Good Points, Bad Points

There are good points and bad points about driving a 1996 Honda Odyssey with 180,000+ miles on the odometer.

The good points: It is lighter than the new Odysseys, and still gets at least 23 miles per gallon of gas, even in the winter. It is paid off, so the "car payment" on it consists of the insurance, the license plate, maintenance, and repairs. It is 11 years old, so I don't worry too much about where I park it or who is next to it.

On the other hand, as a vehicle gets older (even a Honda), I end up spending more time in waiting rooms. I went in for an oil change yesterday, and took my Sampler (C)M along. I finished pattern 6 and started pattern 7.

And while I was waiting, they came out to let me know it was leaking oil from the oil pressure switch, and did I want to get that fixed? I want to drive it for at least another year, so yes. Losing oil is bad.

And one of the CV boots is ripped, so I'll be doing more knitting in the waiting room next week. *sigh*

I hate change, and I never love a new car. I always wish the car I have would just keep going, which is why I get the oil changed and the maintenance done, and probably why our first Honda, a Civic hatchback we bought brand-new, ran for over 300,000 miles.

The hundred-thousands number wheel on that Honda was showing the 4 by the time we sold it. It's a little scary to think that theoretically it could have gone up to 999,999 miles before rolling back over to zero.

But now I have to think about picking out a new (or new-to-me) vehicle again. Yuck!