New battery

(Photo by BobbaLew.)

Yesterday (Tuesday, January 26, 2010), at long last, battery number-two was installed in our CR-V by good old Ontario Honda.
Ontario Honda is where we bought the CR-V back in March of 2003.
That means battery number-one was almost seven years old, a record.
And it didn’t actually fail. Ontario Honda just said it was suspect.
Our previous car, “The Faithful Hunda” (pronounced that way because that was how a fellow bus-driver at Regional Transit pronounced “Honda”), an ‘89 Civic All-Wheel-Drive station-wagon, was on its third battery.
It went 160,000 miles (13 years), and we might be still driving it had it not been smashed up.
We really loved that car, especially my wife.
And she’s “automotively challenged;” driving is frightening.
It never got stuck, and never needed major repairs.
It also wore out three sets of tires — it was on its fourth set.
But they were performance tires; more likely to wear out. —Mainly Goodyear GT+4s, the tire the NY State Police was using at that time.
It wasn’t severely damaged. I was tempted to fix it.
But the insurance company totaled it.
It would cost more to fix than it was worth.
It was about due to be replaced — it was showing its age.
A few small rust-spots were here and there.
I replaced every battery myself — they were tiny.
We had purchased the car in Rochester, but gravitated to Ontario Honda.
At least two of the batteries came from Ontario Honda.
I still have a complete exhaust-system for that car in our cellar; from the converter back.
I should probably put it on eBay.
A second car we had, a ‘93 Chevrolet Astrovan, went through two batteries and two sets of tires.
The tires it came on were wimpy, so I put on a set of GT+4s.
A worthwhile investment.
Replaced ‘em with a second set of GT+4s. The tire Goodyear replaced the GT+4s with replaced the second set.
Two of them Astrovan GT+4s are garden planters.
That Astrovan went 140,000 miles (12 years) before we traded it — to our 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan from LeBrun (“leh-BRUN”) Toyota.
The Astrovan was on its third battery.
When its first battery failed, I had it replaced by Molye (“MAL-yay;” as in “ah”) in Honeoye (“HONE-eee-oy”) Falls.
Same with the second battery.
The third battery I purchased from Advance Auto Parts in Canandaigua, and installed myself.
That Astrovan was slightly more ornery than “the Faithful Hunda;” it needed shop-time three times.
Once was a broken torsion-bar, once was an oil-leak, and once was a “check-engine light” — it needed a new oxygen sensor. That “check-engine light” had been winking at me for years, and only Molye fixed it.
The Astro was probably junked. It was utterly wore out. The suspension was done for, so it rode like a lumber-wagon.
And its air-conditioning needed a total rebuild. It leaked.
Our CR-V is still very much the same car as when we bought it; that battery is the first repair since.
I’m also on my second set of upgraded tires — the stock set is in our basement.
Next is the exhaust-system. It must be stainless-steel. It’s original.
Our CR-V is reliable — never been stuck or in the shop — but we’re not that happy with it.
It’s too much a truck. Drives like a car, but rides high.
It ain’t “the Faithful Hunda.”

• The “CR-V” is our 2003 Honda CR-V SUV.
• For 16&1/2 years (1977-1993) I drove transit bus for Regional Transit Service in Rochester, NY. My stroke October 26, 1993 ended that.
• My wife of 42 years is “Linda.”
• “Honeoye Falls” is the nearest town to the west to where we live in western New York, a rural town about five miles away.
• “Canandaigua” (“cannon-DAY-gwuh”) is a small city nearby where we live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” —It’s about 15 miles away. (Ontario Honda and LeBrun Toyota are in Canandaigua.)
• Exhaust-systems weren’t stainless-steel in the past; although they may be now. An exhaust-system that isn’t stainless will corrode in a few years. “The Faithful Hunda” wasn’t stainless; but the CR-V appears to be. The Astrovan wasn’t either, and had to be rebuilt once. “The Faithful Hunda” was rebuilt at least three times. The middle-pipe connection to the muffler would disintegrate.