01-29-2009, 10:06 AM
Backing out of the in-laws driveway this morning on my way to work when snap...grind....
The big front piece of plastic (that one would call the bumper on any normal car) on my 2002 Honda Odyssey snaps off when it bottoms out on the pile of snow left at the side of freshly plowed road.
I actually don't blame the city or the snow. I blame Honda. This mini-van in recent years has been nothing but a lemon and has just started to remove its peel in order for me to get the bitter taste of its sour goodness. :x At just over 100,000 klicks its tranny drops. $5,000 dollars later we have a replacement and a big hole in our wallets. Just about every time we take it in for service there is something "wrong" with it.
"Your brake pads need replacement." "You need a rad flush." "You need a tune up."
:hey: FRACKING H-E-Double Hockey Sticks!!!
Here is the kicker. We barely clock 10,000 kilometers in a single YEAR on the vehicle! No kidding. Our last vehicle a Civic, which we owned from brand new for four years, when traded in had just over 35,000 kilometers on it. We've used our vehicles as a grocery getters, and park them at the subway parking lots and take the tube into work. A full tank of fuel for this pig lasts me two weeks. In my 16 years as a decent driver, (no accidents, no speeding tickets, couple of parking tickets) have never owned a vehicle that seems, well, so bloody fragile! I fear if I sneeze at this thing the wrong way something will break or it'll keel over while parked in the driveway. Bloody ridiculous.
I despise cars. Literally. Nothing but money pits. I own one not out of choice, but as a necessary evil. You can't haul the kids around in a bike trailer in minus 20 degree weather to grandma's house or to shopping on the weekends now can you?
So tonight in the cold, I get to go home and devise way to strap this sucker back on. I will not take it to the dealer. They will end up charging me a few grand and telling me I need more work done on it. I may just get some metal strapping, some pop rivets and be done with it. I don't care either how ugly it looks either. :x
Sorry...thanks for letting me rant...
The big front piece of plastic (that one would call the bumper on any normal car) on my 2002 Honda Odyssey snaps off when it bottoms out on the pile of snow left at the side of freshly plowed road.
I actually don't blame the city or the snow. I blame Honda. This mini-van in recent years has been nothing but a lemon and has just started to remove its peel in order for me to get the bitter taste of its sour goodness. :x At just over 100,000 klicks its tranny drops. $5,000 dollars later we have a replacement and a big hole in our wallets. Just about every time we take it in for service there is something "wrong" with it.
"Your brake pads need replacement." "You need a rad flush." "You need a tune up."
:hey: FRACKING H-E-Double Hockey Sticks!!!
Here is the kicker. We barely clock 10,000 kilometers in a single YEAR on the vehicle! No kidding. Our last vehicle a Civic, which we owned from brand new for four years, when traded in had just over 35,000 kilometers on it. We've used our vehicles as a grocery getters, and park them at the subway parking lots and take the tube into work. A full tank of fuel for this pig lasts me two weeks. In my 16 years as a decent driver, (no accidents, no speeding tickets, couple of parking tickets) have never owned a vehicle that seems, well, so bloody fragile! I fear if I sneeze at this thing the wrong way something will break or it'll keel over while parked in the driveway. Bloody ridiculous.
I despise cars. Literally. Nothing but money pits. I own one not out of choice, but as a necessary evil. You can't haul the kids around in a bike trailer in minus 20 degree weather to grandma's house or to shopping on the weekends now can you?
So tonight in the cold, I get to go home and devise way to strap this sucker back on. I will not take it to the dealer. They will end up charging me a few grand and telling me I need more work done on it. I may just get some metal strapping, some pop rivets and be done with it. I don't care either how ugly it looks either. :x
Sorry...thanks for letting me rant...