X just added a new feature where users can see where a particular account is based geographically. In a shocking twist, it turns out that a huge number of high-profile pro-MAGA accounts are based in foreign countries: Africa, Russia, and India, for example.
Over on Curbside Classic I wrote a Cars of A Lifetime entry/comparison on our two Honda CR-Vs. It took a while (I don’t know why I hadn’t written one back in 2018 when I did the bulk of the series) but it was fun to compare and contrast the two. We love Luna (the new one) so far, and the OG-V has over 170,000 miles on the clock. I hope to get another 50,000 out of it.
We’ve put 150+ miles on the CR-V so far, and I’m very happy with our purchase to date. It’s a pleasure to drive. It feels both nimble and solid on the road—a little chunkier than the 2006, which it is—but when I get on the gas it gets up and goes. We’re still getting used to the controls, and learning about most of the features. All of the new lane-sensing technology is a big shift; the display on the dash flashes SLOW when the car thinks you’re approaching something too fast. The lane-changing warnings are a mixture of lights and a chime; I liked how the Chevy flashed quietly in my peripheral vision better. The seats are firm and comfortable, and the adjustments make them even better. Overall, it’s a hell of a car for the money.
One thing that I don’t like is the rear bed situation: Honda cheaped out on the material they used to cover the spare tire well. At different times in the past, I have thrown a pressure washer, pallets of water, two Costco shopping carts worth of merchandise, several hundred pounds of tools, Scout car parts, and people in the rear of the 2006, sometimes all at once. I’ve often looked at the rear of the car squatting down over the wheels and wondered if I overloaded it a tiny bit, but I never once worried about breaking the rear deck. Maybe that’s because it famously uses a removable folding table as the rear floor. But in the 2024 it feels like cheap cardboard. I’m going to buy a 4×4′ section of 1/4″ sanded plywood and cut a custom floor to drop in under the carpet—or, better yet, just pull the OEM piece entirely and cover the plywood with an OEM Honda rubber floor tray.
I’m shocked to admit both Ford and Chevrolet have beaten Honda in CarPlay integration hands-down. Granted, we were driving upscale models of their SUVs, so we got upgrades like extra-large displays. Honda’s integration isn’t as technologically savvy, but it does get the job done. Having test-driven multiple makes of car over the last couple of years, I wouldn’t consider a car if it didn’t have CarPlay. GM’s recent announcement that they’re going to discontinue CarPlay and go with some home-brewed infotainment system baffles me both because they did an excellent job with it in both examples we drove, and because it’s so monumentally difficult to do infotainment correctly. They’re going to have to hire a whole development team to build something half as good.
On Jalopnik, Andrew Collins (fellow Scout owner) writes an appreciation of The Second-Gen Honda CR-V. Because Jalopnik’s commenting system is such a giant bag of dicks, I couldn’t log in with one of the four accounts it’s made me create over the years to add my opinion, but my love of our CR-V is well documented here.
File this under Future Projects: a video podcast on iPod Music Link Installation in the CR-V. Looks like it might be the next gen model from the screenshot, but the general info looks pretty good.
I drove over to my friend Bennett’s house on Saturday morning to give him a hand rebuilding his porch, which we demoed a year and a half ago. He’s run into several roadblocks since then, including sinking concrete posts, a leaking sink drain, and a 40-year-old clematis bush that had rooted under the entire structure, so it’s been slow going. We leveled and secured one of the side rim joists and then joined it to the back rim with an angled section. Then we trimmed and hung several interior joists so that Bennett could continue cutting and installing deck planking.
When I got back home, we all cleaned up and went out to a local Dim Sum restaurant that got a glowing review in Baltimore Magazine this past year. I know nothing about Dim Sum but figured it would be fun to try for our anniversary meal, and the girls agreed. We wound up ordering much more food than we bargained for, but everything we tried was delicious.
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Sunday I drove down to St. Mary’s county to spend the day with Bob, who was already dressed for lunch when I rang the doorbell. I took him out to the local barbecue joint for some brisket and he polished the whole thing off with a look of satisfaction. After stopping to fill his gas jugs, we headed back to the house and I sat on the couch looking over his utility bills while he told me the usual stories. He was a lot more animated this week than he was the last time I was down there, which got to be pretty tiring by the time I had to leave.
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Memorial Day broke sunny and chilly, and Hazel was desperate for a walk, so after we filled up on coffee, Jen and I took her out for the two-mile circuit. Back at home, I sat at my desk keeping watch over Finn while she finished up some homework. I submitted a new COAL story to Curbside Classic, something I’ve been working on for a couple of weeks, comparing both of the CR-Vs—which mainly wound up being a review of the OG. Next I finished up a postcard design I put together to promote T-shirt sales at Nationals in June and sent it out for printing. I shopped around and got a pretty decent price for 100 of them, and I figure that if I wear a couple of the shirts and have the postcards on hand, I might be able to make some sales.
When Finn was done I hustled out to the driveway and got some work done on the Travelall, which I’ll write about on the other site. We grilled some steak and Jen picked some arugula from her garden for dinner, and had a quiet meal at the table together.
Saturday morning I drove down to Lexington Park with the OG-V packed to the gunwales with tools; we’re in the middle of a long-term project at the FiL’s house to replace the garage door original to the house with a modern mechanized version. This began two weeks ago with the drywall project, and after we got the go-ahead from the installers, it was time to move to the next phase: moving the Chrysler out of the way.
When last I left the Chrysler, I was looking at the brake system. Because it had been parked in the garage with the emergency brake on, three of the four drums were frozen to the pads. I’d put the front passenger wheel up on a stand and commenced to whacking it with a sledgehammer, but couldn’t get it to release. This was after several heating and cooling cycles, and at the end I’d actually taken a chunk out of the edge of the drum. So I bought and brought a set of four heavy-duty wheel dollies on Saturday, figuring they would be better than nothing. After hoisting the broken door up and out of the way, I moved stuff around and swept around the car. I had all four wheels up on the dollies within an hour, and moved a bunch of stuff out of the way before breaking out the tow strap.
I was a little nervous about using the OG-V to pull with, but the Scout is down with some unknown leakage (more info on that to come) and the new CR-V doesn’t have a trailer hitch yet. I had Jen’s sister come out and keep an eye on things, and after a lot of starting and stopping we got it out of the garage and onto the uneven pavement where it began to jump off the dollies when they got bogged down in divots and sand. The Honda did fantastic pulling the heavy beast; I never should have doubted it. The Chrysler is now far enough away from the door that there should be room to make a mess without coming near it. Then we used leverage and gravity to move his other disabled car, the Escort, down to the bottom and up behind the Chrysler, leaving a wide lane on the left side.
Humorously, I brought a car cover I was using for the Travelall, which fits with room to spare. It will not fit the Chrysler. It’s not long enough. So I rigged it up with a tarp in back and a box in front (to keep the radio antenna from poking a hole in the cover). With that done, I moved everything in the front of the garage to the back, clearing out the space for the installers to do their thing, and closed the door. After taking care of some other housekeeping, I hit the road for home.
In two weeks, I’ve got to head back down with another car full of tools, put the Chrysler up on jack stands, and beat the shit out of the three bad drums with a sledgehammer. At this point I don’t care if they split in half; I need them off to free up the wheels, because the dollies will not work going back into the garage—it needs to be on its own wheels. Beyond that, I’m going to have to buy a winch and anchor it to the floor with some beefy bolts to get the car back inside.
Our original CR-V (now called the OG-V) now in its 18th year, is rapidly approaching historic motor vehicle status. I drove it down to Bob’s house yesterday and marveled at how pleasant a driver it still is with 162K on the odometer: plenty of power from the engine, a buttery-smooth manual transmission, and all of the modern conveniences one might desire, minus all of the fiddly tech bits one might want to avoid. The seats are still firm and comfortable, the driving position is optimized for long distance travel, and having the sunroof open was a pleasant way to prowl the highways of Southern Maryland—until it started raining.
That being said, it’s showing its age in small ways. Driving the new CR-V puts all of these things into stark perspective: It feels solid, it’s cave-quiet inside, and all of the doodads do the dads they’re supposed to. In the OG-V, the seals around the doors and windows have all shrunk, so there’s a lot more wind noise in the cabin these days. Eighteen years of shitty Baltimore County roads have taken their toll on the suspension, which translates to squeaking inside and outside. The automatic window button doesn’t automatically lower the window all the way down anymore. Ever since the body shop fixed the rear hatch after the car’s unplanned departure down a hill and into a Jeep, the rear window release doesn’t work. She’s slowly burning more and more oil. And recently the battery has been getting weaker and weaker.
About halfway to Bob’s house I stopped for a bite to eat and some coffee, and when I got back in the engine barely cranked before catching. Alarmed, I got off the phone with my Mom and charted a course to the nearest auto parts store. I keep a toolkit in the well under the back deck, and pulled the old battery out to bring inside. Ten minutes and $200 later I was installing a new one in its place, and when I turned the key the engine fired right up with a gusto I haven’t felt in a year. She seemed a little peppier on the rest of the drive, and I was happy to know I wouldn’t be stranded thirty miles outside of our towing coverage.
I am going to add some stuff to the tools in the car, however—more wrenches, pliers, and metric-specific stuff I don’t currently have in there—knowing she isn’t getting any younger and that she may require more side-of-the-road surgeries to keep motoring along.
Driving the blue CR-V almost exclusively for the past couple of weeks, it put the current condition of the silver CR-V into stark perspective. I took her out to get some supplies this weekend and became acutely aware of how how poorly the windshield wipers worked, filthy the interior was, how lousy the tires were, and the fact that an exhaust leak by the muffler has been heating up the plastic in the wheel well and melting it slowly over time. Before finishing my errands, I stopped in to the auto parts store and grabbed some new blades. At home I backed her up to the garage and spent a good half an hour vacuuming out the cabin and emptying out accumulated trash, which made a big difference inside. This morning, with a fresh paycheck, I ordered four new tires to be delivered to the garage down the street, and after they are balanced and mounted, I’m going to have them hunt down the exhaust issue and pray she doesn’t need an entirely new exhaust system. Eventually she needs to go in for a clutch, which I’m saving up for a little further down the road, but with new tires and a less flammable exhaust she’ll be in better shape.
Later on Saturday I cut out a section of 1/16″ 3-ply luan and laid it under the rear cabin floor of the blue car to reinforce that area. Knowing we’ll be loading her up with lots of cargo in the next couple of years I don’t want to be worrying about breaking anything. I also ordered a set of floor mats for the whole car to cut down on the wear and tear on the carpet, seeing how rough we’ve been on the silver car for the past fourteen years.
Meanwhile, our plates and paperwork came in at the dealer, so I’m going to head up there tomorrow night to pick those up.
Yesterday I spent more money in one day than I have since I bought this house, and while part of me is thrilled, the other part is a little queasy. In the morning over coffee, I locked in plane tickets for a trip to Portugal in the early summer, right after Finn gets out of school. We’ve got friends who own an AirBnB in the city of Porto, and we locked in a date with them last week. I’ve got a line on a house sitter for Hazel, and I’m making those inquiries this week to reserve his time. Normally, I’m lousy at planning things like this out far in advance, but I’m trying to learn from past mistakes this year, and when these opportunities arise, you have to jump on them.
In the afternoon, after careful consideration and an assist from Dr. Gebler in the negotiation phase, we bought a new car to replace the Accord. This is a 2024 Honda CR-V EX in Canyon River Blue, optioned out with the same features the 2006 has (electric everything, moonroof, cruise, etc.) plus heated front seats, an electric driver’s seat, dual climate controls, lane-keeping assist, and a backup camera. We did a quick test drive to make sure the windshield didn’t make Jen sick, then pulled the trigger and got it for $50 over dealer invoice. The salesman couldn’t have been nicer, and frankly the process was much smoother than I was expecting. The only hiccup was waiting for the detailing crew to get it ready for me. After everyone else left for home (it was a complicated commute involving two cars and late homework). I drove it home solo while talking to Mom with the hands-free phone hookup and felt like I was on the bridge of the starship Enterprise. And for an automatic, it’s really nice to drive.
Future plans for it include aftermarket remote start, a set of Honda rails and roof racks, trailer hitch, and rubber floor mats throughout. And I’m not a fan of the stock wheels; I’ll have to keep an eye out for a set of these at the pick and pull yards around town.
Meanwhile, the ’06 is in the driveway patiently waiting for new tires and a clutch rebuild, which will come first on the list once money issues get sorted out.
Over the last two months we’ve had a series of rental cars while we waited for the insurance check, and now that my work schedule has freed up, we used the time to do some test-driving Saturday afternoon. I’ll compare and contrast the rentals with the two candidates here, as it’s been helpful to put them all in context with each other, even though some of them are not apples-to-apples. From the top:
Chevy Trailblazer RS
This was the first rental we were given after the Accord was slain; the guy up in Syracuse offered me a Mustang convertible first, but we were hauling too much stuff home and I’d never have been able to fit it all inside. The Trailblazer was the sport model and was pretty well loaded, so it set a high bar for the cars that followed. It’s classified as a compact SUV in the same family as the CR-V and RAV4, but it felt cramped inside, and the visibility behind the B pillars was abysmal. We found it pleasant to drive, with lots of pickup, and it got excellent gas mileage. The infotainment connectivity was also top-notch—Chevy’s implementation of CarPlay was very intuitive and easy to learn. I’m not in the market for a domestic, but Chevy made a good effort here.
Chevy Malibu
This was a quickie rental, mainly just to get me to and from a work project outside of Dulles, so I wasn’t as picky about exactly what the car was. It did all of the things a sedan normally does, and was pleasant to drive, if unremarkable. It was the mid-level trim level, so it had a lot of the same features as the Trailblazer, but the way they integrated CarPlay into the gauge cluster wasn’t as refined, and the interior ergonomics weren’t as well-considered as the Trailblazer even though there’s more space to work with.
Ford Edge
This is classed as a mid-size SUV, so it’s a bit larger than CR-Vs and RAV4s, and I did feel the size difference behind the wheel. It had plenty of pickup but I heard the engine a little more than in the Trailblazer, which was sort of shocking. The gas mileage was better than I was expecting but not on the same level as a compact. The interior was more roomy but I also found a lot of wasted space that could have been utilized better. CarPlay integration was good, and the iPad-sized dash display spoiled me completely for any car display afterwards. But Jen didn’t have many good words for this car when we sent it back, and I would have to agree.
Nissan Rogue
I asked for a CR-V when I was at Budget, but a language barrier with the staff meant I drove this off the lot. I haven’t been interested in a Nissan in decades, and I have to say this car proves my bias out. It’s perfectly adequate for transportation, but nothing I would seek out to own. The engine is peppy and quick (the car is equipped with Sport mode) but I find the wheels break loose whenever I give it the beans. The interior is a mixture of interesting choices and wasted space. The wheel feels good in my hands, and the controls are all easily reachable, but CarPlay integration is absolute garbage and the interface on the touchscreen is terrible. And the shift knob thing is an annoying mixture of push-it-forward push-it-back-click-the-button-is-it-in-gear and then realizing the infotainment system thinks you’re trying to use the phone and locks you out of gear. Fuck this car.
Honda CR-V EX
The reigning champion in this household, and the one to beat. The 2024 is a mixture of good choices and some questionable ones. We liked the seat position and visibility from all angles, and the wheel is comfortable in my hands. The car feels good on the road and I was able to figure out where the corners were immediately. The seats are comfortable and this model adds electric adjustment for the driver. Actually, this car is optioned almost exactly like our ’06, with some additions: heated seats, dual climate control, and a turbocharged engine. The display is surprisingly small but I’ve read good things about their CarPlay integration, so I’m not worried there. Jen liked how it drove and how it felt. I wasn’t as impressed with some of the usage of interior space, which our ’06 excels at, which is my only complaint. Oh, and I hate the stock wheels this comes with.
Toyota RAV4
We asked for the midlevel model but the salesman put us in the luxury hybrid model, which was annoying. It felt fine, and the visibility was good from all angles, but the example we drove had warps in the windshield that made Jen feel sick. (Interesting, as this hasn’t happened in four successive rental cars). The car drove fine, but we don’t know how the gas engine would feel in real-time driving, and our experience with the salesman doesn’t have us interested in going back. It was fine, I guess. One thing that’s interesting is that the midlevel RAV4 isn’t optioned as well as the CR-V: no heated seats, no moonroof, and a couple of other things we would have to pay extra for, and the MSRP is higher. So, no thanks, Toyota.
Honda Ridgeline
We’re not considering this but figured we’d try one while we were there. The truck is clearly bigger than everything else we’ve driven, but was designed very well inside. It felt good in my hands and I knew where the corners were at all times, but it’s an adjustment to go to a full-full-sized truck. The interior was very well thought out and I liked the driving position as well as the seat; my only beef there was that the view out the back window was like looking through a keyhole. The rear seats fold up onto the back wall to make space on the rear deck. Out back the deck is bigger than I thought it would be, but the real feature is a lockable well under the deck larger than a cooler (but set up like one with a drain plug) and a dual-axis tailgate. If we were in the market for a pickup I would definitely consider this.
So we’re going back for a CR-V sometime this week. I have to get the financing sorted out on Monday, but we’ve got a healthy down-payment ready so I think we can get the monthly payments to a reasonable place. Then I’ll hit up Honda Parts for a roof rack, and keep an eye on the local pick-and-pull for a better-looking set of wheels.