Goodbye, 1994 Honda Civic LX

My 1994 Honda Civic LX is SOLD.  Thanks for your interest.

-No matter how many times I vacuum and wash the car, it gets dirty by the next day since I park outdoors.  It is a bitter, hopeless struggle.  Kind of like showering and doing laundry.

–Armor All Cleaning Wipes suck.  They leave streaks all over the car!  I tried to use a couple right before a test drive one afternoon.  I must not understand how to use these.  The packaging doesn’t mention it gets all soapy!  It made it look like I put that artificial snow all over the windows!

-The best test drive was the one where I showed up at the meeting place and called the guy and he asked if it was okay if we postponed the test drive for 30 minutes and I said, “Uh, no” and then he showed up within 2 minutes. Then he proceeded to run through multiple stop signs during the drive.  Actually, the race car driver guy took me on a pretty fun test drive too.  “Well, the brakes suck and the tires are balding, but the engine’s good.”  (Phew!)

-The worst test drives were those where they came in a pair and spoke to each other the whole time in a foreign language so you don’t get to know their secret thoughts about whether they think the car is a good deal and oh my what is that odd smell.

-It’s highly advantageous to know exactly what is wrong or needs to be replaced in your car ahead of time.  When someone points out that something specific is broken or worn, the correct answer is never, “Oh really?  I never noticed that” because that just makes you look clueless, at which point they will eat you alive and point out 10 other things that you probably “never noticed.”

-My car used to veer *heavily* to the right when the steering wheel is allowed to balance on its own.  I guess I was just so used to driving it with one hand constantly applying pressure that I never noticed.  Why would anyone ever drive without their hands on the steering wheel.  I think misaligned wheels are kind of like a “bonus”, an added safety feature by virtue of it encouraging you to keep your hands on the wheel.

-I’m am such a sucker!  I changed out all the tires and replaced the brake pads, shoes, and rotors.  The mechanics doing the diagnostic insisted there were “microcracks” in the belts which could cause a failure within 1000-50000 miles!  I ended up paying $1000+ out of pocket to have these repairs done for a car that ended up selling for $4000, instead of just lowering the asking price and making the buyer take care of the repairs himself.

-Not a single buyer asked me about the Jesus fish still stuck on the back of the car, nor where the original Civic decal went.  Oh well.  No ask, no story.

-When the buyer finally gave me the certified check, I looked at it and thought it was weird that it was made out to him instead of me.  And he convinced me that this was okay according to the Stanford Credit Union.  When I brought the $4000 check to Bank of America to deposit, the teller ask, “Are you _______n _______n?” and I said, “Uh, no, that’s the buyer…” and he said, “Well, this check can only be deposited into an account associated with _______n _______n” and I was like, “Uhhhh, this is NOT good.  He has the car and I can’t deposit this certified check?  What’s the point of writing a certified check to yourself?!” and he was like, “Um… I hope you can call this person and have him write you another check…” Anyway, there are a lot more stupid details to this whole affair with the check that had me biking back and forth around campus in a run for my money, but you get the idea.  If a buyer hands you a check that says “Pay to the Order of [Buyer’s Name]”, don’t accept it!!  DUH!!

Well, it’s gone now.  Bye.  The Toyota Prius isn’t due to be delivered until September, if even then.  Oops.