2007 Honda Civic (long term)

So , last March my Wife and I bought a new car, which quickly became our biggest investment.
It was not however, the car they we had gone over to buy, there were two others that I was looking at (my Wife left the car buying to me) the first was a 2005 Honda Civic, four door. That car had been sold already. The other car was a 2008 Volkswagen  Jetta. I however got doubts about the Jetta after reading the carfax report. But then this car showed up. and I must say i was surprised.

I will be honest not what I expected when. the  dealer told me he had a civic  that I might be interested in. I also understand that I technically broke some car buying rules when I bought the car, but I did what i did. and it ended up being a great choice. but this isn't a review for the dealership, this is about the car. so let's start this. I will discuss my likes and dislikes, and give my overall rating.

 Likes:

1. Comfortable seating: and that is an understatement.  this car has really comfortable seating. The front driver and passenger seats  are both bucket seats ( but then again thats the norm these days) but these seats have a sporty feel to them, and they do a great job  "hugging"  me as a sit back into it. the Drivers side also has an extra feature, it has a small lever that allows the driver to adjust the height as well as the normal forward, backward and lean  adjustments. I have even had the opportunity to sit in the back.
2.  best sedan in a coupe's body: As you can see in the Picture this car is a Coupe, for those of you who do not know what that means, it means that it is a two door car. And for being a two door car, I am also surprised how easy it is to get into the back, now I understand that this is definitely not a sedan or saloon (four door car) but it is still very accommodating for only having two doors, with the tap of a small lever on the passengers side the sit folds forward leaving plenty of room for the average sized person to climb on in, even some above average sized people would find it less challenging than most coupes.  another  great bonus here is that the back seats are also comfortable. Now  there is still the issue of leg room that is super dependent on the generosity of those who sit in front. Theres even more great things to say about this There is even room enough in the back four at least one car seat and a booster seat, so if you have a growing family there is no need to buy a new car.
3. Alloy rims: if you remember my first car review blog you should understand this. the rims are nice, they aren't too much either, and they look nice on the car.
4. Dashboard and interior 50/50: I am honestly torn in half  when it comes to there are a few things  I like about it, and there are a couple things I do not like about it either  so I will discuss the likes  for right now So as you can see below there are some images that match what my car looks like. and the first thing I want to talk about is how the speedometer, tachometer and other gauges are set up


1. speedo, tach  etc: I must say I love how much  the set up is not an eye sore, and the fact that I do not have to figure out where everything is. The Tach is large and in an easy to find location, The speedo is digital, so when the cop asks you how fast you were going you can give a more precise answer Another great thing is it's location. I do not have to take my eyes all the way off the road to check my speed/ fuel levels/ engine temp. They are all right on top of the tach nicely lined up and clearly marked which one is which.
2. nifty features: So  this cars comes with more than the standard odometer, then again most cars do these days, but this car also comes with two trip meters. One which I use to measure how far I can go on a tank of gas( try and keep fuel milage up) and the other I use so I know when I need to change my oil. Again like most cars these days it comes with an outside temperature gauge to let me know how unbearably hot the weather can get in the summertime. but I must say my favorite is the mph/kph feature. this is, as far as I am aware, not the average car feature, this allows me to switch my  car from imperial to metric. some more great features  that I like on this car is the Cruise control, although as unpredictable as the traffic is here, I do not get to use it as often as I would like. 
3. kickin' bass: I must say I really like how nice of a music system this car has, and as far as I am aware, the system is stock. the bass in this car really kicks, and high enough it can really get the car shaking, and it makes for a great back massager 
4. Interior: I believe that this would be an interior that the folks at Top Gear wouldn't complain about...too much. One thing that I like is that the interior dos not feel "cheap" Now I understand that its also not high quality, but nonetheless, it's interior has enough quality to it that should help it last a couple generations. It is a honda after all they are good quality machines. this is not just the dashboard  either, all around me I feel that thought and care was actually put into the creation of it all.
5. Maintenance:   So  in the six months that I have owned this car I have only had to change a light bulb and one oil change, and both were very easy tasks to perform. I would say changing the headlight on the car was only a 10 minute job, and the oil was only a fifteen minute job. so if you want an easy maintenance car this is it. (there was one other, a side view mirror replacement but that was more my fault, but still an easy fix so it does not invalidate anything)
6. Disc brakes: so I  am particularly excited about this one

SO  There are a couple of things  that I do not like about this car, just two

cover one side, then the other, then you should understand better where I am coming from

1. Body: This isn't too terrible, because. I do like the way the front is styled,  and I like how the back is styled too. but for some reason I cannot  put them together. The more and more I look at the car from the side, or from whatever angled direction, it looks like two cars mashed together to make one. This is a mistake that they have fixed thankfully with their newer model cars.
   
   Its is amazing what some slight tweaking can accomplish, they even got the car pointed in the right direction
2. sluggish acceleration: I am not too sad about this, I mean it is still a VTEC.  but if you really need or want to take advantage of the acceleration on this little car you really need to know how and when to shift. but as a friend of mine once told me " want to know what a VTEC sounds like? ...slllloooooooowwwwwww VTEC!!!!!!!!!!

So here is my overall rating of the Car:

 when all is said and done this is still a very fun car, and  even a decent family car, even if you want just the simple  car that will take you from  point A to point B, it can be that too.  this is the kind of car that I would recomend to people looking for a great car, you just cannot have mine, because I am keeping it.

Uncle Mike's school of driving: Lesson One: Turn Signals.

Welcome to a new segment of my blog I like to call "Uncle Mike's School of Driving"!!
 Now you might be asking" why are you making this?" and if you're not...you are probably one of the reasons I am writing this. So enough of the useless banter lets get this started.

Lesson One: Turn Signals

and believe me, I am trying to visualize them using  their turn signals

I am not for sure if this is just an east coast thing but it seriously bugs me. I am almost for sure that there is no one here that uses their turn signal, and it is my conclusion that they do not know how to, so I thought we would start with the basics.

  This is the lever that turns the  blinkers on. it is found  behind the steering wheel on the left side.   and if you are still confused to its whereabouts, its the stick poking out of the left side of the steering wheel column. To use this Mystical device( which is very simple) all you have to do is this:

• Lift the lever: this will activate the right blinker. This will help  notify the other drivers that you:

1. want to make a  right turn
2. want to move over into the left lane.

• push the lever down. This will activate the left Blinker. This will help notify the other drivers  that you:
1. want to make a left turn.
2. want to move over into the right lane.

this is what it looks like to other drivers

do you see that blinking? its telling other drivers that you want to do something...what is that something you ask? TURN!!!!!!!!!

now how do you know you got the right signal on?

1. you will hear a ticking noise,  if it is ticking (and flashing) fast it means you need to change the  turn signal bulb
2. you will see a blinking arrow pointing  left or right, on the instrument panel in your car
1. if you do not know what your instrument panel looks like. it is the panel  in front of you (while you are driving) that displays your speed, RPMs, the engine temperature and the fuel levels in your car. it will also notify you of concerns you should be aware of as to the well being of your car...seriously doesn't anyone read the owners manual to their car.... 
1. When you  push the lever down this activates the left blinker, when this is activated. you will see that the arrow pointing left is blinking, this is to help you know that you have activated the left blinker, and for some people to let them know which way left is.
2. when you push the lever up this activates the right blinker, when this is activated  you will see that the arrow pointing right is blinking, this is to let you know that you have activated the right blinker, and like the left blinker it is to help them know which way right is.

Now that we have all of that out of the way we can move on to the actual execution of using the turn signals.

•  when you are desiring to turn it is common courtesy to have the blinker on for at least twenty to thirty feet before you execute any turns.  if you are coming to a stop sign, or stoplight it is okay to wait until then, but you still want to give others around you plenty of time  to react to you, and to let them know what you are doing.  when you are free to go, you may then legally execute your desired turn.
• when desiring to change lanes, the same rules apply. you will want to notify the other drivers around you of what you are doing ( this helps avoid accidents) you will want to activate your turn signal prior to changing lanes. However before you change lanes you will want to check your rear view mirror and the side view mirror (according to which lane you are trying to enter) and in some cases  you will want to look back  and make sure there is nothing in your blind spots ( that annoying spot around you that none of your mirrors can see) Once you have ensured that you have the all clear that it is safe you may now legally  execute your desired lane change.

Now if you think this is where it ends....you are wrong, because part of know all of this is also respecting others when they are trying to  turn and/or change lanes.

1.  If you see another person with their turn signal on, signaling that they desire to change lanes, please respect that and allow them to enter said lane, the flashing light you see is not a speed up and hurry past me light, it is a slow down and let me over light. You may be in a hurry,  but so might they be too. you will not lose any more time if you let them through than if you sped past them. and lets be honest if it was you, you would want them to let you  change lanes, I have learned  about many "philias"   so I can be sure that there is not a single person that gets turned on, by the fact that no one lets him change lanes.
2. For the Love of (insert whatever you want). DO NOT CUT PEOPLE OFF, That is  pretty much the number one reason for accidents..thats a  lie, but it is still very dangerous and I know it at least accounts for some accidents. you are not proving anything, aside from some possible anger issues or some suppressed childhood neglect that you experienced. Just watch what you are doing, and of course let others know what you are doing, and the world will be a safer place.

This is just the first lesson.  next lesson will be on Maintaining proper distances from others while driving.

justice? i will take a serving please

(NOTE: THIS POST WAS NOT MADE TO OFFEND ANYONE, OR TO STOMP ON ANYONES FEELINGS OR BELIEFS,THIS IS JUST HOW I FEEL ABOUT THE SITUATION.
 So the verdict came in on the Zimmerman trial, and everybody is worked up over it, claiming "BOO HOO there was no justice for poor little Trayvon"
What? no justice? why because you didn't get the verdicted you wanted? forget the verdict that was needed, lets just take a poll to decide, and while we are add it, lets draw up the facts  as inaccurately as possible, because that wont throw anything off. Now that I got some of you peeved and or otherwise ticked off let me explain something
I DO NOT THINK HE WAS COMPLETELY INNOCENT, I MERELY THINK IT WAS NOT  2ND DEGREE MURDER.
 okay now that we got that out of the way in such a manner no one can say that they missed it we can move on (if only everyone else would)
 so thankfully there are not too many riots...as of right now. not to say that it is highly likely someone is going to try and kill Zimmerman over this, because that would be okay.......
 But the point of this post is this. Let us just accept this verdict,  the verdict was that he was not guilty of 2nd degree murder, not that he was completely innocent. They are now deliberating on  manslaughter charges, which still mean about 30 yrs in prison for him, and they will most likely get that,  so he will either spent that 30 years, then come out when he is 50 years old, not able to do anything or get anywhere in life, no one will hire for anything,  OR he will spend about a week in prison before getting shanked to death, because some guard conveniently turned his back, so lets be happy his life is over, even if he get off completely innocent, its  still the same,  no one will hire him for anything, or someone's going to off him
 why is everyone worked up because he's not going to rot in prison for life? he's not going to, he has a worse fate than that now, he needs to figure out how to move on from this without ignorant people hating on him  because they think they "know the law", well they don't! and thats a fact. and here is how I look at the whole thing. because I have spent the longest time  actually studying up both sides of the story, while most were at their "hoodies for Trayvon rallies, ( I would add some pro Zimmerman rally, but here were none that I know of, but there are plenty of ignorant  people on his side as well)

•   no one was innocent here: even his mom admitted it, the kid was a delinquent, and do not deny that, there was plenty of evidence that proved it, BUT that was still no excuse  for Zimmerman. he should have listened to the police, and none of this would have happened. and none of this" little" nonsense the kid stood  6 feet tall and was on the american  football team.
• Self-defence: What's this? what if zimmerman was telling the truth and he was, I don't know... defending himself? or is that too ignorant  of me to think that? If someone was attacking  me, I would want to defend my life, Still, once again there were many other mean  by which Zimmerman could have done it without killing  Trayvon
• "let's end racial discrimination" yes we should, its called move on,  now I know thats a bit extreme but the racial card had no business  in this case, they said that  race had nothing to do with it, so lets trust them on that. there was plenty of evidence that proved that he was not being racist...and have you ever met a racist?   because they definitely do not hide the fact that they are racist, they are proud of it. did you see zimmerman? I do not think he was proud of anything here.  I would rant on and on about  the racial discrimination problems but thats too political and I promised  I would not do political rants. but let me leave my opinion as this : its not cool, but let's not falsely accuse anyone of it either, because that is not cool either.
• " I just wanted justice" Well that's what you go so why are you complaining again? people justice was served, nothing about this was unconstitutional. We got the Trial, and the jury  decided. what more needs to be said here.
• 2nd degree Murder: just not enough evidence, the charge was too high. I mean this with the utmost respect, but his parents, went too high, they got  too emotional over what happened and made a too risky decision. Now even my wife asked me this,"well what if it was our son" to which I cannot respond  fully because I have no children yet. But IF i did , I would be heartbroken, deeply heartbroken but I would still want true justice, and if the person that was accused of such crime ended up with a lesser sentence ( or even got away altogether)  I would move on, it would be hard, but that is what I would do. its might have something to do with how I was raised, but iven if the person is in God's eyes guilty, then no earthly tribunal could save him from the ultimate judgement before God. if he were to be free, I would leave it in God's hands. that is, after all, everything that  we can do.
• Manslaughter? I am  totally for that. Lets get him on that charge and lock him away, that's what they were should have done in the first place.
• Not satisfied? so if you do not want to be happy about this verdict you should at least be happy Zimmerman's life is Officially ruined.  I am hoping that will satisfy your hunger for "justice" although being happy about something like that is a bit sadistic, not to mention creepy.
  
  did someone say sadistic?

 lets just forget that we are taught to judge not, lest we want to be judged, lets just forget all that, and lock up people just because the "majority"  think that he is guilty, sure its very easy to get swept away when something like this comes up. It was indeed a very sad  event, Trayvon did not need to die over this., but at the same time we need not lock up a man for life, because he was defending himself.

 Let us not be ignorant people. Justice was served, so lets move on. Please, and that is all I have to say about this,