[Miller Time]

Bittersweet day for me. Just sold my 2000 S. Brutal experience that lasted the better part of five years and 100K km. Half the fault of the car but equal blame goes to spectacularly incompetent Mazda dealer service experiences.

The car ate wheel bearings like no tomorrow, threw endless CODES but mostly it was the supercharger going south at just 100K km that started the long slide into insanity. Since then I've installed three if you can believe it.

Second one was an ebay special advertised as rebuilt. Turned out to be BS so there was a thousand gone. Second unit was an admited gamble on a $200 high mileage crapshoot. It lasted just a few months before I had to reluctantly admit it was no good either. Finally, I got smart and shelled out the big bucks for a bona fide PSE rebuild. And for some reason known only to God and the universe....the car ran great for precisely half an hour. Then...rattle, hesitation, and huge amounts of smoke -- acting for all the world like a bad compressor. Again. Either that or something else has gone wrong.

That was it. As much as I absolutely love the styling of the S and that great ride (when she was working) my wife and I need a reliable daily commuting machine. So I decided to throw in the towel and offered her up cheap to an enterprising young chap who wants to do the holy grail of the 5 speed install. I wish him all the best. Maybe he'll even surface around here sometime. Take good care of her man!

Anyway, I'm guessing I'm the world's most experienced supercharger swapper outside of a dealer technician. Probably done more than most of them, actually. Can practically do it in my sleep much as I hate it. Funny, I've never improved my time of about 25 hours, though. All those **** vacuum lines, wiring harnesses, and all manner of other crap in the way to slow you down. Plus I'm just slow as **** anyway. My wife would come and go, ask me if I knew I was talking to myself, and pour me the occasional cup of coffee.

Anyway, it was a blast Milly mavens. I'll probably still hang around a bit for old time's sake. She was replaced by an 07 Mazda 3 Sport and I must say, it's real nice getting back to stiring my own gears. Still, when the pain fades, I know I'll miss my baby...