Proud new owner of an '07 Town Car Signature Limited in Cashmere tricoat, and it's been a busy last few days indeed. Let me break it down...
* The obvious, of course -- title, registration, insurance, all that splendid jazz.
* Oil change, dealer inspection, and preemptive transmission and brake service that don't appear to be necessary, but since I don't have confirmation of their last completion date beyond "last couple of years," I'm playing it safe.
* Scheduled ceramic window tint. Life in South Florida just isn't going to work without it.
* Picked up a spare key/fob combination rather like
this one here, so my wife doesn't have to use the valet key.
* Power solutions! That always-on 12V is a bit troubling to me, so I've acquired
this rather handsome power splitter, which has a bonus feature I didn't realize from the ad copy -- the master on/off button that occupies the entire end of the plug itself (and houses the voltage display) kills power to the entire system, including all USB ports, all three split 12V ports (despite them having their own individual power toggles), and the voltage meter alike. It appears to be mechanical, too -- hard-cutting the power through the entire device completely, right at the plug point. I am cautiously optimistic about leaving it plugged in, and will follow up with reports on how well it fares over time.
* Installed a
ProClip center dash mount (nonpermanently, it clips in and pops out again with a gentle round of prybar) to which I've attached an
inexpensive ball socket mount plate and my
old creaky QI car cradle. It isn't pretty but it's adequately functional.
* Replaced the stock stereo with my standby double-DIN, the
Kenwood Excelon DPX794BH. Needed the
Metra dash kit and an
antenna extension cable, splurged on a
Crux SWRFD-60L to wire in the steering wheel controls, and picked up a pair of
Infinity Reference 8632CFXes with
adapters for the front doors. Someday, I will feel brave enough to disassemble the rear seats and install rear deck speakers...but today is just not that day, forgive me.
* Because I'm somewhat terrified of the neighborhood kids or pets dashing out behind me as I back out of the driveway, I'm installed the somewhat amusingly-named
Wolfbox G840S digital rearview camera and recording system. Straps on, easily comes off again with no permanent modification to the mirror. I've also installed
this clever fellow for powering it through the OBD port. Easy enough to disconnect for diagnostics, and doesn't even touch the bus pins -- the connector only uses steady power, accessory power, and ground pins (I checked!). The switch allows me to select between these power pins, so I can leave the camera (and recording loop) running with a click at will, or flip it back off again just as easily.
* It's sacrilege, I admit, to cover up the burl, but given that I have some nerve damage in the hands and grip strength issues, I needed to thicken the steering wheel a little, and I picked up a leather steering wheel cover pretty similar visually to
this one, to make the wheel a little easier to handle with grip issues.
* A family member who does craft work with resin has promised me a truly brilliant license plate frame that's entirely too colorful for my tastes. Photos may be forthcoming when I receive it. I honestly have no idea what it's going to look like, yet.
* And finally, I'm not allowed to own a car like this without a proper pair of
gloves for it, and if I can find a truly stately umbrella for it, I'll grab it, too.
Loving this car. Absolutely, positively loving it.
