. And I don't need an SUV to carry lots of people when my station wagon has seat belts for 7. So I can haul lots of stuff, seat many people, and have good fuel economy. Makes more sense than an SUV for me!
7. Cost: even though SUV prices have dropped, they still have a healthier profit margin for the auto manufacturers than I feel like paying for something that is less safe, less comfortable, and terribly inefficient. I sure wouldn't pay premium prices for an SUV with poor safety, cheap old leaf springs, and bad fuel economy. SUVs have a huge profit margin, and I just don't see what's in it for me.

When I was in graduate school, one of the foreign grad students told me that he wanted to buy an SUV so that he would be safer. I don't know what he bought, but I did set him straight on safety. My Mercedes station wagon is heavier than smaller SUVs, and more survivable too.

Old cars have personality, and one time my 1983 300D showed that by not starting at the gas station. (It had a bad alternator that hadn't been charging the battery. I learned that the hard way at this gas station!) So I went inside and asked someone to give me a jump start. A good old boy (those guys are great when you have car trouble!) said "I'll help you little lady," and walked out to his SUV. Well, diesels have a very high compression ratio by virtue of being diesels, and he couldn't jump start me without revving his engine to get his alternator to kick out a lot more current. So that big tough SUV ... was really pretty wimpy and just barely sufficient for what I needed. (A car would have been the same, but without the attitude that the big SUV can take care of this little old sedan.)

I'm just not tempted.

Embarrassing Jump Start

I got a phone call for a jump start, and said Argh, I can do that if you've got the cables. I used to carry jumper cables, but I haven't needed them in so long that I'd rather have the storage space! I try to avoid the macho behavior of thinking I can do everything myself, but I've had a lot of experience with jump starting: my husband had a 1983 Ferrari Mondial for several years.

Now we get to the first embarrassing part. I've only had this station wagon for a few months, and I didn't see the hood release inside the cab. I pulled out the owners manual to discover that the release handle was exactly where I thought it was (same place as the older wagon), but more recessed so the handle was hidden. What, hood release handles are unattractive? So I popped the hood.

Then I discovered the second, far more embarrassing fact. Where's the battery? (On the Ferrari, you had to remove the front right tire to replace the battery! Creative.) So I went back to the manual and discovered the section on jump starting. There's a positive post under a flap that I'm supposed to use! I still don't know where the battery is, but at least I now know how to jump start in this station wagon.

I'm just embarrassed that I had to read my car owners manual to learn how to jump start!

The most important jump start advice I can give is to remember that negative can never hurt you (sticks and stones ...). First of all, keep the four ends from touching because you don't want to see the sparks from that short circuit! For negative/ground, you can also use any clean metal connection to the engine because the metal parts of the engine should all be at the same potential. [BEFORE] When connecting two cars, hook up the boosting car first because it has power but without a complete circuit, it can't hurt you. Then hook up the other car, positive first, because negative can never hurt and when you make the fourth and final connection, you have a complete circuit that could hurt you. [DURING] If the jump start is just barely but not quite working, depress the accelerator pedal in the boosting car to rev up the alternator to supply more current. [AFTER] Disconnect the two cars in the reverse of the hook-up. Remove the negative connection on the car you just jumped first because negative can never hurt you. Then, keeping the ends separate, disconnect its positive terminal, and move on to the boosting car for the negative then positive disconnections.

Honestly, I thought I knew how to jump start without using the manual ...

Road Trip

Well, the new station wagon has been on its first road trip, got its first fill-up from me, and it was great! We piled in three adults and three kids yesterday (only one unused seatbelt), put our stuff in the Yakima roof carrier, and drove to the coast. We had a very smooth ride. Since it was fully loaded with a roof carrier, I didn't expect good fuel economy, but I was pleasantly surprised to get 26.8 mpg on the trip down. We only went 24 miles in the first hour of driving down because of traffic on the under-construction interstate! Then we took the scenic tour through several small towns to see an art gallery and an aquarium. The wagon only got 25.5 mpg on the drive back, but the weather was so windy that I was steering to correct for the wind pushing us around. It's rated for 20 mpg in town and 26 mpg highway, so I think it's doing really well. Once we get a trailer hitch installed, the old wagon can go!

Car Quest: Done!

Oh thank goodness! Car shopping is over, and we like the end result. The initial car shopping was painful: new cars just aren't worth that price tag.

Yesterday afternoon, we bought a 2002 Mercedes E320 station wagon from a private seller, and this morning we took care of the DMV side of the house. Patty and Selma Bouvier had nothing on the hour-long line or the inconsiderate service, but that DMV trip is done thankfully. The ride is exquisite. The driver's seat may be the most comfortable yet! The features are appreciated (like center console window controls, modern Mercedes computer dashboard, sunroof, and quiet engine). The extra leg room for the second row of seats was a great improvement. This wagon has the third row seat that looks so fun for kids! So we have seat belts for seven in this wagon. (The 20-year-old wagon being replaced only has seat belts for five since it doesn't have the third-row seat.) Karston likes playing in it, too. We'll need to get a trailer hitch for this wagon as well, but we know where to have that done now. We do have more than one choice of trailer hitch brand this time, but we plan to stick with Da'Lan for the quality. Same champagne color as the old wagon, but tan interior instead of burgundy (burgundy is pretty, but tan makes it look more spacious), gas instead of diesel (diesel wagon wasn't imported then). Basically the same wagon, 15 years newer.

I'm relieved that the wagon search is over. Whew.

Car Quest, Part 3

I think we've finished the test drive phase of this wagon car quest! The short list was Audi A6 or allroad from last time, Volkswagon Passat GLX, or Mercedes E-class. Today we drove the 2007 "Package 2" (no longer called GLX) Passat wagon, and a 1999 Mercedes E320 wagon. It's hard to fit in two test drives before Karston's naptime, but we did it in large part because we don't have as many questions about Mercedes since we've had so many over the years. I have two, my mother had one, Daddy has had two (one current), and his parents have had two (one current). We've seen a number of Mercedes, we know what to expect, so we had a short test drive just before Karston passed out for his nap.

What's funny about my short list (Audi, Passat, Mercedes) is that it's the same short list a friend of mine had shopping for a small sporty luxury car. (Well, and the list is all German.) The Mercedes won that toss, too. So we're leaning towards Mercedes for familiarity as well as its ability to be the finalist for everyone else too. I know Mercedes no longer has their legendary reliability going for them so those cars won't hold their value as well, but if I know that when I buy it, I won't be disappointed either.

The Passat had a harder ride than I expected; I wanted the air shocks right away. However, I didn't get car sick in the second row, so it's not that bad either. Reliability, safety, comfort, all check. Fuel economy 26/31 is quite nice on the 4-cylinder, although I would also want to try a 6-cylinder (without AWD). The price of a new Passat isn't bad when you remember it's on a list with Audi and Mercedes (that I would buy used).

The Mercedes was just what I expected. This particular car was missing the second-row head rests and appeared to have some electrical issues (I couldn't get the seat back to recline at first although I'm very familiar with the controls, and Daddy couldn't get the sunroof to open even though he's very familiar with that button as well). I was surprised that the ride on a 4Matic was so similar to a RWD Mercedes, but that was the only (pleasant!) surprise. The only detail that was not exactly as I expected is that the gear shifter felt flimsier than I expect, the shifting didn't feel solid. However, it was so familiar ... mmm ... and a nice upgrade from the same model but 20 years old that I already have! So any wagon on the short list will do, but I'm leaning towards replacing a Mercedes wagon with, no surprise, a Mercedes wagon.

Car Quest, Part 2

After a discouraging start, we found a car we liked! We took a 2001 Audi quattro allroad for a test drive. It has great handling! We were surprised that an all-wheel-drive car would be that smooth, but Audi did start that a long time ago (early 80s? late 70s?) and apparently they got it right. The power, while not necessary, was very smooth and impressive. Comfort, check. Safety, check. Reliability (my favorite mechanic recommended an Audi wagon to me, and he drives one himself), check. Very encouraging!

The down side is the fuel economy. Economy drops for AWD, but also for the ride height (I hope the EPA measured at the highest height so that I could get better mileage by dropping the car). But we found a newer wagon we like!

We also managed to knock some other contenders off the short list. Volvo is off the list based on reliability and service. My friend Heather bought a brand new Volvo, and she was driving down the highway on a pretty day with the sun roof open a short time (3 to 6 months?) later when the sun roof shattered. Luckily she had the sun roof open so she didn't get badly pelted, but that's not cool. She was right next to a Volvo dealership, so she pulled in for service. New car, it's under warranty, even if she bought it at a dealership 45 miles away (she was visiting, and about that far from home; I am assuming she bought it closer to home though). The Volvo dealership gave her so much trouble, assuming that she did something to break it ("It was open, and I was driving; how am I going to break the sun roof when I'm nowhere near it?) that she traded it in for a Mercedes as soon as she got it back from that repair. And she's been happy with the Benz ever since. We had thought a Saturn wagon might be a contender, but they don't make wagons right now, and the older ones have an appalling safety rating, so Saturn is off the list based on safety. The list shrinks! But has one serious contender!

Car Quest, Part 1

As noted before, our current station wagon needs rear shock absorbers. The shocks are $1000 in parts, and aren't the only repair needed. And it will still be a 20-year-old wagon when we're done. That means it's probably time to upgrade. So last weekend, we did online research about wagons. What we want is comfortable, safe, and reliable, with reasonable fuel economy. We want to be able to put the kayak on top, the dog in the back, and of course the kid in the car seat in the second row. Once I pointed out that we could put the kayak on top of a mini-van if we had step stools, that unfortunately opened up the field even more. Ugh! So many choices!

It took all day Saturday, but we were able to narrow the field. We took a Toyota Sienna XLE for a test drive, and it was awful! It had the poor handling and serious lack of comfort of an old pickup truck! (Zero for comfort.) This was a high-end model just shipped the dealership, and it had exposed flashing (sharp! dangerous for pipsqueaks!) and one of the second-row seats wasn't even latched to the floor. (Zero for safety.) All of the nicer accents stopped behind the driver, and everything else was cheap-looking plastic. We were very comfortable saying that we would never buy it. Ever. Even for free. My old wagon's much better than that!

We talked to several people, and it sounds like Toyota quality took a nose dive some time in the last four years. Toyotas at least four years old are pretty good cars! Newer ... not so much. In fact, Toyota has more outstanding recalls right now than any other car manufacturer. I think in their rush to be the #1 car manufacturer, they forgot the good features that made them such a good #2.

Since the Suzuki dealership was next door, we also took a Suzuki XL7 for a test drive. The seats were very comfortable, the ride was decent (still a little truck-like), and the fit-and-finish were acceptable. Much better than the Toyota, but not what we're looking for.

Discouraging start to car replacement. But hey, I can always get this old wagon back in good shape!