MY NEW CAR

                          The old rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

Yep, you read it right I just bought a new car.  I decided that my old Honda Fit had to be traded in on a new one.  It was not that my old Honda Fit had anything wrong with it, but I needed some driving aids which I could only get by buying a new car.

Today most cars are built so well that many will go 200,000 miles without any problems.  In fact several years ago I had a 1998 Toyota Avalon that I gave to my son with about 200,000 miles on it.  He and his family needed another car and they put on another 100,000 miles without any major problems and it would have gone farther but one of his kids wrecked it.  I remember a few decades ago a person was lucky to get 100,000 miles on a car before there were serious mechanical problems with it.  Then the Japanese came along and showed American car manufacturers how to do it right.

I only had 90,000 miles on my 6-year old Fit so obviously it had many more trouble free miles on it, but I needed ‘cruise control’ and ‘automatic transmission’.  Yes, my old Fit had a stick shift and no cruise control.  Why would I buy a car that was going to be my only car with those two driving helpers?  Well, it was going to be my car for running around town.  My primary car for traveling long distances was going to be my old Avalon but like I just wrote my son and his family needed it so I gave it to them. 

Well here I was with a new little car that I quickly began to love.  I have told many people that it is the best car I ever owned and I have owned many very nice and some expensive cars. A Porsche sports car comes to mind.  So, here I am with a new car that I loved without cruise control and automatic transmission.  And, each year I drive myself from San Antonio, TX to Westfield NY on Lake Erie for the summer.  That trip is just a little less than 1900 miles. 

But of course, six years ago I was only 75 years old and able to give what it took to drive for three long days with my foot on the accelerator all the time.  Well, this last summer at age 81 it became just too much to give for what it took.  My right leg just gave out as it rode the gas pedal for hours upon end.  Yes, I stopped at all of the rest stops and that helped but once back in the car my right leg quickly began to hurt again.  And, trying to drive with your left leg on the accelerator is really impossible but I tried many times without of course any success.

Now, buying a new car is as much fun as getting a tooth canal as we all know from the horrible experience of doing combat with a car salesman or saleswoman.  Yes, now we have a choice to argue and fuss at a man or a woman.  And, I can tell you from experience there is really no difference. The one difference is that the saleswoman must be pretty whereas the salesman can be as ugly as a broken down fence post.  I wonder what the saleswomen do when they began to lose that kind of sex appeal.

At my age I assume that this will be the last car I will ever buy.  Come to think about it, this will be the last time I have to argue with a salesperson and it’s the last time they have to pretend to make me think I am getting a good deal. 

So, having returned not long from my summer trip back to Texas I had to buy a car with speed control and auto transmission.  Certainly, now days because most cars are so good a late model used car is a real bargain and worth looking at, but the Fit does not loose much value.  I paid $14,000 for it six years ago and the retail Blue Book was over $7000! An interesting side note is that 2007 was the first year that the Fit was imported into the US.  It had been in use in Japan for several years before they decided to start sending them to us.  Of course Americans had to ask for more car so it quickly got longer by 3.5 inches, with more gadgets, etc. so it weighs more and gets less gas mileage.  Still, the gas mileage is not all that bad. My first tank of gas gave me 33 mpg and that was mostly around town.  My old Fit gave me 42 mpg on the highway.  We’ll see…

So, why did I buy a Honda Fit?  Well, there are lots of reasons besides the fact that it gets relatively good gas mileage and I am concerned about global climate change.  Of course there are other cars which get better gas mileage so why the Fit.  The first big reason is that it is a very dependable car.  Consumer Reports of which I am a great fan, always gives it the highest marks on its list of several criteria.  According to CR I should be able to get a minimum of 200,000 miles on it without any major problems.  For me, it is practical for I like the huge rear space for hauling things which includes the ability to collapse the two rear seats for more room.  And, old people should drive small cars for the simple reason that they are easier to handle.  Lastly, it is reasonably inexpensive to buy.  

I’m still learning things about it which is fun.  Many surprises and most of them are rewarding.  Last night I suddenly realized that when I got in the car I could not find where to put in the key.  Of course the roof lighting was not turned on right. I had a difficult time finding the ‘on-off button’ for the radio.  For some reason they moved it from where it was on my old car, but the radio still looked pretty much the same.

It has tinted windows, some thin fake strip of paint on the side, and the door edges have some nearly invisible covering that the salesman pointed out with considerable pride.  I didn’t need this stuff but it came with the car so not much I could have done about it. And, of course they discounted the car so that stuff came free. Yea right…

It is silver in color which I like.  My other car was white.  These light colors are important when living in a hot climate for obvious reasons.  Everyone tells me that the tinted windows will help keep the interior cooler.  I suppose so…

But, I must admit that this car rides much better and with less outside noise.  I do love it already and I hope that those feelings remain as the years pass.  Speaking of years passing, when I get it paid for I will be 86 nearly 87 years old.  Yes, I financed it for some important personal reasons.  I usually pay cash for things like this but I may need the cash so I decided to finance it through the car dealership.  And, at 0.9 % interest the money is costing me very little.

I thought at my age they might think twice before offering me a 60-month contract and without life insurance.  Now, they didn’t bring up my age but they found out of course working out the contract with them.  And, the girl looked shocked at finding out my age.  Well, she tried to look surprised as she told me I looked much younger.  Now, that was not a reason for me buying the car from her, but it helped.

Now, I have monthly payments which I hate.  I am trying to get it taken off my bank account automatically each month so I don’t have to write a monthly check after they send me that monthly statement.  I wish they would just give me a book with monthly coupons which I could just tear out and send it in with the check.  Monthly statements sent to me become complicated when I move to NY each summer.  You know a change in address. 

I asked at the dealership about getting it taken off my bank account automatically each month.  He said just go to your back when you get the first statement and they will do that for you.  Well I did just that and the bank person told me no, that it was done through the dealership.  Oh well… 

I still love my car and I have had it for nearly two weeks now.  And, I think I am getting better gas mileage as I examine the gas gauge but of course I will not know for sure until I fill up the tank and check the mileage.  I should get good mileage for I drive like an old man.  I still try to stay out of the way of speeding cars which pass me like I am standing still yet I am going the speed limit.  Well maybe a few miles below it.  I think with age comes more responsibility behind the wheel of a car.  The trick of course is not to drive so slow that you impede the traffic flow.  I am cognizant of that because I don’t want anybody to think I’m an old person.

Oh by the way, occasionally I find myself trying to work with my left leg the clutch that isn’t there and I forget to sometimes use the cruise control when I should.  Oh I still attempt to lock the car by pushing on the right door lock button instead of using the electronic door lock button I now have on my car  key.  You know the problem of teaching old dogs new tricks.