Urban Myths...they seem plentiful and many believable. Yet are they ever really true? One can only wonder. Through out the years I've always heard about legendary Honda's. Words coming from soccer moms, dad's in the working world, and the occasional grandparent who always owned American vehicles. "Over 100,000 miles and never had a major repair. It never made us miss our kids' practices. I'll always buy one.” I always believed in these false statements.

Late May in the Spring of 2000 I was to receive such a vehicle. 95 Honda Accord. It had an AC and CD player. I was set. It also had a 5 on the floor, which makes for a more enlightening driving experience now compared to the first month of white knuckle grip on the wheel. Now a 4 door plain Jane car would not be my car of choice. Actually it was a car that never crossed my mind. However I knew of this legend, and realized a reliable useful vehicle would be a good choice. The perk of good gas mileage is nothing to complain about. I decided to keep the family car name Betsy.

Now Betsy and I have gone on some trips, OK quite a few. Montana to Texas. Texas to Florida. Trips to Oklahoma. A trip to Michigan. Michigan to Connecticut. It's ventured farth north as Canada and as far South as a Texas/Mexico border town. It has gone through mountain ranges, endless plains, and even braved the yellow taxis in Time Square. From the sounds of the things it seems to have been a great car. Never judge a book by its cover. NY Times, Washington Post, and other papers famous for having their quotes printed in the forward must have skipped over the index which lists:

Radio broke (not necessarily Honda related, but one can wonder)
Power Antenna replaced
Blower switch replaced in college (AC in Texas is mandatory)
Blower motor just recently replaced (Heater/Defrost in Connecticut is mandatory)
Muffler (twice, one you would think once would be enough)
Timing belt (preventive maintenance. Preventive maintenance that costs an arm and both my legs since I'm broke)
Front brakes (and now when it’s really cold they still squeak...yay!!!)
Head Light
Brake Light
Power Windows...they are on the to do list
Defrost Light (not even considering fixing it)

This brings me today. Holiday traffic. It's inevitable. It's also magnified when you live in Hartford County, where it seems like all the shopping is in a 3 mile radius where I reside. What I thought was exhaust from the car in front of me, proved to be smoke coming from underneath my hood. Wonderful. Now usually I would have pulled right over, but alas I was stuck in thick traffic. So thick a cop car was stuck behind me for a good two minutes with sirens blaring. My side view mirror an inch away from scraping the car to the right of me. It would soon proceed and while I should have followed I didn't want to risk a ticket. At the next available exit I pulled in a good 10 minutes later, popped the hood and let the smoke coming billowing out. Radiator can now be added to that list. No cheap fix.

I now believe people who own Hondas have had similar problems. They are comforted by the thought of not being the single person with such problems and misfortunes. This is how the "Hondas make great long term cars" myth came about. Now I would sell this vehicle right now if I could afford to. However that is not an option. The vehicle hasn't hit even 100,000 miles. This car is a piece of shit and I hate it.