Cars

All Hail The Saloon!

This a picture of the first 4-door automobile the Bogarduses ever owned. It is a 1981 Honda Civic all fitted out with our bikes on the roof rack. If you look carefully you can see Donna in the driver’s seat waiting patiently for me to get back in the car so we can go somewhere, possibly New Orleans. The building in the left background was the apartment building where we lived in Meridian, MS while I was assigned to the Naval Air Station there.

I was working second shift and Donna was going to school during the day so we needed two cars. The four door joined a similarly colored 1980 Civic 3-door hatchback in our stable*. The 4-door only stayed with us for a year and a half before being traded in on a 1983 Honda Prelude in, you guessed it, maroon. I could never really get comfortable in the 4-door because the seat didn’t go back far enough for me, while in the hatchback it did.

*I would have said garage, but that would have been incorrect because we just had spots in the apartment complex LOT and not even assigned ones.

It is also the last 4-door car we owned for 30 years. Until the Purple Whale came along, who by the way, got a nice little bath this afternoon.

This Is An Improvement?

Two years ago when I first started working on a short list of new cars for us to buy, one of those under consideration was a Genesis Coupe. Overall I liked the car, but I had a couple of concerns, see #4 on the second list.

This picture, which shows the front of the car, shows what my concern was in the first part of that statement (the second part is for another post.) This year Hyundai released pictures of the mid-cycle refresh that will be the 2013 Genesis Coupe.

I don’t know about you, but the original face is looking pretty good about now.

Cruze-N


Our rental car for the past nine days was a Chevy Cruze and it was a pleasant surprise. The seats were leather covered with built in heaters (nice in the cool northwest, but we only used them once to test them), were very comfortable and reasonably supportive. The steering was weighted nicely, plus the wheel was fat and also leather covered. Response was peppy enough and the automatic transmission was geared pretty well, seldom left hunting for just the right one. The trunk swallowed our large suitcase, two carry-ons and a laptop bag with plenty of room for any impulse souvenir purchases. I noticed only a couple of short comings, limited rear legroom with tall front seat occupants and the interior could be noisy at speed, but nothing more than expected at this size and price point.

In almost all two lane driving, with plenty of ups and downs, twisty road coast roads and slow small town driving the car returned a very nice 32.9 MPG. We drove 1624 miles and spent a total of $191, using 49.3 gallons of gas. The cheapest regular gas was $3.719 in Florence, OR and the most expensive was $4.049 in Smith River, CA. The average cost per gallon for the trip was $3.875.

Another Reason Why I’ll Never Own A Hybrid

We had some unseasonable cool weather on Monday, so we drove the Miata to work. It was cool enough in the morning for me to almost want a light jacket. It was sort of cloudy at quitting time, so we even made the return trip home with top down.

Both times I started the car it seemed to turn over a little slowly before catching. Battery going dead? The original battery lasted 5-1/2 years and this one is only a touch over 2 years old. Maybe there is a small amount of dark current that drains the battery, but it was never noticed because the car was a daily driver and the constant charging kept it going. I may duck into an AutoZone or similar and have then analyze it later this week.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1044

Its All Greek To Me

Our good buddy Greg decided that his special mid-life crisis car needed one more little special touch, a sort of cherry on top if you will. A personalized license plate. The South Carolina DMV doesn’t have anyway to check and see if a particular plate is available, so you have to pick three options, pay your money (only $30) and take a chance. Greg got his first choice, GETOPLES.

The first day he drove the car to work with his new plate on, one of The Valve Store’s(TM) many Robs came back and asked him what “gee-tōp-els” meant in Greek. He was of course kidding, but Greg missed it and tried to explain that it meant Get Topless because it was on a convertible, topless top-down. Yeah, we got it Greg.

Oh, This Twinkie Thing, It Ain’t Over Yet


Mirabeau Blue Genesis Coupe

Bike rode to pay our bills (cable, water, power & doctor) this morning and ended up at Atlanta Bread Company for breakfast. Maybe tomorrow I’ll tell the paper cup story.

This afternoon I fixed something, which is a rare occurrence around here. Last time I went to use the leaf blower it wouldn’t go. The gas line from the tank to the “carburetor” was broken. It had dried out and cracked in a couple places. We found a kit at Big Box Home Store and I managed to replacethem without too much trouble. I did have to enlarge one hole in the plastic tank to fit one of the plastic tubes through. There appears to be a miniscule bit of leakage at that point, but I doubt it creates any hazard.

With that repaired, I proceeded to blow the oak pollen clusters off the roof and back deck. Donna then took over and cleaned the front walk and driveway. While she did that, I finished hosing the pine pollen off the screened porch, so that maybe we can enjoy our dinner out on Monday.

Tonight I’m watching the Red Sox – Yankees game on ESPN, but listening to it on the WEEI off the ‘net. I’ve tried several times in the past to do this, but the audio and video never lined up. Tonight, for some reason, they are in sync.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 992

Greg’s Wet Car

I guess he took enough ribbing on Monday and Wednesday about not bringing the new car out in the rain, that today, in spite of the forecast of more rain, Greg did drive it to work. Or maybe it was because he had an appointment to get the windows tinted in the afternoon, but whatever the reason, there Jackie O was, covered in raindrops in a very damp parking spot this morning.

Started up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 981