I originally bought the 2000 Civic SI car in May 2000 – we were still renters then – and I wanted a sporty small car to commute in. My commute was about 40 miles daily, and I wanted a car that got reasonable gas mileage, but had passing power at speed on the interstate (part of my commute is on 495, aka the Washington Beltway) . My previous car, a red 1990 Honda Civic SI, had over 120k miles at that time. The 1990 Civic SI was a hatchback model, a little sport-wagon, a very sensible car design I adore.
(See my Car-buff page for more on sportswagons. )
The 2000 Civic SI was a 2door Coupe body, not the hatchback style I prefered. But we needed another car, and because the previous SI had been so solid and reliable, after a bit of comparision shopping, I bought it.

Within 4 months we had an unexpected opportunity to buy a house and suddenly become domesticated (grin) – then I needed a small wagon or truck for the more frequent trips to Home Despot.
Although I considered a trade in, I knew I’d take a huge financial hit switching vehicles so soon after I bought the Civic, so I resigned myself to enjoying the gas mileage and just made the payments for the next 4 years.

Since Emma was ordained in 2004, she’s looking into starting up an MCC church – perhaps 90 minutes away in Harrisonburg. If so, she’d be driving further than her current commute of 1-2 miles to work.
With 150k miles on the old red ’90 SI, I’m not comfortable with her driving it long distance or late at night on the interstate. Our tentative plan was to buy a small (used) truck – probably a Honda CR-V. – for me, and let her have the 2000 Civic (with just 70k miles, its got a lot of life left in it), and we’d just sell off the 1990 Civic.

But the theft of the newer blue Civic changed everything! I’m driving a rental car at $36 a day and Allstate only reimburses $20 a day. We have a trip to Richmond planned for Christmas and I need to get something before the end of the year.

I’m looking to get a used CRV for my use, and if the blue car turns up before the end of the year, we’ll just get rid of the oldest (1990) car. If the blue car is gone for good, and Allstate sends a check early next year, we’ll use the payout to get Emma a newer car …and sell the oldest car then.