The FIT needs its electronics

So this morning the ladywife took our less than a week old Honda FIT to get the keyless entry and security system installed. At the same time the front bumper needs attention, seems it has two or three black spots on it and I don't know if they're just color issues or molding defects. Seems the service department doesn't either. They want the car for a few days. "The paint will need to dry," they told the lady. I also hear that they weren't sure if they needed to work on the bumper or replace it. I guess when I call tomorrow I'll find out if they've decided. They set us up with a loaner. I guess that's a good thing. Time will tell.
-Rob "let's be optimistic" D.

The FIT fits

First, I want to say I like this Honda FIT very much. Second, I'd like to add that Southern Motors Honda of Savannah was a decent dealership to deal with. They weren't pushy or hard sell on us or anyone else I know that's gone through them buying a car (a friend for example just got a used VW Jetta from them). But one thing they also aren't is real good at doing what they say they'll do. There's a pretty good shot of the engine tucked under the FIT's hood. One thing you won't find right now is the key less entry or the security system that I was promised would be installed. On sale day, we went thru the process of paperwork and the car had to be 'dealer prepped' the next. It would be ready by one and everyone would be able to do the happy dance. At 4:30 when we got there this wasn't the case. Seems like someone dropped the ball, a few times. Our Saleslady was off, when they got our name, five minutes later they were back to ask what car we were there for. (I know it's odd, but I thought if you bought a car, someone had a list with your name showing which one was yours.) With our Saleslady gone, it seems no one was making sure our car got ready. Being charitable, I'm going to say they didn't do anything before we got there and when we did, they took an hour and a half to prep it.
Now keeping the hour and a half wait in mind, it should come as no surprise that when they brought it around it didn't have the electronics we asked for in it. We were told it was 'out of stock' and they'd have to order it. The day before, it was in the parts department, some guy made it a point to chime in and say it was there, he'd just checked, and it would be installed no problem. Funny thing at Southern Motors, no one introduces themselves to you so I have no idea who this was. In a similar fashion, on day two while I was telling the finance guy (who we recognized and remembered us as car buyers) that our sales lady was out, some guy comes up and says, "Yeah, she's off today..." Well big help that was, (wish he'd stayed up to date on the status of our car like that) ended up he was the owner (Well the owner's son, you know the drill...) and I only figured that out after a few people called him by name and the name was the same one who had I had spoken with the day before when after the sale I got a little call about a 'problem' that seemed only to show up AFTER the sale. So from this point on the owner's son, I mean owner took a personal interest in our car and I guess they got moving on getting it ready for us. After a short nap, my wife came back to me and let me know our car was ready, but it had some spots on the bumper they'd have to fix. Next thing I hear is that it might be a good idea to wait and fix the bumper when the electronics get ordered and delivered sometime in the not too distant future. Friends, I was not happy. That's putting it nicely. Now there's something you should know about me, I like things simple. If you say you're going to do something, do it. If you promise something, provide it. If you're wrong, admit it. They tried to feed me a line about the parts were out of stock and whatnot... when instead a simple "We messed up and didn't do anything to your car until you got here" would have sufficed. Of course it couldn't have the electronics installed if they needed like an hour or two to do it on top of the rest of the prep. I would have been fine with that. No, instead they tried very hard to sell me on the idea of they were out of stock, they had no idea who would have promised me it would have been installed today, and no they weren't lying. You know if they spend a lot of time saying they're not lying...
So we have a beautiful new Honda FIT. It drives wonderfully and as of tonight I think we've put two gallons of gas thru it. I have an IOU from the dealership and soon there will be a survey asking how was our buying experience. I think I'll scan the IOU and post it. I'll let you know if they honor it. I'm passing on a recap right now, in closing let me again say, I like Southern Motors Honda of Savannah, but they have a few spots to work on in this sale...
-Rob "fool me once, shame on you" D.

The Power of Dreams

The Lion Sleeps Tonight...

Well, tonight at Southern Motors Honda of Savannah a car waits with my name on it I am sad to say it's not a Volkswagen. I am happy to report however that our 3 Honda motorcycles now have sibling on the way in the form of a Honda FIT. It's pretty much what you see in the picture above, a nice red subcompact fuel saving station wagon. We got one pretty much right off the truck as the red one we saw on entering the lot was already spoken for. Off the truck did I say? Yep, it still had all the paint protector on it and plastic on all the seats and needs to get 'dealer preped' and everything. Only one hiccup; after the ink was all done, financing approved and we left with plans to pick the red sled up tomorrow, we got a few calls from the dealership. Seems like the price we all agreed to with the keyless entry and security system didn't include the price of the security system. The owner (or his son) wanted me to believe the finance company wouldn't go the extra $300. The loan fellow let me know it was a communication problem, somewhere in the leaving and asking again about the security system and being assured it was in stock and would be installed, someone forgot to let us know it just wasn't paid for, Yet. I could be wrong, but the optimist in me makes me want very hard to believe it's an honest mistake. I let everyone know I'm sure it will all come out fine in the wash. It could be worse, I could have gone with the dealership in town that if I had added the splash guards (a $100 item) would have been wanting $1068 for the three. I decided looking at the installation instructions online, I'll buy my own genuine honda accessories in that case and install them myself (Just like I did with my Shadow. The electronics however (2 very nice little wiring harness additions and a module)I'll leave to the professionals. I'll let y'all know soon how it all turns out and get some real pictures up. Funny, now I'm looking at having a car that gets fuel economy in line with my eight year old motorcycle. Life is good.
-Rob 'FIT is Go' D.

Saturday the 14th

So, I'm up early this fine Saturday Morning to conduct an intervention. Seems my sister is in town and the drama is running high. I am soon to pick up my father so he's not part of it all. Planning to hit a VW junkyard, a pawnshop (perhaps), and a garage sale or two. Wish us luck!
-Rob 'hunt & gather' D.

Speedy? You bet.

=)

The right stuff?

I like the VW "wings" at the end, maybe it's more "Top Gun"...
Another South African Commercial...=)

Jackie Chan VW Commercial

I like the looks of this. Wonder if we'll get US sales, probably not. =(
-Rob "Make Me a Marketing Guy" D.

Spare VW engines

So we've got a spare air-cooled engine or two around the house. In fact I have a 1500 single port and a siezed 1600 dual port. Well after today the 1600 isn't siezed and I know what went wrong with it back in it's day. I've always looked at these two engines as "take apart" engines. Sort of like my early preschool brand "take apart" car. I learned alot taking that toy apart and then re-assembling it. In the late '80's I did the same thing with a VW Super Beetle I bought for $200 and my father's Beetle. My beetle got re-assembled. Pop's didn't. But I learned a lot. (The confidence I built doing that work translated very nicely to engine swapping from a Chevy Malibu to a C-10 pick-up in the 1990's. It added years of life to the old blue truck.

So back to present day. Having the experience of Kiddo's Thing motor getting taken down and re-assembled in getting new main bearings, I decided to continue the take-apart project and put wrenches to engines today. Previously kiddo and I had pulled the carb off the motor of choice and tin as well, but today, I went a heck of a lot further. Generator stand, Distributor, Oil cooler, Valve Covers, Valves, Exhaust system, Heads, Push rods, Cylinder Jugs, Piston Heads, Armor (this was a 181 engine after all, armor was really the off road, skid plate stuff), Oil pump plate, Oil drain plate, Oil screen, the list seems like a lot, but it was all really pretty simple after the first bolt or eight. So it ends up the #3 piston had locked up. Lots of crud in it. I think it's a pretty normal way for an air-cooled to die. Something related to overheating or the like, I need to research more on it (should take like 10 minutes thanks to Google, just not now). So I pulled the Piston's off the rods (they're still in the case attached to the crankshaft) and am pretty amazed at how not engine like this engine looks right now. I mean, I'm used to seing an engine block, this thing is an engine shell. I love it.

I think I want to rebuild. It's a 181 case, I'll check the codes later to be certain, but everything that should have been there was. I just can't rememeber where Pop might have gotten it (I got it from him). I think I'll need pistons and cylinders for a start, new heads (trust me the old ones are shot, badly corroded by things that fell into the partially stripped engine and rotted), I'll need to see if there's any end play now that the flywheel will turn, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I started off just wanting to take it apart. Then as I was going, I was thinking, I'd love to save the case. That seems to be a given, now I think I want to build something back that's just simple and runs. I'm thinking a spare for Pepe' or Zippy. Shoot, I don't know, but I like what I've done and learned today. All smiles, this cadaver might live again.

-Rob "I'm a doctor Jim, not a Mechanic" D.