Thank You, and Goodbye, My Little Honda Fit.

Well, today was the day. Title transfer is complete and the little Fit drove off with its new owner.

The Fit had been under storage policy since July, and it was rarely driven for a while even before that. I finally came to the decision to sell the Fit a couple of months ago. Even then, I was a bit hesitant since I really did like this car. So I posted a note on my Facebook page so that only my friends can see it, and get first dibs at a reduced price, before I actually put it for sell on a public site.

Turned out one of my very good friend, who I've known since high school, was in fact interested, but needed a bit of time to deal with her other vehicle first. Since it was a friend, I held the car for her. and today, we completed the transaction, and she took posession of the car.

It's been a great vehicle. In fact, the only car I've owned that I never had a single thing go wrong during then entire ownership experience (I know it's only been 5 years, but I've never actually owned any vehicle for more than this). And just last Thursday, my Sienna minivan started leaking power steering fluid. By today, it was making a pretty horrid sound after making left turns. I'm guessing I'm looking at a steering rack replacement, on a 2005, with actually less KMs than my Honda Fit. I think I'm going to regret selling the Fit.

But hey, at least it's going to a good friend, and I'm gonna be able to see it all the time. Maybe she'll even let me drive it once in a while.

Thank you, my little Fit. and Goodbye.

Oil Change for the Sienna (56,397km)

This will be the first oil change on the Sienna since I've owned it. The oil looked clean enough when I picked it up at just over 50,000km. So I left it in and was expecting to change it at the same 5000km interval as my Fit. But the oil change was delayed a bit since I wanted to do it at the same time as when I had to change back to my summer tires since I don't have a separate wheel for the van's snow tires.

Well, that was delayed too since it's already almost end of April, and I live on the Lower Mainland, where we have not seen snow or sub zero temperature in a while. When I finally changed my Fit wheels over last Thursday, I also picked up the Sienna's summer tires from storage and made an appointment to get my tires re and re, and do the oil change for the van.

So the summer tires went on, and the oil got changed. I also asked them to check the rear pad while the wheel was off since I've been hearing light metal grinding from the rear. Sure enough, the rear pads needed replacing. So the whole service cost me a bit more than I had anticipated. But hey, it's the babymobile. If it needs it, it will get done.

Baby On Board

Remember me buying the Toyota Sienna minivan? Remember why I bought the minivan? Well, the reason has finally arrived early this month. (you think I wasn't updating this blog often enough before? you just wait. =P)

He's lucky he's so cute. Otherwise I would not put up with his multiple late night feedings, diaper changes, constant need for attention, and... I don't remember anymore. In fact, I don't really remember anything before the baby anymore. ;-)

Other than the necessities, I haven't splurged on the baby until now. I know I payed WAY TOO MUCH for a piece of vinyl sticker, but I couldn't help it.

New Real Snow Tires

If you've been following my blog, you'll know I've gotten by with all season tires for the past 4 years. (wow, I've had this little Fit for just over 4 years now!) The first two years were with the stock Dunlops 14" on factory steelies. Then 2 years ago I only had the worn Kumhos that came with my used EM1 rims. That was also the year wih the huge snow dump, so I the Fit was pretty much parked. Last year, I managed to find a set of stock 14" wheel/tire combo to replace the ones I traded, and at least I could drive in light snow.

However, with the light weight of the Honda Fit, it's really not a great winter car, and to really be useful in the white stuff, you want proper winter tires. I mentioned in a previous post that I bought a Toyota Sienna in anticipation of my growing family. Well, this also means I need to make my vehicles ready for winter since my wife is due in early January. Luckily, The Sienna came with a spare set of winter tires. But the Fit still needed help.

While looking around online, I found JC Whitney. I already knew of the company because I had lived in the States when I was younger, and would request some of their mail order catelogs even though I was still too young to own a vehicle. However, I never thought of purchasing from them here because normally shipping anything from the US to Canada, especially larger items, are prohibitively expensive. However, it would seem from their page here that they only add $11.99 to your order to ship to Canada. This, along with their regular shipping charge, supposedly covers for all taxes, duty, and brokerage fees. I was skeptical, but other canadians have ordered and said that it was legit. and as long as the tires are 16" and under, this works.

So I decided to place an order for a set of General Altimax Artic in the stock 175/65/14 size. And since I'm now getting dedicated winter tires, I decided to also order a new set of summer tires in the form of Yokohama S.Drive in 195/55/15 size to replace the factory Michelins I got last year for the EM1 rims. It would seem that the one tire that had some camber wear was because there was a nail in the tire, and the seller must have driven with it flat or low for a while. The last time my car was up on a hoist, I noticed that tire, which luckily I placed in the rear, is now starting to show a couple of bubbles on the inner side wall; a sign or sidewall failure. So that tire is no longer safe. The price for the two set of tires was much better than what I could have gotten locally. So I'm just waiting for these to come in so I can mount them on the Fit.

In the meantime, I went in today and put the winter tires that came with the Sienna on the van. I didn't pay much attention to them when I bought the car. but as it turns out, they are also General Altimax Artic tires. Same ones I had ordered for my Fit. A copy of the Gislaved Nordfrost 3 tires from Sweden, the General Altimax Artic (both under the Continental umbrella) had fantastic reviews and are a good value. I feel better that the van, and soon the Fit will have proper winter tires on this season. With pregnant wife now, and kid later. I think it's money worth spending.

My Swagger Wagon

That's right! I bought a minivan!!!

We found out last month before we left for our trip that my wife is expecting. Since I was considering looking for a second car anyways, now the minivan became a consideration.

I know, I don't NEED a minivan for one kid. But the thing is, no matter how much stuff you can throw into the Fit, it is still is a sub-compact. With a child seat in the back, there's really only room for one more adult back there. Now say we want to take the kid out with the in-laws, with whom we are very close. With the Fit, we'd either have to pick only one in-law to take with us, or they'd have to drive a 2nd vehicle.

There are other advantages to a minivan, such as the ability for my wife to stop the car, hop to the rear 3rd row inside the tinted windows, and breastfeed the baby whenever it needs to be fed. Or having enough room inside to easily change a diaper.

So minivan it is. I don't see the point of an SUV (some do have 3rd row seating). And most Fit owners would agree that the ability for a vehicle to maximize usable space vs the space it occupies is very important. And in this respect, a minivan will ALWAYS have an SUV beat. Plus, one of my biggest loves for minivans: sliding rear doors!! Huge openings you can stand directly in front of no matter if there's another car parked next to you. I don't understand why more people can't see the usefulness of minivans and sliding doors. But I expect they'll come around again, just like the return of mini hatchbacks like the Fit.

Anyways, since I'm expecting to keep the minivan for a while, I was basically looking for a lower KM, late model Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna. I came across this 2005 Sienna LE and went to check it out. The van had light to heavy scratches on every panel, and the rear cargo area was well used. However, it was indeed low KMs (just over 50,000km), and well priced, and came with hitch, bike rack, and a set of spare winter tires. I was happy enough with the condition considering the price, so I picked it up.

This thing just absolutely dwarfs the Fit. So far I really like it. It cruises at a much lower rpm on the highway than the Fit, is very comfortable inside (I still have a few small issues with the Fit's driving position), and the 3.3L V6 and 5-speed auto is nice.

Of course I can't leave any vehicle alone. I've already added a GROM USB interface that allows MP3 playback from a USB flashdrive via the stock radio's CD changer interface. I'm also debating parking sensors or rear view camera. and maybe another set of wheels for the van as well. It will probably be something similar to the Fit, with an OEM+ style upgrade (i.e. wheels from another Toyota/Lexus vehicle). We'll see.