The Kia Sportage is a small SUV that's great for everyday use. It's comfortable and has a lot of features for the price, which makes it a popular choice for many drivers.
Car
Lexus GSF
The Lexus GSF is a sporty version of the Lexus GS, which is a luxury sedan. It has a powerful engine and is built for driving enthusiasts who want a mix of comfort and speed.
OEM parts are the original parts that were used when the car was made. They are made by the same company that built the car, ensuring a perfect fit and function.
An alignment is when a mechanic adjusts the angles of your car's wheels so they are straight and not tilted. This helps your car drive better and makes the tires last longer.
The handbrake is a special brake in your car that you pull up to keep the car from rolling when it's parked. It can also help you make sharp turns or slides.
CarMax is a company where you can buy and sell used cars easily. They have set prices, so you don't have to negotiate, which makes it simpler for everyone.
Car
Saab Viggen
The Saab Viggen is a special version of a Saab car that is known for being fast and having a unique look. It was made in smaller amounts, which makes it more interesting to collectors.
The Lexus LS460 is a large, luxury car that offers a comfortable ride and many high-end features. It's known for being reliable and has a powerful engine.
A V8 engine is a type of car engine with eight cylinders that are arranged in a V shape. This design helps the car go fast and makes a powerful sound, which many people find exciting.
Infotainment is the system in cars that provides information and entertainment, like music and navigation. It's what you use to control things like your radio or GPS.
The Infiniti M45 is a luxury car that offers a smooth ride and a powerful engine. It's designed for comfort and style, making it a good option for those looking for a high-end vehicle.
The Miata is a small, two-seat sports car made by Mazda. It's known for being fun to drive and is often chosen by people looking for a sporty car without spending a lot of money.
A pre-sale inspection is when a mechanic checks a car to make sure everything is working well before it's sold. It helps buyers know if the car is in good shape.
The cabin air filter is like a filter for the air inside the car. It helps keep the air clean by removing dust and pollen so that passengers can breathe easier.
The Subaru WRX is a sporty car that can handle well in all kinds of weather, thanks to its special all-wheel-drive system. It's built for speed and fun, making it a favorite among people who like racing or driving fast.
The Mitsubishi 3000GT is a sporty car from the 1990s that was designed to be fast and fun to drive. It has some cool features that make it stand out, like a turbocharged engine for extra power.
The Buick GNX is a special, fast version of a Buick car made in the 1980s. It's known for being powerful and is quite rare, making it a sought-after car for collectors.
LIVE
Dave. Ian. Apex adjacent car show. We talk about music sometimes. Um, today's episode
is very important and very special because we are going to talk about the thing that
everybody wants to hear about, which is my rental of a Kia Sportage.
20th one that I've rented. Right. We're going to talk all about it. That's what this whole show
is going to be about. Just Sportage Deep Dive. No, I mean, that is unless you have something
more interesting than that going on. Oh, like, I don't know, like car wise or just in general,
I'm a little gassy today. I don't know if we want to get into that. I was thinking more car wise.
Oh yeah. Ian, I'm buying a Lexus GSF. Yes, we're getting a new car. I'm getting a new car. Right.
We're getting a new car. You're not allowed within a thousand feet of it.
Yes, I am buying a Lexus GSF. So the one on CarMax was pulled out from underneath me and that's
perfectly fine. It ended up selling for I think around $42,000, which is a great price, I feel
like, for that kind of car. The cars in bid auction closed today as of this record for another
GSF kind of, it was black with the red interior, also 2016. I think that landed somewhere around
$42,500 as well. So I'm paying more than that for mine. I don't want to say the value,
but the one that I'm getting, I mean, would you like to see a picture, Ian? I would very much
like to see it. Okay. I have not shown Ian a picture of this yet. So let me make sure I'm
sharing on the podcast and here we go buddy. Okay, here you go. Yeah, Ian. Is it lowered?
It is. Okay. So it is on some lowering springs. It is still on the stock struts.
This is a 2016. Did I tell you the mileage of it yet?
It was low, right? It's like, I don't remember exactly, but it was low.
It's under 28,000 miles. It's brand new. It's essentially a brand new car.
That's right. That's right. Because you did say that in the chat and then I said thems are burnout
miles. Nope. But Peta had a good point in saying that it's essentially broken in. That's exactly
where you want the car, right? Are you going to leave it at that height?
No. So one great thing about this seller is that they kept all of the OEM parts for the car.
Okay. So they're including all of that, including the OEM wheels with these wheels,
because I really do like the GSF stock wheels. Yeah. These are 20s that are on here in the
picture. The stock wheels I think are 19s. Okay. And I want extra sidewall for Colorado roads
and comfort. Remember, we're going from a Lexus LS to this. So comfort is something to keep in mind.
Okay. Right. Okay. So the first thing I will be doing is I will be swapping on to the stock springs
and getting an alignment, ordering tires for the stock rims and going through that process there.
Are you keeping these rims or are you going to sell them? Yeah. I'll keep these rims. I may sell
them because I can't imagine a scenario where I would put them back on. So I'm not sure.
I mean, could be winter set, summer set. Ian, I'm buying a Lexus GSF with 27,000 miles. Do you
think I'm going to drive this in the snow? I mean, how else are you going to do sweet,
sweet donuts in the snow? In reverse with a handbrake in my Fiat 500 Abarth, Ian.
Okay. Okay. Yeah. So this is happening. This is happening. What's happening with
the LS? What's your plan for the LS? So within seconds of even contemplating this,
one of Pita's friends who is completely Lexus and Toyota obsessed has an LX and Tacoma
deep passion for Lexus. All things Lexus Toyota reached pinged me via text and said,
hey, so you might be getting ready your car. And then like Pita's text came through like five
minutes later that said like, hey, I told my buddy Tim about your, about your,
you may be selling your LS. That's hilarious. And it was like, yeah, Tim's already texted me.
We've had four back and forth messages by the time you told me. So. Okay. Okay. So I'll talk to Tim
about, you know, just kind of the whole rundown with the LS, see if he wants it. If not, I will
kick it over to CarMax and just have them deal with it. Things like that. So. Okay. Yeah.
Yeah. Awesome. I am so excited. This is going to be so much fun. Yes. This is,
I don't know, Ian, tell, tell people like why this might be so out of character for me,
because I feel I've never done anything like this before in my life. This is completely
different than I've never bought a new car. I've never paid this much for a car. Yeah.
I've, I've never paid more than I think $16,000 for a car. Right. I've only ever bought used cars.
This is included, but you know, I like, I'm, I'm not great with money. Like I've spent a lot of
money on podcast and video and all, all kinds of stuff, right? But I've never done anything like
that. But you've never, you've never done any like big splurges before. Really? I mean, other than
you did a Vigen, you bought a Saab Vigen. Right. But that was under $2,500. Right. Right. So this is
another, we've jumped up a bit here. Yeah. And I would say you are good with money. You're, you're,
you're always very, very conscious and, and thrifty and stuff. And this is, this is out of
character. It is. And honestly, talking to my wife, she was the one that really kind of pushed
me over the edge in like, seize the day you might not ever get a chance to own this car with this
low of miles for this price ever again. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, to be fair, it's a car that we've
been thinking about for eight years. Yeah. Yeah. Let's, so let's talk more about that.
So, so my wife and I took a quick drive last night at like 830, 9pm, just to see if there was
any way we could see the Northern Lights because they were technically visible. I think then we
missed the good night, which was the previous night. I don't know if you guys were able to get
out to see them. No, I was in, I was in Wisconsin and it was cloudy and then we got back and Jenny
was like, can we go do that? And I was like, I am going to fall asleep right now. You can go do that.
Yeah. Right. Yeah. So unfortunately, we couldn't see any of the Northern Lights, but we were taking
a drive in Luther in the LS460 kind of like nighttime drive up North where, you know, there's
not a lot of light pollution, but we couldn't see anything. But while we were driving up there,
she was asking like, what, what do I feel is so special with the GSF? And so I wanted to kind of
bring that conversation back around to you to talk about like what, what you remember about
the GSF, what are the things that have made it sticky for us for so long?
I mean, for me, it was, it's, it starts and ends with the power, the, the powertrain, right? Like
it just, it just feels special and different than other modern cars. Like it just delivers power in
a way that is like just intoxicating, right? Right. And the way that it sounds and like the
hilariousness of like looking at a Lexus badge and just hearing huge burbly V8 noises coming from
behind you is just great. It is. That's, that's it. I don't remember anything about the infotainment
system. I remember the seats being comfortable. Yes, I do remember the seats being comfortable as
well. I don't remember ride harshness. I don't remember feeling like we were in a sports car.
I felt like we were in a Lexus. But honestly, that could just be rose tinted glasses a little bit
too. Like I'm guessing that there's going to be at least one thing that you're going to be like,
oh, I forgot about that. I'm sure it's going to be, you know what it's going to be like? It's going
to be like watching a movie that from like your youth that you are like nostalgic about and like
you've loved as a kid and you forgot about the like really problematic subplot.
Right. Right. Or the thing that scared you and made you cry.
Right. But so I'm guessing there's going to be at least one of those things where you're like,
oh, okay, well, I'll live with that. Right. Because every, every vehicle you are making some kind of
concession no matter what, right? Right. But I don't know, what about you? What are you,
what are your memories? Do you have anything that you remember that you didn't like about it?
No, other than the infotainment just being the Lexus infotainment. Unfortunately,
Lexus has stayed so locked into their infotainment because they spent so much money on developing
their own UI and blah, blah, blah. And it's still the trackpad thing, right? It's the little,
it's the one right before the trackpad with the little kind of movie mouse. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. Here, I can show you a picture of it if you want to see it.
Do you think you'll modify that? So unfortunately, those are tough to kind of,
not tough, but there's only a few options. Remember this little mouse guy thing?
Yeah. So my wife has that on her RX. So we're used to it. Okay. You know, and the key thing with,
with this is turning the sensitivity down so that it doesn't just go flying across a screen when
you barely touch it, right? Yeah. You have to, you have to turn it into like an FPS gamer's
mouse acceleration, right? Like you need like a one to one, right? Yeah. I think that I don't
remember anything standing out that I didn't like. You know, I think that I definitely
wanted to give you credit because when you and I were walking up to the GSF that we drove,
you know, in 2017, you were like, this, you need to buy one of these. This needs to be your next
car. Yeah. And, and I think that I had the, I think I had my Infinity M45 at this, at the time.
Yeah, you did. Yeah. And I feel like, and Peter was saying this, that this is really just kind of
Lexus stuff. And I loved my 45, you know, but I think it's, it just like, it was just missing
that kind of like, just extra Lexus bit that makes these things resale for what they do today,
which is insane, right? Even with low miles, it's wild. Yeah. Man, I'm so excited. This is going
to be so much fun. I don't know. I've been thinking a lot about just like how uptight I was when I
was younger, just how, just, I don't know. I've been trying to like, live a little honestly.
And I think that this is, this is something where this is how it's manifesting itself,
is by me buying this car. Yeah. And I don't know. I, I don't know. It's very hard to call that.
There's a term for this. It's called a midlife crisis. Correct. Yes. I'm buying the Corvette
and I'm going, I was going to go New Balance and George shopping later. Do you want to go?
Yeah. Yeah. Or is, or is yours scheduled five years from now? I think mine is, I think I got
a couple more years left. Okay. But it's going to hit hard.
Yeah. Here we go. What do you think your midlife crisis is going to look like?
I mean, it's going to be a car without back seats is what's, what it's going to be.
You think so? Yeah. Okay. I think it'll probably be like a Miata or something.
Okay. That's going to be my midlife crisis car. Okay. Maybe it came in if I'm doing really great.
Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. Well, I'm here for that. Yeah.
Okay. So what do you think? What's the first thing you want to do with this? Like,
I mean, other than your, you talk about returning it to kind of stock. Yes.
Is there any like, do you think you're going to try to like take a road trip or like
do a specific drive or what do you think? Yeah. I don't know. You know, with winter coming,
I figure enjoy it a little bit, kind of get used to it on some dry roads as much as I can.
And just kind of like, just kind of build up that kind of feeling for the car.
Yeah. You know, yeah. So I think maybe some more kind of like Aaron Taske driving,
I don't have anything big planned. And then at some point next season, I will do a track day
with it, mainly just to get a high speed run down that, you know, half mile straight at...
Oh man, it's going to be so good. Yeah. Yeah. I don't want to be there for that.
I don't plan on going hard on the vehicle whatsoever, but I want to legally see how fast I can go.
Yeah. And yeah, for anyone who doesn't know this car, it is the five liter V8,
476 horsepower, 0-60 in four and a half seconds. Yeah. Until we put a supercharger on it and then...
We're not doing that. We are not doing that. Yeah. I mean,
Luther goes 0-60 in five and a half, which is wild for a car that weighs, you know,
4,000 pounds or whatever. It is wild. Yeah. I don't know. I like looking back on,
looking back on the GSF, I just remember, just like you were saying, like the way it delivers
power is so intoxicating because there's no drama with it. Like it, but it's not boring.
Right. You know, it's like, oh, like we're not fucking around here.
Yeah. This means business.
Right. Right. You know, yeah. We're like the fiat. It's like, all right, everybody, we're going for
a ride. Woo. You know, like this is none of that. It's just like...
It's a very lexical approach to fun.
Yes. Yes.
Right. They're going to have fun, but they're going to do it fucking properly.
Right. Right. Yeah. What's the all hail of black market guy say? Even when I fuck around,
I don't fuck around?
Right. Yeah. That's exactly it.
Yes. So, yeah. But yeah, I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but like the
pre-sale inspection went okay. I'm sorry if I'm top of copying. I'm just, I'm very tired.
Yeah. So this is the news today is that you got results that like that happened today,
right? The pre-sale inspection.
Well, yeah. Last night and I got the report today. Yeah.
Okay.
Yep. Yeah. Everything looks good with the pre-sale inspection report.
Everything's great. The owner put a new battery in it, a Lexus OEM battery for me.
He neglected to do the cabin air filter and I am, no, I'm not mad at all because
the owner and I seem to be very similar mindsets when it comes to cars.
Guess, Ian, how much Lexus wanted to do for a cabin air filter for the car, which is inside
the glove box and very easy to do. At the dealer. It's at the dealer.
At the dealer. No screws even. You don't have to take the glove box out.
Right. It's one of those ones like right in the glove box.
Yeah. It's like a panel that you pull. Yeah. I don't know. $150?
Close. It was $125 and the owner was like, that's ridiculous. And I was like,
I am right there with you. It is no problem. Yeah. And like the OEM one on Rock Auto is
$23. But they got a charge for like a full like half hour of work or whatever it is.
Yeah. Right. Yeah. Like what do you have in your glove box that like warrants that much labor?
Like do you have like Jenga towers and miniature like train models that need to be
delicately reassembled? Oh, it's this glove box full of Fabergé eggs.
Yeah. So yeah. So that's the status. So I am working with a transport company.
I have a quote for an enclosed transport because the last thing I want is this thing to take some
freaking seagull to the face while it's getting transported across the country.
Or who knows what else, right? So yeah. Are you considering,
you didn't even consider flying and driving it? No. I think with, I mean, you, you're dealing
with way more airport craziness than I am, right? Like my wife and I haven't flown anywhere since
we went to upstate New York back in July. But like now, you know, like shutdown and TSA and like,
who knows what the hell is going on. And like a hotel for a night, the gas back, all that stuff,
it kind of comes out to being real close to the transport fee for an enclosed transport.
That's a good point, right? You know, so while I'm doing a dumb money thing, you know, I'm,
yeah, I don't know. So yeah, man. Okay. Well, this is very exciting. So when,
when does our new car? My new car, it depends. We're still waiting on the transport company to
finalize like delivery, like pickup and delivery dates. So the transport company will give, I think
it's Montway is the name of the company. And I'll definitely let folks know my experience.
But they, they're very well rated. I think they give a one to three business day window for pickup.
And then they said it's going to take four days to go from Tennessee to Colorado. Gotcha. So,
yeah. So they're, they're not, you know, they're not Ian driving it. Right. You know, yeah. Like
when you got your, when you flew to Virginia and got your, brought your saw back in like seven or
eight hours, I don't know what you did. I did it in like a day and a half. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You
did stop to sleep, right? I did. Yeah. I stopped and I stopped to say that. That's right. That's
right. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah. So it'll be, you know, four days of transport. So, yeah. I mean,
actually after this, I'm going to be sending some additional info to the, to the transport company
and getting blocks of time for the seller, you know, they're going to send me the title and
that stuff certified mail and, you know, yeah. So we're doing it all.
That's awesome. I'm so excited for you. Thanks, man. Thanks. It's going to be great.
I don't know. It, I don't know. You just, every now and then you got to do something crazy. Like,
this is not that crazy though. Because again, it's not like, again, it's not like a car that is
known for like blowing up. Right. And it's not a car that is going to like suddenly lose a bunch
of value either. So even if you wake up in like six months and decide like, oh, I really screwed
up, like it's still a pretty rare car that's sought after. So I think you're going to be fine.
Right. Right. I agree. And I think that you can even increase the value of it by letting your
good friend do it. That's what I've read. Really? Yeah. I just, I, you know, I'm just a, I'm a student
and I, that was a thing that I read. Sure. Sure. Sure. Definitely. Yeah. Smash cut to you putting
up a fake Wikipedia article. Yeah. Oh, buddy. I don't know, man. I don't know. I'm very excited.
It still doesn't quite feel real. I've already had one night of insomnia that like, because I was
so excited about it, but it's still in that like, it doesn't quite feel real zone. Oh yeah. I got to
call the insurance company figure out how much it is to insure. Yeah. Yeah. Right. But thank, I mean,
I don't, I don't drive very much. I drive less than 4,000 miles on each of my cars per year.
And like, when I talked to the insurance company, they were like, are you, like,
are you fucking with us? Like, are you, no, you drive more than, and I was like, look, I have
it in Excel spreadsheet of mileage of my cars for the last, like four years. Yeah. You know,
I work from home. That's it. Even with a Palm Springs road trip. Right. Right. 16 hours each
way. I was still under 4,000 miles for that year too. Yeah. You know, so, yeah. So we'll see how
much, how much the insurance is, but I don't know, man. Okay. Well, I don't know. I'm excited.
Oh God, I can't wait. Dave, would you like a license plate game? I would really, really like.
Color cleanser. Yes. Take your mind off of your stressful new purchase. Thank you. I would really
like a license plate game again. Okay. Uh-huh. This one is, oh God, what have I done with all my money?
It's called self-assessment. Okay. Okay. All right. We've talked about like some self-assessments
before, like mental health self-assessment, depending on your recent, you know,
Facebook marketplace searches, things like that. Okay. Yes. This is a much less healthy one, I think.
Hmm. Okay. All right. Here we go, everybody. Self-assessment.
Okay. Ah, yes. So these are people telling you what they think they are. So this is, we have a
black four-door Jeep Wrangler up top with a bunch of red accents on like the gas cap and the red
alloy wheels and hinges and door handles. And we have a black Dodge Ram with a camper shell.
Glad they didn't go with the giant chrome Ram lettering. And then down at the bottom,
we've got some cool cars. The one you, for the game is an Audi R8 convertible. I don't know if
they call those the spiders. Did you call that the spider? Okay. The Audi R8 spider. Thank you.
And is that an urus in front of it? I believe it is. Yes. Okay. Urus. Okay. An urus. All right.
And the license plates are awesomeness, doesn't suck, and major. M-A-J-O-R.
Okay. We're going to do some zoomies and enhancements. I think that's probably a good idea.
Okay. So the Jeepy Jeep, we have like the big roll bar thing, light bar thing up front.
We've got a South Dakota plate. They have a sticker that says, you can go fast. I can go
anywhere. You can go straight to the mechanic is what you can in your Jeep. Sioux Falls, South
Dakota. They have like one of those Sasquatch. I think that's the, maybe the brewing company. Oh,
they have the monster scar marks across their hood. Yeah. Oh boy. This is a whole thing.
Somebody did a lot of powder coating on this thing. They did. They did. And oh,
then they have the check plate corners. Is that, is that check plate? Am I using the term correctly?
I can't remember with that. Yeah. Okay. I couldn't remember the, the term for that. And then there's
like some like powder coated handle coming off of the back gate there too. And I'm not sure exactly
what I'm looking at, but I think that is a, for the, the latch for the, for the extra tire.
Oh yeah. Yeah. I think you're right. Yeah. They went powder coated that too. They did.
I think wrapped it or whatever it is. Yeah. They either got the box of plastic dip or they did the
thing where you go buy the, like an old oven with non-functioning cooktop on Craigslist. Yeah.
And use the oven for powder coating because you can do that stuff at home to some degree.
Um, okay. Wow. Okay. Boy, that is a whole thing. And then we have the black ram that is just
blacked out. It's got like the aftermarket kind of more tactical off-roady bumper.
Oh, it's a ram rebel. Okay. Yeah. Colorado black plate. Nothing else really. Nothing crazy.
They do have the little, the little extra field of view mirror over on the passenger side.
Yeah. And there's a toe hitch. So it's probably some towing going on.
Probably. Yeah. We've got the R8 spider. R8 is so great. I was hanging out with our buddy Sam
yesterday and we saw a really nice clean white R8 hardtop and it did not have the carbon
scoops on the side. It was just white and it looked really cool. Like kind of monolithic
like that. That is cool. Right? Yeah. Yeah. But this one is very shiny and very nice.
And huh. Okay. Boy. Probably some, yeah. Probably a lot of effort in maintaining the
cleanliness of this vehicle. Yeah. For a black car to be that shiny and everything,
it was pretty, pretty good. Right. I don't know how long ago this picture was taken,
but fall is a dusty ass season in Colorado. Yeah. I will say it was not, it was not taken,
it was taken a while ago and not in Colorado. Oh, gotcha. Okay. Okay. So awesomeness doesn't
suck and major. Okay. I'm going to put doesn't suck on the R8. Okay. Okay. I'm going to put
major on the Ram and I'm going to put awesomeness on the Jeep. Okay. And like, I don't know,
I just feel like major is like the military ish kind of like retired guy or later in the
military service career. You know, this just looks like somebody like for the Ram, it looks
somebody like somebody that's more utilitarian, not so concerned with like powder coating everything
under the sun red, you know, um, yeah. The only thing, the only other thing that I could think
is that maybe the Jeep and the Audi are switched when it comes to awesomeness and doesn't suck.
But I think I'll, I think I'll go with doesn't suck on the Audi and awesomeness on the Jeep.
Okay. Okay. I have some good news for you. Okay. You got one of them right. Oh, yeah,
that's how it goes. Right. Okay. I think I got major right.
I did. Let's see the solution. I did not. Okay. Oh, Jared sent in major. Okay. Awesomeness
and doesn't suck on the Audi. Okay. Wow. Thank you, Jared. And happy belated Veterans Day to you.
Oh, there we go. Yeah. Happy, happy belated Veterans Day. It was this week. Yeah. Yeah. So
I think so what's funny about you mentioning that is I think if you retired as a major,
unless you started out as an enlisted person, I think most people would be like,
you retired as a major, like that's, that's not great. Yeah, I don't understand why. Is that
like a low rank to retire at? Yeah, that's a four. So officer four. Okay. For the fourth
rank in the officer ranks. And usually if you stall out at major, I think the, the stereotypical
thing is if you stall out at major, you are very, there's a lot of, I believe the Texas term would
be all hat, no cattle. Ah, very like, you know, like, for instance, Pete Hegseth stalled out at
major. I don't know who that is. He's the current secretary of defense. Oh, who's like the Fox
New Sky and very like rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, no beards, blah, whatever. Gotcha. With like weird
obsessions and stuff. He's a very like stereotypical like stalled out at major. Okay. Okay. Gotcha.
Yeah. Thank you for educating me on that. Yeah, that's just funny. Yeah. Like that would be,
would that be like more of a mid career stepping stone to other things or an early career? It would
be more mid career. Mid career. Yeah. Okay. And less and then, but there are people who like
start out as enlisted and then move to officer like later in their career and maybe that's all
they have time for is to get to major. So that, that's the thing that happens sometimes. Okay.
But that, so that's sort of the only caveat to that. Gotcha. But for the most part,
if you retire at major, people are kind of like, retired at major. Right. Right. And like the
enlisted to officer would almost be seen as like probably a career change midstream. Right?
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Gotcha. Okay. Which makes sense. Yeah. That somebody would go out after that at
that level. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I actually know, I know someone who did that and it was just like,
they made the leap at like, you know, like 12 years in or something. Okay. Sure. Hey. Yeah.
You know, okay. Right on. Well, cool. Yeah. I, these are, these are wild. Yeah. It doesn't
suck. Yeah. Nice car. It doesn't suck. You know, you could just see them saying that, right? Right.
It's almost worse than just being like putting awesomeness on it. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Because
you know, it doesn't, you know, like it's almost seems more smug. Yes. That's exactly it. It does
seem a little bit more smug. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, all these people. Well, thank you, Jared. Yeah.
Yes. Thank you, Jared. I also have a, my eyes that I didn't put in the talk abouts, but I did.
Oh, okay. Put it in the thing. Well, yeah, let's, let's get into it, buddy. Now, this is one of
those cars that like, I was out at dinner with my family. Okay. And I spotted this from across the
parking lot and I made a feline for it. You shoved your children to the ground. Yeah. Everyone
else was very confused. Okay. They were like, dad, it's cold. I want to get in the car. And I was
like, gotta take pictures. And they did not understand. Daddy has a podcast. Right. Well,
I would have, regardless of podcast or not, I would have been very excited to see this car.
Okay. It holds a special place in my heart. Oh. It is on, it is in the, the, the current
show folder. Okay. I think I have it here. And it's called Proto Hey. Proto Hey. Oh,
it's a Mazda Proto J. It's a Mazda Speed Proto J. Right. Which is pretty freaking rare. Yeah.
Super rare. I also took a picture of the back, but I don't have it here because
it had a license plate that I want to use later. But oh man, I was so excited. And
literally, and Jenny was like, it's a gray Mazda. What is your problem? Right. Right. But I,
you know, one of the things Sam and I were talking about yesterday was just how much
like some body cladding really changes a car in addition to this one has extra special stuff. But
the bumper of the Mazda Speed Proto J just completely changes that car. Yeah. Yes. And I,
I have driven these before. I've driven one of these before and I will tell you it,
it feels so special. Really? Okay. Just, it, it's just lovely to drive. Okay. Like it feels really,
really nice on turn in and like it just, it has a, it's got the thing. It's got the tingle.
You know? Okay. Gotcha. Yes. Super cool cars. Yeah. Give me the rundown. So turbo charged four
with a five speed manual. Okay. Yeah. It's not like crazy fast. I think it's, you know,
only a little over 200 horsepower or whatever. But it was in that era where you had like
great front wheel drive, lightweight sports cars. Yeah. And like just all the inputs are nice.
Like the shifter is really nice. The pedals are well laid out and really nice. And I think the
steering felt really good. Like I think it was my favorite steering of all of that. Those era.
Okay. Or maybe the Civic Si would be better or about the same. Wow. I really liked how it,
it's, it drove. I just, I've, that's a car that I've drove like 20 years ago.
I've been thinking about ever since. That's really cool. Yeah. Such a great era for like
small cars. And I think getting one with a turbo during this time was kind of hard to come by.
It was because this is also, this was like this, I think this car came out
before the WRX hit. Yes, definitely. And so it was like still like pre WRX, pre
Evo 350, 350Z and pre Evo. Right. So it was, it was still a big deal. These cars. Yeah.
That's really cool. I love the body kit. It looks great. It does, right? Yeah. The one you saw,
yeah. Has a really interesting front bumper. Yeah. Yeah. I love it, man. That's really cool.
That's a great spot. I may have not noticed it unless like I was right in front of it.
Yeah. No, I noticed it from a cross and I was like, there's no way. Yeah. I walked right over
there and I was like, it is. Yeah. And they were like, it's cold. Do you know like what sales figures
or production numbers were? I think low. I don't often. Okay. But like good car, bad car should
have that. Yeah. Sales figures. Let's see here. Yeah. And to kind of loop back on the GSF, only
2,400 of them were sold in the US and there's less than 1,000 that are remaining with no accident
history. And I'm getting one with no accident history. Yet. Yet.
Remember when I said I was keeping you a thousand feet away from the car?
This is for all the protege. Oh yeah. This is for all the protege. This is not for protege.
Mazda Speed protege. Yeah. I don't even know if that'll tell you. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah.
That's really interesting. Sales figures still alive. I mean, this person has a number for it.
So they do, which is a four digit number. So that means there's probably less than 10,000.
I would think so. Yeah. Production numbers maybe. Yeah. Let's see here. Oh, only 4,500 units.
Wow. 1750 of them were in the, in 2003 and 2750 of them were in the
2003 and a half model year. That's amazing. So that was, so I think that that's the same year as
the first WRX in the States or a year after? I think it was the, let's see. 2002 I think was
the first year. Yeah. First year for WRX in the US. Yeah. That would be 2002. Yeah. So the year after
the WRX. Okay. Yeah. But still, so super cool cars and like you just don't see them. No. No,
for sure. It's been, it's been a few years since I've seen one, I think. And I, every time I see
a protege, I'm like, is it? Yes. It's almost never is, but this one, this one was. Yeah. Like what
are some other cars that we do that with? Every time we see a Volvo, we want to see if it's an R.
Mm-hmm. Right. It used to be, I mean, the 300ZX, you'd be like, is it a twin turbo? Same with the
Mitsubishi 3000 GT. Is it a VR4? Right. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, not like we see,
what am I trying to think of? Buick, GNX is a great national, yeah. Is it the GXP? Is that,
that's the higher end version, right? The GXP. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Stuff like that. Yeah. Nice.
Right on, man. Good spot, dude. Thank you. Yeah. What do we think? Do we have anything else?
I don't, dude, I don't think so, man. I've been so busy. I haven't been able to put some stuff
together for the show that I've wanted to get in. So I appreciate everybody rolling with me as I
work through the backlog. But that is okay. I have a album of the week for you. Yeah,
let's do it, buddy. Let's do it. Okay. This is by a band named Tropical Fuckstorm.
Okay. The name of the album is Fairyland Codex. It's got a wild album cover,
okay, which I really like. What's the title? Fairyland Codex.
C-O-D-E-X? Yep. Okay. Wow. Okay. Oh, they abbreviate their name as TFS. Okay.
It's this like, kind of like harder rock, very proggy sort of thing, but there's some incredible
grooves on this record. And I first listened to it when it first came out like earlier this year,
and it didn't grab me right away. And I kind of didn't think about it again. And then I was on,
I had a bunch of time in the car this week. And so I was just trying to catch up with,
like, revisit records that I hadn't listened to. And I listened to this and there are some great
songs on this record. And I love the album cover. Oh, yeah. It's like a twist of where the wild
things are kind of like. Yes. Yeah. That's exactly what it is. It's awesome. I think it might scratch
a little bit of your, like, hard rock, metal-adjacent itches that you sometimes have. Yeah. There's
a couple of great songs on here. I mean, Dunning Kruger's Loser Cruiser is a great song title,
and it's a good song. Joe Meek will Inherit the Earth. That's the best song on the record. It is
that song fucking rips. Stepping on a rake. Okay. I'm getting like some, like, some red fang
vibes from this. Yeah. Okay. I think that's fair. Yeah. That Joe Meek will Inherit the Earth. That's
one of those songs we talked about this a while back about, like, you hear the beat and you're
like, oh my God, I'm in. Right? Like, you're just immediately nodding your head. I would just,
if you're not going to listen to anything else, listen to that song. It's really, really good.
Okay. Okay. Yeah. There's some great moments on this record, but it is, like, stylistically a
little bit all over the place. Okay. You love an album that dips and dives. I do.
You really do. And I really appreciate that about you. I like that. I really like that about your
taste. Yeah. It's a very fun record. I'm bummed that it took me so long to get into it. Okay.
Hey, it's never too late to start listening to Tropical Fuckstorm.
That's a great band name. I mean, come on. That would make a great t-shirt for them. Just
it's never too late to start listening to Tropical Fuckstorm. Yeah. Fairyland Codex. Okay.
Bandcamp, if they have an official page, Spotify and Apple Music Links will be in the
YouTube description. If you want to check out Tropical Fuckstorm, a.k.a. TFS.
Yes. Yeah. I'm digging the whole vibe of these folks. Yeah. I like this. Okay.
Yeah. Check out that. Check out that Joe Meagle and Herod the Earth song. It is, it rips.
Okay. Yeah. I'm here for it. Nice, dude. Okay.
Dave, I think we done did a car show.
You know, actually, I just got a message from the seller. I'm not buying the car anymore.
And also, you can't come over and see my garage. You can't look at it.
No, I just, I just want to put this out there. Yes.
But you were planning on replacing those, that wheel and tire setup.
I mean, it'd be shame for a lot of tread go to waste.
That's not true because the more tread that's on there, the easier they are to sell.
Okay. I guess. I would say just QA testing them before you sell because it's like a
pre-purchase inspection. My favorite thing that you do is when you try to sell me on the thing.
Because you think that there is going to be an argument or a pitch that I'm just like,
you know what? You're right. We're all doing burnout.
So I appreciate it, Ian. I appreciate it. Yeah. So, 720515, 1391, vanity plates and whatnot.
Yeah. There you go.
Hi, everybody. Thank you. We love you. Goodbye.
About this episode
A deep dive into the host's recent rental experience with a Kia Sportage leads to an exciting announcement about purchasing a Lexus GSF. The hosts discuss the car's features, their plans for modifications, and the emotional significance of this purchase, marking a departure from their usual car-buying habits. They also touch on memories associated with the GSF, including its powertrain and driving experience, while sharing humorous anecdotes and engaging in a light-hearted license plate game.
