An expensive week

wytbishop · Post by **wytbishop** » April 8th, 2008, 11:20 pm

So, I just need to vent.

Last week the charge light and the ABS light started to come on randomly...indicating low voltage. So I figured, well it's a 15 year old car and who knows when it was done, so an alternator is to be expected. $260 for a partsource recon, $307 for a Mazda recon...I got my spare rebuilt by a local auto electric shop for $170...not bad.

Then the clutch started to get really bad. I tried bleeding it, but the pressure plate is toast I think. I knew the first time I drove the car that it was going to have to be done soon, so again...to be expected. $185 for a stock replacement + about $40 to resurface the flywheel...meh.

But then...Yesterday...one of the people I work with comes in from outside and informs me that I have a flat tire. Sure enough...picked up a nail. I got it repaired for $23 but I noticed at the same time that the other front is bulging. Again, I knew that I would need new rubber this year, so it's not unexpected, but seriously...C'mon!!!! Fortunately, I work for a global company and we buy alot of stuff. I talked to the fleet manager, who buys about 100 trucks and 2000 tires a year and he was able to get me a 50% discount from Bridgestone. Now if I hadn't already spent $400 this week, I'd probably go for a nice set of $259 per tire RE 01's (~drools~), cuz really how often do you get tires for half price? But, being as I'm already down $400 that I wasn't planning on spending this week, I figure I'll go for a more reasonable RE750. Nice performance tire...but they stopped making 205/55/15 in that tire and they can only find me 2 of them. AAAAnd, the replacement for that tire does not come in that size at all. Almost nothing does. So if I wanna use the stock rims, I pretty well have to go to a 195/60/15.

I'm not complaining about the money, because I knew I would have to spend it and I'm not complaining about the tires, bucause even though they're the wrong size, they're nice and they're half price...

BUT DID IT HAVE TO HAPPEN ALL AT ONCE???? MAN!!!

K, I'm done. Thanks.

tehbrookzorz · Post by **tehbrookzorz** » April 9th, 2008, 1:30 am

Yes.

It had to happen all at once.

Otherwise Mooneggs would paint his car a new colour: Candy Primer.

se7en · Post by **se7en** » April 9th, 2008, 1:39 am

lolzorz!!

ja man, only things break in thrice times weekly.

or, stuff breaks in triplicate

or, Yo yo yo my brotha, dis caddy bust a wallet tree times.

things break in threes.

it sucks. that's why they call it the MX-3 lolz

7

zzzoomx3 · Post by **zzzoomx3** » April 9th, 2008, 2:28 am

damn - you pay high prices for parts man - you gotta find better resources. http://www.tires-easy.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is an awesome place for tires - i paid 50 bucks each for my 215/40/17s - they have kuhmos for 56$ USD. what kind of clutch did you get? i got my F1 stage 3 6 puck racing clutch for $185. please dont tell me you got an OEM one for that much. and i've NEVER paid more than 5 bucks to have a flat fixed. 23 bucks - eesh....

se7en · Post by **se7en** » April 9th, 2008, 11:56 am

ya, he's right man. Shop around next time maybe

Post by **Mooneggs** » April 9th, 2008, 4:56 pm

tehbrookzorz wrote: Otherwise Mooneggs would paint his car a new colour: Candy Primer.

lol?

anyways usually when stuff goes wrong on my mx-3's it happens all at once... and usually to both of them

murphy's law I guess...

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » April 9th, 2008, 4:57 pm

They say bad luck comes in 3's

se7en · Post by **se7en** » April 9th, 2008, 5:06 pm

yessa, that's why they call it the mx-3.

usually it's :tranny, disty, broken key in ignition. lol

wytbishop · Post by **wytbishop** » April 10th, 2008, 12:16 am

se7en wrote:ya, he's right man. Shop around next time maybe

I feel like I did the best I could under the circumstances. I went to tires-easy.com and the tires I got are $89ea + $200 shipping + about $60 to install...so about $625 total. I am only paying $84ea ,no shipping + the same $60 install about $415 total with tax.

I probably could have gotten more clutch for the money, but I want to keep the car stock and I have no need of a better than stock clutch.

se7en · Post by **se7en** » April 10th, 2008, 12:30 am

Ya, I know. You're right...I just like to kid around.

I need more clutch now though..

and ya, that's not too bad for those tires man. You did fine. Hopefully you are good for a while now eh?

cheers

7

zzzoomx3 · Post by **zzzoomx3** » April 10th, 2008, 12:31 am

wytbishop wrote:
se7en wrote:ya, he's right man. Shop around next time maybe
I feel like I did the best I could under the circumstances. I went to tires-easy.com and the tires I got are $89ea + $200 shipping + about $60 to install...so about $625 total. I am only paying $84ea ,no shipping + the same $60 install about $415 total with tax.

I probably could have gotten more clutch for the money, but I want to keep the car stock and I have no need of a better than stock clutch.

200 SHIPPING!! that cant be right...i paid a total of $250 (including shipping) for 4 17"s - shipped to my house UPS from tires-easy.com - i live in texas, so i dont know if that makes a difference from where you are, but it was only 40 bucks to have them installed on my MOMOs at a local tire shop. sure i went to Discount tire and they wanted some ridiculous amount of $120 to mount my tires - UH DUH - that just dumb! so i went to a little Mexican tire shop and they did just as good a job as Discount would have. in fact its been over 6 months and i've had no issues with the mounting or balancing job they did. I would hate to live where you are if i had to deal with those kinds of prices for things. what kind of tires did you get anyway? i got the Nankangs, simply because they were the cheapest and granted i had never heard of them prior to purchasing them but in all my 20+ years of driving - they have been just as good, if not better than any tire i've ever had including, Yokohama, Pirelli, Michelin (which i will NEVER buy again), Goodyear, Bridgestone Kuhmos, etc. and they looked cool too

zzzoomx3 · Post by **zzzoomx3** » April 10th, 2008, 12:36 am

wytbishop wrote:I probably could have gotten more clutch for the money, but I want to keep the car stock and I have no need of a better than stock clutch.

if you're going to buy better than stock tires than why not better than stock clutch? no point in skimping on some things while spending outrageous prices on others. ESPECIALLY when you can get a better than stock 'whatever' for the same price as the OEM or stock product.

not dissing - just trying to understand the logic behind it.

wytbishop · Post by **wytbishop** » April 10th, 2008, 12:52 am

The tires are Bridgestone RE750's. Nice tire, not outrageous performance wise, just good quality, nice look. I bought Bridgestone because the my company fleet manager got me 50% off from the manufacturer. You think it's bad now, with out the discount they're $168ea. retail. I live in one of the fastest rising economies in North America. Nothing is cheap up here. The value of my condo went up over $100k in 8 months last year. OH and shipping to Edmonton Alberta that's why the $200.

The tires I bought are not out of line with the stock "whatever". Just good quality, easy to get, convenient. Same with the clutch. I can walk to the parts store and get it. No hassle, good quality. That's all.

PushnFords · Post by **PushnFords** » April 17th, 2008, 5:45 pm

Better than my luck. I bought a beater Civic to get to work in...needed a 4 door for the carpool. Only ever had one problem with it...and that was the engine blowing!

Derek

MX-3.com

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