Life of Brian

I had mapped out how today’s Drive Homework™ was going to go, but first there was my weekly Fred Meyer shopping to do, get that daily latte, and go back to Tonkin Mazda to get the fixed Miata. I then did a walk-on at the Kommunity Koffee Klatch, said hi, ate half a maple bar, and went out the door.

First up was a stop at Freeman Motors to drive the Cayman. Then followed by a stop at PDX Wraps to see what the cost would be to fully remove the whole wrap and what it might be to just redo the front bumper for a possible trade-in. Then onto D&C Motor Company to see about test driving one of the manual transmission Golf Rs.

Ten minutes into the first 45-minute segment towards the Cayman, the phone rang. It was the sales guy saying that the Cayman went down to Salem to be test driven and wouldn’t be back until the afternoon. We arranged a 1:30 time for me to come see the car. I poivoted to destination two, PDX Wraps. The front bumper was about a 1/3 the cost of removal: $350/$1k. I figured I’d start heading over towards the third, now second, stop, and drive a VW Golf R. Here is where the “look at a car site and just show up for a test-drive” plan fell apart. something. D&C didn’t actually have the cars; both are in transit, due Tuesday. Traded info with the sales guy and thought maybe I’d head towards Freeman Motors and find lunch until 1:30. It was long after leaving D+C the phone rang again. “Hey, the Cayman is here.” I said, “I’m 25 minutes away.”

Car #9: 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman with 49,000 miles with a price tag right at $50k. Unlike Car #2, the 2015 Cayman base, this has a good old-fashioned three-pedal 6-speed manual transmission. It also has a bunch of nice Porsche options compared to the red base at the Mercedes-Benz dealership. And for some reason, I felt a lot more comfortable in this car compared to #2. The price of this car is 20% higher than my original limit, but I could see me paying that for this car. There are several small negative factors: there are near-zero ways to put a trailer hitch for a bike rack on the car. You could use the things called Seasuckers, but I wouldn’t put it on a vinyl-wrapped car, and like the current black GTI, this black Porsche would be wrapped.

A Golf R solves the bike rack thing; it should swap right over, but I started this because I wanted something different, and the only thing different is basically just some more horsepower. I’ll know, I hope, by this coming Tuesday.

I got a phone call while sitting in Stomping Grounds enjoying a latte break mid bike ride. It was from Carter; the Cayman was back. We agreed that 1:00 pm would work for both of us.

Car #2: 2015 Porsche Cayman base. It is Guards Red with 23k miles, and the dealer is asking 48,249 Somolians. I have driven a Cayman way back in 2018, when my fairy godbrother David had a nice little P-Car garage, and I got to drive a bunch of Porsches. This was the only Cayman that Autotempest spit out last week, so I wanted to drive one again even if this one has an automatic transmission. The typical streets, highway, and streets test drive. This yielded a meh on the want-to-buy scale. The auto tranny didn’t help, didn’t really hurt either, so I stand by my review of 2018: a large, comfortable, very fast, sharp-handling grand touring vehicle. Of course today on Autotempest there is a newer one for sale here in town. It is a black 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman for $49,990 with the preferred manual transmission. I’m tempted to chase it down for Friday.

Mike from Vancouver Subaru is off the hook for transferring that WRX because I found one, a WRX TSI, on the GMC-Buick dealer’s lot right next door to where the Cayman was. I was tempted to leave the Miata in the M-B dealer and walk back the 75 yards to the GMC-Buick place, but that felt like it might have been a slap in the face…

Car #7: 2021 Subaru WRX STI. Forty-nine thousand miles, and they want just over $30k for it. This one is slightly buried in the back lot. The salesman gave me the key, and he headed back inside for the key of a small Buick SUV that was blocking it in. While I waited, I fired up the car. Oooh, that’s a heavy clutch, not outlandish, but it would be a workout if you always drove on the same route I took to get there. i.e., 14 miles of I-84 of which you crept for the last half of that, followed by 5 miles of US-26/I-405. On the way home, all of I-405 was creep and then 10 miles of I-84. The clutch was all I could really complain about. The car seemed a bit large (it’s 6″ longer than the GTI), but it felt like a GTI in its highway manners with just a bit more raucousness. Maybe this all makes it too GTIish to buy…

I was considering asking Mike from Vancouver Subaru to have the more stock WRX from Gladstone so I could back-to-back it with the GR Corolla. I never got his card with his phone number. I mean, I could have called the dealer and asked for him, but I didn’t. I may yet. Still nothing on the Cayman, that’ll be tomorrow’s first call. Bored, I looked on AutoTempest for something else to drive. Oooh, look, there’s a Fiesta ST at a Ford dealer 5 miles away.

Car #6: 2016 Ford Fiesta ST. It has 53k miles, and they want $15 to take it home. There was a sales guy right outside the door talking on his phone, but seeing me, he hung up and said hello. I asked if I could drive the Fiesta ST. Inside we went to get the stock number and then spent 5 minutes wandering around the lot looking for it. Asked at the body shop, checked in at the body shop and the detail bay. Asked someone in the office, and they said, “It’s being detailed.” Back out to the detailing area, and lo and behold, it was there all shiny and still wet. We didn’t even let them dry the car.

Typical test drive experience: A couple miles of surface streets, a few miles on the Interstate, followed by a couple more miles of surface streets. This is more my style compared to its big brother, the Focus RS, it felt alive, chuckable, and quick. It was very reminiscent of Bodie’s 2005 Mini Cooper S. Trouble is the Miata is alive, chuckable, and sort of quick, so I’m not sure about adding another similar car. So why the trepidation? I was willing to buy a 175k-mile Mini, probably my domestic car negative bias…

Today I set out to drive 3 cars, with the possibility of a fourth if Saturday’s Cayman is done at the upholstery shop.

Car #3: 2023 Toyota GR Corolla. It was over the river in Vancouver, Washington, and it is actually closer to me than either of the three places that I visited on Saturday. It looks tiny, but it is actually 6″ longer than the GTI. It felt almost new because it only has 27,000 miles on it. We went for a quick spin and stayed on surface streets. This has a distinct chance. My only worry in the background, on the Utah trip, I had a passenger that is a track instructor, and when I mentioned the GR Corolla, he said, “I know two people who bought one and got rid of it within 6 months.” I need more data

Car #4: 2021 Subaru WRX STi. This was on the same dealer’s web page, but the car is actually at a separate Dick Hanna dealer 30 miles south of me in Gladestone, Oregon. So I headed home and fixed lunch and searched for some WRXs locally. Bingo, Cascade Motors, LLC. They had several to choose from, but I zeroed in on one that was in that Subaru blue and it had bronze wheels. When I got there it turned out it was a Subaru heaven, and they had a garage packed tight with them. The one I wanted was towards the back wall and would require shuffling about a dozen cars to get it out. I told the guy that I wasn’t locked into that one, I just wanted to drive one to see if it was worth further exploration.

He showed me another one in blue that was right up front. He got the keys and drove it onto the lot. I was really looking for a stock-ish version, but this one had a lot of “upgrades.” But I could get a feel for size and interior layout. I think I’d like to find an unmolested one, like the one from Dick Hanna, that would be closer to my wants. I enjoyed talking about cars with Chris and told him of my quest, and he asked what else was on my list.

Car #5: 2017 Ford Focus ST. They had one sitting off to the side and only required a 3-car shuffle to get it. It has 66k miles on the clock, and they want just $19k. Off I went on the loop I did in the WRX. Their location doesn’t really have a nice place to test the handling of cars, but I did get a sense of the car. Unfortunately for the Ford, I just didn’t feel the love. The shifter felt a bit loose, and the steering felt numb with hardly any feedback. This gets crossed off the list. I have to wonder what the other Ford, a Fiesta RS, on the list will feel like…

Last night late I used Autotempest to see what I could find locally and to go for some test drives today. But first I went through my list and downloaded the size dimensions of all of them. I removed the Acura Integra and the BMW M4 because they are both over a foot longer than the GTI. But the M2 is only 10″ longer, so I added it. Then I remembered one that I knew just had to be added, the Hyundai Veloster N.

Acura Integra Type S / BMW M4 / BMW M2 / BMW Z4 Coupe / Fiat 124 Abarth / Fiat 500 Turbo / Ford Fiesta ST / Ford Focus RS / Hyundai Veloster N / Mazda 3 / Mini Cooper S / Porsche Cayman / Subaru BRZ / Subaru Impreza WRX / Toyota GR Corolla / Volvo C30 T5

Car #1: I located a BMW M2 in Milwaukee at the Gladstone Mitsubishi dealer. It’s from 2020, so the tech would be comparable to the GTI, and it wouldn’t be the uglier newer generation. It has 88k miles, and they want $44,229 for it. – I really liked this car, and even though it is longer than the GTI, it’s lower, so it takes up about the same space.

Car #2: This is a 2015 Porsche Cayman base model that was at Mercedes-Benz of Beaverton. In Porsche speak, it’s 987.1 and in the “affordable” sweet spot of these cars. This is $48k but has just under 23,000 miles on the clock. – At first they couldn’t find the car, but then someone remembered it was at an auto upholstery shop fixing its headliner. We traded contacts, and he’ll call when it is back.

Car #3: A 2013 Fiat 500 Turbo. BCR Automotive was in a little lot on Division. This has the high HP motor of the Abarth version but is not so over the top in looks and sound. It’s almost a throwaway compared to the first two cars because it is listed at a mere $6,500. The mileage was not listed. – The OPEN sign was lit, it was 11:30 AM, but the door was locked, and it didn’t look like the lights were on.

While I was at BCR Automotive, I could see the Fiat in the other aisle, so I went over and looked. I think the outside is cute/quirky, but I’ve never seen the interior. Let’s just say that the inside styling was bad enough that I crossed the car off the list.