u/DragonJouster

So because of a very long story I will likely have to retire my 2004 Subaru outback because of California emissions rules. I am very sad. But I had decided a long time ago that when my car died I want a hybrid or EV.

My mom has a newer Civic and when I visit her I drive her car and I love the way it drives. I'm almost like not interested in test driving other brands or other cars because I like this car so much.

The thing is I have never ever purchased a car from a dealership. My 2004 outback I bought from a private party and it's been the best car for the past 9 years. I did have to go to a dealership once because I thought the Subaru was going to die and they essentially tried to get me to buy a new car and lied to me about what was wrong with my Subaru (or maybe they just didn't try too hard to figure it out? I don't know but it ended up being a leaky hose on the radiator that my usual mechanic was able to fix in 5 seconds. After this experience I definitely have a grudge against dealerships). Also the salesman was honestly so disgusting and hitting on me the whole time I was test driving a couple of the cars.

Of course I'm going to go test drive this hybrid and learn a little bit more about what it's like to actually be in the car, but I am dreading to go into any dealerships because I don't know how to speak their lingo and play the game. I'm also not interested in having gross old men try to scam me or hit on me. I'm located in southern california, what was your out the door price with your 2026 Honda Civic hybrid? What about all the warranties and add-on crap that I'm sure the salesman will try to sell me? Are any of them actually worth it or are they just gimmicks? If I tell them I don't want any add-on packages are they going to try to make my deal worse? Is the extended warranty worth it? Do you recommend going to several dealerships and trying to put them against each other? Does that even work?

I make enough money that I can plan to pay off the car in 6 months so my main concern is probably going to be the total price of the car rather than the APR and loan terms, even though I do want to have a good deal on those things just in case there's an emergency that happens or something.

Thanks for any advice!

I fell victim to sizing inconsistencies and need a medium instead of a size small in the new grogu Jade scrub pants. I have a size small to trade. I'll keep them for a couple days otherwise I'm going to be returning, if anyone has a size medium that doesn't work for them I would love to buy it off you as long as you are not going to charge me an absorbitant price. Will pay retail plus shipping or trade my smalls. Thank you!

Well I have been to two different mechanics that say the part for my car is not available because of CA emissions regulations and the very specific converter my car needs is not available. I am getting a "cat code" check engine light.

This is such a good car. I hate to get rid of it because of this - I've replaced the head gaskets, replaced the clutch, etc etc and it runs great. I've done very little maintenance after some big fixes.

There are a bunch if different converters online that technically match when you plug in 2004 subaru outback but I guess the very specific one my car needs is not available and if we put any other one in, it will fail the smog test if ID numbers aren't matching. I showed the mechanic one I found on rock auto and he said it won't pass because it isn't a "federal" converter. The mechanic told me I can sell it out of state or trade it in for parts, or try to get a 2 year waiver from the state and push out the issue for 2 years.

I was wanting to drive this car until it completely died and I am having a hard time accepting that I may have to stop driving this car just because of this stupid converter. I guess it's a good thing so people don't drive around in cars giving off dirty emissions but man I'm pretty depressed. I love this car so much.

Mostly just posting because I'm sure some of you have had the same experience and have mourned your loss.

Pants:

- Athleta blue barrel pants(worn on plane)

- Black Sozy skirt

- Black REI hiking pants

Tops:

- Mock neck everlane cotton tanks x2 (black and gray)

- Everlane cashmere black long sleeve sweater

- Anthropologie colorful cat print cashmere sweater

- Nation black long sleeve dressy t shirt

- REI merino t shirt for hiking x2 (one worn on plane)

- REI long sleeve sun cover up for hiking

- REI thermal base layer for hiking at altitude

- Uniqulo UV thin hoodie (worn on plane)

Shoes:

- Vibae sandals

- Reebok white sneakers (Worn on plane)

- Hiking boots

Misc:

- swimsuit

- White&warren light blue Cashmere travel scarf (amazing foe going out and on the plane, got tons of use out of this)

- Sunhat

- Packable North Face rain jacket

- Rain pants

- Merino undies x5

- Boy short undies X2 (one worn on plane)

- X2 merino bras (one worn on plane)

- 4-5 socks including Merino hiking socks

- Compression socks for airplane

- Baggu crescent bag for daily carry

- Osprey backpack (zipped off from my Osprey Fairview for hiking)

- Misc toiletries and make up

- Glasses

- Sunglasses

- Kobo e-reader

- headphones

- waterbottle

- PJ shorts and tank

All carried in a 21" Briggs and Riley international spinner. I sort of 1.5 bagged it and carried my backpack on the plane so I had access to some stuff in the flight which left lots of extra room for the Port wine I brought back. With the bathing landscapes between the cities and the Azores this trip was hard for me to pack for, but overall I used everything except the rain pants. The weather forecast for the Azores and the Airbnb host said it was gonna be cold and super rainy but then it essentially did a 180 while we were there, thankfully they are extremely thin and lightweight so I was able to keep them out of the way in a zipper compartment in the spinner. I am glad I had the ankle hiking boots and layers because going up to some of the highest miradouros and hiking paths was very windy, cold, and damp with lots of rocks to turn my ankles.

The cat print cashmere sweater is a total old lady magnet so I connected with a lot of old Portuguese ladies and they showed me their cat earrings, tattoos, or just smiled and pointed!

I wish I brought more undies. I change my underwear twice a day and I just didn't have enough without washing daily. Maybe I'm not a true one bagger at heart but I'm buying 5 more pairs for my next trip. I have the Branwyn brand undies and bras and honestly the undies kinda stained from just more normal womanly wear and were tough to clean by hand with out scrubbing which can ruin the wool fibers!! Not sure I recommend the undies (though bras are great) and will likely try another brand.

I also wished I had brought some sort of lounge wear with long sweat pants and sweater especially for the Azores at night at the Airbnb!

If you wanted to be more fashionable than me in Lisboa and Porto, I'd recommend an oversized jacket (leather, Corduroy, canvas etc), wide leg baggy jeans, and golas, Converse, or Adidas Sambas or Spezial sneakers styles with a trendy handbag or tote for a grungy look. Black is very common for Portuguese people to wear so if you want to be "in" plan a more soft goth or 90s grunge style. I did think my Athleta pants with the cashmere sweater or black Nation shirt looked pretty good so I recommend the Athleta pants if anyone wants a more stylish travel look.

I think that's all to report!

PSA for early KLM flights out of Porto:

I read that this airport is mostly great and much better than Lisboa but KLM/Air France did not have their shit together this morning! Showed up 2 hours early and there was 1 agent checking bags for multiple flights at 3a. Two more agents showed up eventually but they were slow as molasses in January. They eventually pulled everyone going on our flight to the priority lane and we made it to the gate around 4:55a for a 5a flight after getting permission to cut the security line. Seems like KLM sent out a text saying the flight is full and lots of people were instructed to check their carry-on based on our convos with others in the check bag line. KLM seems to have created the checked bag mess themselves. Yikes. They did wait for everyone and the flight was delayed. I don't think we missed any passengers. Coming from the US where most airlines don't give a shit if you are late it was a pretty stressful early AM! Maybe that means I'll actually sleep on my flights after expending all that energy on stress lol Hopefully they will be better staffed during more normal hours. Maybe it's just an early AM thing.

I'm in Porto for a few days and wondering if there are any Portuguese or even Europe-specific perfumes to check out before I go? I was going to try to find Babycat to sniff at a department store but would love a smaller indie perfume house to check out too! Thanks 🤓

Hello everyone, we will be in Porto for a few days at the end of this week and while we are not able to spend any overnights in the Douro valley we are hoping to make a day trip to Pinhão as I've read about some riverboat cruises that you can take from the dock and some near by tasting rooms. I am A little confused about how to get there because I read about some landslides and the traintrack was being repaired. I am not sure if the train is fully up and running so is it better to take a bus? We want to travel cheap so hiring a private driver is out of the question but if we can find a cheap car rental we may do that if the train isn't an option. Also seems like there are more trains and times from Régua so it seems like that's more flexible than going straight to Pinhão? I was hoping if someone could shed some light on an update of the train situation and if someone may suggest an itinerary for a day trip? Thank you!