My wife and I were planning to drive her 2018 Acura RDX from Denver to Seattle and return to see my father and sister for Christmas this year.
Because, why not? We like to road trip to reconnect with each other sometimes, and we had a bunch of presents for my father, sister, stepsister and her husband, etc (some of which included some heavy hitting bottles of wine we'd gotten for them over the year that couldn't be shipped).
Her RDX was prepped, cleaned, washed, partly packed, mechanically gone over, had new new tires (for mountain passes), oil changed, etc..... and the damn sunroof jams open..... LITERALLY the night before we're supposed to leave. She hit the "pop open the sunroof" button instead of the overhead light by accident and it broke.
WTF, over? I tried *everything* I could think of to get it closed, but it's jammed in the open position and isn't going to move without the entire headliner and assembly being taken apart-- something I had no time to even consider starting.
So, it's 10 hours before we leave, we still have to open our presents to each other, Facetime with friends, finish packing, there's rain and snow forecast, and my wife's having a bit of a Christmas meltdown.
What do you do? It's 1500 miles each way over multiple mountain passes with ice and rain expected.
My 5-speed beater/daily 18.5 year old
2005 Honda Element that hasn't been inside of a garage for fifteen years to the rescue!
No prep, no checkup, no mechanical work, nothing..... I just gave it a quick wipe down and clean up inside to make the wife happy (she does NOT love the Element and it was pretty dusty with a bunch of stuff inside), moved our bags and packages over from the RDX, pulled off the bike rack and we were on the road by 0630. Luckily, I'd put new tires on it last month since I was down to the wear bars-- but the Old Girl rose to the occasion. 155k on the clock and she just hummed her way to Seattle, no muss, no fuss, and didn't burn a drop of oil.
The result is that we're in (near) Seattle and my wife isn't allowed to bad-mouth the Element anymore since it saved her arse and Christmas plans. It's *beyond* basic..... it barely has power windows. No heated seats, the CD player doesn't work, it's a MT, you have to argue with the radio buttons, there are a bunch of hail dents on the hood and side, the driver's seat is worn out, the door seals are ripped, the foot heater on the passenger side doesn't work, it's terrifyingly loud above 65 and you pretty much need a gravity assist to consistently keep it moving above about 84 mph.....
But damn, does Honda build a reliable and dependable car!
How many beater, outside-living, (almost) 20 year old cars can you just jump in with absolutely no prep and roll 3000 miles?
I **LOVE** My Element!
RDX stuffed into our garage next to the M2C. Her Miata parked in the neighbor's garage. Marriage saved. Christmas plans salvaged. Wine delivered. Wife (more or less) happy.... although she *did* say she was used to "a little more" luxury-- she *really* missed her heated seats. She's going to fly home on New Year's Day (as per the original plan) and I'll drive the Element home the following week.
She's going to deal with taking the RDX to the dealer to get the sunroof fixed while I'm gone. Having an open sunroof in Colorado in the winter isn't a great plan.
Merry Christmas to all.
R.