Picking up my VX on Sunday! Pics!

[RobbieVX]

Hi Gassavers! My name is robbie. Just signed up today.

so my story begins with me moving. I live in a place called Port Hueneme, Ca and work in Oxnard, Ca as a Mechcanical Engineer for a forged wheel factory. I graduated from UCSB with my ME degree in 2005 and have been working ever since. I moved to Port Hueneme about 8 months ago and figured it would be a good place because i could get all the room i needed to work on all my cars, 94 supra TT and my track/drift car a 95 240sx. It has been ok living here, but im only 23, and ive just been way to bored living umongst familys and whatnot, so i decided i need a change and will be moving down to Marina Del Rey, Ca on Dec 1. ----so heres were gassavers comes in. Ive always been a car nut, but never one to really look into mpg, i was more all about performance. I have two cars i rarely drive, and then my daily driver, which is a 92 nissan 240sx that i picked up for $1000. it only gets about 20mpg around town, but didnt matter much until now since im going from a 7mi commute to a 50mi to/from commute. Ive always admired hybrids, but could never justify spending 20-30k on a commuter and that will someday need big $ for batteries. I then became facinated with VW TDIs and quickly started searching for a 99+ Golf tdi. My only problem was that i still wasnt able to find one for under 9k, so i would most likely have to finance one if i found it, they are also almost impossible to find in CA. I started reading a lot on tdiclub.com, and quickly noticed their monthly mileage competitions. I was reading the Nov mileage thread and was astonished that these people were getting 60+ mpg out of their TDIs, but then i noticed the top two MPGers weren't even tdis, they were Civic VX's. ("The VX" was a huge inspiration btw) I was like what is a VX? so after about a week of research, i found that the VX would be a perfect canidate for my new commute, 50+ mpg with the right maintainance and i could pay for one with cash and not worry about financing it. now i just had to find one, and that i did.

A 1994 (non-CA) VX from AZ. orig owner (mechanic). all service, including o2 sensor and timing belt. 170k miles and clean as hell. So i bought a plane ticket and will be picking it up this sunday. here it is:

[Matt Timion]

Welcome to the site. You've chosen very wisely with your vehicle purchase. Obviously the first thing to do is to get a baseline MPG figure and troubleshoot from there. You might want to get a new oxygen sensor, which is going to be more expensive for the Civic VX. I recommend ebay, which will help you find one for around $170.

[repete86]

Very nice! Hope that you can get some good figures out of your little green machine.

[UfoTofU]

Looks like a great starting point. Those are nice looking cars, ours looks super clean.

Your Supra TT and 240 sound pretty sweet too.

[GasSavers_Jack]

Very nice pick. Would you tell us what it cost ya? That only looks mint! Welcome and enjoy.

[CO ZX2]

RobbieVX

Welcome to GasSavers. I'm kinda new myself in the last couple weeks. You made the right choice. If you need help with anything, you will get it here.

Sure is pretty.

[GasSavers_TomO]

Welcome, you'll love the fact that you are getting a NON-CA emissions VX. That means there's one more chalk mark on teh board for teh VX team, lol.

[MetroMPG]

Welcome. You certainly picked THE low-budget MPG king for highway commuting. Looks really nice too!

Hopefully it's in good operating condition and you can get lean-burn without any trouble. Please keep us posted...

[RobbieVX]

thanks for the warm welcome.

im picking it up for $3250. i know its probably more than what people on here got their VXs for, but they are so hard to find in stock form, and considering the condition of this one, i think its a fair price. Im also moving in two weeks, so i needed something fairly quickly. with my old dd (92 240sx) i would end up spending about $300/month on gas at 25mpg and 100mi/day. by getting the VX i can hopefully get close to cutting that cost in half and save $100-$150 a month.

anyone have any suggestions on what maintanance i should perform right off the bat? there are things i could think of:

-over-inflate tires (50-60psi) possibly get some new LRR tires
-replace motor/tranny oil with 0w-20 synth or conventional?
-replace spark plugs, wires, cap/rotor
-replace o2 sensor (ouch)
-check/replace brakes and wheel bearings

does anyone know what the timing should be set at while idling? i only ask because im going to need to smog it once i bring it into CA and every car ive ever tried to smog has initially failed because of the timing.

[Gary Palmer]

Welcome to Gassavers. Now we can have a meet in Ventura County! (I'm in Ventura)

Congratulations on your VX, they are a great deal. I wouldn't worry about changing out the Oxygen sensor, until you get the car and see what sort of mileage you get. Additionally, I'd hook a voltmeter up to the O2 sensor output and monitor it, before you change it out. Generally, they either work or they don't, although they also can get into a state of poor responsiveness.

On your change of address, I can appreciate that Marina Del Rey might seem like it will have more life, for someone your age, but what a drag in terms of mileage. On the other hand, you can take PCH from Santa Monica to Port Hueneme, which is a nice drive, most of the time.