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mdlbearI wasn't really planning to buy a new car this year, but when the transmission on my Honda was pronounced dead yesterday, it was a choice between spending about $5000 on a 10-year-old car with 161K miles on it, and getting a new one.
After a quick look around the lot yesterday, and conversations with cow-orkers and friends, I more than half expected to end up with the hybrid Civic. But after a pair of test drives, I discovered that the hybrid had (a) noticably less power, (b) about 2" less width on each side due to side airbags, (c) significantly less cargo space due to the batteries in the trunk.
So for about $10K less, I ended up with a nearly-new gas Civic LX ('04, 17K miles). It was still under factory warranty, and $1000 extended it to 100K miles/7 years. First time I've had a car where the warranty outlasted the payments. It's exactly the same color (tan -- they had a lovely green one, but Colleen doesn't drive stick) as the old one, almost exactly the same amount of space inside.
The only things missing relative to the old one are the anti-lock brakes, and a little bit of storage space. I can cope with that. Oh, and the antenna, so I can't put a distinctive decoration on it. Ah, well.
The afternoon had a distinct tinge of unreality about it.
After a quick look around the lot yesterday, and conversations with cow-orkers and friends, I more than half expected to end up with the hybrid Civic. But after a pair of test drives, I discovered that the hybrid had (a) noticably less power, (b) about 2" less width on each side due to side airbags, (c) significantly less cargo space due to the batteries in the trunk.
So for about $10K less, I ended up with a nearly-new gas Civic LX ('04, 17K miles). It was still under factory warranty, and $1000 extended it to 100K miles/7 years. First time I've had a car where the warranty outlasted the payments. It's exactly the same color (tan -- they had a lovely green one, but Colleen doesn't drive stick) as the old one, almost exactly the same amount of space inside.
The only things missing relative to the old one are the anti-lock brakes, and a little bit of storage space. I can cope with that. Oh, and the antenna, so I can't put a distinctive decoration on it. Ah, well.
The afternoon had a distinct tinge of unreality about it.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-29 09:36 pm (UTC)