Esta's Adventures

[scratchpaddy]

So, this is my new '09 Yaris. Esta is its name. Only 174,000 miles. :eek:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-tBKZhV2/0/XL/2016-12%20015-XL.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-tBKZhV2/0/O/2016-12%20015-O.jpg)

I'll make this my project thread of sorts, to keep track of what I do and where I take it. I'm not going to do much beyond keep it clean and maintain it. This is pretty much how it's going to look as long as I own it, unless Discount Tire breaks my hubcaps again. :mad:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-MTdLPMH/0/L/2016-12%20011-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-MTdLPMH/0/O/2016-12%20011-O.jpg)

Speaking of Discount, I took advantage of a Black Friday thing they were doing and got $100 off a set of Michelin Defenders. I was going to get them anyway, since the car had three worn and one bald tire, but if they want to give me $100 that's fine. :wink: I got the tires put on BEFORE the hubcaps, which came today. I also cleaned it up this week. Clay bar, polish, and wax.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-LGmLxMx/0/L/2016-12%20004-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-LGmLxMx/0/O/2016-12%20004-O.jpg)

There are lots of little rock chips in the bumper, the clearcoat on the roof is done for, and the clear on the hood is starting to peel as well. It's an Arizona car from day 1. Also, somebody fried a set of jumper cables over the driver's headlight and bumper. Click for full size to see the damage better. They melted that lens but good.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-j9X44Rq/0/L/2016-12%20006-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-j9X44Rq/0/O/2016-12%20006-O.jpg)

I haven't taken it more than a mile from my apartment since bringing it home two weeks ago. I mostly use my bike to get around, but I drive up to Oregon twice a year to visit family, and I'll be leaving again in about two weeks. I'm eager to get out there again, especially now with this car, twice as powerful as my old one. I'm sure the cruise control will come in handy, too...

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Summer-2015/There-Back/i-3j4734F/0/L/2015-9%20403-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Summer-2015/There-Back/i-3j4734F/0/O/2015-9%20403-O.jpg)

[Captain Yaris]

She's gorgeous, even with the small flaws. I love the color and the hubcaps look great!

[scratchpaddy]

Thanks Cap'n! It's pretty bland compared to many of the rides on here, but that's the way I like my own cars. I do really like the color. I was hoping for yellow, but I'm happy with this. I see so many of the more gray-ish Bayou Blue cars that I wasn't even aware it came in a brigher shade (Blazing Blue) until I found this one on Craigslist.

[WeeYari]

That big seam in the pavement marking a state line?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[scratchpaddy]

It's just the intersection of Highways 50 and 376, near the center of Nevada. There's very little in Nevada away from its border with California. The GPS coordinates of that line in the pavement are 39°24'15.0"N 116°56'18.9"W.

[justanotherdrunk]

i thought you were using one of my pics since i was just there on 8/3

fyi its the same intersection used for one of the rollover stunt scenes in the classic 1971 movie vanishing point

https://photos.smugmug.com/HWY-50-to-UT-Bonneville/i-N6Gtv5M/0/L/100_5949-L.jpg

:w00t:

[justanotherdrunk]

your car looks sweet and very clean/ bright

i especially like the 2 door model

[scratchpaddy]

Ha ha, that's awesome. I didn't know it was in a movie. I love driving through Austin, with the twisties on the downhill side headed towards that intersection.

How the heck did you get to the middle of Nevada with such a clean car?? Mine was all covered in bugs and dust by then. :tongue:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Summer-2016/There-Back/i-rZ8jtM8/0/L/2016-9%20577-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Summer-2016/There-Back/i-rZ8jtM8/0/O/2016-9%20577-O.jpg)

Looks like we missed each other by a month. Last time I was there was 9/4.

[ern-diz]

Man, she cleans up nice! Not a fan of hubcaps, but I don't immediately hate those. Kudos.

[scratchpaddy]

Thanks, 39!
I don't immediately hate those.I get the impression that's the highest praise anyone will get from you about hubcaps. :laugh: I used to hate hubcaps so much. My second car came to me with awful chrome things even cheesier than what came on my Yaris. I still worked for a body shop at the time, so I chucked the hubcaps, sanded the steelies down, and had the boss paint them with some leftover silver mixed for another job. That was the car I drove for three years before a drunk took it out.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-DZRNX9Q/0/L/i-DZRNX9Q-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-DZRNX9Q/0/O/i-DZRNX9Q-O.jpg)

I thought about leaving the hubcaps off of Esta, like you suggested in another thread, but black steelies just look incomplete to me. I couldn't warm to the look.

[scratchpaddy]

Look how much bigger the Yaris looks compared to my Metro.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-Wgh6fQm/0/L/2016-12%20019-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-Wgh6fQm/0/O/2016-12%20019-O.jpg)

It's actually not much bigger. It's only 1 inch longer, 4 inches wider, and 5 inches taller (and 500 lb heavier. :eyebulge:) I think what makes the Yaris look so much larger is that the windowsills are 5 inches higher. The seats feel much taller, too. I'm guessing the difference is also 5 inches to compensate for the higher windows and dashboard.

There's one more thing I need to fix on this car before it's all good to go. Somehow, the previous owner manged to rip one of the hatch struts right off the car. It only broke the strut socket on the body side, but the hatch side ripped the anchor off of the hatch. They tore the spot welds right out.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-bSKZ4Pb/0/L/2016-12%20025-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-bSKZ4Pb/0/O/2016-12%20025-O.jpg)

They were kind enough to leave the broken strut, anchor still attached, in the spare tire well. Without it, I'd need a whole new hatch. It's not something you can buy separately from the hatch shell.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-s3DJRLq/0/L/2016-12%20026-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-s3DJRLq/0/O/2016-12%20026-O.jpg)

I took it around to all the body shops within a mile of my apartment, which is actually a lot of body shops. Two of them quoted around $350. One wanted over $500. One refused to quote it without replacing the whole hatch ($$$$). One of them quoted $218, which is only twice as much as I hoped it would be.

It seems like such a small job, but it's in a tough spot. There's no way to get behind it for spot welding. It's right next to the glass, too, which they all want to remove to avoid heat damage. I've got a friend with a MIG welder, but the metal is so thin here. I don't want to ruin everything. I'll take it to the $218 place once the replacement struts get here. It's an AutoNation facility. I've seen their dealers all over the place, but didn't know they had separate body shops until now.

[justanotherdrunk]

it looks great without the license plate

keep it off as long as possible

[ern-diz]

I get the impression that's the highest praise anyone will get from you about hubcaps. :laugh:

Bingo :biggrin:

I used to hate hubcaps so much. My second car came to me with awful chrome things even cheesier than what came on my Yaris. I still worked for a body shop at the time, so I chucked the hubcaps, sanded the steelies down, and had the boss paint them with some leftover silver mixed for another job.

I vote for this for Esta!

That paint job with some silver chrome trim rings and (if you can find) some Toyota center caps would be the business :thumbsup:

[scratchpaddy]

it looks great without the license plate

keep it off as long as possible:laugh: It looks suspicious. I'll get it plated the moment I get the title in the mail from the dealer.
That paint job with some silver chrome trim rings and (if you can find) some Toyota center caps would be the business :thumbsup:You mean, like an old Corolla? :cool:

http://spidercars.net/wp-content/uploads/images/1999-Toyota-Corolla_19777.jpg

On my Chevy, I thought about leaving the wheels black and getting chrome center caps for the "police car" look, but I could only find 5-lug caps. I like silver steelies, but I don't have free access to leftover automotive paint and a professional to apply it anymore. I guess I could do a rattle-can job, but the hubcaps were clean, easy, and $27.

I checked the spark plugs today. I'm in love with this engine bay. Everything's so easy to get to. I was worried I'd lose much of the easy serviceability of the Metro when going to a newer car, but maybe not. Toyota clearly had the mechanic in mind when they laid everything out. The manifolds are backwards, though. Intake in front? Who does that?? :confused: It makes too much sense!

Anyway, the spark plugs looked really good. Somebody used anti-seize, so they came out easily, and the gaps were right on, about .043" on all four. The belt and radiator hoses also looked good. I love working in an engine bay where everything is so shiny, new, and clean. :thumbup:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-4dWHJJv/0/L/2016-12%20029-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-4dWHJJv/0/O/2016-12%20029-O.jpg)

[scratchpaddy]

Look! No hands! :thumbup:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-jqNJs9q/0/L/i-jqNJs9q-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-jqNJs9q/0/O/i-jqNJs9q-O.jpg)

The body shop did a really good job. No one would ever know. They said they just happened to be working on a Prius with the same code today, so they didn't even have to mix up an extra batch of paint.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Sgk4xPQ/0/XL/i-Sgk4xPQ-XL.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Sgk4xPQ/0/O/i-Sgk4xPQ-O.jpg)

I replaced both struts as well, since one was broken during whatever catastrophe broke the anchor, and the other was old. I bought the pair for $20 from Amazon, much better than the $130 Toyota wants for each one. :bs:

Partsam Qty (2) Hatchback Gas Charged Lift Support Struts For 2007-2011 Toyota Yaris (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010X6UXWU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

One of them alone wasn't quite enough to hold the hatch up, but together, they're super strong. I'm hoping they'll settle down soon. The brand on the struts says MaxPOW. That's a good name. Pop the hatch, POW! Right on the chin. :eyebulge:

[scratchpaddy]

Today, I finished up all the things I needed to do to the car before heading north.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-NbPQLVZ/0/L/i-NbPQLVZ-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-NbPQLVZ/0/O/i-NbPQLVZ-O.jpg)

The windshield wipers were three years old, and beginning to fall apart. The rear was original to the car, I'm pretty sure, and the flappy part of the rubber was gone. The engine air filter was gross. The cabin air filter was only a little dirty, but it was installed upside-down. :confused: I replaced all those things.

A previous owner was also a fan of Dex-Cool. :frown:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-4GCZMxF/0/L/i-4GCZMxF-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-4GCZMxF/0/O/i-4GCZMxF-O.jpg)

That's what all the distilled water in the first picture was for. I drained it, re-filled with distilled water, warmed it up to let the thermostat open, then drained it again. Repeat three times. By the last drain, there was almost no detectable green in the water.

I filled it up again with Valvoline's generic "Toyota Pink". I have this no-spill funnel that makes it easy to get all the bubbles out without making a mess. Fill it up, turn the car on, and wait for the bubbles to stop.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-qw23scC/0/L/i-qw23scC-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-qw23scC/0/O/i-qw23scC-O.jpg) https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-BM6wjTz/0/L/i-BM6wjTz-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-BM6wjTz/0/O/i-BM6wjTz-O.jpg)

I went ahead and changed the oil, too, since I'm not sure how long it's been. The oil was definitely dirty, but not horrible. I got a kick out of how tiny these oil filters are. :tongue:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-5cjvJtX/0/L/i-5cjvJtX-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-5cjvJtX/0/O/i-5cjvJtX-O.jpg)

Finally, I replaced the transmission gear oil with Redline MT-90. My socket selection only goes up to 19mm, so I had to run to Hazard Fraught tools to get a 24mm. I have a little pump thing, just like a hand soap dispenser, that I use to pump the oil up from the bottom. It's more tedious than using a funnel and hose from the top, but I like being able to stop right when I need to.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-wPQWcbB/0/L/i-wPQWcbB-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-wPQWcbB/0/O/i-wPQWcbB-O.jpg)

Excuse the mud. The whole underside of the car is caked in it. I wonder where it's been? :iono:

I love how I didn't need a jack for any of this. I didn't have to take half the engine bay apart to get to the oil filter or something. Toyota did a great job laying out this engine bay. :clap:

[scratchpaddy]

I've got my new instrument cluster ready. :biggrin:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-TrFn4DP/0/L/i-TrFn4DP-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-TrFn4DP/0/O/i-TrFn4DP-O.jpg)

It's a $27 China tablet, running the Torque app. I think it's made for children, with that beefy silicone bumper case. Sadly, the baby blue & pink models were sold out. :frown:

I used velcro to attach it to the center console on my Geo, but on this car, it stays wedged in that spot no problem. I think I'll replace the "speed" tile with an altimeter. The real speedometer is good enough.

The refresh speed is way fast on this car. On the Geo, the tiles would update about once per second. Hooked up to the Yaris, everything updates fluidly, with no perceptible gap between updates. They're like real gages. I love it.

[justanotherdrunk]

sweet

damn i forgot the older yaris has the center mounted gauges

[scratchpaddy]

It's actually one of the reasons I prefer it over the newer ones. It's unique, and it makes the dashboard simple and symmetrical. Plus, you get three gloveboxes. :thumbup:

[ern-diz]

:thumbsup:

[scratchpaddy]

For the past three years, I've driven up to Oregon twice a year to visit my parents. I drive because I love seeing the country, and I have two dogs. I take a different route there every time, avoiding interstates whenever possible. Way too boring. This time, I used I-10 to get out of Phoenix, and that was it for interstates until I got to the 580 in San Francisco.

By 6:00 in the morning, I was on Highway 62, going through the Mojave. There was a massive headwind, and I got terrible gas mileage (29). There were ribbions of sand blowing across the road. This picture is kind of a trick: it's a 20-second exposure to get the landscape visible, and I flashed the headlights for about half a second (longer would have overexposed the picture) to make it look more like what I saw going down the road. That's how deserted this road was: I was doing long exposures while parked on the road.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-C2zjFVQ/0/L/2016-12-25%20003-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-C2zjFVQ/0/O/2016-12-25%20003-O.jpg)

From there I took 395 to 58 to Bakersfield, then 99 to 46 to 33 to 198 to 25. I just write where the turns are on a sheet of paper, and I keep an atlas in the back if I get lost. I didn't need it. Those last two highways were definitely the highlight of the first day, twisty two-lane roads winding through the hills on the west side of California's central valley.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-VrdmfLk/0/L/2016-12-25%20024-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-VrdmfLk/0/O/2016-12-25%20024-O.jpg)

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-95Km5jd/0/L/2016-12-25%20021-L.jpg

I got a little too enthusiastic, and Skippy barfed on the back seat, but I always keep the seat covered for the dogs. The road eventually straightened out as we got closer to San Francisco.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-JhVSpFj/0/L/2016-12-25%20031-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-JhVSpFj/0/O/2016-12-25%20031-O.jpg)

I spent the rest of the day crawling through Bay Area traffic to Richmond, where it turns out one of my great uncles lives. I had never met or even heard of him until a month ago. Almost all of my family lives in upstate New York, and I hadn't known I had any relatives in California. I was so glad to finally meet him. He has a secret facility full of classic cars, all the ones his family couldn't afford growing up. Several of his cars have been on the cover of Hemmings Motor News. I was like a kid in a candy store.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-ZNBRRHK/0/L/2016-12-25%20033-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-ZNBRRHK/0/O/2016-12-25%20033-O.jpg)

Day 2 was uneventful. I took the 101 all the way to Newport, then 20 over to Albany. It was sunny and clear the whole day, which I had not expected at all this time of year. I finally hit a wall of fog while crossing the coastal range on 20 late that night. On the other side, Corvalis was covered in snow, which is also very unusual. I made it to my parent's house without incident.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-w3XRkjk/0/L/2016-12-25%20046-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-w3XRkjk/0/O/2016-12-25%20046-O.jpg)

It was nice to have Christmas with the family again. I've been taking walks along the river and around town with the dogs. The cold, rain, and fog is a nice change from the perpetual sunshine of Phoenix.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-gdsSGnc/0/L/2016-12-25%20056-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-gdsSGnc/0/O/2016-12-25%20056-O.jpg)

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-LHPJ3Rj/0/L/2016-12-25%20097-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-LHPJ3Rj/0/O/2016-12-25%20097-O.jpg)

I'm pretty impressed with the car so far. It handles everything competently and efficiently. It's not quite as efficient as the Metro, but it can keep up with traffic even going 70 up a mountain. I do wish the seat were a little lower, and the steering wheel a little further back, but I didn't get any aches or pains while driving it 1,400 miles up here. It's a great car. :thumbup:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-F36k3gx/0/L/2016-12-25%20048-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-F36k3gx/0/O/2016-12-25%20048-O.jpg)

[justanotherdrunk]

exposed long enough to see stars


:thumbsup:

[scratchpaddy]

I love stopping way out in the middle of nowhere to look at the stars. You can see so much that's never visible in the city.

This car hasn't seen much rain in its lifetime. After spending some time up here in Oregon, I noticed that the windshield started collecting just as much dew in the morning on the inside as the outside. All the carpeting was dry, but then I found the spare tire well was full of water. :frown:

I did some research on here, and saw that leaky taillights are a common problem. I tested with a garden hose, and water came running in on the driver's side. Nothing came in on the passenger side around the taillight, but there was a bunch of road grime over there. I pulled back the plastic trim, and saw it was coming in through a small hole in the top of the wheel well while driving. I cleaned up the road grit and filled the hole with clear RTV.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-nqW5kSN/0/XL/i-nqW5kSN-XL.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-nqW5kSN/0/O/i-nqW5kSN-O.jpg) https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-nPfgfm7/0/XL/i-nPfgfm7-XL.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-nPfgfm7/0/O/i-nPfgfm7-O.jpg)

Then, I took off the driver's taillight lens and made a sort of silicone gasket around the contact patch.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-SbKhbBX/0/L/i-SbKhbBX-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-SbKhbBX/0/O/i-SbKhbBX-O.jpg)

That was yesterday. It rained some more last night, and some more water came in from the passenger side. Maybe I didn't use enough silicone, or maybe it's coming in from somewhere else. I'll try and figure it out today.

[ern-diz]

Love the pics. Awesome story about your great uncle.

[MadMax]

Agree, great pics!

[scratchpaddy]

Thanks, you two! I was really happy to get to know my uncle a little bit. I'm looking forward to visiting him again on another trip. I never imagined I'd meet a relative who likes cars as much as I do.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-NSk2pS2/0/L/2016-12-25%20038-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-NSk2pS2/0/O/2016-12-25%20038-O.jpg)

I'm headed over the mountains tomorrow to visit my Aunt's family in Bend, before more snow hits. They're supposed to get up to 3" on Sunday. High of 14° on Monday. I just bought some tire chains for Esta yesterday, since they're legally required in Oregon depending on the weather. Snow still freaks me out. I grew up in Georgia, where more than an inch of snow shuts everything down. I made this same drive last year in the Metro during worse weather and survived, so I'm sure I'll be okay this time. The Santiam pass is a lot more fun in the summer.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-5sKTfwH/0/O/i-5sKTfwH.jpg

[scratchpaddy]

The drive over the mountains really wasn't bad. Highway 20 over the Cascades is one of my favorite roads to drive when it's not frozen. Most of it below 3,000 feet was pretty much clear.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-cCXqd3c/0/L/2017-1%20124-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-cCXqd3c/0/O/2017-1%20124-O.jpg)

It's more like a ski slope above 4,000 feet.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-PzGLSML/0/L/2017-1%20128-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-PzGLSML/0/O/2017-1%20128-O.jpg)

The road cleared up again on the far side, much higher up than last year. This is the same spot last year vs. this year.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2015/i-XTShhtX/0/L/2015-12%20278-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2015/i-XTShhtX/0/O/2015-12%20278-O.jpg) https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-zCh4FCp/0/L/2017-1%20137-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-zCh4FCp/0/O/2017-1%20137-O.jpg)

We all got to Bend safely. My parents drove separately (Matrix in the background) since I would be leaving for home directly from Bend.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-67M2SXr/0/L/2017-1%20143-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-67M2SXr/0/O/2017-1%20143-O.jpg)

Tasi got to play with their golden retriever, Sadie. I though she would be too cold, but Skippy really enjoyed exploring the ranch and rolling in the loose powder.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-JrBXHLm/0/L/2017-1%20139-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-JrBXHLm/0/O/2017-1%20139-O.jpg) https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-b397tvd/0/L/2017-1%20144-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-b397tvd/0/O/2017-1%20144-O.jpg)

I left early the next morning, just as another snowfall was beginning to re-cover the streets. There wasn't quite as much snowfall out on the high desert further east.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-ZBGpppH/0/L/2017-1%20164-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-ZBGpppH/0/O/2017-1%20164-O.jpg)

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-rtBZFxP/0/L/2017-1%20169-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-rtBZFxP/0/O/2017-1%20169-O.jpg)

The temperature plummeted near Burns, hovering around 0°F. Loose ice crystals floated over the road much like sand in the desert. Every passing car drew a great big cloud of ice behind it.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-kCkrM32/0/L/2017-1%20176-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-kCkrM32/0/O/2017-1%20176-O.jpg)

It was pretty much smooth sailing once I was over the Steens Mountains on 78.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-mwzrt3R/0/L/2017-1%20184-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-mwzrt3R/0/O/2017-1%20184-O.jpg)

The rest of that highway is straight and empty. I verified justanotherdrunk's findings there. He's right, it tops out at 115mph. :biggrin: I did not get good gas mileage on that stretch. :tongue:

I took 95 all the way to Vegas, then 93 to Wickenburg, and 60 to Phoenix, making it home around 3:30 AM.

I covered 2,800 miles total. I spent most of the trip (the parts without snow, at least) between 70 and 80mph. My best tank was 39.5mpg between Lost Hills and Windsor, California, which is weird, because I spend two hours on that tank crawling through San Francisco traffic. The worst tank was 31.2mpg between Burns and Winnemucca.

[justanotherdrunk]

your pics are makin' me drool

im ready for yaris roadtrip #6

thanks for the great show!

:thumbsup:

[ern-diz]

your pics are makin' me drool

im ready for yaris roadtrip #6

thanks for the great show!

:thumbsup:

+1

So much beauty. Thanks for sharing.

[Dabuu]

damn those pictures are gorgeous! love the dogs. :)

[scratchpaddy]

Thank you, thank you! I love the dogs, too, even if the white one drives me nuts sometimes. :wink:

your pics are makin' me drool

im ready for yaris roadtrip #6

thanks for the great show!

:thumbsup:I'm looking forward to seeing your next travel log! Have you decided where, yet?

[scratchpaddy]

I made the trip to Oregon for the second time in a month. I had my '96 Metro for sale for a while, and the eventual buyer happened to live in Portland. Not surprising, as these cars are still almost common up there. It's made the trip three times before, so I loaded up the dogs and off we went, one last time.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Geo-Metro/i-mFsNVrg/0/L/2017-1%20523-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Geo-Metro/i-mFsNVrg/0/O/2017-1%20523-O.jpg)

I took the route through Nevada, along Highway 95. We passed through Hawthorne, a town on the edge of an Army ammunition depot covering hundreds of square miles.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-6PDH57P/0/L/2017-1%20535-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-6PDH57P/0/O/2017-1%20535-O.jpg)

Just north of there sits Walker Lake, a desert lake with no outlet. It used to be much larger before people starting using the river that feeds it for irrigation. Its level has fallen 181 feet since they started keeping track in 1882.

I don't know if it's ever busy, but it was deserted when I went through. I drove the Geo halfway down what used to be the lakebed, then walked the rest of the way to the shore with the dogs.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Geo-Metro/i-FCf3k5v/0/L/2017-1%20545-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Geo-Metro/i-FCf3k5v/0/O/2017-1%20545-O.jpg)

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-tLKj7ZB/0/L/2017-1%20564-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-tLKj7ZB/0/O/2017-1%20564-O.jpg)

We discovered that the sand/muck along the shore was very soft, doing its best to steal my shoes. The dogs loved it.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-kBrdTD5/0/L/2017-1%20567-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-kBrdTD5/0/O/2017-1%20567-O.jpg)

This is why I keep the backseat covered with a sturdy blanket.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-m2xVL3Z/0/L/2017-1%20574-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-m2xVL3Z/0/O/2017-1%20574-O.jpg)

I got to Reno and took 395 north through California, then got on 139 in Susanville as night was falling. That's when it started to snow. It was no blizzard, but the road was covered in an inch or two of fresh powder all the way through the mountains to Klamath Falls. I took 97 north from there, which had been polished down to one long sheet of black ice by constant 18-wheeler traffic. I just kept pace with the trucks and held on tight for 80 miles, when I was finally able to get off onto highway 58 and take the Willamette Pass back down to solid, dry pavement. I definitely should have taken a different route.

I got to spend a few more days with my parents in Albany after that, enjoying their cooking and taking long walks through the constant fog.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-tLM8xfS/0/XL/2017-1%20589.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-tLM8xfS/0/O/2017-1%20589-O.jpg)

The buyer spent a day riding his bicycle down from Portland to Albany. I could have brought the car all the way up to him, and he even had another car, but he likes bike riding. He checked the car out, we talked for a while, and then traded cash for car.

On Monday, I picked up a rental from Hertz, who had the cheapest one-way rates by far at the moment. I had learned that the current inventory had a big impact on rates, and the Corvallis location happened to have a lot of inventory. I took a '15 Yaris off their hands. Still no cruise control. :frown:

I took it back up into the mountains, where I was relieved to find the Santiam pass as clear as I've ever seen it in the winter.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-CZ65p7w/0/L/2017-1%20597-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-CZ65p7w/0/O/2017-1%20597-O.jpg)

The rental Yaris handled the trip really well. I averaged 39.9mpg, even through it was an automatic. That's surprisingly close to the 44.5 I got in the Metro on the way up.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-N7rs2W2/0/L/2017-1%20614-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-N7rs2W2/0/O/2017-1%20614-O.jpg)

Central Oregon is always beautiful in the winter, when snow covers the high desert.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-7dr6rvb/0/L/2017-1%20617-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-7dr6rvb/0/O/2017-1%20617-O.jpg)

I turned south at Burns, my normal route home, and spent the night getting through Nevada. I made it through Vegas before the morning rush, and got to Kingman just in time for the sunrise. All that fog and snow made me miss the Arizona sun.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-zb8CvwD/0/L/2017-1%20636-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-zb8CvwD/0/O/2017-1%20636-O.jpg)

I had to wash and vacuum the heck out of the rental before giving it back to Hertz. Icy roads always make a mess, and black interiors are great at hiding dirt and hair, unless you have a white dog. :thumbdown:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-sJP66gR/0/XL/2017-1%20602-XL.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Oregon-Winter-2016/i-sJP66gR/0/O/2017-1%20602.jpg)

I actually enjoy cleaning cars up. My first job, part-time during college, was detailing cars at a body shop in rural Georgia. By the time I was done with it, this car was cleaner than it was when I picked it up. And I hadn't slept since leaving Oregon. Hey, when you have a rental, time is money.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-XDKGwQ6/0/L/2017-1%20647-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-XDKGwQ6/0/O/2017-1%20647-O.jpg)

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-H8NFtWG/0/L/2017-1%20649-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Yaris/i-H8NFtWG/0/O/2017-1%20649-O.jpg)

The guys at Hertz had no issues with it, and even gave me a quick ride home. I suggested we use the Camaro convertible they had out front, but no, we used the Yaris again. :bonk:

[justanotherdrunk]

very cool trip pics and info thanks


on the bmw 2005

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Death-Valley-82005/i-mhKqJjz/0/L/1428653143043761485-L.jpg

[ern-diz]

very cool trip pics and info thanks

+1

What would you have done had he not wanted the Metro after seeing it in person?

Also, why on earth would you clean a rental before returning it! Not having to is half the joy! lol

[scratchpaddy]

very cool trip pics and info thanks


on the bmw 2005Motorcycles, too? Were you going solo?

[scratchpaddy]

+1

What would you have done had he not wanted the Metro after seeing it in person?

Also, why on earth would you clean a rental before returning it! Not having to is half the joy! lolBoth the buyer and me are members of the Geo Metro forums. Everything I've done to it is documented there. Lots of pictures, too. :biggrin: It was pretty much a done deal before I left.

Hertz does not charge a cleanup fee unless the car is "excessively dirty." I think the amount of grime on the car qualified as excessive. Plus, they say any pet hair in the car will trigger a special cleaning fee.

[ern-diz]

Both the buyer and me are members of the Geo Metro forums. Everything I've done to it is documented there. Lots of pictures, too. :biggrin: It was pretty much a done deal before I left.

Hertz does not charge a cleanup fee unless the car is "excessively dirty." I think the amount of grime on the car qualified as excessive. Plus, they say any pet hair in the car will trigger a special cleaning fee.

Ah, gotcha.

[justanotherdrunk]

Motorcycles, too? Were you going solo?

yes solo

i have an extensive motorcycle history prior to 2006

got out of the hobby too dangerous

didnt want to widow the wife

[justanotherdrunk]

Hertz does not charge a cleanup fee unless the car is "excessively dirty." I think the amount of grime on the car qualified as excessive.

+1

i tend to beat the crap out of my rentals

beyond excessively dirty

so i always clean the crap out of 'em to avoid fees

[scratchpaddy]

They found me! I got a letter the other day from Toyota about the Takata airbag recall. Arizona is Zone B, so my car qualifies for a new, shrapnel-free bomb as of December 31, 2016.

I called a dealer, and, after working through a few layers of robo-menus, was told that all the recalls are still open on my car. So, it needs a new power window switch and seat tracks, too. They'll call me back when they have the parts.

I'm going to do my best to give them as little contact info as possible. After I brought my Monte Carlo in for the ignition switch recall, the only time I've ever been to a dealership, I was inundated with mail demanding that I activate OnStar, which continued long after I sold the car.

[ern-diz]

These days I'm getting the, "we really want to buy your car because everyone wants it" letters. "We'll purchase your car even if you don't buy a new one from us".

Right lol :rolleyes:

[scratchpaddy]

Yep, I got lots of those when I had my Cobalt and gas was still around $4 a gallon. I started getting them right after I brought it in for a power steering recall. I kept getting them after a drunk used my car to stop his sliding 350Z in a parking lot. I wonder how much they would give me then? It still had three wheels left, after all. :rolleyes:

[ern-diz]

Ha

[scratchpaddy]

Well, the dealership I went to happened to be an AutoNation location, same as the body shop that fixed the hatch strut anchor, so they already had my address, and my email. Soon I'll be getting suggestions to come trade in my "old" Yaris for a new Camry or something. :hitcomputer:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-57kSrMh/0/L/i-57kSrMh-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-57kSrMh/0/O/i-57kSrMh-O.jpg)

Service was good, though. They replaced the Takata bomb on the passenger side, replaced both sets of front seat tracks, filled the master lock switch with grease, and washed the car, all for free. :w00t: The sheet I signed at the end said $1,160 at the top. I'm not sure if that would have been for everything, or just one recall item. :eyebulge:

[ern-diz]

Nice :thumbsup:

[scratchpaddy]

From the dealer, to the other end of the line...

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-j84SKt8/0/L/i-j84SKt8-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-j84SKt8/0/O/i-j84SKt8-O.jpg)

I love junkyards. It's like a car show where you get to break stuff. Not on purpose, but hey, it happens. You get to see all the ways cars die. Rear-ended, side-swiped, rolled over, engine knock, engine fire... lots of engine fires. How do people mess up that badly? :confused:

I was looking for center caps. From what I've read, base model Tercels and Corollas from the 1990's used center caps which still fit the wheels used on the Yaris. There are plenty of those in the junkyards, but how many made it all the way there without losing their caps? Not many, it turns out. Heck, just try finding one which still has all four wheels. People literally drive them until the wheels fall off. :laugh:

In the first junkyard I went to, I managed to find just one lonely cap on a '93 Corolla.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-G4BZZgQ/0/L/i-G4BZZgQ-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-G4BZZgQ/0/O/i-G4BZZgQ.jpg)

Next junkyard, where I had bought the front seats for my Metro, had been sold, and was no longer a self-service junkyard. :cry: The next one had no old Corollas with any wheels left on them. At the fourth yard, my favorite junkyard, I found a 1990 Tercel EZ (the hatchback version) with TWO caps! :eek: One was the version which spells out TOYOTA instead of just the logo, though. I took it anyway. I could have had a full set if I settled for some caps from all the Prizms lying around (rebadged Corollas), but they had the Geo logo, of course.

So, my haul from four junkyard visits is three center caps, and hey, two of them actually match. I cleaned them up and filled in the logos with white paint (nail polish, actually) to make them pop.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-GBdWPbD/0/L/i-GBdWPbD-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-GBdWPbD/0/O/i-GBdWPbD.jpg)

I'll have to get the other two from eBay, where they cost $10 instead of $2. Now I understand why.

[David C]

Nice job hunting and painting ! Agree it looks pretty slick

[ern-diz]

I had those on my old '87 Corolla hatch. Very cool.

[scratchpaddy]

Thanks, David! And, ern-diz, I remember the pictures you posted in the "first car" thread. That was a nice Corolla. I love hatchbacks. I think your caps were more like these (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.X716814+%2 39803.TRS0&_nkw=716814+%239803&_sacat=0), though.

That paint job with some silver chrome trim rings and (if you can find) some Toyota center caps would be the business :thumbsup:Okay, you knew what I wanted before I knew I wanted it. :laugh: I decided I was going to paint my wheels silver after all, then looked to see what kind of center caps would fit. That led to pictures of Yarii with black wheels, chrome trim rings, and center caps, which I thought looked damn good. So, no need to paint the wheels after all.

The trim rings arrived today in a box that looked like it had fallen off the truck, three or four times, then run over once or twice for good measure. I didn't need my boxcutter, since UPS had already ripped the box open for me. Thanks, guys! :thumbdown:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-gDxH62M/0/L/i-gDxH62M-L.jpg

The trim rings somehow survived, though. I got 1.75" deep ones per another member's suggestion on some old threads. I'm glad I got the plated plastic ones instead of real metal. There's no way metal trim rings could have survived that shipment without bending.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-BVRhs2j/0/L/i-BVRhs2j-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-BVRhs2j/0/O/i-BVRhs2j.jpg)

I like it. :thumbup: Only one side has the center caps right now. I'm still waiting for the other center caps to get here. Hopefully the shipper treats them more gently than the trim rings. :hitcomputer:

[NYC-SE]

Looks great. A simple solution is sometimes the best.

[David C]

If only our steelies wouldn't rust out from the winter, that'd be great to have here too when you don't have mags already !


Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk

[ern-diz]

Boom! Love it.

[scratchpaddy]

Looks great. A simple solution is sometimes the best.Those are the solutions I like best. Simple and practical, and cheap. :wink:

If only our steelies wouldn't rust out from the winter, that'd be great to have here too when you don't have mags already !The paint on steelies is garbage. It doesn't hold up to anything. Stock steelies don't rust here, but all of them are dull and chalky after a few years. Mine have actually been re-painted at some point. That's why they're shiny. They didn't even do a good job, getting paint all over the lugs and hubs, but it still holds up way better than the stock treatment. If you were to put some real paint on your wheels, I bet they could hold up to the winter roads.Boom! Love it.:thumbup:

[scratchpaddy]

The eBay caps arrived. I tried them on... they wouldn't clip on at all. Way too loose. I'm not sure if it was the design, or if the ones I got were stretched out, even though they look to be in better shape than the ones I found in the junkyard.

Apparently Toyota switched dies sometime in 1994. They look the same on the outside, but they switched from eight small clips to four larger clips. One of my junkyard caps (1990) is on the right, with an eBay cap (1999) on the left.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-3rBsvgr/0/L/i-3rBsvgr-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-3rBsvgr/0/O/i-3rBsvgr.jpg)

The wheels have a groove near the exterior edge of the hub which the caps are supposed to clip into. I just needed to make that diameter bigger so these newer caps could clip on.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-3c26mgr/0/L/i-3c26mgr-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-3c26mgr/0/O/i-3c26mgr-O.jpg)

I took some measurements and came up with a sleeve to fit over the hub, which would snap into the existing groove and give a new lip with a diameter of 62mm instead of 60mm.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-J9t7FsJ/0/L/i-J9t7FsJ.png https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-95DL8BR/0/L/i-95DL8BR-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-95DL8BR/0/O/i-95DL8BR-O.jpg)

It took a few trials to arrive at that exact design, but these dimensions got the new caps to snap on pretty much the same as the old caps without the adapter.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-pfzBXCx/0/L/i-pfzBXCx-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-pfzBXCx/0/O/i-pfzBXCx-O.jpg)

It would have been a whole lot quicker and easier just to wrap the hub with tape or something to make it thicker, but that's no fun. :tongue: I might just design and print whole new caps at some point. That would be fun. Maybe it's what I should have done from the start.

[ern-diz]

Wow, that's a super pro approach to a very small detail. Kudos to you, sir!

[justanotherdrunk]

Wow, that's a super pro approach to a very small detail. Kudos to you, sir!

+1

[NYC-SE]

I take back my comment about this being a "simple solution."

[scratchpaddy]

I take back my comment about this being a "simple solution.":laugh:

It was still cheap, though. And fun. I used to work at a foundry, where I designed and built tooling for all the production processes. I miss designing stuff. I'm looking for a new job doing that kind of thing now.

[ern-diz]

lol @ Hubcap Enthusiast

Love it :laugh:

[scratchpaddy]

Well, I haven't been doing much with my own car recently. I finally got back into a real job, and it's even closer than my last one. Two miles! I take the bike.

I washed all the bird crap off of it today. I'm sick of parking under trees for a bit of shade. After four years, I signed up for a covered parking spot at my apartment today, for $15 per month. Apparently I'll have to share. :frown:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-fZF5VW5/0/40491cb2/L/i-fZF5VW5-L.jpg (https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-fZF5VW5/0/40491cb2/O/i-fZF5VW5.jpg)

[bradbowl]

I just came across your thread today and I wanted to say that you take incredible landscape photography! Very beautiful.

The Blazing Blue Yaris is also awesome. :D