500,000 Miles
You might recall that I reached 215,000 miles on the odometer of my 1993 Eclipse. That seemed rare enough. But I recently stumbled upon Drive to Five, the blog of an Acura owner who recently reached the 500,000 mile mark with his ’94 Legend coupe. Half a million miles is enough to take you to the moon and back, then around the world a couple of times. I suppose just reaching a mileage mark isn’t all that dramatic. With enough money, you can replace or repair any part on a car. That’s how we keep airplanes flying for a half century or more: money. They’re worth enough that it makes economic sense to pour large sums into the maintenance and occasional refurbishment of the aircraft. A few things stand out about this particular car. First,...
Read MoreMy New Car!
To those of you who said I’d never get a new car — and I know there are a lot of you out there — feast your eyes on this: Yeah baby! It’s a 2008 Honda Accord LX-S Coupe. I’ve been waiting for this car to hit the showroom floor since I first saw photos of the concept vehicle at the auto shows last year. In my opinion, it’s one of the best looking automobiles on the market today, and you can get them for around $21,000. Mine’s a base model four-cylinder with 190 hp. Any more horsepower and I’d be getting speeding tickets right and left. Now I’ll just be getting them left. The navigation system, leather seats, moonroof and XM radio push the price closer to $30,000, so I went with the base model and certainly...
Read MoreJet Powered Volkswagon
Forget that sport pilot stuff. If I ever lose my medical, I’m building one of these: Even Bubb Rubb wouldn’t be able to handle this thing. According to the builder: This is a street-legal jet car. The car has two engines: the production gasoline engine in the front driving the front wheels and the jet engine in the back. The idea is that you drive around legally on the gasoline engine and when you want to have some fun, you spin up the jet and get on the burner (you can start the jet while driving along on the gasoline engine). Apparently, the car is licensed here in California. In California, new cars have bi-annual smog inspections so if you modify the engine, it is likely to fail the inspection and you won’t be able to drive it on the...
Read MoreMaking Money the Old Fashioned Way
I keep a stack of quarters in a small tray built into the center console of my car. I’ve been doing this for years. After all, you never know when you’ll have to fork out some change at a parking meter. I always keep the tray full, because if you let any gaps develop in the tray, the remaining quarters start clanking together in a most annoying fashion. Another thing that’s been happening for years? THose quarters being stolen by the guys at the local car wash, a place called “Checkered Flag”. They swipe them while cleaning the interior of my Mitsubishi Eclipse. I couldn’t care less about the money. Hell, if the guys are that hard up for money, I’d happily tip them an extra few bucks. But it’s annoying to lose...
Read More606 Takes
I’ve been car shopping lately. My ’93 Eclipse is pushing 200,000 miles and though I love the vehicle, people have been suggesting that it may not last forever. My search was hastened by a breakdown last month. The idle control motor failed during a battery change. The guy at Sears who replaced the battery swears it was a simple coincidence that the idle control motor failed at the exact same moment that he worked on my vehicle. A thousand dollars later, I’m back in business. But it grates on me for two reasons: first, I think the tech broke it, and second, the car is only worth a thousand bucks to begin with. Anyway, car shopping reminds me of how much I hate car shopping. Nothing like being conned by slick salesmen who conveniently...
Read MoreGo Sell Crazy Somewhere Else
I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. I was on my way to work a few days ago – cruising down Alton Boulevard at about 45 mph – when a small geriatric Asian woman suddenly jumped out in front of my car. Her left hand went up, palm out, making the universal symbol for “stop” as though she was a traffic cop managing a busy intersection during a power outage. It was an interesting choice. My car is a 14 year old Mitsubishi Eclipse with nearly 200,000 miles on it. No disc brakes, just drums. No anti-lock system. No crumple zones, airbags, or sneeze guards. Suffice it to say I left skid marks on the ground… and in less mentionable places. This crazy woman avoided an ambulance ride by mere inches. Did she take a moment to...
Read MoreBack Off!
The demented senior citizens who live next to me have a license plate frame on their car which, with six simple words, conveys everything that’s wrong with the world today. It says: “BACK OFF! Our granddaughter’s a lawyer.” With all due respect to attorneys I admire, I’ve spent the last ten years wanting to take that frame off their car and treat it like the recalcitrant printer from Office Space. I’m sure this granddaughter is a wonderful attorney and they have every right to be proud of her. But c’mon, J.D.s are about as rare as air molecules. And based on the location of this prideful proclamation, I can only assume she’s a personal injury attorney. Larry H. Parker without the Y chromosome. Not that I’m...
Read MoreHit and Run
Poor Lesley! She got into an accident today. I swear that Saturn of hers has been through the wringer. First she had to defer a lot of maintenance on it because she was out of work for a while. Then someone vandalized it in her complex. Now this. Here’s what happened: Lesley was on her way back to work after lunch and was sitting in some traffic on the 405-South onramp when a white SUV struck the Saturn from behind, pushing her into the vehicle in front of her. Then the SUV driver took off! A simple accident is one thing. Accidents happen. But a hit-and-run will land you in jail. Now it’s a criminal act. She wasn’t able to get the plate number before the bozo in the SUV (why is it always an SUV?) bolted. And to add insult to injury, no one even...
Read MoreA Bum Steer
You know your trusty steed is getting old when a team of factory-trained mechanics at the local dealership spends an hour troubleshooting the power steering system (“we couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working”). I should note that the car doesn’t have power steering. You see, my ’93 Eclipse has the dubious distinction of being the oldest vehicle they see at the local Mitsubishi dealer. Few have ever worked on the 1989-1993 body style before, so ironically it’s a new car to them. Before anyone leaves a comment asking why I take a 12 year old car to a dealer, the price and service are actually better than what I could find elsewhere. I think that’s because as the car aged, part supplies dwindled and now the largest...
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