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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">Hi Wim,</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">(quote) What other small station wagon has a
flat fold down<BR>back seat? I only want a new car. None of this use car crap.
You wind up<BR>buying someone else's problems. (unquote)</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I’ve been driving Honda products for about 15 years
now. The first one was a Honda Civic wagon and I put a new engine in it
and drove it for just under 300,000 miles. The next Honda was an Accord
Wagon and put 360,000 miles on it. My current one is a Honda Accord wagon
and it has about 170,000 miles on it. It not only functions well as a
service vehicle, carrying grand actions, upright actions in a cradle and large
boxes of goodies and supplies for the day, but it also serves as a micro motor
home providing me with a place to sleep in all weather when I go camping.
I’ve put two kayaks on the top of it (factory luggage rack and kayak adapter) as
well as hauled landscaping blocks in the back from the building supply
places. It consistently gets close to 25 mpg and it’s comfortable enough
for this 6 foot 220 pounder to sit in for long drives ..........
sometimes 12 hours at a time.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I take my Hondas to a mechanic that specializes in
Hondas. He keeps a record on things like timing belts and CV joints.
With every oil change he inspects it real well and tells me what to expect in
the future so I can budget for the big stuff. Dealers have a tendency to
over sell parts and charge way too much for lower quality repairs
.......... in my opinion.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>My other vehicle is a 2005 Ram 2500 4X4 quad cab with a
Hemi. It handles my piano moving trailer with exceptional control and is
very comfortable to sit in for long drives. It’s my second Dodge.
The first one I bought new in 1986 and put 200,000 hard working miles on
it.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I buy used because it’s far more cost effective than
buying new but then I have a pretty good knowledge of mechanical things and
sense major problems when I test drive them. Additionally, it helps to
have a mechanic that’s really talented to fall back on. With new car
prices in the range of $30K and higher, I can afford to buy a used one for a
third of that price and put a new engine and transmission in it for $2000.
(round numbers) Used cars in the snowy parts of the world suffer from salt
eating away at the body parts. We have some ice here but the rain washes
things off quite well except near the coast. Those cars get what’s called
by the locals, “coast cancer”. Every drip edge develops rust.
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