Two weeks ago I purchased a 1999 Honda Prelude. It has 145,000 miles on it but is still running pretty well. I had been looking for a car for several months while I was in Taiwan, and also during my break afterwards. I browsed craigslist, autotrader, and cars.com.

I created a list of cars that I was interested in. I called up a lot of people. I had several VW Jettas on my to-look at list, a Jeep Wrangler, and a Toyota Corolla. I took a look at one of the Jettas, applied for a bank loan, and went home for the weekend.

My bank loan didn’t come through.
The Jetta was in pretty lousy shape body-wise. The mechanics all seemed to be working properly, but it was a true eyesore.

Just as I was starting to get desperate, I rode past a dealership near my neighborhood. I had looked through this lot a month before or so, but didn’t see anything I was interested in. This dealership accepts all of the older high-mileage cars that are traded in from the big Subaru dealer across the street. I spotted the Prelude, and took a look.

The exterior was in flawless condition. I’ve seen cars five years newer with much worse paint jobs. There’s only a couple of tiny dings in the hood. Nothing else.

The interior is spotless. The driver’s seat fabric is slightly lighter in color than the passengers, and I guess that it’s because it’s been used more, but it really isn’t noticeable. Really, the biggest complaint I had about the car was the buttons on the radio were worn.

I signed a loan and started the three hour drive back to State College. The Check Engine Light went on. I took it to the dealership and they charged me $70 to tell me it was the catalytic converter, and that I should take it back if the light comes back on again. I was upset that it would cost so much for them to do nothing, but I drove it home.

And the light came back on. So now I have to take it back to the dealership… again. At least I have a warranty.

Anyway, I have a photo album at my site www.earcaraxe.com.