March 07, 2007
Perhaps a bit more info is in order here...
After reading that last round of comments, I feel perhaps a little bit o' history is required and it would be far too long for the comment field. And if I'm honest with myself, it's been far too long since my last long-winded, digression-filled, meandering post. So here goes:
Once upon a time, Aimee needed a new car--after the Taurus gave up the ghost. Well, it still ran, just not very well and we felt it was on the verge of a complete mechanical failure or a very expensive repair. Rather than waiting for either to happen, we donated it to some cancer charity or something. Keep in mind that while the I always thought the Taurus was a sweet ride (and Aimee extra-cool for being unique enough to sport such fine piece of gear) Aimee always thought it was just too big. After checking out the Civic, the CR-V and a few others, she decided on the Integra. I didn't really do much checking on the cars in question because this was going to be Aimee's car so she should get to choose the model, but the CR-V stuck in my mind. I think we even test drove one, but I was put off that Honda did not offer an available V6, since the under-powered Ranger 4 cylinder was still fresh in my mind. Obviously, Aimee didn't get the CR-V, but still it stuck with me.
Over the last few years, I've been checking the Honda website to see how they were changing the CR-V to keep up with the RAV4 (which was/is uber-ugly) so when they redesigned the body in 2002, I was sure right then that I needed one. However, I didn't really think I would be able to do so because of the smaller cargo capacity. Now, fast forward to the crash. When they initially did the estimate, I was sure it was going to be a total loss based on the numbers the body shop guy provided. So we started doing research on the vehicle to replace the BBT. As already noted, it was decided that just buying a replacement F150 would be a waste of money that would have to be rectified somewhere in the future. This rationalization kind of cleared the way to investigate all options.
I decided that a domestic vehicle would not do. There is too much depreciation and have seen too many of them simply fall apart. And not just the Berettas and Escorts. Then there are the issues of union labor and politics involved with the big 3 that I'm not even going to touch today. But in the end, it came down to RELIABILITY, attention to detail, quality, innovation, and function. Which, sadly, cuts out not only the big 3 (in my jaded opinion) but also anything from BMW, Mercedes and most offerings from Mazda and Mitsubishi. This left two: Toyota and Honda. Of the two, we were seriously considering the Toyota Tundra double-cab, the Honda Pilot and finally the CR-V. After doing a LOT of looking around and emailing dealers we found the Pilot and Tundra to be just far enough over the price line to narrow it down to a CR-V, which was just ducky with me. Sure, we'll have to make some changes like having lumber and other large items delivered or borrowing a truck from time to time but I think for about 90% of what I do--which is mostly drive to work--the Honda will be perfect. I've already figured fuel's going to cost about 50% less than The One-Fitty and it's by far easier to drive and park. The ride is freakin' luxurious, comparatively speaking, and I absolutely love the seats! I know that sounds kind of simple, but after 9 years of a bench seat with NO frills whatsoever, adjustable buckets are the absolute shiz. And while I'm thinking about it, here's the deal on the "four-wheel drive" thing: technically it is a four-wheel drive vehicle. In actual operation, it's more like a part-time all-wheel drive, which pretty much negates the need for some big ol' mudders. The way it's designed is such that during normal operation, it's front wheel drive all the time. If the system senses the front wheels spinning, it routes some of the power to the rear wheels via a super-nifty hydraulically actuated multi-plate clutch. The faster the fronts spin, the more pressure the system applies to the clutch which, in turn, applies more torque to the rear drive shaft. Simple, automatic, ingenious. The only problems with this particular configuration are that one can't manually engage the multi-plate clutch and if you overheat said clutch, you're fresh out of four-wheel drive until the whole thing cools down. Front-wheel drive is, of course, still available. The reason this is important to me is that I've spent entirely too much time trying to get out of our parking lot at work after an ice or snow storm and I'm not playing that again.
There are some downsides. The aforementioned cargo space is waaaay down, but that's how it goes. It was more expensive than a domestic, but by the time you add all the options to a domestic car that the Honda has as standard (like VSA, 4WD, in-dash 6-disk changer, 6 speaker audio, 16" alloy wheels, etc) it is pretty much nil--and you only buy quality once. The biggest gripe I've got about the vehicle as a whole is that, to my knowledge, Honda offered only ONE interior color choice. If you want a black exterior on an 05, you got a black interior. Period. I guess it's a good thing I don't currently reside in south Texas, huh?
All in all, I am 100% convinced that I got the right vehicle for the job and I plan on driving this one until I hit 200K. Provided someone doesn't crash it for me first!
Once upon a time, Aimee needed a new car--after the Taurus gave up the ghost. Well, it still ran, just not very well and we felt it was on the verge of a complete mechanical failure or a very expensive repair. Rather than waiting for either to happen, we donated it to some cancer charity or something. Keep in mind that while the I always thought the Taurus was a sweet ride (and Aimee extra-cool for being unique enough to sport such fine piece of gear) Aimee always thought it was just too big. After checking out the Civic, the CR-V and a few others, she decided on the Integra. I didn't really do much checking on the cars in question because this was going to be Aimee's car so she should get to choose the model, but the CR-V stuck in my mind. I think we even test drove one, but I was put off that Honda did not offer an available V6, since the under-powered Ranger 4 cylinder was still fresh in my mind. Obviously, Aimee didn't get the CR-V, but still it stuck with me.
Over the last few years, I've been checking the Honda website to see how they were changing the CR-V to keep up with the RAV4 (which was/is uber-ugly) so when they redesigned the body in 2002, I was sure right then that I needed one. However, I didn't really think I would be able to do so because of the smaller cargo capacity. Now, fast forward to the crash. When they initially did the estimate, I was sure it was going to be a total loss based on the numbers the body shop guy provided. So we started doing research on the vehicle to replace the BBT. As already noted, it was decided that just buying a replacement F150 would be a waste of money that would have to be rectified somewhere in the future. This rationalization kind of cleared the way to investigate all options.
I decided that a domestic vehicle would not do. There is too much depreciation and have seen too many of them simply fall apart. And not just the Berettas and Escorts. Then there are the issues of union labor and politics involved with the big 3 that I'm not even going to touch today. But in the end, it came down to RELIABILITY, attention to detail, quality, innovation, and function. Which, sadly, cuts out not only the big 3 (in my jaded opinion) but also anything from BMW, Mercedes and most offerings from Mazda and Mitsubishi. This left two: Toyota and Honda. Of the two, we were seriously considering the Toyota Tundra double-cab, the Honda Pilot and finally the CR-V. After doing a LOT of looking around and emailing dealers we found the Pilot and Tundra to be just far enough over the price line to narrow it down to a CR-V, which was just ducky with me. Sure, we'll have to make some changes like having lumber and other large items delivered or borrowing a truck from time to time but I think for about 90% of what I do--which is mostly drive to work--the Honda will be perfect. I've already figured fuel's going to cost about 50% less than The One-Fitty and it's by far easier to drive and park. The ride is freakin' luxurious, comparatively speaking, and I absolutely love the seats! I know that sounds kind of simple, but after 9 years of a bench seat with NO frills whatsoever, adjustable buckets are the absolute shiz. And while I'm thinking about it, here's the deal on the "four-wheel drive" thing: technically it is a four-wheel drive vehicle. In actual operation, it's more like a part-time all-wheel drive, which pretty much negates the need for some big ol' mudders. The way it's designed is such that during normal operation, it's front wheel drive all the time. If the system senses the front wheels spinning, it routes some of the power to the rear wheels via a super-nifty hydraulically actuated multi-plate clutch. The faster the fronts spin, the more pressure the system applies to the clutch which, in turn, applies more torque to the rear drive shaft. Simple, automatic, ingenious. The only problems with this particular configuration are that one can't manually engage the multi-plate clutch and if you overheat said clutch, you're fresh out of four-wheel drive until the whole thing cools down. Front-wheel drive is, of course, still available. The reason this is important to me is that I've spent entirely too much time trying to get out of our parking lot at work after an ice or snow storm and I'm not playing that again.
There are some downsides. The aforementioned cargo space is waaaay down, but that's how it goes. It was more expensive than a domestic, but by the time you add all the options to a domestic car that the Honda has as standard (like VSA, 4WD, in-dash 6-disk changer, 6 speaker audio, 16" alloy wheels, etc) it is pretty much nil--and you only buy quality once. The biggest gripe I've got about the vehicle as a whole is that, to my knowledge, Honda offered only ONE interior color choice. If you want a black exterior on an 05, you got a black interior. Period. I guess it's a good thing I don't currently reside in south Texas, huh?
All in all, I am 100% convinced that I got the right vehicle for the job and I plan on driving this one until I hit 200K. Provided someone doesn't crash it for me first!
Labels: CR-V
// posted by wayne @ 3/07/2007 02:57:00 AM 
March 05, 2007
Well, that took long enough.
The saga of The Big Black Truck is officially over. It took 4 weeks, but it's a done deal. I was hit on the 22nd of January and I was mobile again as of the 24th of February. I'm still not exactly sure why it took so long to get all the details worked out, but in the end I'm very happy...with my '05 Honda CR-V!
Aw yeah. I decided to call the body shop on the 22nd to see what was holding up the works, fully expecting them to tell me the truck was buttoned up and ready to go. Not so, wee kiddiewinks. Their question was "Has your insurance adjuster called you yet?" Obviously not, if I'm calling you. I still don't know why this wasn't discovered when they were doing the frame measurements the first time, but I was told the passenger side of the axle housing was bent a full inch. And while the frame can be tweaked, the housing can not. So Saturday the 24th was car-shopping day. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to find another F-150 for $6800--what they gave us after deductible--that was in the same mechanical condition as mine, so we decided it would be better to just go ahead and get something new-ish. The other option being to get something not-so-newish and then replace it when the house is paid off, but why throw good money at a bad vehicle just to replace it later? I'll spare you the long version and just tell you that we were able to find exactly the vehicle I wanted at the first stop! We figured it would be an all-day ordeal driving all over Norman, OKC and Edmond just like when we bought the Acura.
I guess after reading all this, you deserve a nice pic or two of the most amazingly outstanding vehicle on the face of the planet--my '05 CR-V! In Nighthawk Black Pearl, of course.
Aw yeah. I decided to call the body shop on the 22nd to see what was holding up the works, fully expecting them to tell me the truck was buttoned up and ready to go. Not so, wee kiddiewinks. Their question was "Has your insurance adjuster called you yet?" Obviously not, if I'm calling you. I still don't know why this wasn't discovered when they were doing the frame measurements the first time, but I was told the passenger side of the axle housing was bent a full inch. And while the frame can be tweaked, the housing can not. So Saturday the 24th was car-shopping day. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to find another F-150 for $6800--what they gave us after deductible--that was in the same mechanical condition as mine, so we decided it would be better to just go ahead and get something new-ish. The other option being to get something not-so-newish and then replace it when the house is paid off, but why throw good money at a bad vehicle just to replace it later? I'll spare you the long version and just tell you that we were able to find exactly the vehicle I wanted at the first stop! We figured it would be an all-day ordeal driving all over Norman, OKC and Edmond just like when we bought the Acura.
I guess after reading all this, you deserve a nice pic or two of the most amazingly outstanding vehicle on the face of the planet--my '05 CR-V! In Nighthawk Black Pearl, of course.
Labels: CR-V
// posted by wayne @ 3/05/2007 03:13:00 AM
