Not Original VX Owner Roll Call

[housertl]

The first time I ever laid eyes on a VX was about 2 weeks ago, in the parking lot of a Shoppers in Alexandria, VA. Since that time, I have sold my Subaru Impreza OBS, and placed a deposit on an Astral #0510, up in Cleveland. I am currently waiting on the quote to have her shipped down here, so I can call her my very own. I will be the second owner, the first bought her brand new and owned her for just under 12 years. I can't wait!

[Y33TREKker]

VX's had never really registered with me when they first hit the market, and a sport utility had never really been the type of vehicle I'd considered owning, but during a bike ride around town, I spotted one for sale about five blocks from my house.

It was a Proton, and the seller (original owner) was actually someone I knew from high school. I stopped to check it out during the bike ride, and after talking about it for awhile, she (the seller) actually gave me the keys and let me test it out over the following weekend. I remember driving to a blues festival that weekend and couldn't help but notice virtually everyone I'd be driving by just stopping and staring.

Now I'm personally one for keeping more of a low profile about most things, so I decided that a Proton probably wouldn't help much in that regard, and that an Ebony was more to my liking for the overall look black added to the vehicle.

Well it didn't take long to find this site as I started learning more about the VX, and it turned out that a member here had an '01 Ebony for sale (also an original owner), and the rest is history. I flew out to Baltimore from IL and drove it back with only one OH $#!+ moment (as follows).

I'd read early on about the possible oil usage issue, so before starting the drive back I made sure to check the level and top it off. What I DIDN'T do though is remember to put the damned oil filler cap back on AFTER topping the level off, and ended up driving for a couple of hours on the interstate with the cap just resting on top of the intake manifold. I was stopping for something anyway, and when I came to a stop at the end of the interstate off-ramp, saw smoke coming from under the hood. (Yeah...that's what I said too).

Well oil had been blowing up out of the filler hole, and some had made it onto the exhaust manifold, so as bad as the smoking had been, it could have been MUCH worse. I found a car wash, cleaned the engine bay as best I could, grabbed a bite to eat, then checked the oil level to see just how much had been lost and topped it back off. Luckily, only about half a quart had been lost, and I've had no oil related issues since.

Not the most stress free way to start my VX ownership experience, but comparatively speaking, it's been a pretty smooth ride ever since.

[djvx]

VX's had never really registered with me when they first hit the market, and a sport utility had never really been the type of vehicle I'd considered owning, but during a bike ride around town, I spotted one for sale about five blocks from my house.

It was a Proton, and the seller (original owner) was actually someone I knew from high school. I stopped to check it out during the bike ride, and after talking about it for awhile, she (the seller) actually gave me the keys and let me test it out over the following weekend. I remember driving to a blues festival that weekend and couldn't help but notice virtually everyone I'd be driving by just stopping and staring.

Now I'm personally one for keeping more of a low profile about most things, so I decided that a Proton probably wouldn't help much in that regard, and that an Ebony was more to my liking for the overall look black added to the vehicle.

Well it didn't take long to find this site as I started learning more about the VX, and it turned out that a member here had an '01 Ebony for sale (also an original owner), and the rest is history. I flew out to Baltimore from IL and drove it back with only one OH $#!+ moment (as follows).

I'd read early on about the possible oil usage issue, so before starting the drive back I made sure to check the level and top it off. What I DIDN'T do though is remember to put the damned oil filler cap back on AFTER topping the level off, and ended up driving for a couple of hours on the interstate with the cap just resting on top of the intake manifold. I was stopping for something anyway, and when I came to a stop at the end of the interstate off-ramp, saw smoke coming from under the hood. (Yeah...that's what I said too).

Well oil had been blowing up out of the filler hole, and some had made it onto the exhaust manifold, so as bad as the smoking had been, it could have been MUCH worse. I found a car wash, cleaned the engine bay as best I could, grabbed a bite to eat, then checked the oil level to see just how much had been lost and topped it back off. Luckily, only about half a quart had been lost, and I've had no oil related issues since.

Not the most stress free way to start my VX ownership experience, but comparatively speaking, it's been a pretty smooth ride ever since.

wow, good 1!