Honda Accord and Volkswagen Campmobile ramblings.
The new Action-Reaction Honda Accord ad captivated 15 minutes of my life.
An 86 sedan (actually 2, but that's a totally different story) and 91 wagon have captured roughly 120 thousand miles of my driving life. For me, they have just worked. Even with a bad thermostat the first week of May during D.C. rush hour. Note to world: When your engine is overheating and your occupants can handle the heat: Roll down the windows and get the defrost going to further circulate those cooling fluids.
Strange breakdowns:
1. An inner exhaust pipe was crammed into the catalytic converter. Not cheap, but at least I didn't have to replace an expensive woven-like connecting piece. Very happy that exhaust tapping didn't clog something.
2. Dirty contact on the headlight relays. $35 part which took days to arrive. No lights when broken. Not fun during false labor. Cleaning the contacts worked well past the "your part is in" call--Unless you have to, it's hard to make 1 hour+ appointments with a newborn and toddlers at home.
3. Broken rear window. Grrr to portable basketball hoops in a rainstorm. Strange part?: $1300! (Covered by my insurance, so I'll be more than making up for it over time...)
I understand the brake assemblies can be expensive (ditched my 86 before I had to deal with that and pay new state license transfer fees.) CV joints are also costly and easily destroyed when the protective boots tear...which happens every 60-120K miles.
Having to get a new timing belt and valve adjustments every 60-80K miles is also an expensive pain. But, my family has had Hondas near 200K+ miles, and rarely another above 120.
I don't think the tape deck and motorized antenna were part of the ad. A couple of notorious failures in Honda...but is this really Honda or the supplier? I removed a radio, equalizer and antenna from an 87 Acura junker and found an Alpine label wrapped around the antennas connecting wire.
Why do people like to talk about cars? Because they impact us. They carry identity and pride without the stigma of things like houses. And they have become a necessity with strong peer influence.
I would love to trade one of my cars for a tiny gas sipping car, but I live among many trucks, SUV's and minivans. The cars that don't present as much threat drive as the go-carts with V6's they are. This summer I will be meandering around in my VW campmobile (van, micro-bus, and for some strange reason not a mini-van) testing the responses. If the costs of roadworthying the van prove to be we'll sell it. We've spent the last 5 years dreaming, learning, and multiplying while neglecting our poor unnamed landmark. It's time to move it, or move it, and I'm terrified. More pictures at http://nomad.freezope.org/photos/Bus .
9:56:44 PM  ,
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