Last week, we decided to take Taylor’s ’97 Accord, the Silver Bullet, into the shop for a tune-up. It has been running rough for a few months, and was starting to be super noisy on the freeway. On Wednesday, Taylor got the word from the repair shop, saying that it would be approximately $7000 to fix all the problems. The engine was fouled up from a bad piston, and would need to be replaced. There were other issues with the electrical, exhaust, and spark plugs. With a diagnosis like that on an 11 year old car…we made the decision to let it gracefully “bite the dust.”

Taylor loves the Silver Bullet. It has been his road mistress for the last year. It’s driven from the Pacific Coast Highway in California, to the A1A in Florida. He passed within miles of the Mexico border, and up close to the Canada border. He got pulled over by a trooper in Texas for breaking the state speed limit. He upgraded the stereo this year, and had fixed the radiator and other systems recently. But even with all the hassle, it was worth it for the Silver Bullet.

This morning, Taylor and I IM’d back and forth with links to car websites for cars we liked. I found a 2002 Civic LX with low miles, within the price range we were looking. He went to the dealership, test drove it, loved it, and the dealer offered $1000 for the trade (on the pretty defunct car). He drove home with it today and it’s his big “gift” for Valentines Day!

Here’s our new car!