The wife's new daily...
 

After jamming out a water pump swap on my wife's '99 Explorer 5.0 that took entirely too long thanks to one of the long bolts that go through both the pump and timing cover deciding to break despite 2+ hours of heat, penetrating oil, a bucket full of swear words and more patience than Mother Theresa on the night before a 24 hour shift in the firehouse so my wife wasn't left without transportation, I had an epiphany.

This was not fun. It wasn't even close. I don't mind turning wrenches, but not under the gun like this. I'm not 18 anymore and the constant tinkering and maintenance on a 17 year old vehicle was getting pretty damn old.

So I fixed it.

http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/q...psz5m6of5t.jpg

Sold the Explorer to a friend for the down payment, and 0% financing with a hefty chunk off thanks to it being a '16 leftover made it possible.

Yes, it's just about the same color as my truck.

It's pretty damn quick for a 4 cylinder and it handles like a go-kart. Better still is the 34 mpg, which beats the pants off the Exploder's 14-15.

NICE, have to keep the wife happy. Have a Merry Christmas and be safe.

Looks good. We were actually admiring the Dodge dart at yesterday's monthly meet.

Congrats on the new purchase. I've been driving one for the past month (long story) and fun fact, it will shift at the 6200 rpm redline. Just curious but does the radio stay on for maybe a couple minutes after you turn the car off and open the door?

Congrats, Keith!

Blackbird: Even without the autostick, the thing winds up pretty tight before shifting. With a little water on the ground it was spinning slightly on the 1-2 shift. For a 4-banger with the displacement of 2 soda bottles, I was impressed. It moves out decently and handles pretty tight.

The radio will stay on when the key's shut off, but shuts down when the door gets opened. Maybe some kind of setting in the EVIC?

Mike: Thanks!

Geez, somebody bough an American car? Wish I had more thumbs up to give ya then just my two. :) I like the Darts, wish they would have come out with an SRT4 version. I would have been all over that like free money. Lol

I briefly looked at the settings but didn't see anything obvious. Not a big deal but caught my eye and thought it was odd.

awesome congrats on the purchase. im two towns over in washington...did you get it from johnson dodge?

Congrats! I love them. Wish they had a turdbo version though

Quite a jump from an Explorer. The real question is, does Kay approve?

Madness: Yep, that's the place.

Thor: They do, a 1.4l turbo.

ARG: Yes she does. She was a bit surprised, though. She was even happier to find out that in 5 years when it's paid off and she's right at the learner's permit age that it'll most likely be the car she learns to drive in.

160hp..... my NA 4cylinder G5 made 5 less than that. lol. the version you have has the same HP if not more I think.

Dodge and Chevy are both lacking in the small car 4cyl department.

Yeppers. Shoulda been an SRT4 Dart for sure.