The car salesman showed my dad that trick when he bought his 1982 Honda Civic, so I’ve known about it since I was 9 years old. But it will never cease to amaze me when I see a Honda owner, especially die-hard multiple Honda owners who still don’t know that the door can be locked like that.
The problem is that you can’t even lock the door without the key- it won’t push down manually or with the power switch. Bummer.
Well, it’s tough, because I’ve had several vehicles that I liked, a lot! Had a 90 Plymouth LAser RS Turbo that was a scream to drive, but financial problems in 93 saw it go back to the bank. Had a Jeep Grand Cherokee that was also a great vehicle, and it went everywhere I had ever tried to take it (even if it was just a 2WD). My only gripe about it was that it wasn’t all that comfortable on long distance drives.
Overall, though, my current ride, a 01 Dodge Intrepid R/T is my fave. But it will be the last time I ever get a black interior.
:smack:
No, no, no…You’re missing the point.
Go outside to the car right now…open the door, and then hold the outside door handle (the thing you pull on to open the door when it’s unlocked) in the up position and then push down the lock knob and the door will lock!
My current car. 
Oops, Winston Smith was describing the “Toyota Procedure” where you have to hold the handle up when you shut the door to keep the lock knob from popping up.
The “Honda procedure” is to hold the door handle up while pushing the lock knob down. Totally different procedure. Equal pain in the ass.
'81 Audi 4000 5+5 (5 cylinder, 5-speed), deep metallic red w/sunroof, that I bought new in Denver, CO and drove for the next ten years. Not the quickest off the line, but had fantastic handling for a front-driver and would cruise all day at 90 if you wanted. Sold it when I moved to France and did without a car for the next ten years after that.
I went right out and tried it- it works! Yay! That’s not a pain in the ass, having to key it locked would have been, especially when it’s 110 degrees, the sun is 12 feet away, and all you want to do is jump out the car and run into the building.
Thank you, thank you!!
1981 Honda Civic station wagon. This car was a true winter beater. FWD and true M+S tires all round. 30 mpg, cheap to repair when ever it did break(rarely).
Enough room to sleep in with the back seat down(I’m short). One lady friend called it “Rubbermaid” green, it was as tough and dependable as a trash can.
I miss that car.
My mom gave us her beaten '93 Plymouth Sundance a few years ago. “You can drive it til it dies!” It died 6 months later. We put a rebuilt engine in it. Six months later, the transmission went bad. (I should add that about 500-600 miles a week went on to this car regularly, plus various roadtrips - here is Frankencar after it chugged its way up to Sequoia for the second time that year).
We put in a transmission from the junkyard.
Then my inlaws gave us their Saturn SW. The Plymouth sat alone and unused. We were going into town last week and the Saturn got a flat tire. “How the hell are we going to get a new tire for it?” asked my husband. (We live in the boondocks, and the good working new vehicle is the bike).
“We will take the Plymouth.” sez I.
He visibly shuddered.
He was surprised it still worked. I love that car, even though it burns massive amounts of oil. I’m gonna drive it til it dies again; then and only then will I tearfully junk it. If I were rich, I’d have that fuckin’ car bronzed and put in a garden shrine.
My car:
http://userweb.suscom.net/~sokosfamily/toy.htm
Unfortunately, it’s mostly in pieces all over my garage at the moment. I can’t wait to get it all back together.
I have a 2000 Honda Civic, and I love that feature! It takes two seconds to lock the door with the key, and it insures that absent-minded idiots like myself don’t have to call the 24 hour locksmith to come let us into our cars at the Stop and Shop.
my first car/love was a 71 cougar with a 351… I really wish I had kept it!
best car I ever owned ws an 86 VW Golf… drove about 150k on one clutch, 3 sets of brakes, two sets of bearings, and two radiators… other than some initial electrical problems, it was a dream machine that got really high mileage.
current car is an 05 Honda CRV which I am growing to love.
A 1965 Bonneville. Mine from 1976 to 1983.
389 cubic inch V8, 10.5:1 compression (leaded Premium burner), 4 bbl Carter AFB, 333 original stock HP, TurboHydromatic 400, 3.08 limited-slip differential. Would squeak rubber shifting from 1st to 2nd at 50 mph, more of a mild bump shifting from 2nd to 3rd at 95. Solid and smooth at 115. Wheelbase 124. About 3400 pounds of car.
Electric windows x 4 (w/driver-site master controls), 4-way tilt bench front seat, vacuum-pop trunk, tilt steering wheel, genuine wood veneer dashboard, aluminum wheels with 8-lug-nut wheel rims (visible in both pictures, if you look close), automatic headlight dimmer (powered by vacuum-tube electronics!).
Totally a luxury car with elegance but not without good performance. (Being a teenager / guy in 20s, I did of course trick it out a bit. Nothing massively radical but enough to boost performance a few more notches).
I don’t think anything could beat my Element. I have the '03 and they have only gotten better each year. I am so jealous of the new colors and the new look of the painted body panels (although that will make them more expensive to fix). It is a great combination of vehicles, changing to fit almost any need. It is the best road trip/recreational use vehicle I could imagine. I can put boats and bikes on it, food, clothes and camping gear in it, and vacation for weeks at a time. My sister took a two week, 4,000 mile roadtrip in it. It is reliable, it takes minimal maintanance, it is gentle on gas, for an SUV. Besides, my girl scout troop loves it and it makes me their hero.
Rooky - When you open the door from the inside keep the handle pulled back and then engage the lock button.
My favorite car was an 88 Thunderbird TurboCoupe 5 speed. When I blew the head gasket I couldn’t part with the car so I’m in the process of building a turbo 5.0L with a 6 speed manual. The engine and tranny are in, the rear axles are in and the turbo kit is sitting on the floor. A little rewiring here, a little intercooler plumbing there and my beloved bird will roam the streets again. It will remain stock on the exterior except for 5 bolt Mustang rims.
My two favorite cars were a '65 Ford Falcon I got in my senior year of high school ('77) and a '65 Ford Fairlane I bought when I was 25. I almost cried when I sold the Fairlane, but she went to a good home.
I’m told you never forget your first car, no matter how good or bad it was. Since I’ve only owned two cars, though, I’ve got to put the Volvo behind my current car, a '95 Subaru Impreza. It gets good mileage, runs well, lots of interior room, and at least it’s actually younger than me, which is more than I could say for the Volvo. Plus, it’s just fun to drive. Handles very well at high speed, even if it doesn’t quite have the power in the higher gears that it really should.
My current car, a 2005 Volvo S80 T6. It has an inline 6 cylinder with 2 turbochargers and fully loaded and very fast and fun to drive. It is also comfortable for long road trips and I feel safe in it.
My favorite car will always be my 1992 Toyota Celica GT. I bought it from my grandfather, who moved to Florida from Minneapolis and bought a Passat. It was the perfect car to have in high school - sporty, but not so fast that I could actually hurt myself in it; big enough to carry my stuff around in and semi-stylish but not flashy. I sold it to my grandfather’s sister when my son was born, since I couldn’t stick a car seat in the back. Now she might sell it to my uncle. If I won the lottery tomorrow, I’d probably buy it back and have it restored, with a professional paint job instead of that Maaco bullshit that’s peeling off of it now, and fix the sunroof, antenna, and whatever else has broken on it since the last time I drove it.