Yellow Car Journal

I had an open stretch of highway tonight – not a car in front of me for at least a mile.*  At first, I thought to myself: “you must behave, there are police about,” but I quickly got bored of that thought and pushed the accelerator a bit, but only a bit.  I almost immediately ran into a problem.  The problem I had had nothing to do with the car or the police: The pavement was too uneven!  When driving on the Autobahn in Germany, things go smoothly.  I could totally (and legally!) max out the speed on this car and it would all go well – I’d have a great time!  Not so here in America.  When the roads were built, cars did not go fast and so the highways were made with this slower speed in mind.  Our highway system is designed for 50ish miles per hour.  Most do 70ish today, but the ride is rough.  At even slightly elevated speeds, the road becomes unbearable.  It felt like I was driving over potholes!  I must get this car on a proper track some day.

A friend has also told me of a street down south that I might try – it’s long, strait and dead flat.  He and his biker buddies have achieved some very high speeds on that stretch of road – speeds that I would like to beat, if at all possible.

(* The last time I thought this thought and acted on it… 30 years ago… I did get up there in speed, but then someone pulled into the fast lane about a quarter mile ahead of me and in my rapid deceleration, I blew both head gaskets… and that was the end of my first car.)

Hard to believe, but I got a tax credit for my yellow car this year. I guess some portion of the tax & license fee associated with buying a new car can get deducted at tax time. Also, since it’s a “company car” 50% of the time, I get to deduct mileage and 50% of all service calls. Now that I know this, I’m trying to balance the (deductible) work mileage between my blue car and my yellow car such that whichever car needs the greater repair work gets the greater work mileage. The problem is, both cars could wind up with even repair bills by the end of the year so right now I’m targeting for the same work/personal mix of mileage on both cars.

As I was getting my blue car smogged, I thought: “Maybe I should start a blue car journal.”  But then I thought: “Who would want to read about a 1995 Honda Civic hatchback.  It’s not even the Si model.”

The Honda is a truly wonderful car that’s been super reliable over the past 16 years.  It only has 85K miles on it (I used to walk to work or ride my bike a lot), and it may last another 16 years… but it’s still a Civic, so not very big on sex appeal.

The car may not be “sexy,” but it gets more than double the gas mileage of the Porsche.

With ever-rising gas prices, the blue car may be the new “sexy.”

This morning, as I was walking to my car, I noticed that my car had a ding in it!  I’m so sad!  Fortunately, it’s a very minor ding, but my car had no dings before yesterday, only that paint chip off of one of the vents.

Since I drove the car home from the dealership yesterday then parked it for the day, the damage must have occurred there.  I doubt the mechanics did it – probably another Porsche owner.  My car did spend two hours parked in front of the service area as other Porsches came in and out of the place.  Someone must have opened the door with a little too much zeal.  I hope their door has yellow on it, permanent yellow!  My right rear tire area has a tiny black crease – maybe two millimeters long.  It’s not big by any stretch of the imagination, but it does disturb the flow of the lines – it’s noticeable.

Monday was trip #1 to the service center to see what the error message was.  It was an 02 sensor again, but not the same 02 sensor as last time.  Apparently, there is a pre- and post-catalytic converter 02 sensor.  When the 02 error lights up, they replace the pre- sensor, and when the same error lights up again, they replace the post-sensor.  And as usual, they had to order the part, which meant grabbing a rental or coming back to the shop next day.  I opted for coming back.

Tuesday’s appointment was supposed to be 45 minutes – the time it takes to cool down the engine so they can replace the sensor.  They couldn’t get to the car for two hours, and so I waited.  Once they got to the car, the work did indeed take 45 minutes, and then they offered to wash and vacuum my car.  I had turned this offer down on all previous visits because it would take another 30 minutes or so to do, but my car did have dirt and pollen all over it, and my carpets still had baking soda imbedded in them from one of my many attempts to get the smoke smell out, so I said “sure!” and another 45 minutes later, my car was exceptionally clean.

I finished the book I had brought with me even before my car went into the shop, so I spent my time reading every piece of literature in the place, drinking their fine Starbuck’s coffee, and looking at every car in their entire inventory  — twice.   I knew I should have grabbed that second book!  In looking around, I gather that everyone buys from the middle of the price range at this location – basically only 911s.  At this dealership, there are very few Boxters, Panmeras, Cayennes & Caymans, and of the many 911s in the place, there are no Targas, Turbos or Speedsters. There is one GT3 on the showroom floor, but it seems like it’s a “trophy car,” completely out of line (price-wise) with the rest of the cars on the lot.

Well, I think I’m out of 02 sensors to replace now, so I hope I don’t see this place for a while.

Gaaa! That engine warning light went on again!  Does the service center have it rigged to go off once a month?

This was quite the April Fools joke, except it was no joke, so I made a service appointment for Monday.  At least I’ll get to see Gunter again, and his fine lobby.  I feel like I’m practically a resident there!

I’m beginning to think that my yellow car is a lemon!

I went on a date with my wife today, so of course we took the Porsche.  It makes things feel extra special, plus, you’ll never lose this car in the parking lot – you can see it for miles!

My wife commented that it was crazy that I bought the Porsche, but she continues to be happy that I did.  It’s different, special, risky, impractical, and wonderful.  Few would be so bold as to purchase such a thing, especially in yellow.  She loves how methodical I was in my quest for this machine – not impulsive, but focused on a singular goal, and willing to wait for the right opportunity.

If I ever feel that I have some extra cash to throw away again (not likely), my next quest will be some much needed upgrades to my musical instruments.  I’ve been wanting a 12-string acoustic (Ovation or Taylor), a (real) Gibson Les Paul electric, a Fender Jazz bass, a MarkBass or David Eden Bass Amp, and a Marshall stack.  If money were no object, I’d also throw in an Ampeg SVT-2Pro bass head with the 8-10” cabinet.  With all those upgrades, I would be set for the rest of my gigging life.  Truth be told, I’m already set with what I have… which is why I have not purchased any of these things already… and why I purchased the car instead when the money became available.

Plus, you can’t take your wife out on a date with a bass amp, but you can with a car.

Well, it’s pouring down rain today – it’s been pouring down rain all week – but I’m taking my car out anyway!  I had made the mistake of taking my car to church yesterday during a break in the rain, and while I was at my meeting, it began to rain again.  My car is now dirty from the ride home last night, so rain might actually clean it up a bit!

Thus far, I have pretty much avoided the rain because I have been learning how to drive my car.  I’m now pretty comfortable with the car, so I thought it might be time to see how it handles in the rain.  I can also try to figure out the front and rear wipers.  From what I understand, they have a rain sensor element that varies the “swipes.”

Well, Yeah for Porsche; the wipers are indeed variable and wonderful, and the car handles like a dream… until the brakes get wet.  I hydroplaned at one point, which really slowed the car down temporarily, but then the next time I tried to use the brakes, they sort of went “zwirr” and didn’t really stop so well.

I had had this “soft breaking” issue twice before: after cleaning the tires with orange oil, and the time I ran the car through a wash and wax cycle at the gas station.  I had assumed that the brakes were temporarily malfunctioning back then because of some oil or wax  that had gotten on the discs.  In both cases, the problem went away after the second or third time I applied the brakes.  Who knows, maybe there was oil in that puddle as well, but I think it was mostly water, and breaks really shouldn’t suffer because they’re wet.  That’s what those holes in the discs are designed to do — make the brakes work when wet. This makes the car a little less safe to drive.  Fortunately, I braked well ahead of time today so I was able to stop well before I hit anything.

I am now a little concerned.  Maybe I should avoid the rain as much as possible, or learn how to maneuver with squishy breaks.  And here I was concerned that the summer racing tires that are on the car might hydroplane at every opportunity, but I guess the two deep channels in the middle of the tread are sufficient to ward this off.  I saw no degradation in the grip of the tires around the corners — the car still handles like a dream — It just doesn’t stop so well.

Yeah, the O2 sensor was in.  I could now go to the shop and get it replaced.

I got there a little early, just as the place opened, and Gunter greeted me with a hearty handshake.  He also got a coffee for me – so nice!

To replace the O2 sensor, the shop would have to wait for my car to cool down first, so it was an hour wait, and then the car was ready to go.  They’re so efficient!  I had a good book so I didn’t mind the wait at all.

On the way home, a bright orange Nissan 370z Nismo came up beside me.  We were on a long abandoned stretch of road, but I wasn’t in the mood for racing.  Neither was he.  We just admired each other’s car.  Good thing we didn’t race: two miles down the road, a police officer had pulled over a truck.  He would have seen us for sure and would have responded.

Well crud, my engine warning light went on again.  Since this happened so soon after the last shop visit, I figured that it must be the result of my parent’s recent drive to Fresno and back.  What had gotten into the engine that would cause such a warning?  Bugs? Sand?  Maybe the air filter needed to be replaced.  The thing is, the car was running just fine upon their return.

I got the car in to Gunter at the dealership.  I was beginning to get very familiar with this place, and with Gunter.  Within an hour, it was determined that I needed an O2 sensor replaced.  Nothing was wrong with the car, and this was a warranted item so the visit was free!  The thing is, they didn’t have an 02 sensor in stock, so I would have to come back another day.

Gunter knew that I had hoped for a loaner Porsche last time I was here, so he said he’d put me first on the list to get a Panmera as a loaner car should I want to leave my car overnight (no 911 rentals, shoot!, only Panmeras and Cayannes).  Nice offer, but I decided to come back in a few days.