...and Boston traffic view http://t.co/eC7X4KKZ 3 days 5 hours ago
Finally, after many weeks of dealing with various lowballers and non-serious people I sold STi on the 19th, it's gone to good hands. Interestingly, sale lead came from autotrader.com, so money spent on those ads weren't wasted.
Currently, I got a temporary ride, borrowed from my friend. It isn't bad. Don't know yet what awaits me for a new car. But definitely thinking 08+ STi for now.
I finally have a resolution for P0031 and maybe P2097. Went to Mastro Subaru in Tampa,FL and had them replace O2 front a/f sensor. They ended up being good people, didn't charge me for diagnostic, because I kind of knew already what was wrong. So they threw the car on the lift (for free) and checked O2 sensor. Turned out it [sensor] was indeed junk. So I gave them a go-ahead to replace. It came to $319, but I think it's worth it considering I am more than a thousand miles from home.
Today I stopped by AutoZone to ask them to reset my CHECK ENGINE light, which I thought was old engine error code that I brought to FL from NH. But no, it turned out to be a new one — P0031.
A P0031 DTC (diagnostic trouble code) refers to the O2 sensor (oxygen sensor) located on Bank 1 in front of the catalytic converter. There is also an oxygen sensor behind the converter which is Sensor #2. More information.
Looks like this code doesn't just get reset. When reset, it comes back on immediately. This must definitely be O2 censor malfunction. 
Excerpt from my car manual, quite cool, short and nice description why some people return STi's back to the dealer after few weeks of driving:
"Because your WRX STi is a performance machine above all else, the driving performance of your WRX STi has been prioritized above driving comfort, which can sometimes result in higher NVH level (noise, vibration and harshness) under certain circumstances" (source: 06 Owner Reference Guide SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STi)"
In preparation to my imminent but temporary departure to Florida I swapped my winter tires for an amazing summer set.
New set is Falken Azenis RT-615 225/45R17, incidentally same I had on my wrxtear right before I traded it in. I was basically looking to get rid of winters and put either summers or all-season. Shame to destroy winter putting few thousand miles on good pavement. Now I just have to make sure I safely leave danger zone, that is northern country. 
Thanks to my buddy Nate I've now refreshed my brake pads. I now have Raybestos brakes all around. Originally, I was going to get it done at local dealer, but this way I saved about $500.
So far I don't notice any difference, we'll see how it goes, I'll probably stick to these until a new car or if I put another 40,000+ miles on this one.
A day or two ago started the car during a really cold weather, check-engine light came on immediately. Pretty sure it's the same P2097 I had recently.
Will have to reset it again via disconnecting the battery.
On Sunday, got engine error code P2097.
Post catalyst fuel trim system too rich bank. Probable cause 1. Rich Air/Fuel ratio - Leaking injectors, regulator, high fuel pressure. 2. Incomplete combustion - Ignition or mechanical condition. 3. Failed H02S (Heated oxygen sensor)
At this point I just disconnected my battery for few minutes to do a complete reset to see how quickly error code comes back. I did clean air filter as it was quite filthy; have been meaning to replace it since the beginning of summer.
This is a little remark of how to waste more money while trying to save some. Turned out that one of the tyres I had bought had a bubble. It isn't visible until air pressure. Townfairtire, who was mounting them, refused to mount bubbled tyre, so I had no choice but to buy one brand new to replace the one with bubble. Doing some measurements later, I realised that rear tyres weren't matched well. They were four 32nds from each other which is more than commonly accepted maximum — three 32nds. All in all, today I decided to buy second one to pair them perfectly. After all STI's limited slip differential is more expensive than some tyres.
Today, as I was getting my oil change done, Subaru of Milford notified me that I should not be driving on the highway due to the condition of my front tyres:
I felt a bit of a deja vu as this is exactly what happened to me when I had my wrxtear when I failed state inspection.
Today I purchased General Altimax Arctic (Studdable Winter/Snow) tyres for winter. I had very similar tread tyres before on my sparow and was extremely happy with them.
Initially, I wanted to just get all-seasons, since I now have essentially bald
Today, I did a quick drill through ashtray cover where AUX input is located. It was bugging me that cover door always had to be open while AUX cable was plugged in. So I did a quick drill on the cover door. I will post picture as soon as I can. I sold my Motorola Cliq, so I temporarily have no phone/camera/gps/music player, etc.
SPT catback is on, finally growling I missed so much.
As far as other plans, I decided to keep stock tune for now and keep things reliable. Maybe when the car climbs up in milage I'll start screwing with it completing my stage 2 with proper downpipe. And finally, my BBS wheels are now sold. I figured I have so much going on that I probably would be better off keeping my time free. Hopefully I'll buy painted BBS along the way.
Few weeks back, I managed to get a great deal on craigslist — $600 for STi BBS rims with mounted nearly brand new RE070 Bridgestones and nearly brand new TOYO Proxes T1-S. Latter I already sold for $225. I haven't decided to sell RE070's yet, but surely if I do, I'll end up with free rims. 
When I came to pick up these things, rims were in awful shape, looked like nobody ever cleaned them, and every rim was curbed. But I decided to get them anyway, figured I'll refinish the wheels make it gunmetal colour.
Today, picked these up sandblasted by Gate City Monument in Nashua,NH, and they're looking mint:
On the bottom right one, lip will definitely need be repaired. On the rest, repair will be either minimal or unnecessary.
In a funny state of New Jersey, in a county where they don't sell flashlights on Sunday, I found this inverter for $29.99 only. Couldn't skip this deal. Only last weekend did I get around to wiring power line from engine compartment and initializing a ground wire from under rear seat. This inverter is under driver seat, for now. Next thing to do is to hook it up.
I think this would be sufficient to power up laptop and charge my Android. Surely, it is a bit weak for a full blown carputer, but I doubt carputer would be something I'll embark on any time soon.
