I recently bought a 2005 Ltd Coupe.

My main concerns for the longevity of this vehicle is:

1) Exterior/Interior maintenance.
and
2) Engine maintenance.

The following things are worrying me.

1) I just found out that the car was a company lease car, which means every suite in that office probably took their time abusing my car-"who cares, its the company car"; and i doubt they fueled it with anything more than REGULAR.

2) The car would have a slight rattle when the clutch was up in neutral. When i would press it down, the rattle would stop. This has gone away on its own.

3) The exclamation mark/warning on the left side of the steering wheel is on. The dealership told me that its because of the tire pressure change due to the prep before being sold. They said it will go away after the car settles.

4) The car has slight hiccups. VERY slight - the average driver wouldn't notice. But basically, at a stop sign, every few second..you can feel a slight jerk of the engine. very slight. Is this normal? Like i said, nobody would notice this as it is very slight.

and last but not least,

5) I noticed road rash on my wheels. I didn't see them until the day after I took my car for a wash. Could that have been the cause? I have taken all my cars to this place, and have never had a problem. Is it because the wheels are larger than 17?

Share your wisdom. I'm not afraid to ask.

Teach me all I need to know to take care of this beautiful beast.

 

I'll answer what I can. Hopefully others will chime in as well.
1. I wouldn't worry about the company lease part too much. Many of the forum members' cars were lease or corporate vehicles (including mine - corporate exec). I would assume that people would put premium in it, but I can't say for sure. Just run premium in it from now on. We do have one forum member who runs 87 in his without issue.

2. I'm no help, mine is an auto.

3. Not sure. Did you check to see what the manual says?

4. I would say this is normal, but not sure.

5. I've never taken mine through an auto wash. Only hand washes for me. The rash could have always been there, but you just noticed it once it was clean, not sure.

Hopefully that was of some help to you. Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the forum.

 

3) This indicates your tire pressure is outside the normal specs. Just check the tire pressure and make sure they're inflated properly. But, before you do this drive it for a while as tires tend to loose a bit of air when they are cold. I had this when I took my car out from winter storage, and they are OK now.

5) You have 18" and 19" wheels with very low profile tires. They could have been scratch while on the track at the car wash. Try not to take it to the auto wash. If you feel you have to, ask that a manager drive it into the wash. Most reputable car washes will have you wheels fixed if it was their fault.

 

The answer for number three is that your tire pressure is below 28 lbs in one, two, three, or four of your tires. Just stop and fill them up to 33 if you live in a warm part of the country and 35 if you live in a cold part of the country. If filling the tires up doesn't solve it, take it to your friendly (lol) dealer.

 

3) Is it an 'exclamation mark" or a picture or a symbol that resembles a tire? If it resembles a tire, then it is your TPMS light tires could be low or climatic change. Get your tires filled with nitrogen and that will end the climatic changes.

5) As FP stated...could have happened at the car wash, our tires are wide and low. If possible hand wash or use a DIY carwash, especially if your XFire is black or a dark color.

 

If you fill your tires with nitrogen it won't get cold in the winter? Or are you saying that nitrogen gas does not change temperature? I find both these claims dubious and most likely the product of marketing.

 

Get one of those electronic tire pressure gauges. Should run about $10. Then inflate your tires to the settings on the inside of the door. I had this problem when I first got the car. The problem was the pressure was on the line causing the system to trip. Properly inflating the tires solved it.
My 2004 has this same problem. The dealer thinks I am making it up.
I run my car through a drive through wash 3+ times a week on average. My rims have some rash to them, likely caused by this. The tires don't stick out farm from the rims, so it's reasonable they were scuffed during the wash. I don't concern myself with this.

 

#4 - this slight vibration at idle seems to come and go...Many CF owners with auto have this. Have not found the cause...and it is subtle...but it is there.

 

One thing I find about the tire pressure...no matter how often you check em' all you need is a day or night where the temp drops or rises 30-40 degrees and the tire pressure changes. As for the washes..I was out in 34 degree weather washing my car this winter, I don't think I missed a week but then again I'm crazy or so I've been told. It would have to be a pretty serious situation where I'd put it through a car wash, no telling what goes on in those things.
Best of luck with your car!

Pat

 

There is plenty of nitrogen in the air that surrounds us, and more than likely in the air pumps that you would normally use. Nitrogen in a pure form is less susceptible to a sudden drop in temperature. The other day here in Central Virginia it was 69 degrees during the day and the temp had dropped to 30 degrees by the next morning, my TPMS light did not come on. Under normal conditions when I had air in my tires a sudden drop like that would have set off the TPMS.

 

1. An executive driven car is never a good thing as these people could care less for the car, but them filling the 87 would be just plain rude, but possible... depending on the mileage, style of driving, and weather this may or may not be off concern, but all in all be happy that is not a forced induction car as the improper octane gas would make a much larger effect...

2. Sorry but I have not driven a manual crossfire, thus there are numerous other members who are better qualified to give you an answer or an explanation... but people have claimed faults of the manual crossfire popping out of first gear or whatever it was... I guess if the problem has gone away I would not worry too much about it...

3. Makes you wonder exactly what kind of prep they do, but all in all I would check my tire pressure and possibly add a little to each tire and equalize the pressure... and check it in about a week or two seeing if there is a noticeably decline... then well you got a flat I guess and if not and the light is still on I would take it to the dealer...

4. The only engine jerking in the car I am familiar with is sometimes after starting it... but since we drive with slightly different engines there are also other who are better qualified in answering this question...

5. I do not see how even the harshest car wash can create a rash on the wheels it is just to hard to do... but i guess it is possible with an machine car wash... but I think you would know better than going to those as you seam to care much about your car... If you ask me I would have to guess that the road rash was present before the car wash and after the car wash it just became more clear and easier to see and notice... one more thing on this note... your post and concerns show quiet a strong love for your vehicle and unless I am wrong about that you should be washing your car yourself... pick up some products... you can learn a lot on this forum about keeping your car in extremely clean condition...

I have had numerous people tell me I am paranoid about my car specifically the crossfire as I refuse to drive it in anything less than perfect weather condition and that I wash it week and never let anyone drive, eat, drink, or even smoke in the car as I myself as a smoker...and have been for a long time... but by your words of your car it does not seam to really have any problems at all... not even the usual crossfire problems... I think man you are a little paranoid, but its a good thing.. if anything clearly noticeable and seemingly faulty ever pops up in your car do not hesitate to ask as we will do our best to answer whatever questions you have...

In the mean time... congratulations on your new beautiful vehicle enjoy it the way it is meant to be enjoyed and welcome to the forums...

Hope this helps.
- Sidez



Well anyways welcome to the forum.

 

The temperature drop you describe (40 °F) would lead to approximately a 8% drop in tire pressure in your N2 filled tires. Assuming that they were filled at 69 °F and to 33 psi, that would leave them at a pressure still over 30, and the light would not come on. Of course, if you filled them at 50 °F, they went up ~4% when it was 69 °F and then only "lost" ~4% when they went down to 30 °F. This happened. If the temperature went down and there isn't a hole in your tire, the pressure dropped.

The much-hyped "greater effect" from regular air to temperature changes is found by the content of water vapor, which is acts less like an ideal gas at these temperatures. Given that, there isn't much water vapor in the air. From wikipedia:

Due to the increasing potential for a higher water vapor partial pressure at higher air temperatures, the water content of air at sea level can get as high as 3% by mass at 30 °C (86 °F) compared to no more than about 0.5% by mass at 0 °C (32 °F).

This is at 100% relative humidity, by the way. So if we assume 100% humidity and you getting your tires to 33 psi when it's 86 °F, and then the temp drops to 32 °F and all the water freezes, you'll see a 3% drop in pressure, plus the ~11% drop in pressure from all the other gases. The 11% drop would happen even in the nitrogen filled tires. 3% of 33 psi is less than 1 psi and is a worst case scenario.

It's certainly up to you, and I understand that racecars do it, but given the fact that you have to check your air pressure (or at least look at the TPMS idiot light) anyway due to temperature changes, I don't see much value in paying more to fill up your tires with 100% nitrogen.

 

With all the scientific explanations you have given and by no means am I a scientist and I appreciate your reasoning, all I know is that bothersome TPMS light no longer comes on when there is a temperature drop. The weather here in Central Virginia has been up and down lately, and my TPMS light would pop on almost every other day. Since getting the nitro fill the light has not come on, and so far I no longer have to check my tires every other day.

 

Sidez & Co.

I must thank you all, for your kind assistance. It's truly appreciated.

This seems to be a great forum with many X-Fire enthusiasts.
I look forward to learning as much as I can in regards to our vehicles.


Its actually quite funny, I used to obsess over my cars.
I would treat them like gold, and practically never drive them.
After spending alot of money on these "hobbies". I realized it wasn't in my best interest, as I should have a daily driver.

I sold my "loves", and proceeded with buying a 2002 mustang base.
Car was garbage.
I thenk somehow went to a '94 probe (don't ask) - That was garbage as well.

For the past 5 months, i've been driving a Honda CRV, but i wasn't enjoying this.
I missed having a nice car to be proud of, and to take care of.

Insanely enough, I got a great deal on the XFire, and I went ahead with the purcahse.

This is my Daily Driver (many have told me - BIG MISTAKE), but so far I am very happy.
But due to these factors, i am trying to find a balance between, taking great care of the car, yet not obsessing to the point where it becomes more of a headache/stressful experience, as apose to a tool to get point a to point b (while looking good at the same time).

Cheers guys.

 

PS - can you guys please confirm that the Warning light coming up is, in fact the Tire Pressure?

It is the first light, on the top of the left side of the steering wheel.

It is somewhat of a semi circle, with ridges in the bottom, and an "!" mark in the inside.


Thanks guys!!

 

Yes, that the warning light for your tire pressure. It's suppose to be the view of a tire as you face the threads. The ! mark is just that.
This is now a universal symbol, used by all car manufactures.

 

Thank you for the confirmation.

The last warning light on the bottom of the left hand side, also resembles a tire. (Round circle - NOT THE STEERING WHEEL one). So i just wanted to make sure that I had the right warning.


Thanks.

 

Now you have me thinking. Let me go look at my car, and get back to you.

 

The very bottom one which is like this (O) is the brake pad wear indicator. it is the one at the very bottom left side. the tire pressure monitor should be on the right side

 

Why would using an Xfire for your daily driver be a big mistake? What reasons did the naysayers give?