Just got my '05 XRS

Just got my '05 XRS

I sold my wife's Accord earlier this spring because it was just me working and I drove the Pilot all the time. We just didn't see the purpose of a car sitting in the garage losing value. Anyway, my wife went back to work a couple months ago and a second car is needed again. I will only be able to take the Reflex back and forth to work for so long before the weather is going to require a roof, so I figure I should be prepared and get the car now so that when the rainy and snowy season hits I won't be in a hard place. Not having the scent of deperation on me really let me work a sweet deal on this car.

So after shopping around and weighing my options, I went for the Corolla XRS. I was really only looking for a Civic sized car anyway. I wasn't impressed with the Civic EX at all and I couldn't find an Integra GSR sedan anywhere, so this was really a great choice. Really it is just an '05 GSR if you look at the performance numbers. The GSR didn't really get a whole lot in the way of suspension upgrades or interior enhancements from the LS models though. I sold my '99 GSR when I bought my '05 Legacy GT and I have missed it ever since. That Legacy was a mistake and I sold that to buy my Pilot.

Fortunately it was well taken care of by the previous owner. He drove back and forth from Casper, WY to Phoenix all the time, so that is where almost all of the miles came from. It has the type of damage on the front that you would expect from a car that has been driven, but nothing serious. There are two rock chips on the hood and one chip on a door. There are only two door dings on the whole car too, so it passes as 'excellent' in my book. The interior is in really good condition aside from this center console piece that the dealership is FedExing to me tomorrow and the normal wear on the driver carpet mat. There weren't any stains anywhere else that I couldn't take out. No scratches on the plastics or any other surface. No dog hair or smoke smell or anything funky anywhere. Always a bonus.

The engine still needs some work, so I'll post pictures of that later. Whoever detailed it before used something really nasty on the rubber and plastic that left a nasty brown film all over the place. My guess on first glance was an el cheapo tire dressing. When I said that the salesman looked at me and said that they actually did use some kind of tire dressing on engines. I think he was suprised I would guess that, but anyone who details engines can see the signs a mile away.

The rest of the car got washed, clayed, polished with Pinnacle XMT2, and then I used the NST7 LSP. I wasn't happy with that, so I used the Wolfgang pre-wax polish and took all that off. Then I put on a layer of Wolfgang and today I put another layer on. All in all I've got about 5 hours of work into it with another hour or so left to go on the engine before it is up to OCDetails standards. I've got some great trees that start to shade my driveway fairly early in the afternoon, but I got these pictures today. Sorry for the shade pictures.

Looks good, you have any plans for it?

Nope. It is staying bone stock. I didn't buy it because I wanted to modify it. If I wanted a 300 HP four cylinder then I never would have sold my Legacy. I've been there and done that. This is just the rain car for when I don't want to ride the motorcycle or for the winter. I've only got a 2 mile commute to and from work, so I didn't need anything fancy. I can't handle boring though, so if I was going to drive a Corolla then it had to be an XRS.

owning an LGT a mistake? what are you smoking? did you end up with a lemon?

Yeah, pretty much. It was just a disappointment. I was getting 17 mpg no matter how nice I was to it. Once I got 20, but that is still pathetic for a four cylinder engine. The turbo had a stutter to it that made it feel like I was driving on a bad tank of gas. The ECU was reflashed three times and replaced twice and they still couldn't fix it. They swore it was an ECU issue, but I'm not convinced. There were relay problems that kept the cooling fan on all the freaking time. They couldn't fix that one either after replacing multiple relays. The windshield was warped and cracked the first winter I had it. That was a problem that most LGT drivers reported the first year this generation was out. The side view mirrors were also weird and caused the reflection to be doubled if you looked at it wrong. The carpet was ridicoulously cheap. I wore a hole in it where my foot pivoted when I got in the car after only 6 months. The paint was also incredibly poor. It would scratch just by looking at it. I've got a detail shop in my garage, so I could stay on top of it, but I've got nothing but pity for guys who drive that car and don't have the tools to maintain the paint.

I sold that car after a year and a half because I was tired of driving loaners. The time it was taking to go back and forth to the dealership was just getting to be too much. I felt like I was driving loaners more than my own car. They couldn't seem to resolve any of my problems and it has only been in the last couple months that they finally issued recalls on some of the things I was having problems with. The cooling fan being one of them. It was just a bad experience. I'm much happier with my trouble free Pilot. It works out better for the family too.

very nice! can we see the engine pls??

So it was a lemon. I don't blame you for selling it.

pretty much...pity you had a bad experience. i've dropped Toyota because their cars are gutless compared to Subarus, and i'm generally fed up with the company.

Toyota's are great. just boring. exterior, interior, drive experience.. everything is so bleh. I do have to admit the gas mileage is awesome and great reliability and easy to work on but subaru's are fresh! fun to drive too. They are redesigning the Legacy for 2009 i think and so far the concept models look pretty awesome. 2.5Litre Twin Turbo machine that will supposedly get 35miles a gallon..

yes, i have...and i feel Toyota's saying F U to the enthusiast community.

Subaru's doing the same with their recent abomination of an Impreza.

Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it. No way Subaru is going to pull off a twin turbo machine that gets nearly double the mpg their single turbos are getting right now. Subaru doesn't really care too much about MPG when it comes to their high performance cars. All they care about is pushing the limit of their technology and cutting corners on everything else. Quality of the material inside, quality of the paint outside... You couldn't give me another Subaru until they prove that they are building cars that are meant to last the 200K+ miles that they used to last. They are building disposable cars now it seems.

Engine pictures are coming. I think I finally have it presentable. Whoever detailed it last should be ashamed of themselves. Degreaser stains all over the hoses and tire shine crap browning all over the rest of the place. It has taken quite a bit of work, but I think it is all cleaned up. I'll post pictures soon. I did get some pictures after a third coat of Wolfgang Paint Sealant though. Gotta love this color...

i agree that they'll always make performace something they encourage, but for chrissakes must they make it as ugly as possible?

It will grow on you eventually like the past models have. Or hopefully the next model will be redesigned.

the last one i liked was the bugeye.

I actually was quite fond of the peanut eye.

meh.

The Morette headlights really look nice for the peanut eye gen.

I wasn't a big fan of the bugeye look, but I had nothing but respect for the car. I really liked it before they screwed the pooch in '06 with that hideous nose. When I was car shopping I seriously considered getting into an '05 STi, but I just couldn't do it. I'd rather have reliability than a bunch of performance that I never get to use. My 2 mile commute just doesn't make having 300 HP any fun at all. I'm actually more of a fan of what the new Imprezzas are going to look like. Compared to the '06-07 models that were so terribly ugly, I think the change in look is very refreshing. It's not gorgeous or anything, but it doesn't make me want to throw up. ...well, the back might make me throw up a little bit, but that nose on the old one was just aweful.

If you red out the taillights, it might look better.

Yup. I agree. I'm just not a fan of those plastic looking tail lights. Red looks better I think.

Anyway, here is my engine bay after some much needed cleaning. I really wish I would have taken before pictures. I was halfway through before I thought about it. I was just too excited to get started I guess. Not bad looking for an engine with 53K miles on it, eh?

What did you use to clean it? I need to do that soon too.

simple green = best cleaner EVER.

Simple Green use is part of the problem that I see on a lot of engines. It needs to be diluted in order to be effective. Many degreasers can stain rubber and plastic, so you have to be careful. This is a guide I wrote for Autogeek last year that might give you some good tips. The important thing to remember is that engine detailing doesn't come in a can or bottle. There is a process to any detailing that is far more improtant that the products that you use. Any degreaser will get crud off your engine, but how you use it is more important.

I suppose I could talk about the process of detailing the engine if you wanted to know. I just wrote this up for my post on another board and figured I could post it here too.

I started out with Gunk foaming engine degreaser. I find that it is a very good product that gets the top layer of crud off. Detailing an engine isn't like putting out a fire and you have to be careful where you spray things. Always avoid the alternator when you are spraying flamable products like degreaser around. I've seen alternators start on fire when people have been a little too liberal with their products. Basically I just spray the perimeter of the engine bay and do the rest by hand. I knew it wasn't going to do much good on the hoses and plastics that were already messed up, so I stuck to the perimeter. Then I used low pressure water and rinsed it off.

After I rinsed I went back in with some diluted all purpose cleaner and started the real work by hand. Simple Green has the dilution ratios on the bottle if you are using something like that. I was using a product that I ordered online called White Lightning. Any all purpose cleaner properly diluted would probably produce the same results. My philosophy with engine detailing is that if I can see it, then I can clean it. I've got some great tools that I bought for detailing my motorcycle, but they work great to help push rags and things under hard to reach places. They are called Slick Stixxx and I've found a million uses for them. They are certianly helpful for motorcycle cleaning if you happen to ride as well. I actually get more use out of them for engine detailing than bikes, but whatever works. I used to just use screw drivers and things that could possibly scratch paint inside the bay, but these are much better because of the plastic tips and rubber coated handles.

After I have cleaned everything that could be cleaned I went to work with a rubber/vinyl cleaner on the hoses and plastics. I use Meguiar's #39 for that kind of thing. It is a very good cleaner that is kind of hard to find. Many auto paint supply shops are Meguiar's and 3M distributors, so I would check there if you are looking for it. I use that product and a tooth brush to scrub the affected surfaces. It took a lot of time on that hose connecting the air box, but finally I got it all cleaned and restored. I was worried that I would need to buy a new one for awhile there.

There were some aluminum pieces that were damaged by the degreaser that I had to take care of as well. I used Eagle One Nevr Dull on those. It basically looks like cotton that you pull out of the can and then rub on chrome and aluminum parts that need to be shined. It works amazingly well. The things it has done on motorcycles I've restored would amaze you. I only had a couple areas to treat with this, so that went pretty fast.

The final step was to shine everything up. I used CD2 Engine Detailer on that. I've yet to find its equal in what it does. It can lightly clean rubber, paint, and plastic as well as provide a great shine that lasts and lasts and lasts. This is a product that produces the shine that a tire shine product would give you, but without the harmful side effects of messing things up. Heat actually helps this product last even longer. It is a non greasy product that protects hoses and plastics from damage. The things this product has done would also amaze you. The problem is that it is pretty tough to find. Turtle Wax owns CD2 now and they still have it on their website, but you pretty much have to order it online in order to find it anywhere. I get mine off a vendor on Amazon.com. It still runs about ten bucks a can, but I get $60 bucks for an engine detail and one can will do three or four engines in bad shape. They definitely pay for themselves.

That is basically my process for engine detailing. The same process can be used for any engine in just about any shape. The products aren't as important as the process. Just remember that engine detailing doesn't come in a can and usually a bit of elbow grease is required for best results in any detailing project.

Alright. I'll go through that process when I have time. My engine bay really needs a good cleaning.

Inzane CAr dude !!! Enjo it!

How much cost one of those?

I got it for just over $14K. It was $15K out the door and delivered 300 miles from the dealership. It was a deal I couldn't refuse.