Sharp Sand: Reading & Writing » Honda

Car Slob

jd — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:20:36 +0000

I am a car slob. I have a nice new car, but I let it fill up with junk. I’m pretty tidy in general, but the car is a mess. When I drove old junkers it never seemed like a big deal, but with the new Honda, I thought I might change my ways. Alas, no.

Memory

jd — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 13:41:02 +0000

Had a dream last night that I lost my car in a huge shopping mall parking lot. It was specifically my new Honda and I was trying to use the fancy electronic key to make the lights flash (it was daytime) or to pop the trunk open so I could see it, but I couldn’t find it. Finally, a kid on a bicycle offered to help me look for it. The dream ended without resolution, as dreams will. It’s kind of funny now, but it wasn’t funny in the dream. Bodily decrepitude as I grow older doesn’t frighten me much (though I’d just as soon avoid it), but mental decrepitude scares the crap out of me. I’ve built my life and identity around being able to have thoughts and think productively.

The New Honda

jd — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:47:41 +0000

Very sober color, don’t you think? Honda calls it “polished metal,” but Carole call’s it “graphite” and says the car is the color of No. 2 pencil lead.

The Saga Continues

jd — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:04:29 +0000

By going to a different dealer (65 miles away), I think I have found the Honda Civic I’ve been looking for. In fact, this dealer, in Plattsburgh, did not have the car but was apparently able to trade another dealer for it. I’ll know tomorrow morning whether this transaction has actually taken place or whether it it has resulted in another mirage vehicle. I’m going to have to accept an automatic transmission, which is okay by me despite the fact that I think of myself as a standard tranny kind of guy. In the old days when I was learning about cars automatic transmissions were sluggish and didn’t get very good mileage; modern automatics get better mileage than a stick, I’m told. And I’m not looking to squeal my tires.

Update: The dealer just called and they actually have the car on the lot — had to send someone to Massachusetts to get it. Turns out that Honda just doesn’t manufacture very many Civics in the coupe model, especially ones with the snazzy trim package I picked out so I could get heated seats. (Oh, California readers may laugh, but I tell you such amenities are no laughing matter in January in the North Country.)

Update: The car is parked in the driveway. Very easy to drive, comfortable. Went by the local dealership and got my deposit check back from them, cancelling that order.

Unbelievable

jd — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:14:17 +0000

Before I left for Vietnam, I put in an order of a specific Honda Civic with the local dealership. I understood that I would have to wait until the end of July for delivery; but when I returned, I was told they could find me a 2009 with the same specs. They have now told me, on four seperate occasions over the last two weeks that they “had a car,” only to have that car somehow slip from their grasp. On two occasions, I have actually come to the dealership expecting to drive away in a new Civic only to be told that “the other dealer sold the car before we got there to pick it up,” and on the one occasion when they actually got the car, it was not the model I wanted. Dealmaker Honda of Potsdam NY has taken all the fun out of this process. I’m thinking of taking the three grand I was going to use as a down payment and buying a junker to drive for a couple of years. I have only bought one new car in my life and this was supposed to be something of a treat, but these idiots have completely drained the pleasure out of the deal. And the whole dealership system for distributing cars is idiotic — one ought to be able to buy a car entirely on the internet, with maybe three showrooms per state so you could test drive a few actual cars. But this system of competing little principalities is inefficient and idiotic. I hope they go out of business.

Update: I suppose it’s a little stupid to get this invested in buying a car. In any case, I’ve told the delaer to just order me a 2010 Civic that will come on a truck in late July rather than fart around trying to find a 2009 in the right configuration. I put in my first “order” two months ago and it will be nearly two more months before delivery — How is this an efficient or reasonable way to sell cars? Or to sell anything?

Slammed

jd — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:12:14 +0000

I don’t bounce back like I used to. This cold hit me ten days ago and today is the first day I’ve felt like doing anything. Carole has it too, along with a couple of friends and it’s a real beast. Something like regular blogging should resume here in a day or two. Today, though, I go pick up my new car, a Honda Civic EXL. We have usually bought cars that were a couple of years old, letting someone else take the depreciation hit, but this time I decided I wanted to watch all those dollars fly out the window myself. Come January, the heated seats are not going to seem like a luxury at all. The morons at Dealmaker Honda in Potsdam ordered the wrong model.