kbkid

Interesting. I'm not sure why they aren't popping up. Anyways I'm glad your alright.

I see a bunch of red x's.

Out with the old, poor Dora; she was a good truck... In with the new"er". I haven't came up with a name for her yet, but I will. I love it. I ended up choosing another Explorer because I got a pretty decent deal on it. I also checked with my insurance and my insurance was going to go up a little bit more than this one if I would have chosen to get a Nissan. There are two things I should say though, if I was going to stick with an SUV; I was already prepared to pay for the gas. Since I chose to go with another Explorer, I figure there is only one way to go... Pretty much the details are its a 2002 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer with 68,000 miles on it. It had a few more miles than I was looking at for a replacement, but the price was also priced accordingly. It was listed for $12,500, but we talked her down quite a bit. I then traded Dora in and got a lousy $2700 for her. This thing is fully loaded with just about anything imaginable I think. I'm not sure what all options were available in 2002, but this has more than I need. My favorite part on the inside is definantly the seats. It has the two tone heated leather...

Dora had 145,xxx. I have no doubt she would keep running strong, just when your going to school nearly four hours from home with no connections where your headed, things could get expensive real quick. The stereo situation is still up in the air. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. I really like the stock headunit, 6 disc with stereo and air condition controls on the steering wheel. I took everything out of the old Explorer, so I'm not sure what I want to do yet. I would like to keep the third row seat in the back but who knows. I'm not really into the loud loud bass like my previous systems, I guess as you get older; you enjoy your hearing more than anything (thats coming from someone who isn't very old himself).

She had high miles and now that I'm going away for school, my parents didn't want to put too much stress on her. She had a few things that had to be replaced in the last couple weeks and they didn't think it was worth it to keep throwing money at her.

I believe req is on NAS Oceana.

There are going to be quite a few folks from Virginia on the boards now. Your coming from one coast to another, pretty extreme move. Good luck!

This fall, I'll be a little over 300 mi. from home away at school. My parents want me to start looking for a newer car because the Explorer doesn't get the best gas mileage. The price range is about $15K. I'm looking for a car with decent gas mileage. I'm not really into the import scene, but if it is a must, I could go that route. I'm been looking around and here are a two cars I have in mind right off the bat and they are the Ford Fusion and Mazda 6. $15,000 is the max cost for the car, so any suggestions. What would you guys pick up. Anything more reliable than another, which I know it is. I've always been told that imports ( Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissians) are very reliable, but are a pretty penny to repair. What do you'll think? KB

For some reason I get the image in my head of the VW being a "chick's car". I know thats not true but who knows. What did you have in mind?

Thanks M5 for the input. So do you guys think I should stick with the import route? The Hondas, Nissans and Toyotas all seem to do fairly well in the long run. I'm also looking for something that will get me through these 4-5 years of school.

Actually I've seen a few Fusions and Mazda 6s for around $15K with under 20K miles on them. Most come from large Ford dealers in my area. I'm looking for some actually 03' and newer if I can. I've found a ton of Altimas loaded with about 30K-40K miles. Maximas seemed to be a little out of price range unless I get one with higher than 50K miles. What domestics should I look into besides what has been mentioned. The Altima is probably the front runner now because they seem to have all of the criteria (sp?) I wanted. Keep them coming and I appreciate the input so far.

Why are they the same car? I mean I know Mazda is owned by Ford, but what other characteristics do they share? Good gas mileage would mean better than my 17 mpg if I'm lucky in my Explorer. Nissan Altimas, Maximas, things along those lines are what I've been looking into lately as well. Automatic, Power everything, decent trunk space and 4 door are things I've been looking into as well.

Those PE fans for $3.50 are actually fairly decent for the price.

Mine came in today, thanks Scott.

Awsome, I'll let you know when I get it. Thanks.

Thanks. I'm been meaning to get some more pictures up.

This is a never ending work log that I should of thrown together months ago, but am too lazy to do. I call it work in progress because I feel as if it can never be finished. Most of it is done with, but there is always something I can do to better my install. This is my second install in my Ford Explorer, the first being a single 12" RE SX ported to 32Hz in a 3 cu. ft. box. It was powered by a RE 12.1 amp. Enough about my old install lets get back to my pride and joy. My new set-up is: (2) Two 12" Fi Q Orion 2500d CarPC 400W inverter for Playstation Lilliput Touchscreen My favorite part about my install is my false floor. I wanted to design a floor, so I could easily get to my CarPC and take out if needed, and just overall ease of use. I wanted it to function well but just not be so complicated that things would break. If you have any ideas of things to change or things you think would work better, please let me know. I am very open to suggestions and love to hear how others would of done it.

Sorry to jack the thread, but Nick I sent you one as well.

This is actually what I have been considering as well. I have a CarPC now and I use that exact Aux adapter for the PC. I use my Pioneer 860 as the main unit, but when I want the PCs sound, I just push AUX and there you go. I wasn't aware I could do it the same way with a second headunit though.

I picked up my Orion 2500d used for around $400.

I too sent information, I sent mine to Nick though. I also sent you a PM Scott.

What are some brands your going to try to carry at your shop? It seems you would try to run stuff you carried.

If you only need 2k, possibly an Orion 2500d.

Wow I must be an idiot then. Haha... I'll get some other pictures, I need to do a little cleaning and then I'll get some of the Ex as well. Thanks for the heads up Nick, never really realized that. BTW: It seems like if I continued to screw them down like you say, it would look kind of odd having eight holes in the gasket, right?

Not to bust your bubble or anything but, I'm pretty sure the 20 post promo is over with now. I think it ended 30-April-2007.