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comment by blackbootz
blackbootz  ·  2945 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Car owners of Hubski, what do you drive?

Ha! WanderingEng I dig your style.

I have a 1993 two-door Honda Civic Hatchback, manual transmission, 183,000 miles.

When someone heard that there's only 180 odd thousand miles, they said, "Oh, she's just stretching her legs." I'd love to get another 50 or 100 thousand from her. I'm 24, so the newer car is still a ways off for me. I drive this one carefully and do regular maintenance. I'm planning to switch out the distributor myself real soon, and I think I'll have my mechanically inclined friend nearby though, in case I bite off more than I can chew.

Great thread RD





wasoxygen  ·  2945 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Nice! I bought a Canadian-built 1989 manual with 164,000 miles in April 2005 for $1050.

I donated it six years later, with 199,820 miles.

Last summer I got an automated e-mail from the local shop saying my car was due for its 255,000 mile service.

blackbootz  ·  2944 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Donated it to one of those charities? What do/did they do with donated cars exactly? I sometimes see billboard signs soliciting car donations (and old cell phones for that matter)... what good are those?

wasoxygen  ·  2943 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Donated it to one of those charities? What do/did they do with donated cars exactly?

I think most of them are sold at auction. From the owner's point of view, they make a large, immobile tax and legal liability disappear, providing a recepit for use as a tax deduction.

From the charity's point of view, I expect they get a monthly check for allowing their name to be used by the reseller. A GAO study suggests that the charity receives a fairly tiny portion of the sale price, and a lot of the proceeds pay for billboards and other promotion.

My e-mail confirmation came from "habitatforhumanity@arscars.com" and ARS makes grand promises to non-profits, but it's free money for the charity so I doubt they scrutinize the income very closely.

user-inactivated  ·  2943 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Most sources of funding for non-profits either take a lot of time away from the work they want to be doing (fund-raising events) or come with burdensome reporting requirements that are going to keep one or more employees tied up doing paperwork instead of what they signed up for (pretty much any government grant). If not seeing the bulk of the money from donated cars is the worst thing about doing car donations it's still a good arrangement.

wasoxygen  ·  2943 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I agree: everybody wins, but not everybody wins equally.

I probably spend half my breath here arguing that such arrangements are good, or at least better than any plausible alternative.

kleinbl00  ·  2944 days ago  ·  link  ·  

If they're repairable, they repair them and sell them.

If they're not repairable, they savage them for parts and wholesale the parts.

The cell phones are largely sold in bulk to 3rd world countries, if I recall correctly.

WanderingEng  ·  2945 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That looks great! The 2008s are coupe styling, but I like the look of a hatch, too. Before my Civic I had a Dodge Neon. I got rid of that around 72,000 miles, and I could feel all the miles on it. I swear my Civic feels just as good as it did new. Part of my hesitation with getting a new car is jinxing myself and replacing a rock solid car with a lemon.

Reading your post, maybe I should keep this as a running around car and add a second car.

blackbootz  ·  2944 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Reading your post, maybe I should keep this as a running around car and add a second car.

Ha, that sounds luxurious. But if you're car is solid as is, I'd give second thought to replacing it outright.

user-inactivated  ·  2945 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Is that your actual car? If so, that's awesome. It's rare to find commuter cars that old in such decent looking shape, especially ones that are popular in the import tuning scene like Civics.

blackbootz  ·  2945 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yea that's my one and only. She was a once-week-for-groceries when I got her two years ago.

Edit to add: it rocks that my mechanic offered me 3.5k for it while working on it. I surmised it was exactly so he could tune it up. The body is in great shape, except for a little rust in the tire well.