Help Me, Honda

Back when I lived in Monroe NY and worked in NJ, I was driving an old Chevy van. It got horrible gas mileage, and the 46 mile one-way commute to work meant a little over 6 gallons every day. In fact, I had to catch a ride most days with Joan, a coworker who drove a 5 speed Honda Accord.

I’d been impressed with the way the Honda handled, and she talked up things like its reliability (an issue with the van) and gas mileage (ditto.) So, I decided one day that the time had come for me to purchase my first, actual, brand new car. And, given my income level and prices, I was going to get a Civic. A 5 speed civic.

There was just one problem.

I’d never driven a manual transmission before.

So Joan volunteered to show me how a 5-speed worked, by stopping in a parking lot on the way to work and letting me give it a go for 10 minutes or so.

She did a lot of agreeing with me.

As in, her head kept bobbing up and down from my pathetic attempts to get the hang of the clutch.

Then it was on to work (she drove) and, after work, on to the Honda dealership in Mahwah NJ.

I found a nice model, a silver DX four door. (Silver is a great car color. When white or black gets dirty it’s dirty, but when silver gets dirty it’s grey.) I talked the price down to where I wanted it, with some assistance from Joan. (When things got sticky, she’d announce we had to leave and that would shake things up again.)

Finally, I finished the paperwork and got the keys.

And now I had to drive a stick shift by myself.

!

I managed to get it home, and over time got proficient at it. And my daily gas consumption went from over 6 gallons per day to less than 2. That’s 50mpg, folks! And in the end, I was still enjoying 35mpg.

It was a great car.

Honda Civic 8/89 – 10/15 RIP