The semi new:
My GF and I were looking for a shared extra vehicle that would be good for our two dogs and any adventures/road trips. We both come from Subarus so were initially soft looking for an Outback. Nothing good for us was popping up but I kept a pretty active eye on Marketplace and Craigslist. Was using the keyword “wagon” so got a lot of Audi’s and obviously some Volvos. One morning this very clean looking 2011 XC70 popped up for $5k. I thought it must be a 3.2 with a gazillion miles. Hmm mileage says 110k. Hmmm pictures show T6 badge. Ended up meeting a retired insurance adjuster who bought this “totaled” from a lot he was at. One owner previously, dealer maintained, needed a drivers side headlight and wheel. He owned it for about 3 years but only put 5k miles on it in that time so decided to sell it and we were the first to respond to the add. This was about a year ago (excuse the FS ad photos)
Mostly just maintenance on it so far. New front wheel bearings. New tires (235/55/18’s) Plugs. Rear Shocks. Black OEM cargo lift gate. Black S60 R-design steering wheel. It’s just been a joy of a car so far. The front struts seem super tired so I’ll probably replace those soon with new lower control arms.
The new:
Again just floating around Marketplace and Craigslist I found a black C30. 104k miles. R-design. Manual. Go check it out to find it was dealer maintained by the first owner from new to 2022/90k miles then the second owner seems to have not done a single lick of maintenance. Both front wheel bearings were super loud and it had never had the timing belt done. Rear sway bar links were rusted away. Mismatched tires. But the body was really good for it being a city car and the interior was good. Super clean underneath minus the endlinks. Ended up getting it for a smoking good deal. 2 weeks later I did the wheels bearings, front brakes, timing belt/water pump, plugs, filters, fluds, Progress Mazda 3 rear sway bar and poly bushings in the front control arms. I have adjustable rear upper control arms on the way to get that camber under control and am playing with the idea of a different set of wheels or at least new matching tires.
Very important trailer hitch mod
And here’s the active fleet as my GF likes to call it.
My daily 2011 Rav4 V6 and her daily 2014 Legacy 3.6R. Off to the left is a 2003 Forester with an H6 and WRX driveline swap, a 2010 BMW E60 Xdrive manual with ~590hp and a 1992 Galant VR4 in the garage.
The E60
And Galant:
I don’t want to go too crazy on the C30 but I feel it desperately needs a tune. Between the size and drivetrain layout it’s reminding me of my old VW New Beetle 1.8T manual that was modded that I miss dearly.
I look forward to being around and I’m sure I’ll have plenty of questions very soon.