[Sadly, my Rhonda Honda died almost exactly one year from this post. She got an electrical issue while we were at HeroesCon in 2017 and it would have taken $1000 just to diagnose. So we took the $500 they offered and left her at Hendricks Honda in Charlotte NC. In July 2017 I got Romeo, a 2012 Civic SI. He is a sexy beast and a really fun little car. I still miss my lil red Honda sometimes. But Romeo is cool and he’s growing on me. :) And yes, car payments suck (even at less than 3%) and the insurance is ridic. Of course getting a speeding ticket with the driveout tag on didn’t help with that. Good thing I’m OLD. LOL]
The last two years have been fraught with Honda repairs. I’ve spent about $2500 on her in 2015-16. All the parts that have been replaced were ORIGINALS, so over 20 years old. Despite the outlays, I still think it makes more sense to keep my 1994 Honda Civic EX w/ 165k on it that to get a new car. My friends think I’m out of my mind, but DANG, my car has new(ish) paint, the interior is pristine, it gets 28-30mpg in the city and about 35mpg on the highway. I’ve taken great care of her and with the new tranny and clutch, she’s pretty much a car w/ 73k on it.
I’d LOVE to have a new car, don’t get me wrong. All the bells and whistles that come on new cars are FAB! But I cannot justify the expense in the short term or the long term (insurance).
Same with the Ranger (2005, ~124k), although we put a few hundred in it recently, it is in great shape and runs as good as a Ford Ranger can. (They have some issues, but we still love them and do NOT want an F150, thanks.)
If I were to get a new car, firstly, it would not be new, it’d be used. I don’t believe in buying new cars. I’d be looking at Minis pretty much exclusively. I really like the PEP that those things have. I’d get an S turbo, manual of course. If we had to replace the Ranger, we’d be looking for another Ranger, which would have to be used since the suits at Ford decided to disco them. Idiots. The used Ranger market is so hot that Hennessey Ford sent us a letter asking if we’d consider selling OUR Ranger back to them or trading it in!! Hello, Ford Motors? You might wanna pay attention to that.
If I were to get a FUN car, I’d be looking at 61-63 Ford Galaxies, convertible. These years are the highly collectible years, so they are uber pricey. A nice one will run you around $20k. Which I don’t have, so I guess no Galaxie for ME. There are tons of 64+ Galaxies in myriad configurations. You can sometimes find these in the $5-8k range. BUT we’ve no money to dally with old cars.
So I continue to drive my 94 Honda. She’s old and can be costly with the repairs (like me), but she still runs good and looks good. I really like the form factor of the mid 90s Hondas, actually, better than the current ones. The new Civics are too big and the Fit is too ugly, so Hondas are not really on my short list. I love the Mini, always have, and I’ve driven one, so I know how much fun they are to drive. The turbo five speed will blow your fucking hair back!
But I love my Honda. And her seat conforms to my butt. There’s that. :)