Project final options roundup thingamabob!
So, I sometimes plan things out to a ridiculous degree, particularly when it comes to cars. Lots of things wax and wane as options, slowly changing over time as to what is and isn’t possible.
I love motorcycles, and I’m really excited to work on one - later in the future. Wabi Sabi is definitely staying a motorcycle. But for now, not so much. It makes more sense with the life I’m currently living to have a vehicle I can use for Uber as my next project. That means no motorcycle, and for now no Wabi-Sabi.
It also interestingly means no Crown Victoria or Grand Marquis as neither can be Ubered in Boston, which I absolutely wasn’t expecting. They seem like perfect Uber vehicles, but I guess they don’t want Ubers being confused with Taxi’s and being allowed to do stuff private cars can’t.
This needs to do five things in spades:
Be something I’d want to work on as a first car, and not have prohibitive rust or a transmission through the firewall or some other “oh holy shit what the everloving and almighty fuck did that” type repair.
Fit into my life without shoving a shiv into my already precarious finances. This includes running costs, future and immediately needed parts cost, the cost of the thing itself, and it needs to be Uber-able.
Be something I can love. I want something I’d love to drive, to look at, to be in - but more then that, a car needs to have a personality for me to love it. It needs a name - beyond Project: Wabi Sabi, which I’m starting to think might be given to a different project as this is no longer a fitting title.
It has to be something that will work for Ubering. That means in the event it’s capable of making ridiculous noises, that has to be controllable. It also means it has to have decent handling and brakes - a must in negotiating Boston traffic - while not being a back breaker over the occasional pothole.
It needs to be something that isn’t just for this project. Yes, it has to do everything above - but I want this to be something that can be far more if we applied effort and
So, what fits?
First of all, pretty much everything from BMW or Audi is flat out. Parts cost suck. Same thing for Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti.
Sadly, anything Subaru is out. While it is certainly something that fits the bill in terms of three and four, and there are a couple that fit the first requirement, parts costs for a Subaru are complicated. Tires cost just as much as any other car - but if you don’t replace all four at once you can fuck up the four wheel drive system. Same thing with the drive shafts. Transmissions are commonly referred to as “made of glass” by enthusiasts and aren’t cheap to come by. This, sadly, all adds up to a deal-breaker.
Saab’s are also out. They are all cars that didn’t part share well and the manufacturer has gone under, so while buying one may be cheap, owning one definitely isn’t. 9-2x’s, commonly known as Saabaru’s, would have been exceptions to this except ... well, see above.
Volvo’s first generation S40 was a tempting option because cheap parts are not uncommon and they can be a joy to drive, but I’ve had a strangely emotionally charged reaction from them. And the S70 isn’t an option because the generation I’d want (the box on wheels one) wasn’t made late enough, and parts for the model after start getting scary.
Honda Civics have gotten weirdly expensive with the parts you’d want and a number of commonly needed parts. Nissan’s Versa and Sentra don’t fit well for point 5, electronic steering is stupidly hard to work with and I don’t envy trying to make that work. The Altima/Maxima options I have seen almost universally have rust in the rear quarters and considering boston’s often narrow streets and ridiculous traffic, a bit big. Honda Accord’s are interesting, bit smaller then the Maxima, but still on the big size and from the years I need it needs to be a K series engined car so parts are plentiful but wanted by everyone. Toyota’s E130 Corolla is ... something I would need some unpacking to get into, as I’m not sure if I don’t like these because I’ve been told to not like them or if I don’t because they can’t be made awesome but regardless they would require expensive stuff to make fun so no.
So what’s left, after all that bloodshed?
Two options. In one corner, we have the German contender, and in the other we have the American option.
The Mk IV Jetta. Shown here with a variety of upgrades (and with a photograph that is absolutely not mine) these are cars that you can often find in the price range I’ve been looking at. They are both affordable in terms of used parts and having things you can upgrade to for fun projects. The motor that is commonly found in these is referred to as the “two point slow” because it has basically no power, but there’s the option of either finding one with a turbo motor or replacing it with the motor that had a turbo from the factory is an option, and all the Mk IV engines that fit in any Mk IV can be made to fit in another Mk IV without a ridiculous amount of engineering work, so there are even other options in terms of fun motors and eventual projects.
And it’s American counterpart:
The Neon was always looked down on. It was a common rental car (and had the interior to show for it), it was cheap to own and modify so every Fast and the Furiously Stupid fan would tape on twelve unnecessary gauges onto the dash and terrorize their local neighborhood. But they have an interesting ability - take the motor from an SRT-4 (as well as every suspension and brake bit you can get your grubby little paws on) and it turns from a rental car into a rental rocket, capable of silently transporting people and destroying Porsche’s around your local track.
The Jetta option seems like the more adult option, but the neon seems like more fun. The Jetta wouldn’t be slow, but also couldn’t compete with the ridiculous capability of the Neon. However ...
Honest answer, which would you rather be in for longer? Exactly. The first is the Neon with common mods, the second is the Jetta with common mods.
Decisions ...
- Amy
