Front left strut needed replacing at 145k
Cylinders "wash" when car sits for a few days. That means gas enters the engine too soon, washing oil off the cylinders. You end up with no compression and you can't start the car. It's an easy problem to avoid, if you remember, and it takes about 10 minutes to remedy the situation.
This is a great car. I've driven it from Vancouver BC to Los Angeles (2000km) 5 times and I never tire of this car.
I've done several modifications to the engine and suspension. It is much quicker now, running 16.05 in the quarter mile at 87.4mph.
I highly recommend this car over any other car for the price. You can't go wrong and with 45mpg (sometimes 50) on the highway it won't cost much to run this car.
What kind of mods did you do to it, to pull off that time? I ran a 16.8 stock.
So how did you remedy the wash situation? I've never heard of this problem before, is this the technical name?
Not to nitpick, but there's just no way you're getting 45-50 mpg highway. Simply impossible. The car has an EPA rating of about 38 mpg highway, and even this is a stretch as EPA ratings are very unrealistic and virtually no cars attain their rated fuel economy (in fact, most cars deliver 10-15% less).
I have an EL, and I love the mileage it gets, but let's be realistic here. It's not as if we're driving a fuel-sipping diesel or hybrid.
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