FijiPhil

Thanks for all the inpul yall. And the winner is.... An 03 Honda Pilot. Its higher miles than I originally wanted (177k), but it seems to have been very well maintained, has been well kept inside and out, and I got a great deal on it, so we at least have some money left over for maintenance/repairs should the need arise. We have had it for about a week now and I'm really liking it! The wifey loves it, and ya know, happy wife, happy life haha.

Not gonna lie I loled at the rocker panel sitting next to the car Still, great price on a fiji SHP with low miles. Get the rocker panel reattached and it would certainly be presentable enough for a daily.

Thanks for the input guys. So libertys are definitely off the table!! lol. Ya know I was wanting to check out a forester, but she basically said she wouldnt be caught dead in one... It would be fine for me, but its gonna be her car, so I want her to like it haha. Those pathfinders are nice looking trucks, and could definitely work for what we want. I asked a mechanic friend of mine who used to work as a nissan tech, and he basically said as long as you keep up on maintence (timing belt in particular) the 3.3 v6 in those is a great motor. I found a pilot that looks perfect for what we are looking for but the mileage is a bit higher (172k i believe). The price is comfortably in our budget though, Im thinking I could get it for under 5k. Honestly it is a bit bigger than we really need, Randy, if you have that many miles on yours and have only needed to do a transmission, thats not bad at all. And yeah yeah, I know I should be more insistent on her driving stick. Shes done it some, just not comfortable enough to be out in traffic etc, but she has had some experience. I'm trying to convince her to take my mazda out for a spin sometime this week. I'll update how that goes

I'm in the market for a small suv for my wife.. she has been telling me she's tired of her 2 door focus for a while, and i finally cleaned it up and put it on craigslist. Well much to my surprise I sold the car just a few days after putting it out there (for more than I really expected to get) so I wasnt going to turn away the seller, but now we are down to my mazda 6 and the conquest (both 5 speed, which she cant drive ) and I'm needing to find her new car within a week or 2. Our budget is 7000-7500 max (we're triyng to build a house, so a payment isnt really an option for us at the moment). We are thinking something smaller, and I'd like something under 130,000 miles ideally. What we are looking at: CR-V, RAV4, highlander, pilot, escape/tribute, liberty, equinox etc. Some of those are a little tougher in our price range and mileage requirements. I'm pretty picky on my vehicles, and I dont want something thats gonna have a bunch of problems. We would like 4wd/awd, but its not a requirement if it was the perfect car otherwise. Any input on these vehicles, or any I'm overlooking that may be worth checking out? I found a great deal on a rav 4 locally (03 or 04 with only 73000 miles!) but apparently those are notorious for PCM/transmission issues. Apparently toyota extended a warranty on all rav4's to 10 years/150K miles for transmissions, but that wouldnt really help me now. My wife really likes the highlander, but we will be stretching our budget unless we go with a higher mileage example. Any opinions on those and their longevity? It seems that the best bang for the buck (on the surface at least) would be the liberty or escape/tribute. My mom has a tribute, and I'm kinda ehhh on it, but if the price is right, I can deal with it. Also if any local-ish folks have a small SUV they would like to sell that may fit the bill here.. pm me!

I drove my car around yesterday running errands. Put 110 miles on her total, it was great just cruising around. Nothing else like it

Way to go man!!! Its so cool to see you push the limits with our cars. I love how your car has been re-engineered in just about every way possible, but it is still 100% recognizable as a starquest. Great work John.

Nope, maroon and tan was an option but a lot of them were just maroon on maroon. If only it were a 5 speed Joe I hope your able to get her man, I'm real glad to see you feeling better and posting here again!

Gotta love it!!! Lol. Its one thing for the guy to say he wants to sell it for that amount, but to straight lie and say he's had it for 8 months... I know the guy that owned it like a month ago that lives in ruther glen. That's not true Haha.

Welcome man! Where you at in Richmond? I'm in the richmond area as well, there are a few other owners on here.

I drove the quest to work, and a few of my coworkers were blown away by it. One guy asked me if it had paddle shifters, and I had to tell him no, it was a plain ol 5 speed http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r80/fijiphil/redquest_zpsb2625367.jpg I swear its red and not pink.. dont mind the camera on my phone lol

Looking great man!! Nice ride for sure. Lose that funky window tint and you'll be in good shape! Are you still planning on resurrecting the other fjji?

Sorry to hear about that man. I'm an insurance agent and my company (Elephant Insurance) usually has shockingly good rates for people with DUI's. Unfortunately we dont insure in California, we currently do Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, and Texas. It may not hurt for you to shop around with a broker. The one my company uses is called Answer Financial. I'm not sure if they insure in California, but it may be worth looking at to be able to compare quotes from different companies. I would say your info is likely to be passed on to a lot of those companies, so you may get bombarded with calls/emails from everyone and their momma wanting to get you insurance haha. Good luck with it! I know that most of us have probably rolled the dice at least a few times driving home after drinks and knowing it probably wasnt a good idea, hopefully you will find a company willing to give you a good rate based on your previous driving history and you can put this behind you.

You looking for one to drop in and drive? I have one that needs rings on cyl number 3.. not too far from you, near richmond va. But its a complete bottom end, low mileage too. Ran fine, just smoked, but had strong oil pressure.

Not sure about why they have different part numbers.. But I know it worked great for me when I swapped one in!

Just a heads up, the fan motors for the primary and the secondary fans are interchangeable if you can find a secondary fan.

i have an 88-89 ecu if you need.

Great job! This project is coming together great. Love me a yellow quest.

Funny most guys lie and say they have a turbo when they don't.. Not the other way around lol

Haha sure thing man! I understand completely, always good to plan ahead with this sort of stuff. Well if you want me to check it out, or if you find another one in my area i'd be happy to scope it out for you. Of course, if you could find a great one up in your neck of the woods that would probably be easier, but something down south may have been exposed to less road salts. Just let me know if I can help!

http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/4303039515.html I'd be happy to Take a peek at it for you and let you know how it is, what it may need etc. I'm no pro mechanic, but I've bought enough used cars that I have a pretty good idea about what red flags to look out for.

sorry to see this spenser. Bump for one of the best sellers on this forum.

I'll agree with Lee on the s60r nomination. There is a pretty sharp one on my local craigslist, he is asking 7500 and its been listed for a while.

For 10k, you could get into a nice E36 M3 and have some cash left over for upgrades, or a 98ish-03ish BMW 540i with a 6 speed. I would absolutely love a 540i someday. I had an 05 Legacy gt for about a year and a half, and it was just a great car all around. Im not saying its as nice inside as a Jaguar or mercedes, but it had leather, power everything, etc. I drove it literally across the country and couldnt think of a better car for that kind of a trip. I would strongly reccommend looking into one of those.

Congrats on tying the knot! Its hard to roll incognito in the quest though Haha.

Yeah man, that was a great turbo, I think its the best turbo for a daily driver, spooled almost as fast as a 12A but with a lot more punch. Well, several have come and gone (including the black and tan car), but I have a really nice red 88 that I have been tinkering with for a little while, it should be on the road here pretty shortly. LOL lots of posts in the virtual mechanic section will up that post count like no other! haha