Buahaha. I love it. We came up with "refuel" and "really need gas now". Hehe.


Ah. Math has always been a weak point for me.


So apparently F & E just aren't exciting enough anymore? Huh.

 

The 1/1 still amuses me, hehe. I dunno why. I like it though, rofl.


And even if math is your weak point.. just know that to the right, you're good to go.. otherwise, start thinking about filling up. xD Or.. just watch the trip odometer rise to 300 every time you fill her up.... :D

 

They can be done. I had to get a cup-end filter wrench to remove the factory filter (first ones always seem to be excessively tight). With a ratchet & 6-9" extension, the filter can be removed by sitting or lying on the ground in front. Oil pan plug can be reached from the side in a similar manner, though you may have to turn the front wheels for better clearance.

I have a rectangular sealable drain pan/jug from WalFart that slides right under and can catch both the drain and filter drips at the same time IF it isn't windy.

This is with stock wheels/suspension. On a previous car, I drove the front wheels onto a pair of 2x6 boards to get clearance for the drain pan.

Good color choice, Shellica. What wheels/covers are those?

 

Have to say,
reading your post has kind of semi-sold me on the xA...

 

lol i thought the R on the gas gauge meant Refuel....

 

those are the 03-05 6-spoke "twist" hub caps, they are the best looking for the xa...i have them too. the dealer sells them for like $40 but i got mine for free. someone i know got rims and gave me her hubcaps! lol

 

$40. Nice.


And I never really paid attention to the R! I just liked the 1/1.. xD I got in my car today and was like, "Huh." xD I wonder what it REALLY means. :o The world may never know.

 

Weird. They're what came on my car - I didn't request them or pay extra for them. So, I guess I got them free too. Ha.

 

This is O/T but,
do you find where the gauges placed weird or is that just me?

 

It is kinda odd... but you get used to it. I have no problem going from the xA to the Civic.. it's so automatic. But I'm not sure why they put it in the center.. At least I never had to go through driving this car with my parents... could you imagine? They could see it even better now!

 

I just thought it looked kind of weird, I can just see someone getting in and being like"
Uh.. Isn't that supposed to be over there ?"

 

"Oh yeah, I modded it. What do you think?"

 

Congrats on the car. Very nice. I do have a question tho. I saw a few months ago you posted over at the Fit forums and you seemed like you were dead set on getting a Fit. I'm curious as to what happened with that. What completely changed your mind? Congrats again!

 

Nice, I think I'm going to do that to mine... ;)

 

I didn't really understand why the gauge cluster is in the center - but my boyfriend the engineer clued me in. Apparently it actually is better to have a gauge cluster located there because your eyes don't have to move as far from the road to see it when driving. They do it in certain airplanes. (Me boy works for Boeing). Interesting little factoid there.


I was dead set on the Fit. In fact, I hated the interior of the xA until I saw one in person. However, a few things swayed my decision.

1. I was treated terribly at any Honda dealership I went to. I couldn't get a salesman to give me the time of day shopping by myself. One even commented that I'd need a cosigner - basically saying he didn't want to deal with me by myself. Umm, hi, I've worked very hard at having outstanding credit and I financed my xA by myself with the best APR available thanks.

Even though I waited longer than I was told for my xA I still had an overall positive experience. The Scion dealership had a manual xA coming in in black. My salesman went out of their way to find a IIP (my first color preference) in a manual to trade it for and kept me posted along the way. He came in on his day off to close the deal with me, and he knew I was driving an unsafe car so he asked if I wanted to pick it up and hold off on the armrest/cruise install (the armrest isn't in yet) and they'd give me a loaner next week while they install it. In fact, the dealership is an hour from my house (it's near my boyfriend's place) so he told me I could just drop off my car the night before and they'd hold it overnight to work on the next day if that would work better for me. Hell, the title to my car wasn't even there yet. He could have just as easily made me wait for the title and parts. Night and day difference between treatment at the dealerships.

2. Finding a Fit Sport was like finding a needle in a haystack. Finding one in a manual was pretty much impossible. I might have taken an automatic, but I didn't want the stupid paddle shifters. It's a feature I'd never use but would be hard to ignore since they are built into the steering wheel. Annoying.

3. From the back without a spoiler the Fit looks pretty similar to the Aveo. Gross. Haha. I didn't notice this until I started paying attention to the subcompacts on the road.

I don't regret my decision one bit. I fell in love with my IIP xA and couldn't see myself in anything else. It's perfect for my needs, it looks much better than any subhatch out there in my opinion, and unlike many negative dealership experiences with Honda, I can honestly say Pappas Toyota did their best to take care of me - and is continuing to do so.

 

Congrats!

Since we (were) on the topic of oil, Scion now recommends 5w20 in the 2006 xA. I was a little confused, since my oil cap says 5w30 and the dealer said 5w30, but that's what the TSB that I saw posted here said, and an email to Scion confirmed it.

 

Hey that's some awesome info Ahaz - thanks!

 

I found that too!! A couple months ago I spent a day off test driving cars because my husband and I plan to get rid of our Civic (ugh, I might end up parting it out instead of selling the damn thing) so I can get a car that is safe to drive in. The last place I went to was the Honda dealership.. I told the guy I would like to take a look at some Hondas and maybe test drive one. He told me no! What the heck kind of service is that? He said I had no idea what I was looking for, what my budget limit was, what kind of payments I was willing to make, when I'd be buying.. the reason I was at the dealership was to LOOK AT CARS so I could get an idea of what I wanted.. and then after looking at them, I wanted to test drive one so I could know when I came back in a few months exactly what I wanted. I didn't want to look at one specific car, drive it, and have them hold it for me. I'm not an idiot. I do have a budget and I do have an idea of what kind of payments we can make. I was so annoyed at this guy. I will not go back there. He lost my business, that's for sure.



But in your case, I'm glad! The xA is a charm. But I think I'll leave the oil changing to the dealerships.. I just put oil in our Civic (because it had NONE! it has a leak) and it's burning oil so bad.. when the engine is cold, smoke comes out the exhaust like mad.. but once the engine warms up, it smokes from the engine too. I mean.. it's so bad you can't even drive. (The engine isn't in great condition either.) It scared the crap out of me. I had to leave it parked on the other side of the neighborhood and walk home. I guess I'm gonna leave it there until some oil leaks out.. lol. Ugh.


But anyway.. darn Honda dealerships!




Edit: Here's some information about engine oil! Scroll down to the very bottom and it tells you the different grades.. both Scion dealerships I go to say they test the engine at -40.. so that must mean I could use 0w something? I have no clue to be honest.. but if you do, here's some info. I put 5w30 in the Civic. Oh yeah... the link.. hehe. http://www.customcivics.com/articles.php?ID=33&page=5

 

What is up with Honda dealerships completely disregarding the younger dynamic? I realize more often than not someone in their early twenties will not be able to finance a car alone - or if they can not at a great rate - but it's certianly not unheard of. I was like you - I knew my budget but I wanted to see what was out there. I fell right within my budget on the xA after buying a few extras. In fact, I fell low so I intend on overpaying every month to knock out more of the principle on my loan.

I'm glad too. I am completely pleased with my decision to buy the xA, as is my significant other. I looked at many new and used cars that fell within my price range, and honestly most of them made me feel as if I were settling. I don't feel that way at all with the xA. Much with the yay there! I'm going to feel it out on dealer maintenance - I really like the people at my particular dealership so it's possible I'll stick with them after my 3 free oil changes even if that means paying a premium on maintenance.

Sounds like we were in similar situations with our last cars - my '94 Saturn SL was in terrible shape. In fact, I bought my xA before I got to test drive a manual because my car started acting so poorly. I couldn't even park in me boy's driveway because I left puddles (now I can park in the garage - yay!). Why didn't you just trade it in? Toyota took my hunk of junk and gave me $200 for it - plenty of money to take that mess off my hands. A friend of mine wanted to buy it and I refused to sell it to her - I just didn't want to be responsible for any trouble it might cause.

 

Shell,
Just got my xa about 3 weeks ago, they put a sticker in the window to remind me to change the oil at 5,000......I thought that seemed long, but I remember reading somewhere about how much better the Toyota oil filters are. I'll probably change at 3,500 to play it safe. Congratulations BTW.
sTEVE