Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
Well, it's not a lot of progress, but it is some.
Wednesday evening, through the exceedingly kind graces of Cascade Auto Clinic (who stayed open 40 minutes past their normal closing time for me), I was able to drive a Toyota Previa.
The one they have for sale is busted down and overpriced, but that's not the point. The point is that the Previa, as a model, is perfect for what I want. It's got a little engine (and so won't be terrible on gas mileage), a timing chain versus a belt (no changes every 90k, or worrying about whether it's been done), and it's huge inside. They're also available for around $3000-4000, which is about what I want to spend.
So I have finally made the decision on which model to look out for. That is an unreasonably large relief, I think I was starting to go crazy trying to balance all the tradeoffs and options available.
The particular one I drove was in kind of a sad state. The salesman (who, again, was very nice and pleasant to work with) said, "One of the rear wheel bearings is starting to go, and for our price, we'll replace that." So I was prepared for a bit of bearing noise.
I got out to the van (in a pitch-black lot to the side of the building), and started going over it with the little keychain flashlight I had handy. Generally looked pretty good, although the front right tire was a touch low on air, and there were numerous slow leaks apparent on the engine case.
I got in and started the engine. It turned over and caught with no trouble, and ran a little rough for the first few seconds. Nothing too unusual. I started playing with controls: heater, fan, lights, air conditioning, turn signals, radio, etc. That's when things started to get pretty wonky.
The hazard flasher, which was the first thing I tried, didn't work right. The lights would blink on and off once, then stick on. Try again, they just came on without blinking at all. I tried the normal turn signals, and they seemed to work alright. I turned the lights on, and movement on the dash caught my eye: the engine temperature gauge had flickered from "cold" to "mid." I noticed a minute later that it was back down to cold.
The radio, although lit up, wasn't making any noise. I played with a few radio controls, but it was obviously having none of it. Several control backlights (apparently a weak feature for Toyota) were non-functional. One of the brake lights wasn't lighting up when I stepped on the pedal. The "Oil Change" light was illuminated on the dash. The air conditioning button produced no change whatsoever. No indicator light, no change in engine speed, no change in temperature (the heater was blowing warm by this point). At least the fan worked.
I got permission to drive it after a couple minutes' wait in the office while my driver's license was photocopied. I climbed back into the driver's seat and got myself adjusted. Oh, and the electrically-operated outside mirrors weren't working. They were close to the proper adjustment, at least.
I put the transmission in drive (alas, manual transmission is pretty much unheard-of any more; another sign that the average American consumer is getting less and less connected to anything), and rolled out. Immediately, the back of the van emanated a loud noise.
I pulled out onto the road, and it got louder, but then when I took my foot off the gas pedal, it faded to nothing. Oops, that's not a wheel bearing, that's the rear differential! That'll be the difference between a $5 part and a $500 part. I'm not so sure of the techs at Cascade Auto Clinic, now.
The rest of the drive (brief though it was) passed quickly. The rear differential was clearly on the verge of failure. The turn signals ended up having the same hanging problem as the hazards. Otherwise, it handled really well for a big van-thing, and I was surprised at how easy it was to drive (or I was totally distracted by the loud banshee-wailing coming from the back of the van, I'm not sure which).
I was very pleased with visibility out of it, and it was pretty obvious to me that, for my purposes, the Previa was the best compromise I'd find. It lacks in the "dirt-hauling" category, but at least one review I read suggested that they all come with a trailer hitch receiver, and even if they don't, it won't be too expensive or difficult to fit one. Toyota apparently rates towing capacity at around 2500 lbs, which is more than I'll even want to haul behind it.
So, hooray for narrowing my choices! Now I just have to find one that doesn't have a gazillion miles on it.
Posted at 12:44 permanent link category: /misc
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater