Back in late October my RMS went out. Went to the dealer and they fixed including the oil separators. Driving back there was a lot of rattling. Got home called and they scheduled me back a few days later. Left it parked in the driveway. When I started it back up to take it back in I got a low coolant light. Dealer fixed the loose exhaust and added coolant. A month later it was back in as it had started leaking again. That time it seemed to have been fixed.
Then in Feb it suddenly started running like cr** . Took it to the dealer and one of the injector solenoids was bad.
We had a vacation scheduled last week. Before that my wife was complaining we shouldn't take the wagon as it wasn't reliable. She relented. It was a short drive up the coast, what could go wrong?

It started running rough after a couple hundred miles. Yup, bad injector, So I was in Mendocino a hundred miles from the dealer in Santa Rosa, most of that over windy mountain roads (55mph limit, lots of 15mph hairpins). The engine runs OK with a bad injector if you keep it above 2K and below 3K. I quickly learned that race mode worked best when using paddle shifters as the other modes kept trying to auto shift to keep rpms low (below 2K). Dropped off the wagon and ended up in a Nissan Sentra as nothing else was available at the auto rental. Then on the way back a cat ran in front of me and I couldn't avoid hitting it. The carnage for the cat was fatal and the engine under cover was critically damaged. It made a hell of a lot of noise for a while until there was aloud bang and most of it dropped away. Once I got back to the hotel I still had a part dragging but was able to pull it off.
The rest of the trip was uneventful with many miles of incredible curvy roads driven in the boredom of a 4cyl. When I picked up the wagon on the way home they told me the injector solenoid was covered by MB (something about it being a recognized problem?). So that is my second, first was cyl 7, second was cyl 4.

Looks like the next trip will be in the Lexus.

 

Sorry to hear. Unfortunately, as the car ages, more problems and issues start to appear. At least, it is still a beast to drive (when it functions smoothly) 😀

 

As someone that drives Hwy 1 from Bodega Bay to Point Arena, I'd like to highlight there is no speed limit on this road and certainly nothing that requires 15 mph, unless the Alpha Female is just "not in the mood" (for a good tossing). When said AF is in the mood, 120 mph on some of the straightaways is doable.

Key is having a pre-facelift S213. For some reason, cars notably get the F out of the way when my example arrives suddenly behind them.

(just so we're clear, I'm totally ribbing you in fun... I remember renting a SEAT in Spain. At some time, there was a gas leak and it was pumping gas all over the top of the engine. I drove back to the rental place and the guy didn't believe my perfectly fine Spanish. We went outside and when he saw the gas gushing, he yelled BASTA BASTA. I wish I smoked so I could have lit up a cigarette... oh, and the SEAT I drove into Switzerland that dropped its muffler. This is just not done in that country. Fortunately, I had some natives with me that explained the situation multiple times in a few hours... as I said, it's just not done there... it was required to be fixed same day... a Sunday... which it was.)

 

1 is pretty tame in most areas. Going inland (which I did) becomes areas where you can really romp on it and then the mentioned 15 mph and less hairpins. Of course, if it is on the weekend with nice weather or there's a local event all bets are off as traffic determines your speed on 1 and inland.

I've been up to just north of a buck fifty and my wife was with me. Just hanging on. Triple figures on a entrance ramp is expected now. She does draw the line at hard driving on curvy roads in the wagon.. Strange enough, the Corvette is Ok for that.