Author Topic: Micro-Fundraiser for the Official DonationCoder CodyMobile! (Read 66,839 times)

app103 · « **Reply #25 on:** March 06, 2014, 01:12 AM »

I am pretty sure if mouser ever gets himself a girlfriend, he is not going to want to shove her in the back seat of an Elio.

Plus, I am not sure that thing is capable of hauling home the lumber for building more bookcases.

Or groceries, for that matter. The trunk is only big enough to hold an airline carry-on bag. Might not even be able to fit a 12-pack of toilet paper in it.

mouser · « **Reply #26 on:** March 06, 2014, 01:34 AM »

I am imposing a $10/per post surcharge on posters for each post on this thread to pay for the codymobile.

app103 · « **Reply #27 on:** March 06, 2014, 10:56 PM »

Quote from: mouser on March 06, 2014, 01:34 AM

I am imposing a $10/per post surcharge on posters for each post on this thread to pay for the codymobile.

Do that and I'll post the full list of all of your embarrassing IRC quotes, here.

CleverCat · « **Reply #28 on:** May 06, 2014, 10:25 AM »

Quote from: mouser on March 06, 2014, 01:34 AM

~~I am imposing a $10/per post surcharge on posters for each post on this thread to pay for the codymobile.~~

Not at my exchange rate!

mouser · « **Reply #29 on:** May 26, 2014, 11:44 PM »

The Codymobile may be arriving on Thursday..
Stay tuned and keep fingers crossed.

I still don't have the decal to put on it -- so i will need that soon.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #30 on:** May 27, 2014, 03:49 AM »

Quote from: mouser on May 26, 2014, 11:44 PM

The Codymobile may be arriving on Thursday..
Stay tuned and keep fingers crossed.

I still don't have the decal to put on it -- so i will need that soon.

Yee ha! I'm glad that however it happened that you made it!

Everyone party in the Codymobile!

Hehe you should do a double inside joke pic by going to visit Wall Drug in South Dakota. (Back before the Interwebs it was a business school case study. It was just an ordinary drug store, but someone made it a meme and then people posted "Miles to Wall Drug" pics from around the world including I think a couple of mountain climbers and stuff.)

Josh · « **Reply #31 on:** May 27, 2014, 03:54 AM »

Quote from: app103 on March 06, 2014, 10:56 PM

Quote from: mouser on March 06, 2014, 01:34 AM
I am imposing a $10/per post surcharge on posters for each post on this thread to pay for the codymobile.

Do that and I'll post the full list of all of your embarrassing IRC quotes, here.

Quote from: "mouser"

<mouser> dont pick your nose after handling hot peppers

mouser · « **Reply #32 on:** May 28, 2014, 10:02 PM »

I'm driving down to chicago to finalize the deal for the Codymobile tomorrow -- wish me luck!

If all goes well, stay tuned for some photos this weekend.

Now to get a DC decal made..

mouser · « **Reply #33 on:** May 30, 2014, 11:21 AM »

The Codymobile has been purchased.

The bad news is it was above my budget, and needs some repairs. The good news is I love it.

Thank you so much to everyone who sent me a contribution to be able to purchase it. I would not have been able to buy it if not for your help.

Stay tuned for photos!

And now this thread can metamorphose into the fundraiser to repair the CodyMobile

mouser · « **Reply #34 on:** May 31, 2014, 08:15 PM »

Me and the Codymobile:
[attachthumb]

Edvard · « **Reply #35 on:** May 31, 2014, 08:47 PM »

Awesome lookin' ride so far.

What kinds of repairs does it need? Nothing major, I hope (as in, transmission/engine work, body work, complicated electrical work).

mouser · « **Reply #36 on:** May 31, 2014, 10:13 PM »

The mechanic who inspected it (who knew i would not be hiring him to do any work so had no incentive to mislead), gave me an estimate of about $1600 of work that should be done.

That includes $400 for new rear tires.

The main expensive thing it needs is new shocks (one is leaking). Unfortunately the front shocks are rare and have no aftermarket replacement.

This car is a 2008 Suzuki SX4 AWD Hatchback, and Suzuki have left the US market. I have searched, researched and confirmed there are no aftermarket equivalent front struts-- which I find crazy, but I'm not a car person.

The pair of (front) shocks themselves will cost $400 just for the parts which will have to be sent from europe. The mechanic's estimate for parts and labor to install them was $900.

REPAIR UPDATE:

Alignment complete, steering wheel now centered and driving well.
Bad TPMS sensor identified and replaced, and sensors re-learned (after only 30 tries of performing secret car handshakes over the course of a week).
Shocks: TBD.
Tires: TBD.

Shades · « **Reply #37 on:** June 01, 2014, 01:53 AM »

First of all, nice set of wheels

Something I would be very wary of is buying a car where it is hard to get parts for. Did such a thing a few years back here in Paraguay. Buying a car is hardly the problem. Maintaining it will make you lose money over fist.

Let me explain a bit. Here in PY, if your car isn't from Toyota, Nissan, Mercedes, BMW or Chevrolet you will financially suffer more. Any other brand and their parts are hard to come by. And by hard I mean it is cheaper to buy a Toyota part and make adjustments until it fits your brand of car.

I drove a small, 4 door Skoda (which is a Volkswagen in disguise, only for a lot less money) which was imported from Germany. At the end it was more Toyota than anything else. Roads are not great here, suspension last around a year here with normal use. Quality of fuel is different as well. It was at least every 4-5 months back in the garage for another repair (which always seem to last about 2 weeks). Good garages/mechanics are hard to find here, as most prefer to work around the problem than actually go after the source of the problem and fix that.

For me it was way too much headache and by being never sure your car will get you where you need to go, I had no fun in driving a car anymore. The final straw was the thought of "I'm actually paying to have this kind of misery in my life". Sure, the basic maintenance tasks I did do myself, but those were never the parts that broke and I ain't enough of a mechanic to even try.

Public transportation is quite reliable here, but it is definitely more reliable than running your own car. A one-way ticket from the outer suburbs to the city center costs you around 50 US dollar cents per person. Show me a gas-guzzler that can beat that price and I'll consider one again. For fun I'm riding a Yamaha Trailway motorbike.

mouser · « **Reply #38 on:** June 01, 2014, 03:01 AM »

Quote

Something I would be very wary of is buying a car where it is hard to get parts for.

Definitely.

However, for me the ship has sailed and I'm trying not to think about what I should have done differently. I do love the car, so there is that.

x16wda · « **Reply #39 on:** June 01, 2014, 02:22 PM »

Small percentage of repair bill is on its way. Just one thing... after you get it all fixed up, make sure not to run into anything while driving forward...

mouser · « **Reply #40 on:** June 01, 2014, 02:33 PM »

Thank you so much x16wda.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #41 on:** June 01, 2014, 05:38 PM »

Quote from: mouser on June 01, 2014, 03:01 AM

for me the ship has sailed

Just enjoy the voyage!

mouser · « **Reply #42 on:** June 09, 2014, 06:17 PM »

Thought you might enjoy seeing a photo of me taking a leisurely drive in the codymobile:

Deozaan · « **Reply #43 on:** June 09, 2014, 06:46 PM »

You and I have different ideas of the definition of "leisurely."

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #44 on:** June 09, 2014, 09:16 PM »

Quote from: mouser on June 09, 2014, 06:17 PM

Thought you might enjoy seeing a photo of me taking a leisurely drive in the codymobile: (see attachment in previous post)

That would be an awesome practical joke if you had one of those Google driverless cars. You're cruising along, maybe hiding tucked behind the back seat, and people are freaking out that a cat is apparently driving a car. Esp when the cop pulls you over!

mouser · « **Reply #45 on:** June 26, 2014, 11:25 PM »

Baby Cody being chauffeured around:

wraith808 · « **Reply #46 on:** June 26, 2014, 11:35 PM »

Baby Cody has been found!

mouser · « **Reply #47 on:** July 16, 2014, 08:55 PM »

New DC decals on car (they replace the larger lettering i posted a photo of originally):

tomos · « **Reply #48 on:** July 16, 2014, 09:01 PM »

looks very nice - did you get the ones on the side done professionally?

mouser · « **Reply #49 on:** July 16, 2014, 09:08 PM »

The pintstripe and the lettering are both vinyl applications i put on (ordered lettering from doityourselflettering.com which was cheap and fast and good).

If I decide to keep long term maybe i will have a pro paint the pinstripe, which i think looks pretty good but would probably look better painted; they might also be able to make it curve around the front fender area, which i wasn't sure how to do with vinyl pinstripe tape.

The tiny Uncle Cody and Baby Cody tiny stickers are inside window film stuff that just sticks on from the inside and were cut from a larger sheet. It would be reallly cheap for me to have a bunch of those printed and send them out to anyone who wanted them, if there is some interest -- because i could print a ton of them on one sheet of window film to cut out.