Friends,
Miata, me bought. What am I driving right now? A rented Ford Focus sedan with an automatic. That’s the short version. Am I pleased? Not even a little. Here’s the long version:
I found the Mazda (file photo, left. not actual car what me bought.) on Autotrader.com at a dealer in Escondido for a very reasonable price. Maybe too reasonable as it turns out. I’ve been jetting about in the thing and have been thrilled with how tight it turns in. How it holds corners. The growl and slight rasp on acceleration. Oh, wait, acceleration.
On the way home driving up the hill this afternoon, every stab at the throttle was met with that growl, but no forward progress. The clutch had given up for the most part, but I nursed it past the lower vista point. Then I turned out to let somebody by and just couldn’t get started again uphill—only down. Down to the closest Mazda dealership. Good thing too, since the car was reluctant to go forward even on the flat.
They’re going to replace the clutch, maybe tomorrow, maybe Thursday. The tiny little clutch in my toy car must be easy to replace. Just move the rubber bands to one side and consult the Hello Kitty Service Manual. Seriously, how hard could it be? Too hard for the selling dealer who checked out the car represented as “without obvious flaws” to me apparently.
The next time I say (which I actually did) “what could possibly go wrong?” please proceed with the dope slap. I certainly deserve it.
– bob
UPDATE: The clutch is done and still slips when it’s hot. Just a little, but slipping is not good. The selling dealer is going to kick in half of the kilodollar price tag, so that’s nice. The repair shop broke stuff though, so I guess I’ll take a trip back there this week. Such fun you should never have.