Hello All:

I will throw my forty-two cents in here too, unasked.

Mike, as always, has given you very sound advice. My story, in a rather sizable nutshell, is that my wife and I live in a suburban village center that lets us walk to stores and the train station into New York City. Starting in September we needed to get a car to get our oldest daughter to preschool, about a three-mile drive. My wife grew up on a farm, her father runs a plumbing business so she is VERY comfortable with the idea of things breaking, requiring repair, and doing without; that has come in handy because a couple of times she has had to do without the 122 for a couple of days as I have troubleshot a problem.

The reason we bought this car is because my wife wanted it. She told me "Look, I am a mom and I live in the suburbs. I am not driving a minivan. Get me a stick and get me rear-wheel-drive." After much research the 122 seemed to meet our complex criteria. When something goes wrong, she thinks it is cool that we can fix it ourselves. Bear in mind that we can still walk to the store to buy eggs.

Does this sound like your wife? I am not trying to draw comparisons; I am merely suggesting that an inordinate amount of patience and even a rather unconventional world-view will be required if this is her only source of transportation. If you have a second vehicle to fall back on then obviously that changes the dynamic enormously. If not, never underestimate the power of a solid Honda.

Cheers,

Jeff Pucillo