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Archive for the Maintenance Category

Alaska Road Trip 2016 Begins in 4 Days

Posted in ILX, Legend, Maintenance, Road Trip on May 16, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend Coupe): 543,199

Odometer (Legend Sedan): 150,241

Odometer (ILX): 163,382

It was Saturday, May 6, 2006 when my dad and I departed from Salt Lake City to begin a very long journey. For months, I had researched and planned a nearly 8,000-mile road trip across North America and ending in Fairbanks, Alaska. It took us only 4 days to get there.

A decade has passed, and I’m ready to go back. The Legend, which had 220,000 miles back then and has 543,000 miles now, will sit this one out. I’m taking my 2013 ILX. The pre-work began long ago: I have a recent copy of the “Milepost” trip planner in hand. Milepost is known for being the Bible of the Alcan, with detailed turn-by-turn directions. We relied heavily on the book in ’06 as we were unaided by any sort of GPS or smart phones at that time. This year, we’ll have some help from technology but I still want to keep the navigation somewhat “old school.”

The fun begins this coming Friday, May 20th. Joining me for this adventure will be Jason from Las Cruces who is preparing to take his 2004 Mazda 6. It’s tough (impossible) to know exactly where we’ll be stopping each night because there are so many variables in play. Just a couple of weeks ago a piece of the Alaska Highway was shut down due to wildfires, and one such fire in Alberta necessitated the evacuation of an entire town of 80,000 people. Beyond that hazard, there are the inevitable delays due to road construction this time of year, potential weather uncertainty, and general concern of our health and safety. We don’t want to push our limits on daily distance (even though longer daylight hours up north may tempt us to) so that we can stay alert throughout the trip.

For some time now, I’ve been compiling a to-take list. Here’s an excerpt:

3 spare tires. I have a full size 17″ wheel that matches the existing wheels, plus the donut the car came with, plus an extra tire that I saved the last time I had my new set installed.
4 walkie talkies. Battery life under constant use is about 1/2 day. So if Jason and I each carry two and charge them at night, we will have constant communication which is critical especially in areas where cell signal is nonexistent.
1 GoPro camera, 1 Canon Rebel digital SLR camera, and my iPhone for documentation of the trip.
2 iPods (one with about 1,300 songs, and one with over 15,000) plus 3 huge CD cases carrying 64 discs each.
Milepost Guide Book editions from 2006 and from 2015 with step-by-step, detailed travel helps.
2 laptop computers: My personal laptop as well as my work one, so I can check email occasionally as time and Wifi permit. In the 9 business days I’ll be gone, I anticipate almost 2,000 emails coming in.
My “I drove the Alaska Highway. Both Ways, Dammit!” bumper sticker.

Oh, and a valid passport! When was the last time you took a ROAD TRIP that required one?

This afternoon, the ILX got an oil change at Acura of Tempe with 0W20 oil which should be good to last me for the entire length of the trip without having to have it serviced whilst en route. The last oil change prior to this was in February, about 7,500 miles ago. Maintenance minder and trip meter are now reset at 0.00 miles.

It might not be this clean when I get back.

In an untimely fashion, my credit card was compromised over the weekend so I’m waiting for a new one to arrive (quickly) so I can take it on the trip. I’ve already alerted the credit card company that I’ll be traveling through 7 states and 4 provinces in case my charging activity looks suspicious (because it will). Here’s my most “determined” look to pull this trip off without a hitch.

Couple other news bits:

Anybody already read the article about Victor Sheppard who drove his 2007 Toyota Tundra to a million miles?

Link Here

Toyota is going to dissect his truck! A shame, I say. Keep it rolling.

Here’s a photo from Saturday morning in Phoenix while I had the Legend sedan out for a spin. “Mr. Lucky’s” has been a landmark along Grand Avenue since 1966 when it was built to be Phoenix’s first casino. That plan didn’t go through, but the place ended up being a nightclub for 40 years. Today it houses a furniture store but that crazy (creepy?) sign out front still catches everyone’s eye on a daily basis.

The twins were put back away for the next few weeks.

I got a kick out of this gas station the other day. “Super Plus 2000: New Gas for the New Millenium.” And “millennium” isn’t even spelled correctly. I wonder if I should tell them that Y2K was 16 years ago.

Spare tires for days!

My friend Michael who flew out to buy his new Vigor recently has been really enjoying it.

That shine though!

And a friend sent me this photo of a neighborhood in Paradise Valley, Arizona where I need to look at real estate.

Until next time! Not sure when or where that’ll be, but I’ll post whenever I can.

EDIT: WordPress just told me this was my 555th post since I started Drive to Five. Gives a whole new meaning to the name, doesn’t it? Drive on.

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Houston, We Don’t Have a Problem: Getting Ready for NALM 2015

Posted in ILX, Legend, Maintenance, NALM on September 20, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (1994 Legend Coupe): 535,330

Odometer (1993 Legend Sedan): 178,352

Odometer (1994 Legend Sedan): 147,051

Combined Legend Miles: 860,733

Now that my fleet of Acu-rides has grown to a half-dozen, one of my readers requested a photo of all the keys in a lineup. Well, this one’s for you, Sunny! In order here L to R are 1992 NSX, 1993 Legend sedan, 1994 Legend sedan, 1994 Legend coupe, 1994 Vigor, and 2013 ILX.

It’s that time of year again when the Legend fans of the world (all two dozen of us, ha!) get together at an annual event called the National Acura Legend Meet (NALM). It’s tradition – even obsession – for some of us to make sure it happens each year. For 2015, our host city will be at the fourth most populous city in the United States (at a staggering 6.3 million residents in the metro area): Houston, Texas. This destination marks a homecoming of sorts, since the inaugural NALM in 2005 was held in Dallas a few hours to the north.

For this voyage, you’ll be joining me for a trip length of 1,178 miles each way, which according to Google Maps should take 16 hours & 24 minutes of drive time. Get your road snacks ready.

This will be my 11th NALM. The last few years’ events are detailed here:

NALM 2011: Morristown, New Jersey
NALM 2012: Milwaukee, Wisconsin (took the ILX for this one)
NALM 2013: Asheville, North Carolina
NALM 2014: Los Angeles, California

Here’s a photo of last year’s program in Los Angeles. I think we had 30-someodd cars in attendance. Panorama!

A 2,400-mile round trip journey is no small undertaking, so I have to make sure my Legends (2 of the 3, anyhow) are up to the challenge. For this trip, my 1994 coupe and 1994 sedan will be making the drive. Thanks in advance to a yet-unnamed friend who will be driving one of the cars on my behalf. On Saturday morning, I took the Vigor over to swap it out for the 1994 Legend sedan in storage.

Back at the house, it was nice to start “seeing double” again. I’ve had the coupe since 2003 and the sedan since 2008. They were built 5 months apart (9/93 versus 2/94) but they are the same model year, color, and drivetrain.

Let’s take a peek under the hood and check out a few fluid levels. Here’s the 4-door.

And here’s the 2-door. Identical, right? Only to the untrained eye. The coupe is missing a sticker on its airbox (Kevin, I know you sent me one – I just haven’t installed it yet!) and has some aftermarket stereo wiring.

For kicks, the new 1993 sedan. Some clear differences here. Let’s ditch that aftermarket air intake soon.

The coupe went in for maintenance on Thursday afternoon and received a full inspection and 5W30 oil change at Acura of Tempe. I added a new page to my 2-binder collection of receipts, and a 257th line to my maintenance spreadsheet on that car. The technician noted some (known) oil leaks and he said the front tires are “yellow” status so I should probably rotate those on my next oil change. Otherwise, a clean bill of health and Dana, my service advisor sent me off with “Have a great trip!” Even she has no doubt the car will get me to TX & back.

We will depart on Wednesday evening. I’ll post as best I can with regular updates, so come back soon!

I have a few fun high-mileage topics to share with you:

My coworker, Todd, achieved the 320,000 milestone in his Volkswagen Passat this week and sent me a photo. Congrats, Todd!

My friend Spencer sent me photos of an Accord his dad took on trade at the family dealership in California. It’s a 2000 model year with 509,000 miles on it, and the original automatic transmission! Looks pretty decent for that kind of mileage!

509,000 miles on a 2000 comes out to 33,933 miles per year!

And finally, I’ve reached out to the folks at The Smoking Tire who are on a mission to get to the 1 million milestone on a 1996 Lexus LS400. Site founder Matt Farah bought the car not long ago with just a little fewer than 900,000 on the odometer. He’s passing it around to various automotive journalists around the country and letting them help the old Lexus get to 7-digit territory.

I thought this article (and video) about the LS were great. The article discusses how most often it’s the type of OWNER responsible for achieving high-mile status, rather than the type of car. Take care of your vehicle and it’ll take care of you!

A couple friends and I took a trip to Bartlett Lake, northeast of Phoenix, yesterday with the ILX.

A little dirt road didn’t scare me away.

Perfect weather now that we’ve dipped out of triple-digit temperatures. Welcome, fall.

Hope you’re enjoying the weekend too!

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140,000-Mile Maintenance Cost Comparison: Then & Now

Posted in ILX, Legend, Maintenance on September 2, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 534,432

Odometer (ILX): 139,755

A 2013 Acura costs half as much to maintain long-term as a 1993 Acura. And I can prove it.

Let’s talk about maintenance costs. I love to ‘geek out’ about facts & figures, so bear with me here. My friends and I frequently comment about how owning an old Legend gets pricey – like this recent dialogue with Kevin from Georgia, who I’ll see at NALM in a few weeks:

Well stated, Kevin. And we love our expensive hobbies like your 1994 LS coupe. Last Wednesday, I dropped another $250 on maintenance for the ILX. This got me wondering just how much the car has cost overall to keep on the road since new. That total is $4651.26. Considering that it has 139,755 miles on it, the cost-per-mile comes out to 3.3 cents. Here’s a detailed spreadsheet look at my ILX’s complete maintenance history since new (on June 12, 2012 @ 16 miles on the odometer).

If the ILX has taken $4,650 to get to 140,000 miles, how much did my other cars cost to get there? Luckily, on 4 of my 6 current Acuras (most of you haven’t ‘met’ the most recent – but you will soon), I have complete records back to brand new. And for each of those cars, I’ve created an Excel spreadsheet just like the one you’re looking at for the ILX, so it’s an easy calculation.

1992 NSX: This car only has 101,000 miles on it, but has already cost $16,908.74. [17 cents per mile]

1993 Legend sedan: Cost $9,777.44 to get to 140,000 miles. [7 cents per mile]

1994 Legend coupe: Cost $7,403.56 to get to 140,000 miles. [5.3 cents per mile]

Conclusion: The average cost of getting a 1993-94 Acura Legend from zero miles (brand new) to 140,000 miles was $8,590. When compared with what the ILX has cost me so far ($4,651), this is a substantial savings – especially considering 20 years of inflation! Did you know that $8,590 in 1994 dollars is $13,831 in 2015 dollars?!

So why is it that my new car is so cheap to keep on the road? How can it be that you’ll spend HALF as much getting your new Acura into the 100,000+ mile range today as you would have spent in the 1990’s? I have a few ideas:

Cars are more reliable in general. Fewer things break. Contributing factors might be: Enhanced durability testing techniques, higher quality materials, more rigorous development processes over the last 20 years.
Scheduled maintenance intervals are longer. While my Legend grew up on 3,000-mile oil changes, it’s not uncommon for my ILX to go 3 times that distance thanks to longer-lasting “0W20” synthetic oil.
Fewer “major” services. The Hondacars of yesteryear required strict adherence to a 90,000-mile change interval for timing belt & water pump replacement. My ILX, on the other hand, has a timing chain, which requires little/no upkeep. This is a $1,200+ savings for me every 90,000 miles!
Improved technology. Thanks to the many computer systems at work in today’s cars, we leave it to the car to tell us when it needs something, rather than leaving it to a mechanic who may just want extra money.
External conditions: Are roads less likely to put wear and tear on suspensions today than they were 20 years ago? Am I a more careful driver than my Legends had when they were new?
Or is it that the Legend was simply a more complex car than my ILX is (it did have two additional cylinders) and thus was inherently more involved to keep on the road?

There’s so much to consider, but these are just a few ideas that I had. I know we have a lot of other road warriors in the audience out there. What do you think? Are cars of today more economical to maintain than cars of yesterday?

Chew on that while you look at this safari-ready, lifted 1998 Acura SLX that a friend sent me.

Finally, the Phoenix area has been getting hit hard this week with late-summer “monsoon” thunderstorms. We had a pretty severe one roll through town on Monday night.

I was out to dinner with a friend in Old Town Scottsdale when I noticed that every time the restaurant door swung open, people were ducking indoors to seek cover, soaking wet. The rain outside was coming in sideways and the wind was howling. Sadly, when I went back out to my car, I saw that a dumpster had rolled into it.

The pics were taken AFTER I had rolled the dumpster away and folded the dented sideview mirror back out.

Somehow, miraculously, the mirror took the only impact and the door has zero damage. The dent mostly popped out and I threw some touch-up paint on it Tuesday. This will have to do for now!

Poor car has been through a lot in the last year – I got backed into overnight at a Motel 6 parking lot in Las Vegas, a busted out rear window in Salt Lake City this summer, and now this. Always an adventure! Hope everyone is having a good week!

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Carfax Reports and Smog Checks

Posted in Blog, ILX, Legend, Maintenance on May 7, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend Coupe): 533,379

Odometer (Legend Sedan): 146,786

Odometer (ILX): 124,503

Some people buy a vehicle as a disposable appliance – a sheer means of transportation to get from A to B. Others hold their vehicles so near and dear that they’ll rebuild them – twice – after catastrophic collisions. Where do you fall within that range of car owners?

One of my favorite things to do on rare weekends when I stay in town is to visit the local Ecology “pick & pull” auto junkyard, plunk down $2 for my entry fee, and simply wander around through the aisles of parted-out cars. I like to eyeball the interiors and look specifically at the gauge clusters to see just how many miles each one traveled before being put to rest in the graveyard. Occasionally I’ll come across something with fewer than 100,000 miles on it. Most of the time the odometers are between 200,000 and 300,000. And every once in awhile, I’ve seen them beyond that – but never anything in the 400’s or 500’s.

The thing that I wonder about, though, is what kind of story each car would tell if it could talk. How many of those vehicles have ever had “Just Married” painted on them? How many were driven by a zealous 16-year-old as his or her first car? How many ever took a cross-country trip from one coast to the other? How many of them were ever stolen? Or, a more somber thought, how many of them became witness to their driver’s death in a collision?

Many people today buy a car without ever having thought of its prior ownership history. For me, such history is a hugely important part of how “good” a used car is. I go crazy for a clean car for sale by its original owner, with a stack of detailed maintenance paperwork, a clean title, and some original floor mats. Mmmm. It’s scary to think of buying something without any kind of record. There are, however, ways to at least know something about where any car’s been.

Carfax and Autocheck are companies in business to provide that kind of reporting. Carfax has been around since 1986. The company has access to 10 billion records from 86,000 sources (motor vehicle departments, auctions, insurance companies, repair facilities, etc). With just a VIN or a license plate (and a credit card), regular consumers can pull vehicle history reports from those billions of records. Carfax is certainly not a complete record, and it should only be considered for a used car purchase in combination with other research.

As I’ve been casually in the market for a 1992-94 Acura Vigor, I grabbed a $45 Carfax account and started running reports on a few prospective cars, including the above pictured beauty (sarcasm). My account gives me access to UNLIMITED reports by license plate / state, or 5 reports by 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). I had some fun with this.

One Vigor showed record of a whopping 13 owners in its lifetime. I ran some of my friends’ cars for the heck of it, too. I also checked out some of my “old” cars to see where they ended up. I was intrigued by the report on my first car: the 1986 Chevy Celebrity that was my pride and joy from 1997-98. I laughed the other day when I saw this picture on Instagram because the keys shown there are exactly what the keys to my Celeb looked like (square for the ignition, round for the door & trunk locks – I think).

I know my parents bought the car new in 1986 from Axtell Chevrolet in Logan, Utah. But the first record on Carfax wasn’t until March 1994 with an odometer reading of 555 miles. Say what? Yes. The odometer on that Celebrity only had 5 digits. So, by the time the car was only 8 years old, it had already turned over to 00,000 and made any future readings erroneous. Utah noted that fact on the Celebrity’s report. The car’s title was branded with “Exceeds Mechanical Limits.” Can you imagine if my ILX only had a 5-digit odometer? It would have rolled over once already and it’s a 2-year-old car.

By the time I got the Celebrity, it had around 194,000 miles on it. But of course, the odometer read only 94,000.

That Celebrity dropped off Carfax reporting a decade ago, since the last record was a purchase reported in March 2005. I’m sure the car has long since been crushed and turned into scrap metal.

I thought it would be interesting to go ahead and share the detailed Carfax reports for my Legend and for my ILX. The Legend’s history is tainted so it’s a little unnerving to post it here, but it’s all in the interest of a good history lesson. Some of you may know that I hit two deer with the Legend in summer 2007.

It took almost six years — until early 2013 — before that insurance claim started showing up on the Carfax report! My car’s title today is clear. There are a whopping 77 service records, and oddly enough, Carfax thinks my Legend is actually worth about $2,600 MORE than retail book value! That means I could price it at about $4,700 since “excellent” condition value is $2,173.

It took me 11 screen captures to get the full Legend Carfax report. Here you go!

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Then there’s the ILX. Clockwork maintenance from Acura of Tempe, and not much else.

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There’s one more Legend record that’ll be showing up soon. I got a $41.23 oil change on Wednesday with 5W30 synthetic blend oil at Acura of Tempe. It had been over 6 months since my last service, but only 1,703 miles. I really hadn’t driven the car much since last fall! Here’s the latest snapshot from my Excel maintenance record showing service and repair costs since about 512,000 miles.

The technician did note a number of leaks, including the differential, transmission, driver side inner CV boot, and rear main seal. This all does come as a bit of a surprise though since my garage floor is squeaky clean and I’ve never noticed a drop in any fluid levels.

Today during lunch, I took my Legend GS sedan for its emissions (“smog”) testing. The test is required once every two years and it evaluates the levels of pollutants in the exhaust output. The wait was only about 20 minutes.

Here are the numbers:

Hydrocarbons in grams/mile: .49 (applicable standard = .80)
Carbon monoxide in grams/mile: 7.65 (applicable standard = 12)
Oxides of nitrogen in grams/mile: .66 (applicable standard = 2)

It passed, I was issued my certificate for a $20 fee, and I went on my way. My 2-year renewal registration with the State of Arizona was only $95, and $50 of that was because I have a personalized tag. It really is a cheap car to hang onto. I gave the car a bath before putting it back into storage.

Oops, should have pulled out the vacuum.

Happy Friday!

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1992 Acura NSX – 100,000 Miles Achieved

Posted in ILX, Maintenance, Milestones, NSX on April 16, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 533,180

Odometer (ILX): 121,438

I couldn’t have asked for a more fitting time or place for my 1992 Acura NSX to turn over its first 100,000 miles.

My friends and I were just finishing up an exhilarating run up southern Arizona’s Mount Lemmon, last Friday, April 10th. As the NSX odometer’s numbers crept steadily upward like digits on a Vegas slot machine in slow-motion, I watched as the “1” started peeking its way up from below. Digital odometers will never be as fun as those old “rolling” kind!

Followed closely by my Legend coupe (driven by Peter) and Legend sedan (driven by Jason), we turned west on Pecos Road from Interstate 10 as we came into the south end of the Phoenix area. Just 5 miles later, I had to pull over to the shoulder for this short video clip:

I’m a historian in every sense, so if you’ll bear with me I’ll share a little about my NSX and its life since its February 1992 date of manufacture in Japan. I’m the fourth owner of this NSX. The first owner made his purchase on September 29, 1992 and had the car for almost 5 years. The second had it for only a year. The third owner had it for over 13 years, and then I came along. I first test-drove the car on Sunday, December 11, 2011 while my friend Matt and I were in the Bay Area for a Metallica concert. It had 80,441 miles on it.

Love at first sight?

The following Saturday, December 17th, I flew back to San Jose and sealed the deal with a certified check and a handshake. The car had 10 more miles on it by then, and I drove away at 80,451 as the new proud owner. My first fuel stop was at Gas N’ Go on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose. I paid $3.65/gallon for 12 gallons of Premium and went on my way. Yes, I saved that receipt.

I listened to the Top Gun soundtrack on cassette tape (it came with the car) for a good portion of the 721-mile drive home.

I’m still in contact with all 3 prior owners. In fact, shortly after I bought the car, I snail-mailed some current pictures to its original owner, William, and he responded gratefully with the following comments:

That is indeed my NSX. I really was interested in owning one from the time they came out, but the feeding frenzy drove the prices out of reason. I drove it on the weekends and sometimes on Friday to work. I was racing Formula cars at Laguna Seca at the time, so I drove it to Monterey once a month and parked it with the Ferraris, the Porsches, and the occasional Lambo that the other racers would bring.

Its second owner, Gary, also had some fun at the very same track:

I did manage to race that car on an open track day at Monterey’s Laguna Seca racetrack and I guarantee that the weakest part of the car was the driver! How many cars have you had that can be driven through traffic jams and then spend the day racing around the track at 8000 RPM, and then step back in for a wonderful return home trip. Most of the other participants had to trailer their cars to the track and have all the spares they felt they needed to keep the car going. Two Corvettes had such brake failures that the ran into hay bales at the end of the long straight.

The day before the track day I managed to spin the car four spins while trying to enter a curving onramp near my home. Mostly because I needed to replace the Yokohama tires that really wear out too quickly and with bad grip at the rear the car really starts acting more Porsche-like and hard to handle. New Dunlops were perfect timing for the next day on the track and never again spun out the back end.

Up until that the day I picked the car up, it had lived 100% of its life in the San Francisco Bay Area. I bought the car as a 30th birthday present to myself in December 2011 and brought it to its new home in Arizona. Since then it’s been with me on a number of adventures. Here’s a lengthy post where I shared a bunch of those.

What does it cost to own and operate one of these old cars? As mentioned, I took delivery at 80,451 miles. Today, the car has 100,060. So, I’ve put on 19,609 miles and I’ve spent $2,347.14 keeping it on the road. That means it’s cost me 8 cents per mile. Keep in mind that we’re of course excluding the cost of fuel, registration, insurance, and emissions testing. This is strictly a maintenance cost.

Unlike on my Legend coupe, I don’t have “all-inclusive” records back to new on this car, but I do have quite a chunk of paperwork in a 3-ring binder that I’ve taken the time to log and that I continue to track on an ongoing basis. Here’s what I have record of on this car since it was brand new:

18 oil changes (I currently use Castrol GTX 10W30)
4 batteries
1 timing belt & water pump change (Jan 2011 @ 78,239 mi)

Aside from that, there have been various other repairs over the years. The big ticket items were a $1,700 repair due to a “snap ring” issue (common a certain subset / production run of these cars) at 37,000 miles and a $2,500 repair at 65,000 miles that included mostly brake work. Total maintenance cost on record (remember, I’m certain that I don’t have a piece of paper for everything that’s ever been done to the car) for 100,060 miles and 22 years of service is $16,498.55. That comes out to 6 cents per mile over its entire lifetime.

Here’s my detailed spreadsheet if anyone is interested in the nitty gritty.

The car currently has a few maintenance needs which I’ll be addressing prior to the NSXPO event in Palm Springs this October.

Passenger rear inner CV boot leaking
Oil pan gasket leaking
ABS pump accumulator faulty

I’m lucky to have the country’s premier NSX service & repair facility right here in my own backyard. Science of Speed in Chandler, Arizona has made a name for itself as the place to have NSX service or upgrades performed. Every time I’ve been into the shop, there are at least a half-dozen NSXs up on the lifts getting something done to them.

On the topic of milestones and maintenance:

The ILX drove 9,015 miles in the little over two months’ time between February 3rd and April 11th. It went in on Saturday for an oil change, tire rotation, and replacement of the alternator belt — a $275 service at Acura of Tempe. It sure is nice being able to go three times as far on an oil change in the ILX than I was used to doing in my Legend.

I took a quick shot of “old” and “new” ILXs on my way out. You can see the subtle differences in the rear bumper and the taillights between the 2013 and the 2016 models.

Cheers!

19 Comments »

Legendary Lunch at Bill Johnson’s Big Apple in Phoenix

Posted in Legend, Maintenance on December 22, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend sedan): 146,187

Odometer (ILX): 108,115

Let’s eat. A gigantic, cheesy neon sign with a steer on top of it was more than enough to lure me into a restaurant called Bill Johnson’s Big Apple on Van Buren Street in Phoenix on Saturday. Each corner of the building’s rooftop had a cow perched on top of it, so right away I knew I was in for a treat. After a quick picture with my Legend sedan, I stepped inside the swinging front doors and cruised back in time to about 1977, because evidently that’s the last time this restaurant received any kind of decor update.

Twangy country music – including some Christmas songs in the mix – played softly on surround sound, but otherwise things were very quiet (perhaps because I’d missed the lunch rush and beat the dinner rush) and I had my pick of just about any booth in the house. I took a seat and glanced at the 4-page menu. To be honest, I would have loved to indulge in the 10-ounce USDA Prime Top Sirloin for $18.99 — and I’m sure it would have been delicious — but I simply didn’t have the appetite at the time. I instead went with the Smokehouse Quesadilla filled with BBQ pulled pork and cheddar cheese, which I rate at a solid 8 out of 10.

Bill Johnson’s has been a Phoenix landmark since 1956, when Van Buren Street was one of the city’s critical arteries and it was lined with modern motels and restaurants. Today, nearly 60 years later, the neighborhood is the type of place where you probably don’t want to be wandering around in the middle of the night. Traffic has shifted to the parallel Loop 202 freeway and the few restaurants and motels that remain on Van Buren are run-down and best described as “sketchy.”

Somehow, though, Bill’s has endured. The theme is “Authentic Arizona Cowboy Grub,” true to the atmosphere that Bill and his wife Gene envisioned when they first opened the restaurant. It will come as no surprise that Bill’s car was a Cadillac with longhorns mounted to the hood. Bill’s legend (and I’m not talking Acuras) lives on and I’d recommend a pit stop to anyone looking for a fun dining experience with a kick-back vibe and tasty food.

This weekend, I pulled my Legend sedan out of storage to put a few miles on it. It went to Acura of Tempe for its semi-annual oil change with 5W30 oil. Everything checked out on the inspection except for a dying battery and some rear brakes that could probably be done in the not-too-distant future. The car had driven just 1,539 miles since its last oil change on July 12th, and the bulk of those miles were for a drive to Los Angeles and back for the 10th annual National Acura Legend Meet (NALM) that month.

Here are the rest of my pictures from this Saturday quick drive.

View from my booth at Bill Johnson’s

Motto at Bill Johnson’s

My menu selection

Not a bad looking meal!

Back to the car we go

In for service at Acura of Tempe

Quick pics at the Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church on Northern Avenue

Unique architecture for the Phoenix area!

Tucked away in the garage with the NSX. I do love these sedan taillights at night.

ILX drive across Mill Avenue bridge in Tempe

Over and out! Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

15 Comments »

Pre-NALM Maintenance

Posted in Arizona, Maintenance, NALM on July 14, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (ILX): 88,482

Odometer (Legend coupe): 530,082

Odometer (Legend sedan): 144,615

I heard a crackle of thunder on Sunday afternoon from inside the house, and I thought my ears were playing tricks on me. I’d been outside earlier in the day and it was absolutely cloudless at the time. Then the sound came around again, and I decided to investigate.

What I found when I looked out the windows was a torrential summertime “monsoon” downpour. First thought: “Crap, I left the ILX moonroof partially ajar and windows vented!” Second thought: “WHERE IS MY CAR KEY?” as I frantically looked on the kitchen table and then ran to the desk in my bedroom where the key was sitting. I bolted outside shoeless and rolled up the windows, then sought cover and recorded this video.

The past week has been busy for getting the cars up to date on service needs. I am preparing, along with 27 other registered participants from across the country, for a road trip to this year’s National Acura Legend Meet which kicks off in 10 days in Los Angeles, California. Here is a thread on the Legend forums where people are talking about their preparatory activities.

Legend coupe:

Replace steering rack & pinion (remanufactured) – first time this has been done
Replace passenger side inner axle boot – second time this has been done
Replace spark plugs – third set including the originals; went with NGK
Perform alignment – multiple occurrences of this

Legend sedan:

Change oil & filter with 5W30
Replace burned out 3rd brake light bulb
Perform full inspection – all looks good!
Recharge a/c (pending this Wednesday)

NSX (not going to NALM, but still getting some attention):

Change oil & filter with Castrol GTX 10W30
Recharge a/c

ILX (not going to NALM, but still getting some attention:

Change oil & filter with 0W20
Rotate tires

The sedan’s oil had last been changed on January 4th, just 209 miles prior.

Ready to rock and roll.

Desert Mist Metallic: Paint code YR-506M.

Where to this coming weekend? Well, I’m expecting company and we’ll depart in the ILX on Friday afternoon to a national park in California. That’s all I’m going to divulge for now, but stay tuned because this is going to be a hot ride in some hot Acuras. Have a great week!

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4th of July Weekend Part 3: McCall, Idaho to Scottsdale, Arizona

Posted in ILX, Maintenance, Road Trip on July 9, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (ILX): 88,204

Leg Distance: 1,177 Miles

The return trip from this vacation went by quickly thanks to good music and good company. About 5 hours into the 17-hour journey, I picked up a copilot in Salt Lake City and we spent the rest of the drive trading off shifts at the wheel. It sure was tough to leave behind the beauty of the mountains and especially the comfort of cooler temperatures. My 3-mile run on Saturday morning along the lake in McCall was surrounded by scenes like this.

We spent the day lounging on the deck and doing a little antique shopping in McCall. That evening, we celebrated my niece’s birthday at a restaurant called Lardo’s. If you can get past the name, the place really does have quite a bit to offer! I headed south on Highway 55 after dinner and spent the next 105 miles winding through the Boise National Forest next to the beautiful Payette River.

From Salt Lake City, my friend Jeremy hopped aboard and we continued the rest of the journey together. Having originally intended to spend the night in St. George, Utah, we decided to press onward. Black storm clouds on the horizon had other plans for us: Within 5 miles of entering the Virgin River Gorge on Interstate 15, traffic came to a standstill due to construction delays, and the clouds began to unleash. The construction and adverse weather conditions were further complicated by much-heavier-than-normal holiday traffic. The delay in the Gorge cost us about 30 minutes, and then the slow-moving traffic elsewhere on I-15 in torrential downpours cost us even more.

By the time we arrived in Las Vegas, we were exhausted and ready to call it a night, so we did so. I pulled the rain-soaked ILX into the Hilton Garden Inn in Henderson for a late night check-in, anxious for a fluffy pillow and a good night’s sleep.

On Monday morning, conditions were much more suitable for road tripping. We made time for a pit stop at the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. The bridge, completed in 2010, is better known as the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge. Before its construction (which cost $240 million), traffic was formerly routed OVER Hoover Dam. To walk across the bridge is a bit unnerving if heights are of concern. The span covers some 1,900 feet and looms 880 feet above the surface of the Colorado River far below. But the view of the dam from there is, dare I say it, “dam” good.

The rest of our drive was an easy one with a quick fuel stop in Kingman, Arizona and then a few hours of desert two-laners on Highway 93 on into the Phoenix area. The closer we got to Phoenix, the higher the temperature climbed — right up until the 110-degree mark. I sure wished I was still sitting on the cabin deck in McCall, Idaho.

Thanks for coming along on the trip! Here are the rest of the pictures.

Dinner at Lardo’s with Ali and Beckam. Poor lighting for the pic, but phenomenal food.

Another neat dining establishment I wish I’d had time to check out: “Dollar Bill’s Casual Fine Red Neck Dining,” in Cascade, Idaho. What a name!

Arrival in Salt Lake City, Utah on Interstate 15 southbound.

Picking up Jeremy and giving him some time at the the wheel.

Taken near the Hoover Dam at the Arizona/Nevada state line.

Total trip time & distance: 41 hours, 39 minutes and 2,521 miles since I departed last Wednesday.

And that’s a wrap to the trip!

MAINTENANCE UPDATES

Now, it’s time to get down to business and get some updates on how these cars are staying on the road.

Here’s a photo while driving the Legend to get some maintenance done, and following Jeremy in my ILX.

The Legend coupe is currently getting a new power steering rack, fresh spark plugs, and a CV axle boot. I’ll pick it up tomorrow. These maintenance items are in preparation for the road trip to NALM later this month in Los Angeles.

The ILX went in today for a “B1” service including an oil change with 0W20 oil, new engine air filter, and a tire rotation. It set me back $118.69. The technician’s inspection noted that my rear brakes are down to 3MM. Also, I’m coming up on a 90k service interval which calls for replacement of the serpentine belt and a coolant flush. What surprised me was how far the car allowed me to drive on that same oil change. Since my last appointment on May 14th, I drove 9,274 miles on one oil change, and the car’s Maintenance Minder still told me the oil had 15% life remaining.

The dealership is undergoing some renovations inside & out. Think they have enough flat-screen TVs in the Customer Lounge?

Inspection notes.

And back on my way!

Later!

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ILX Maintenance and a 416-horsepower Lexus

Posted in ILX, Maintenance on May 11, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 529,358

Odometer (ILX) (Loaner!): 1,565

“Weren’t you just here?” asked the attendant on the service drive when I pulled into Acura of Tempe on Saturday afternoon for some ILX maintenance. “Probably,” I said. It’s no wonder I started using a punch-card to get a free oil change after every 4 paid oil changes. I get my money’s worth out of coupons like that. After last weekend’s long trip up north, the ILX’s “Maintenance Minder” told me that it was finally time to go in for a check-up.

Things were fairly quiet over there.

In she goes.

A challenge, though, soon became apparent. The technicians were not able to remove the locking lug nut on my left rear wheel in order to rotate the tires. I had to leave the ILX with them – potentially until next Tuesday – and take home a loaner car. So, for the time being, I’m in a snazzy Silver Moon Metallic ILX with the 2.0 liter automatic. And, just 1,500 miles on the odometer. It’s as if I’ve gone back in time.

Hoping for good news next week on the fix for that stuck-on wheel.

Check out this wicked ride that found its way to my driveway for a few days. My friend Dan flew to LA and allowed me to ‘babysit’ his pride and joy.

The stacked quad exhaust tips pictured below are a dead giveaway. What we’re looking at here is a 2011 Lexus IS-F. Its 5.0 liter V8 propels this car up to speed with alarming urgency. The IS-F is Lexus’ highest IS offering, with a no-holds-barred approach to delivering the most powerful, best-handling, and most aggressively-styled sports sedan from the brand. While the V8 is clearly audible at idle and emits a nice rumble, it’s the post-4,000 RPM range that really lights this car on fire.

In that higher rev range, the IS-F’s cabin fills with the deafening roar of the V8 and before you know it, you’re passing every Corvette in sight. The instrument cluster is dominated by a massive blue-needled tachometer. The speedometer, at less than half that size, hides in the lower right-hand corner. Ride handling is sharp and responsive. There’s just one way to describe this car, and I apologize for the language, but: It’s badass.

Photo quality won’t do these gauges justice, but it’s the best I could get at 68 mph at nighttime. I wanted to show just how tach-centric this setup is. And how, even at freeway speeds, the needle doesn’t even act like it’s awake yet — lingering in the 7:00 position like the car’s barely at idle.

One local tradition that I have with a few of my friends (when I’m in town on a weekend, anyway) is to attend a car show just a few miles to the north which takes place every Saturday afternoon. This time, in addition to the IS-F, we had a few other cars to take. Jack showed up in a (loaner) Mercedes SL550 roadster.

Matt brought his 2014 Infiniti Q50 3.7 Sport.

And Mike brought a (loaner) Mercedes S550 sedan. Jack and Mike were staying at the Four Seasons in Scottsdale which apparently allows guests to use its Benz fleet. Who knew? I think I’ll stay there the next time I need a stay-cation.

The S550 gauges are entirely electronic, with the instrument panel being dominated by two rectangular screens.

Arrival at the Scottsdale Pavilions car show.

Later, my friend Kyle showed up in his stunning 2005 Pontiac GTO 6-speed. Its exhaust note and corresponding rumble are enough to set off a car alarm here and there.

And Walter brought the 2015 Acura Legend coupe concept.

Did you know that Alice Cooper drives an Acura NSX? I watched him pull into the parking lot with this but I didn’t realize until well after I’d already left the show (and my friend Mike posted a picture online with Alice) that it was him! The car is an automatic with 35,000 miles on it. Wild wheels!

We had a great time at the show. Here are a couple of last photos from my weekend fun.

Even my “courtesy loaner vehicle” 2.0 liter ILX wanted in on the photoshoot.

1992 Acura NSX: 270 horsepower
2013 Lexus IS-F: 416 horsepower
2014 Acura ILX 2.0: 150 horsepower

Looks like I had my choice of a wide range of power alternatives this weekend.

Lastly: I’ve gotta send a shout-out to my friend Joe who brought me a gorgeous canvas print of my ILX. He had this printed up from a photo taken during our Canyon de Chelly drive a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks, Joe! I’ve got this proudly displayed for now on the dresser in my bedroom.

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Double Feature: HondaPro Jason & “Random Drive” Blog

Posted in Arizona, ILX, Maintenance, NSX on March 11, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 528,911

Odometer (ILX): 70,002

Having been ‘raised’ on 3,000 mile clockwork oil changes with my Legend, I’m really digging the fact that I don’t have to visit the dealership that often anymore with the ILX. Sure, the service advisors and amenities are top notch and I enjoy my visits, but the fact that I can go for 3+ months and (in this case) 8,580 miles on a single oil change is pretty dang awesome when you’re a busy person like me. I was $120 out the door for a “B13” service – 0W20 synthetic oil (my car’s 12th oil change), tire rotation, and an engine air filter.

As I was sitting in the lounge catching up on some work, my advisor Dana came up with me with my old air filter in a plastic bag and an eyebrow raised just slightly. “I think we’re going to want to change this one,” she said while showing me the filter’s black grilles. I smirked a little, “Yeah, I did a little off-roading. Go ahead and change it.” I guess that dirt-road trip to Castle Hot Springs a few weeks ago caught up to me after all.

Back on the road I went!

Today, I introduce you to my friend Jason Richmond. Along with so many of us, Jason is a committed enthusiast to the Honda and Acura brands. In fact, he took his brand loyalty so far as to create a special YouTube channel, Facebook page, and Instagram account dedicated to sharing news and features on “all things Honda.” It’s no wonder Jason prefers to go by HondaPro Jason.

His YouTube channel has amassed 10,000 subscribers and his Facebook page about 20,000 followers. Jason knows a thing or two about keeping his fans happy. He definitely appreciates a high-mileage car, too. As of last December, his own 1997 Civic EX coupe had 212,000 miles on the odometer when he sent me this picture.

And it still looks pretty dang nice for the year & mileage! A true testament to his care & maintenance.

Jason launched a contest recently wherein he asked his followers to accurately match a picture of an Acura Legend’s odometer to its famous owner. Of course, I knew right away he had posted about Ludacris. And I won a sticker! So thanks, Jason, for sending my winnings right on over! I installed my prize, this “Don’t Hate” sticker, on my 1992 NSX a few days ago.

For anyone who wants to get in touch with Jason, he’s at thehondapro@sbcglobal.net and he’s based at Schaumburg Honda in Schaumburg, Illinois.

In today’s other news:

You’ve all been introduced to my friend Cody and his 1993 Acura Legend L Sedan 5-Speed. My 2013 Acura ILX, by the way, has already surpassed Cody’s 22-year-old Legend in miles!

With the intent of sharing the story of cars and their drivers, Cody has launched a blog of his own. It’s called Random Drive.

Cody invites his readers from near and far to share their own stories of vehicle ownership. For some of us, a vehicle is far more than an A-to-B source of transport. It’s a friend, a travel companion, and a source of great pride. Be sure and click “Share Your Story” to submit yours.

Every car and driver has a story to tell and I want to hear and share yours! The vehicles that we use everyday are such an integral part of our lives and I think that each and everyone should be shared in a fun way. Help me share your vehicles history and story!

Cody recently featured a story on his old “junkyard find” 1997 Cadillac Catera, and he’s bound to have more fun car adventures to share. Add this one to the (growing) list of other blogs you all need to check out and subscribe to.

Fun final fact: Last Thursday at around 5:00 p.m. was the first time in the 21 months that I’ve been driving my ILX that I actually pulled up at a stoplight next to one. This was in Fountain Hills, Arizona on Shea Boulevard eastbound. The girl with big sunglasses in the Bellanova White Pearl ILX wouldn’t even acknowledge my presence. Didn’t she know how big of a deal this was for me? Oh well.

🙂

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