For the last 4-5 years I have thought about whether to buy a new car or not. While I still thought of my 1998 CR-V as “new” it obviously wasn’t new and while maintenance costs weren’t outrageous yet they were slowly climbing. In addition I was beginning to wonder if I wanted to take a older car on long driving trips which I enjoy doing.
While it appears that I have “escaped” my May pulmonary embolism episode in Akron, Ohio without serious health injury (though some tests are still being done), such an incident does bring your mortality into focus. While even before this problem I was trying to “live in every moment of every day”, after the PE this belief was even stronger. While I am not wealthy by any means, I have a place to live and enough financial resources to be relatively secure and, as the saying goes, “you can’t take it with you” when your time finally comes.
I decided that, first, I am “old school” or maybe that is just “old” and I really like having my own car available whenever I need it, and second, I wasn’t ready to stop doing driving trips. But I wasn’t comfortable taking my older car on those trips … so new car shopping began. I have been a very happy Honda customer for almost 19 years so I started there and almost immediately saw a 2017 Honda CR-V EX-L model at a reduced price as a Manager’s Demo … only 8,800 km on the car. It didn’t take long to decide that I wanted this car and this model.
Making a long story short, after viewing the car, driving a similar model and a not to protected negotiating session I made a deal for the CR-V below. Thanks to Stephen Li at Carter Honda, Vancouver, BC for the great service.
Changing from a 1998 model to a 2017 model feels like you are going from horse and buggy to jet age! Old models had virtually no electronics while new model is full of them. As with many, if not most, new cars today … power windows, power locks, auto door locking while driving and when leaving car, power rear hatch, A/C, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, sun roof, Apple Car Play and many other features. Driving is more comfortable and gas mileage is about 40-50% better.
Needless to say I have been out driving “a bit” during the last 10 days and will be over the coming weeks/months. As a bonus, this car came equipped with All Season M+S tires so I will be legally able to drive on BC highways in the Winter.
Of course, now I have to get used to finding a red car not a blue car and a new license plate number! Fortunately I have a few months before my next long driving trip so hopefully will remember the license by then.
Rick Horne 