I guess I was wrong about this being a money making proposition for the Dealer. They told me 6 hours, yet they had the car all day and it was still not finished when I went to pick it up. Seeing as I went into this with low expectations, this just reinforces my bad feelings. I’m sure the optimist would say that the extra time is a good thing because the technician wants to get it right. I’m sure this means that he doesn’t know what the heck he is doing so it is going to take twice as long as specified.
Because they were keeping the car overnight, they gave me a loaner vehicle. A 2005 Tribute in Dark Teal Metallic which kind of brought back memories of Splash Green Metallic. It took about 15 miles before the feeling of being on stilts subsided enough that I just felt too high up. The drivers foot well seems narrower than the Miata’s so I never got my left foot comfortable. In typical Mazda (and maybe all Japanese car) fashion the seat bottom is too short for my thighs, leaving me feeling unsupported even with the more upright position. Remember me whining about the cheap plasticy feel of the Mini’s interior? Well the inside of this is worse. It is silver (really more gray) I guess to simulate aluminum, but it comes off more like a plastic scale model of a navy battleship. The only good feeling was from the steering wheel, a little from the way it handled (not really zoom-zoom worthy) and a little from the texture, hard to describe, but felt very grippy and comfortable.
Brian returned with is estimate from the folks who painted his car, $200, that is painted and mounted. They felt that they would want to add some pop rivets to go along with the silicone adhesive. This is all well and good, but they have not seen the spoiler. I’m having a hard time explaining that the construction of this thing just doesn’t allow for adding anything else for securing it to the car. I’ve tried to take a picture of it, but can’t get one that will convey the shape right.
Comet Incubation Period: 6 days