Oppocrash update:  Some good news and some bad news

"Manwich - now Keto-Friendly" (manwich) 01/13/2019 at 20:33 • Filed to: None

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Update... First the good news.. I bought a car!

I went with the dark purple 2008 Honda Fit with ziptied wheelcovers:

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It may not look dark purple in the picture, but it is. My first purple car!

Some of you mentioned that it looked a little sketch. But aside from the zipties holding the cheap plastic wheel covers, the car looked and felt solid. Drove it all over and took it on the highway. No strange noises, clunks, vibrations or anything like that. Just needs a new windshield which has a crack in it that will cause it to fail the safety.

$4400 including the 13% tax and safety (which includes a new windshield).

I was biased toward getting this 2009 Vibe:

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But when I drove it, there was vibration from the winter tires installed on the car, some odd clicking sounds when turning right under certain conditions, the TPM light was on and the engine made some odd sounds under load. It had also been in a front collision... though it looked like it was properly repaired. It was also a car that spent some time in Quebec before coming back to Ontario. That is a minor red flag in itself. It just didn’t feel as good as a car of that age and mileage should.

I also tested a couple of Matrixes that were a bit older and cheaper and they all seemed to have issues.

Note that I’ve driven new/nearly new Vibes/Matrixes... so I know how they’re *supposed* to feel. Maybe it was just bad luck, but the Vibes/Matrixes I tested just felt like something was ‘off’ with them.

When I test drove the Fit, it felt ‘right’.

Now for the bad news:

The ‘CEXY’ rental had to be towed.

After buying the Fit, I drove home.

On the way home, I approached an intersection just as it turned red. So I knew I’d be waiting for a bit. So I put it in neutral and turned off the engine to save a bit of fuel. As it was about to turn green, I start the engine, got ready to put it in drive... and it would’t shift out of neutral.

Tried all kinds of things including pulling the emergency release... no joy.

I called FCA’s roadside assistance... they didn’t know what to do.

Got it towed to the local FCA dealer on the advice of FCA roadside assistance... though I probably should have gotten it towed to the rental place which isn’t far from the dealer.

Bloody pain in the ass this minor streak of bad automotive luck I’m having.

But they say these things happen in threes. So this was the third ‘bad’ thing that happened. The first being the catastrophic breakdown of the Focus Wagon, the second being the U-turn which led to the collision which led to the Aerio getting written off and now this.

I figure I should now be primed for a streak of good automotive luck.

EDIT/UPDATE: The colour of my Fit is formally called “Blackberry Pearl”... even though it looks purple to me :

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  > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 21:10

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Congrats! It looks well kept and I hope it treats you well.

We’re on opposite sides of the world, but we posted an c rash update within a minute of each other. Let that be the start of some better automotive luck!

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 21:10

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Honda fit! Nice!

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 21:15

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Congrats!

Further evidence that the fit is the official car of Oppo 2k19

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 21:21

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Why would a car moving between Ontario and Quebec be a red flag? I wouldn’t think of a car moving between different states to be a red flag here in the US.

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 21:24

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ONE OF US! ONE OF US!

/doesn’t actually own a F it but classifies himself as a Fit owner because of how badly he wants one

For real though, congrats. Happy for you as well as terribly jealous

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 21:25

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Also lmao "5 speed manuel"

404 - User No Longer Available > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 01/13/2019 at 21:27

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My mechanic said the same thing about Quebec cars. Roads are rougher up there and people there are generally more aggressive drivers so chances of getting damage repaired (and unreported) is much higher.

FWIW, my F30 is also a former Quebec car (but not Ontario-Quebec-Ontario) and I do notice sometimes the hood doesn’t close properly if I don’t slam it. Not sure if that’s a former repair or first year BMW problem, since the Carproof came clean.

Khalbali > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 21:38

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Absolutely love that color! Want one so bad, almost bought a silver one but it didn't work out, definitely want a purple sport some day though.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > 404 - User No Longer Available 01/13/2019 at 21:39

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I did notice that Quebec driving habits defied the “Canadians are all super polite” stereotype when I was there this weekend. 

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Khalbali 01/13/2019 at 21:48

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In my price range, I pretty much have to be flexible on colour.  So getting this nice colour was a happy accident. 

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute 01/13/2019 at 21:50

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Yup... my car is a car Manuel would drive...

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 01/13/2019 at 21:56

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As Toni said, rougher roads and more aggressive driving... and a greater chance of undisclosed past damage.

But also it makes it harder to see the vehicle history as the vehicle history report you get will only show what happened while it was in Ontario. I’d have to go to Quebec or call someone there to get the report to find out what went on while it was in that province.

Chuckles > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 01/13/2019 at 21:57

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Moving between states can be a bit of a red flag, but theoretically anything suspicious should still show up on a carfax report. A personal example:

When I lived in NC my Civic was flooded during Hurricane Matthew. It was totalled, but it still ran so I bought it back. NC classified it as salvage but didn’t actually issue a new salvage title. They just said “if you ever sell it, you have to promise to tell them it’s salvaged.” I drove it for like another year and then moved to PA. I went to the notary and they were going to give me a clean PA title since I had what appeared to be a clean NC title . I opted to do the right thing and get a PA salvage certificate and eventually got a Reconstructed title.

TL:DR anytime you change states or territories with your vehicle there is at least a chance for shenanigans.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly >   01/13/2019 at 22:00

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Yeah... let’s hope.  And I hope your repair goes will.  How are you enjoying your temporary car?

bob and john > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 22:04

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okay, starting to look for a purple fit on my commute now :)

Under_Score > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 22:07

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Nice! Are you gonna get a Juke after this to continue the legacy?

Also, I’ve seen some of those Matrix/Vibes with serious issues, like engine replacement at less than 10 years old. Wild.

404 - User No Longer Available > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 01/13/2019 at 22:12

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Relatively predictable still. Try Markham or Scarborough, lol.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Under_Score 01/13/2019 at 22:29

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The problem with the Juke is it has a really tiny trunk. It’s a very space-inefficient design - probably due to accommodating AWD.

I’m more of a Scion xB person. I was also lusting for this 2005 Scion xB:

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/mississauga-peel-region/2005-scion-xb/1407373031?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true  

...but the owner never got back to me.

I also suspect it has 146000 miles rather than 146000km.

shop-teacher > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 22:58

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Sounds like you definitely picked the better of the two cars.

dogisbadob > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 23:06

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Congrats on the new car! I hope you get many enjoyable km out of it!

Take the hubcaps off ;)

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > dogisbadob 01/13/2019 at 23:10

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Actually I plan on doing that and I think I’ll replace them with some racing disk wheel covers:

https://hubcapmike.com/vintage-hubcaps/racing-disc-wheel-covers/

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > shop-teacher 01/13/2019 at 23:12

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Just going by the adverts, I was anticipating the 2009 Vibe to be better than the Fit. For one thing, there were no zipties in sight. It’s interesting how it was the opposite of what I was expecting.

W hen buying cars in the sub-$5000 price segment, it’s very important to check the car in person.

dogisbadob > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 23:38

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Cool!

shop-teacher > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 23:50

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Definitely, they're full of surprises.

  > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/13/2019 at 23:51

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I can’t complain, it’s smooth and comfortable . And it’s nice not having to crawl over every speed bump and driveway for a while  :P

DutchieDC2R > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/14/2019 at 00:33

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The colour of your Fit looks an awful lot like the 90's Honda colour called Pirate Black (which is purple too, silly Honda colour names). 

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/14/2019 at 01:23

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I had a Blackberry Pearl Fit. Here’s the last photo I have of it right before the dealer came to take it away on trade in March 2013.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/14/2019 at 05:46

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zip ties on the hubcaps isn’t so silly, as it  stops them from coming off.

Under_Score > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/14/2019 at 08:28

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My dad just traded in his 2015 xB for a GMC Canyon.

Khalbali > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 01/15/2019 at 12:34

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Yeah same here I just wasn't as lucky lol.