Saying Goodbye

This is another two part post.

The first is saying goodbye to a faithful, valued mode of transportation.

We never named it, and when it was given to us the previous owners estimated we might be able to squeeze another two, maybe three years out of it. That was five years ago. So a new starter, two new distributors (Never EVER go to the Firestone in Bristol, CT), a new muffler, and a couple of oil changes later, it's time to say farewell.

With the work that's already been done on this vehicle, what could possibly force this car into retirement? Well, for one, it doesn't go in reverse. Secondarily, every now and then (mostly all of the time) the transmission slips into what is known as "safety mode." This is when it never shifts out of second gear because the computer is telling it that there is something wrong: No transmission fluid, mechanical problem, etc. We've had it looked at and none of these are the case. It was this very problem that causes it to no longer travel in reverse. When we would need to travel on the highway (remember, in second gear) we would throw it into neutral to drop the RPMs and coast for a while. Did you know that you can throw a 93 Honda Accord into reverse while traveling 65 mph once and have few ill effects? Yeah... you can't do it twice.

So, after a lifetime of 242,578 miles, on January 24, 2009 we parked the car for the final time. And now, the car in which we brought both of our children home from the hospital in now sits, resting comfortably in our drive way.

Why did we keep it? Read the next post to find out!