Tucson Trip & Latest ILX Video
Odometer: 511,719
On September 24, 1994, my Legend was purchased by its original owner from Acura of Pleasanton, California. Patricia drove the car off the lot with 288 miles on the odometer for the total sale price of $41,250.20. The car had been on the dealership’s lot for several months as a test-drive vehicle. It was one of the first “refreshed” 1994 model Legend coupes in the Bay Area at the time, since it was built in October 1993.
Eighteen years later, I gave Patricia a look at her Legend with 511,400 more miles on it than that day in August 1994. And I could still see the look in her eye that told me she missed the car and the 9 years she had spent with it until I took ownership in early 2003. Yesterday, she competed in the Duathlon Nationals event in Tucson, Arizona which she had flown in from San Francisco for. The Duathlon consisted of a 5K run, 35K bike, and another 5K run. Patricia’s 4th place victory is evidence that she’s still very much “got it” physically.
Patricia and I met at Starbucks in Tucson, which is about 100 miles away from my home, for a chat after her event. She and I have kept in close contact over the years since I bought my Legend. She even attended the Drive to Five celebration last November when it turned 500,000 miles at Acura Headquarters in Torrance, California. As we got caught up over a drink, I looked out at the Legend in the parking lot. “From this distance, you can’t see the rock chips,” I said. Her reply, “Oh, I can!” She loves to give me a hard time about how I’ve let the paint on the front end get beat-up and the clear coat fail on the trunk lid.
Congratulations to Patricia on another of her many athletic successes. Hope we can connect again soon.
Taken at a rest stop just north of Casa Grande, Arizona on westbound Interstate 10.
Only in AZ do you see a warning like this at a rest stop. I’ve actually managed to live in Arizona for over 6 years now and never see a scorpion.
Yesterday evening I attended a KUPD 97.9 (local radio station) “UFEST” rock concert in Mesa, Arizona with my friends Raul and Matt. The car sat in the corner of a dirt parking lot ($10 parking!) while we enjoyed getting our ears blasted by Chevelle, Staind, and Godsmack.
Chevelle takes the stage.
Mechanically, the old car needs a few things.
- Alternator started making a whining noise on the way back from Tucson yesterday. It was changed only 4,755 miles ago but I went with an aftermarket unit instead of OEM and I think that may be the reason to blame. Lessons learned!
- Tires need replacing (and they’re wearing badly on the insides primarily, so I probably need an alignment). I bought these Michelin Primacy tires at Discount Tire at 392,107 miles. I don’t think I’ve put 119,000 miles on this set of tires because I’ve had a couple of other sets of wheels/tires on the car over the last couple of years. I’d say, however, that they do have at least 80-90k on them. These Michelins are spendy (I was quoted $750 for a new set this week) but they are the best tire I’ve ever owned and I wouldn’t settle for anything less.
- Timing belt & water pump are now 90,706 miles old. In my car, they are recommended to be changed every 90,000 miles so it’s now due for this service. I’ll probably get it in to Acura within the next couple of weeks to have it taken care of.
All in all, still running great!
In NEW Acura news: Check out the latest in the series of videos illustrating my feedback on the all-new 2013 Acura ILX model which goes on sale next month. Lee DaSilva, Senior Product Planner at Acura’s main office, shared some Q&A with me during an exclusive test drive.
For a complete write-up of my experience, stop by the “ILX Experience” Facebook tab. You can click into the Tyson’s ILX Blog screen and see not only my story about driving the ILX, but also a log of reader questions that I’ve answered about the car.
The ILX that I drove in the video was this gorgeous Crystal Black 2.4 liter 6-speed with black interior. I loved how the 6-speed model has a few special touches on the interior to give it a sporty feel: contrast color stitching on the leather seats, and red accents on the gauge cluster.
A couple more shots from behind the scenes at the studio.
drivetofive 
April 29, 2012 at 3:37 pm
Tyson, another great blog and it was cool that you could meet the original owner of your car!
You can’t sign my dash, or inside of my trunk deck lid for that matter unless you get your car painted before NALM 2012 in Milwaukee! Give your car a treat of some fresh paint!
Our cars love OEM parts, even though our wallets don’t!
April 29, 2012 at 3:47 pm
Haha, it’s so true Kevin! They really do love OEM parts. I know – the coupe is absolutely begging for a cosmetic makeover. Thing is, when I paint this car I want it done right. And that means lots of $$. For right now I’m just trying to keep the old thing on the road! Can’t wait to see ya at NALM!
April 29, 2012 at 7:20 pm
No bones about it: I am your #1 fan. And I am a fan of the ILX as well as Patricia and her athletic prowess. Thumbs up all the way around.
April 29, 2012 at 11:03 pm
Thanks for the thumbs up. I did send Patricia your regards!
April 29, 2012 at 11:54 pm
Didn’t Acura give you a timing belt and water pump with a year of maintenance at the 500,000 mark? With that kind of price, it’s a no brainer. You did a wonderful job with your photography until recently hiding that trunk lid. I think there are different levels of after market parts. Autozone, O”Reilly, and Advance sell the cheaper ones. Non drug store auto parts houses sell after market parts that are much better quality. And still no where near as much as OEM. $22 bucks for an NGK plug at Acura? Why?
April 30, 2012 at 1:12 am
Yes indeed – TB/WP will be compliments of Acura but this alternator thing might be a whole separate ordeal. I actually got 100k out of an Autozone alternator recently so I had high hopes. So much for THAT! Hope your weekend’s been nice, Duane!
April 30, 2012 at 2:31 am
Awesome blog Tyson. Great recap on the original owner. A while back on the Acura forums, I remember you had posted a picture of when you bought the car from Patricia. Lets see it again!
April 30, 2012 at 4:08 am
Yup, you found the pic by now 🙂 I think I posted that in the initial post of this blog. Thanks for stopping by, Pasha! Sorry we couldn’t connect during my visit to Indiana. I hope to run into you soon. Hope you had a great weekend!
April 30, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Yeah, I’ve started reading your blog but I’m kinda doing it backwards and reading all the new stuff first. And, no worries – next time you’re in Indiana again we’ll have to try to get together.
April 30, 2012 at 5:23 pm
Hi Tyson,
You have been a busy guy! Thank you for the mention of where your incredible journey started.
Awesome that you were able to meet up with Patricia! It’s almost like meeting up with long lost family!
We can’t wait to check out the ILX in person ourselves, you beat me to it!
Keep up the great posts and here’s to a bright future for you and your jouney. Make your final destination a “Legend” to remember.
Adam Toy
Acura of Pleasanton
April 30, 2012 at 7:51 pm
Hi Adam! Hey I’m glad you’re staying tuned to the blog. I’m past due for a road trip to the Bay Area but I remember taking a pit stop off the 580 to take a picture of my Legend at its original dealership a year or two ago. Great location and a place I’m proud to say that my car originated! Indeed I am looking forward to continuing my learning about the ILX and will share updates as they become available. Hope your week is going well – keep up the great work at AOP and I’ll talk to you soon.
May 2, 2012 at 5:30 pm
Hi Tyson,
When you are in the area give me a heads up. If you have time, I’ll get your car washed and vacuumed. While we chat about the brand!
Adam
Acura of Pleasanton
April 30, 2012 at 10:37 pm
Patricia is a wonderful gal! I was so glad I got a chance to talk with her at the 500k event!
Like I mentioned earlier, I was actually wearing my 500k event t-shirt today at work! There is still one more suprize for you concerning your 500k, more on that at a later date.
April 30, 2012 at 10:49 pm
Hey Dave, yeah she’s great. Never would have thought I’d develop this kind of friendship with someone just from owning their prior car! But I guess this car has led to my introduction to MANY people via the forums. What a great network of people across the country & beyond. Extra surprise? Can’t wait 🙂