Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Don't hate the young

Recently I’ve been sleuthing on the Miata.net forums. Because I may or may not have one of those incoming on a boat from Japan. What better way to learn all about the MX-5 - again - than to read the mountains of discussion materials.

Needless to say, the demographic of Miata owners skews older. That is why the car itself is so cheap to insure, despite the fact it's a properly pure sports car. The Mazda roadster shares this distinction with the Chevy Corvette, which is also famously cheap to insure, despite the mega amounts of horsepower. Demographics is king when it comes to insurance. The premiums for my previous BMW M2 was astronomical, thanks to modern M cars being widely popular with the younger crowd. A crowd that’s statistically crashing at a higher rate.

That’s the cost of doing business, as far as I am concerned. Perhaps it’s a tale as old as time, but I’ve seen a divide in the car enthusiasm sphere: older folks seem to carry disdain for the younger enthusiasts. Case in point: Miata Reunion is one of the biggest annual MX-5 gatherings. This year the event will be held at Laguna Seca in conjunction with Gridlife. For those who don’t know, Gridlife is basically a Forza Horizon festival come to life. No surprise then the attendees skew young.

Which presents a problem for a quite a few MX-5 owners - on the older side, obviously - considering attending the 2026 edition of the reunion. They prefer a classier experience, and rather not intermingle with the “unwashed masses” of the typical Gridlife crowd. Understandable, but ultimately a close-minded way of looking at things. Even if things naturally silo themselves into categories, car enthusiasm should be one giant tent that is welcoming to everyone. It’s sad to see preconceived notions can prevent some people from the opportunity to experience something different.

Besides, haven’t we - those of us on the other side - all been a young enthusiast at one point? If anything, we should be super welcoming and happy that car enthusiasm continues to survive onto the generations proceeding. You don’t have to agree with their style and methods, but this whole thing of ours is dependent on future generations joining in on the fun. The cool cars that we want to buy, and for the manufactures to continue making, is predicated on demand.

Toyota has plans for a next generation GR86 coupe precisely because so many young guys are buying the current version and crashing them. Bully!

It should not cost this much

Used car prices are kind of insane.

On occasion I like to window browse on Carvana and CarMax. Just to see if anything weird and interesting pop up. Recently there was a 2016 Toyota Corolla with a manual transmission up for sale. It brought me back to my very first car: a 2006 Toyota Corolla, also in stick shift guise. It’s very rare to see the common commuter sedan with a manual gearbox. Good on the owner(s) of the 2016 Corolla to have put over 70,000 miles on it. We like to see cars driven.

What we don’t like to see is ridiculous pricing. The listed price on CarMax for that 2016 Toyota Corolla is $16,000. Keep in mind the original MSRP of the car 10 years ago was $17,300! Even if you account for inflation - $24,155 in today’s dollars - 16 grand for a decade old poverty spec sedan is laughable. Especially when it’s equipped with a manual gearbox that nobody wants. This isn’t some Porsche sports car with a stick.

Even if you account for the CarMax premium for let’s say $2,000, a 2016 Corolla still isn’t a $14,000 car. It’s not even a $10,000 car. A gut-feeling fair price for a 10 year old compact sedan is around the $7,000 mark. $8,000 perhaps if the mileage is sufficiently low. Is this simply the era we are living in? Just like how there are zero new cars available for under $20,000, the reasonably conditioned used car for under $10,000 - that every personal finance guru says is available - has also disappeared into history.

I used to have a 2016 Mazda MX-5. That same model year of Miata in today’s market looks to be hovering near $20,000 for a low mileage sample, which is insanity. A decade old MX-5 should be less than $10,000, no matter the miles. It’s not a rare car; Mazda has produced plenty, and continues to do so to this very year. Used examples should not be encroaching on the price of a new one.

Because then why wouldn’t you throw in the extra thousand for one with zero miles and zero farts on the seats? You’d get better financing terms buying new, too. The lower interest costs might even make the price delta disappear completely.

Using the proper fluid

A dirty front windshield is very annoying to me. Because I am an obsessive psychopath. That is why every time I get into the car, I hit the washers to remove the previous day’s detritus off my field of view. It isn’t perfect, of course - only the sections covered by the wipers get cleaned, but it’s good enough.

The constant washing presents a problem: I go through washer fluid by the gallons. (I was amazed to read that some drivers use so little windshield fluid that their cars are still on the factory fill!) Throughout my car owning history, I have bought distilled water at the local grocery store. Distilled because it’s doubly free of minerals, so there’s no chance of leaving water spots on the paint. So far, so easy.

Modern cars have sensor in the washer fluid tank that notifies drivers via the dash when the levels get low. The sensor achieves this by utilizing the water as a conducting loop. When the fluid level is no longer high enough to complete the signal, it then trips the warning light. Pretty intuitive and easy.

On my Golf GTI, however, the warning light remains on even when I’ve just refilled the tank. Turns out, distilled water - lacking any sorts of minerals - isn’t conductive enough to complete the signal loop. Sure there’s water submerging the sensor points, but it’s effectively doing nothing.

The solution is simple: use proper windshield fluid. Therefore, for the first time in my 20 years of driving, I actually filled store-bought washer fluid into one of my cars. A bit of a hassle, since the auto parts store is further away from me than the grocery store. Also, a gallon of windshield fluid is some two dollars more expensive than a gallon of distilled water. Inflation continues…

Don't be like me

If I ever get the fortune to have children, I pray they won’t be afflicted with perfectionism and obsessive compulsiveness like me. Attention to the details may have positives, but mental anguish definitely exists on the other side.

Perfectionism is a myth, is it not? Everything on this earth is experiencing atrophy. We’re all decaying at a certain rate, animate or otherwise. Putting a brand new car in a hermetically sealed chamber is only delaying the process. And now you can’t even use the car.

It’s with cars where my enthusiasm and obsessive compulsiveness collide into sleepless nights. Even though I know perfect is but a monetary phase when the car gets final released at the factory, it doesn’t stop me from trying to preserve it. But that’s just not possible! No matter how careful you are, as you interact with the car, where be driving it or maintenance, blemishes are bound to happen.

Most recently I replaced the glovebox on my Golf GTI. I wanted the nicely felt-lined version that my 2019 model did not come with. During the process I slightly mangled a piece of the interior plastic. Ask any other person and they would genuinely say it looks fine. But not me! I’ve been trying all sorts of remedies to realign the piece to just a bit more perfect, and every attempt seems to have compounded the issue.

Of course, the best solution is to buy the piece brand new. Good thing my psychopathy doesn’t permeate to personal finance. If I’d bought a brand new replacement piece for every time I merely scratched a part on a car - and yes, that does frustrate me to no end - I’d be a guest on Financial Audit.

The lesson I am telling myself is to know when to stop. Obsessing over the details is fine up to the certain point. I can’t let perfect get in the way of functional. Actions have reactions, and sometimes the pursuit of perfection (hello, Lexus) can only make things worse.

Overnight parts from Latvia

In my ongoing quest to make my 2019 VW Golf GTI just a bit that perfect, I’ve had to source parts from many vendors. eBay has been clutch for interior pieces out of wrecked cars. Many hundreds of dollars were saved instead of buying the parts brand new. For everything else, there’s MasterCard.

For new replacement parts, a source I’ve successfully used is E-acca. A parts sourcing company located in Latvia (try finding it on a world map), E-acca procures OEM parts in Europe and sell them for far cheaper than what I have to pay at an American dealership. It’s cheaper even when factoring in international shipping, and import tariffs (thank you, President Trump).

This is the positives of globalization in action.

The only caveat is that you’re going to have to wait a bit for the items. If you’re spoiled by Amazon Prime shipping, or simply walking into a parts department, then a month’s lead-time from order to delivery might not be for you. Even if E-acca has the part in stock at their own warehouse, those of us in the United States are still looking at two weeks of logistics time.

Personal example: I ordered a harmonic damper for the MQB platform (which the GTI is based) on the 5th of May. E-acca did not stock this internally, so they had to order from their supplier. That process took until the 27th of May, which is when I got an email asking to pay for shipping. (Actual shipping cost is calculated once the item is packaged and ready to ship.) The damper shipped out via Fedex on the 1st of June, arriving at my door on the 8th.

Obviously, if you need a part rather quickly, E-acca is not a good option. However, if you’re like me and want to maximize savings in this economy, not-so-overnight parts from Latvia is a very good option. On that single damper alone I saved about $30 versus sourcing it from a company in the States. That difference can add up tremendously over multiple parts, of which I plan to buy plenty of in the near and far future.

E-acca, can recommend!

All about leverage

Looks like it doesn’t matter that I can deadlift 300 pounds. After a few hours of working on my car, bending and squatting, my lower back is barking like mad all the same. Though I’d be in even worse shape if I hadn’t been exercising the posterior chain at all…

While I do enjoy working on cars, the aftermath is always painful. The skinned knuckles, the bruised fingers, and soiled clothing. All part of the deal, of course. Like callouses on the hands for weightlifters. I can’t fathom being a mechanic for a living. Physical labor is really tough on the body. I’m gladly surprised my father came out of 30 plus years in construction with only some mild nagging joint pain.

These days it’s popular to invoke the trades as an alternative to university. Indeed it is! Having alternative options is a positive. However, the trades are hard to scale. You can only climb into so many HVAC ducts in a given day, or unclog so many toilets. The monetary upside is largely capped. Just about the only multiplier is branching out and being your own boss. Have people under you to climb many more ducts.

Going to college offers a higher ceiling. Knowledge work can continue working even when you’re done inputing. Simply look at the many software engineers making upper-middle class living. Or study to become a white-collar professional. Hours will be long on the outset, but the monetary compensation for careers like lawyers, bankers, and medical is high.

And what that high income allows for is compounding. It’s far easier for a $200,000 dentist to invest in the stock market than a $100,000 plumber. And that bigger initial pie will only grow larger faster. The law of large numbers comes into play.

The word here is leverage. Maximize the size of the output with the set amount of input. A job is a job, and power to those who are doing what they got to do to put a roof over the head and food on the table. However, if there is a choice? I’m thankful I am able to trade knowledge for money, rather than manual labor. The sore hours immediately after working on my car is a good reminder to not take it for granted.

Old man enthusiast

In my early 20s of car enthusiasm, the prime thing to do to a car is to lower it. The wheel gaps from the factory always seem to be a tad high. Of course then the first modification item I bought for my purely pedestrian Toyota Corolla was a set of lowering springs.

In my now late 30s of car enthusiasm, I have no desire to do the same to my current Golf GTI. Yes, the wheel gaps are rather enormous on it too. But with experience comes wisdom, and what starts at lowering springs can quickly spiral into many unintended consequences.

So let’s say the car is lowered. Job done, right? Well now the wheels look kind of sunken into the body. You can remedy this by either putting on wheel spacers to punch out the wheels a bit, or go the full route and buy an entirely new set of wheels with a lower offset specification. That’s money you didn’t intend on spending, but soon as you put on lowering springs, you’re already in quick sand.

Lower offset wheels creates a new problem: rock chips. The wheels sticking further out means less of the existing fender work can protect the debris being constantly flung. The car’s lower rear quarter panel gets pummeled. You can either live with stone chips, or put paint protection film onto the quarters. Ah yes, more money to spend.

A lowered car naturally means the bottom of the bumper is closer to the ground. Poorly graded driveways are now the worst enemies. Leaving a gas station onto the road is an exercise of angular contortion to avoid scraping the front. Meanwhile, that normal person in a stilted SUV simply drive straight without a care.

These days I want my cars to work without any fuss. Driving should not be stressful! Limiting NVH - noise, vibration, and harshness - matters greatly to me, as if I’m a boomer retired grandfather. The GTI rides relatively superbly from the factory, with an excellently insulated cabin space. The last thing I want to do is to begin ruining that by installing shorter springs and stiffer suspension components, purely for looks.