Xangryth
Test Drive
- Location
- Cape Coral
My lovely 2001 Xterra, formerly a Florida snowbird condo car for 10 years has turned against me- 140K now- has shown it's age-
extensive leakage from rear main seal, original water pump hose sprung a leak, power steering leaking somewhere, leak from transmission cooler line. All the front accessory belts are dodgy looking and the tensioner bearing is bad. The A/C is still ice cold!
I fixed the waterpump hose and transmission line- I put 20w-50w oil in it to slow down the drip to maybe 1qt a month (no dice on seal fix additives)- My original trek adventure trip out west is canceled. I sold my lifted utility trailer with homemade camper box- Right before hurricane Ian hit SW Florida. The wife vetoed spending $$money for a rear main seal replacement- I never even checked the price.
A few days ago I accepted my fate and traded it in on a new 2023 Kia Soul. Perhaps I am lucky this bad stuff happened at home and not 1500 miles away. The dealer was smitten by the nice paint, perfect upholstery and new tires on the Xterra , so taking it in trade was fine. These problems would not be an issue for someone without a senior citizen albatoss around their neck to physically impair them, plus I was lacking a garage with good vehicle lifts- and two buddies who work for beer and pizza.
Kia does not prohibit trailer towing- the manual just says use the sereve service maintenance schedule, if you tow with the car.
After the hurricane , I got a job with a Fema contractor monitoring trucks picking up storm waste disposal. 12hrs a day 7 days a week. Thta was why I was absent from here. I had to follow the trucks with my Xterra- a lot of idling time by the curb. I had to check the oil every day- I aways needed to add a qt of oil each week. The transmission line and water pump hose went out a month ago after the job was finished.
I am happy with my new Kia Soul- I can still go out west, but not into the boonies. I have a nice aluminum rear cargo rack/box for my tent and camping gear- - My Lectric E-bike will store inside.
As Clint Eastwood said:
View: https://youtu.be/t2JnCXvm_Qc
adios all-
Mark
extensive leakage from rear main seal, original water pump hose sprung a leak, power steering leaking somewhere, leak from transmission cooler line. All the front accessory belts are dodgy looking and the tensioner bearing is bad. The A/C is still ice cold!
I fixed the waterpump hose and transmission line- I put 20w-50w oil in it to slow down the drip to maybe 1qt a month (no dice on seal fix additives)- My original trek adventure trip out west is canceled. I sold my lifted utility trailer with homemade camper box- Right before hurricane Ian hit SW Florida. The wife vetoed spending $$money for a rear main seal replacement- I never even checked the price.
A few days ago I accepted my fate and traded it in on a new 2023 Kia Soul. Perhaps I am lucky this bad stuff happened at home and not 1500 miles away. The dealer was smitten by the nice paint, perfect upholstery and new tires on the Xterra , so taking it in trade was fine. These problems would not be an issue for someone without a senior citizen albatoss around their neck to physically impair them, plus I was lacking a garage with good vehicle lifts- and two buddies who work for beer and pizza.
Kia does not prohibit trailer towing- the manual just says use the sereve service maintenance schedule, if you tow with the car.
After the hurricane , I got a job with a Fema contractor monitoring trucks picking up storm waste disposal. 12hrs a day 7 days a week. Thta was why I was absent from here. I had to follow the trucks with my Xterra- a lot of idling time by the curb. I had to check the oil every day- I aways needed to add a qt of oil each week. The transmission line and water pump hose went out a month ago after the job was finished.
I am happy with my new Kia Soul- I can still go out west, but not into the boonies. I have a nice aluminum rear cargo rack/box for my tent and camping gear- - My Lectric E-bike will store inside.
As Clint Eastwood said:
adios all-
Mark
