1500 Mile Report
Hey everybody - just passed 1500 miles, so I thought I'd share a few random insights on the Nitro - now about 2 weeks old!
The ride: Silver SLT, 4WD, leather (grey), sunroof, U-Connect, DVD, Sirius towing package, etc.
We've done one 700 mile road trip and lots of city driving, averaging about 19.7 by the end of the road trip, and somewhere in the high 16's so far in the city. We're headed for another road trip for Thanksgiving, so we'll see if "engine break-in" contributes to increasing gas mileage. Our last vehicle was an '02 4 cylinder Santa Fe, so I'm enjoying the increase in power and a few of the more luxurious amenities we didn't have with the SF.
No major issues to report - at about 100 miles the EPS BAS light came on, but turned off after a few ignition cycles. At about 500 miles, after I'd folded the passenger seat and used it to work on my laptop (while I was sitting in the back and the wife was driving), the airbag malfunction lights came on and stayed on for several ignition cycles and a few hundred miles before finally turning off. There's a weight sensor on the passenger seat, and I think I just triggered it or something with the laptop. Anyway, took it in to have both items looked at "just in case", and they reported no issues and cleared the computers. We also had a few paint issues on the driver-side door that we noticed when we picked it up, and I just returned from the bodyshop today with that all taken care of. The dealership (Rosedale Dodge in Minneapolis) has been great to work with. I'll be ordering the MyGig to be installed the minute it's available.
A few other random insights:
I can't really say enough about the interior design of this vehicle - I really love the design, and lighted cup-holders would be just about the only thing I wished it had. Love the aux input for my iPod - there is no reason for automakers to not include that on the front of the stereo, where it belongs, period. I like how everything has a sensible place, the shifter is on the floor, the (in my case) silver casing is just slick. The console storage unit is huge, and I also like having the little one on the left side of the steering wheel for small stuff. Even little things, like having a rubber mat on the dash storage cubby, provides things I would have otherwise had to do myself, and I appreciate that.
U-Connect has changed my life. I do a lot of business on the phone in the car, and can't imagine going back to the days of the bluetooth headset pressed to my ear, or worse holding the phone. So much more elegant and safe this way. Brilliant! Having the included Sirius, phone, aux-input, and garage-door opener has freed my cockpit up of so much clutter and dongles and crap.
I've enjoyed how I can hook my iPod up to the DVD inputs in the backseat to watch movies (well, the wife or the neices and nephews can). Beats lugging a bunch of floppy DVDs around to get lost, damaged, etc.
Speaking of inputs - the game of Madden shared with my buddy when we plugged in the PS2 back there was pretty cool too -
My seatbelt catches more often than not when I try to pull it out, and I have to adjust the height adjustment to get it to come loose. I haven't had that looked at at all - anybody experiencing anything like that at all?
There's a new Sylvania LED touchlight (I got mine at Pep Boys) that works great in the console storage unit for finding stuff at night. I may stick one on the front of the console, too, to light the cup holders quickly at night, see my iPod quickly, etc.
I was happy that the guys at Rosedale Dodge didn't give me any drama when I took it in last time (for the 2 lights I mentioned) and asked them to take off their ugly dealer sticker.
Accessories - besides the MyGig, which I'm about salivating over, I've ordered slush mats from Lee Parts (leeparts.com) - that was 2 weeks ago, and today he told me that he's really backordered on those. Could be months...anybody else order slush mats and experience this? I'd love to have some before the snow flies up here. I'm also going to go with the sill guards, maybe the chrome gas tank cover, and a bike rack, etc. on the roof before summertime. I'd really be interested in what experiences anybody's having ordering accessories, as it seems either the car's too new or the parts too few to get what I'm looking for just now.
That's it - I'm loving the experience of this ride, and having lots of fun. If anybody has any insights or advice on anything I've mentioned, I'd love to hear it.
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