The Old Car reaches Retirement Age

So tonight I got in my car to drive up to Borrone to sit and read for the evening. I'd spent a little time petting the cats and reassuring them that in fact I'm not ignoring them all the time, though I did feel a little guilty for leaving them.

I get in my car, start the engine, and head out of my driveway. I get about ten feet out and the car's battery light starts flashing. I get to the end of the street, and it has come well-and-truly on, and of course my next thought is, "Oh, fuck."

Since Borrone is about 25 miles from home, I of course have to turn around and go home. There would be few worse things to compound this problem than to get stranded that far from home on a Sunday night. What else could I do?

You may remember that only less than a month ago I had the car's alternator replaced. I knew there was something wrong with the electrical system since it had been too soon for the alternator to have expired, but I'd hoped that a replacement would push the car for another few months, maybe as long as a year. But, it seems not to be. It's time to get a new car.

The immediate problem, of course, is what to do about my car in the near future. I guess I have two options: I can take it back to the garage and see if they can do anything about it, and get it to limp along for another couple of weeks. Or, I can just punt and go get a rental car while I look for a new car. (I have no idea how expensive a rental actually is.) I'm leaning towards at least trying option one, on the theory that the garage didn't seem to get it right the first time, so maybe I can talk them into a cheaper price for them to try again.

But, it seems clear that I will have to buy a new car in the next two weeks.

I will almost certainly buy a new car. If I were still in Madison, where I felt more comfortable with the area and what sorts of things would be available, I would probably see about buying a used car. But that seems like too much work and too much uncertainty out here. There is a disadvantage to buying a new car in that I suspect I will not be very good at haggling over price. I am a pretty passive shopper: I go around physically to various locations and check out prices for whatever I'm looking for, and then buy the best thing for the least money. But since I understand that new car shopping involves sticker prices that are marked up somewhat from the "real" price you can get the car down to, I don't know how well I'll do at that. I'll probably pay what you might call a "passivity tax".

So, what kind of new car to buy? Well, the basic question is: Is there any reason I shouldn't buy another Honda Civic hatchback? John has one of the current Civic makes, and I think it's pretty good. (It's much better than the variety they made in 1990-96. My Mom has one of those, and it's just too small for my tastes.) I'd like to get automatic transmission, and I don't need anything fancy inside or outside. But Civics are good, reliable cars. (Heck, I've had mine for 12 years, with few problems until now.)

I will look through Consumer Reports to see what my other options are. Perhaps I could get an Accord - the larger car option. Or a Saturn - I know several people who have Saturns and like them a lot. Karen has a Geo Prizm, and Toyotas are probably worth looking at. But I don't want a sports car, van, or SUV, and I don't really want a mainstream American car. There aren't many other options. (I don't have a good opinion of Nissan, from people I know who have owned them, and Mazda 323s seem a little too small.)

But, it's hard to see that I could go wrong by just picking up a Honda Civic. In reality, they're fine cars, and it's very rare that anyone other than me rides in my car. And Civics can easily hold one other passenger, which is the most common case when I'm ferrying someone.

My Mom has owned four different cars in my lifetime, and is thinking of buying a new one. (Her car is nine years old now.) My Dad has had two cars in my lifetime - a VW bug from when my family became a two-car one, and his current car, which is 15 years old. But he doesn't drive it much, so it has very low mileage and seems to be in good shape.

It's a little strange to see my parents buying cars more-or-less regularly, once a decade. I'll probably continue the pattern, if this is any indication. So I'll probably own at least five more cars in my lifetime. Thirty years from now, when I'm buying a new car in 2029, will I look fondly back on my reliable little Civic, underpowered, with no accessories, which drove me around the country and survived many Wisconsin winters? Or will I think, "How on Earth did I ever survive in that hunk of junk for nine years?"

I'm getting a little misty-eyed thinking about it. My car is one of the few things I have left from my college years. I have some CDs, a few books and comics, but very little which really gives me the feeling of college when I look at it and think about it. Hunk of junk it may be, but I feel pleased and proud to have driven it for so long. I take a lot of pride in getting a lot of mileage (literally, in this case!) out of things I buy. I like things to last.

And endings are always sad.

You know, I never even named the car. I'm not big on names. It took me weeks to name my cats after I got them; they were "the little brown guy" and "the little orange guy" for what seems like so long. Newton got his name first, and Jefferson got his name because he needed a name, darnitall, and that seemed to fit. But my car has always been "the old car", or sometimes "the good old car". After getting it fixed, I'd be driving down the highway, and I'd pat the steering wheel and mutter something about what a good car it was.

It's still a good car, it's just time for it to retire.

Sniff.

Michael Rawdon (Contact)