Fond memories made picking new car easy
The rules for the new car are simple:
1. No eating in the car.
2. No drinking in the car.
3. No being a disgusting human in the car.
4. Rules one and two may not apply to me.
Yes, I have gotten my new car, and I am pleased to report that two weeks into it, there still has not been a Pop-Tart ground into the carpet.
This is only the second new car I have ever had, and the first in 16 years. My last new car was a black Honda Civic. My new car is a black Honda Civic. I eagerly anticipate the 2026 Honda Civics.
I got rid of my old Honda Civic a few years ago. It was a two-door with a manual transmission. Not exactly the ideal car for (a) transporting kids and (b) a wife who does not drive a manual. I told her for years that as soon as the car died, we would get a van for her, and she would pass down her Ford Explorer to me. Here's a little tidbit you may not know: Honda Civics never die.
Eventually, my wife made an executive decision and we got a van. I sold my little car, and climbed the running boards into a Ford Explorer. When you go from a Civic to an Explorer, you do change your driving habits slightly. And by slightly I mean the bigger the car you upgrade to, the more likely you are to become "that driver." During the SUV-adjustment phase, I often found myself saying to myself, "Did I just scream at that woman for not turning on red?"
That said, there were benefits to the SUV. For example, it was easy to keep the kids' rooms clean, since the back housed most of their toys. Plus, during the peak gas prices, the SUV kept us from having excessive amounts of money lying around.
But I did grow to love my SUV. It even gave the ultimate sacrifice for me. In a final act of SUV heroism, it took all of the damage when a car plowed into me, leaving it in tatters but me unharmed.
When we got into the brass tacks of getting a new car, I told my wife what I really wanted. "I really miss my Civic," I said. "That was a two-door manual," she said. "I wasn't suggesting we buy my old car back," I said.
So in a car shopping trip that took less time than most drugstore visits, I was ready to move forward with a new Civic, one with an automatic transmission and four - count 'em four! - doors. For what it's worth, getting back that low to the ground apparently strips you of some of that SUVishness. Case in point: I only became slightly enraged when it took me seven minutes to go two blocks downtown. Imagine had I still been in my Explorer.
The great thing about a new car is that first few weeks of the honeymoon phase. You wash it, you vacuum it, you don't let your kids have a pancake supper in the backseat. Some people have the stick-to-it-iveness to keep that up. And some people keep going to the gym well after New Year's Eve resolution time.
I am fairly resigned that there will come a time when I let a little food in here or there, for convenience sake. It will probably start with me. I'm on the run. It's lunch time. What harm could a loaded chili and slaw dog do? And why not eat it while on the phone? I mean, what's the worst that can happen?
And of course, at some point, I will realize it's been four weeks since I washed it. After all, it was raining. Or cold. Or hot. Or there were two birthday parties that day. Or my horoscope definitely implied that washing a car could be disastrous.
But, you never know. Maybe I'll be one of those people. Maybe I will keep it clean. And washed. And waxed (which is something I have heard you do to cars, but do not believe I have ever actually taken part in). Granted, I don't know if I can keep it up for 16 years, when I get my next Civic.
Mike Gibbons is the managing editor of the Aiken Standard. Contact him at mgibbons@aikenstandard.com.