Until a few months ago I owned a very simple and fun 1995 Honda automobile whose main claim to fame was that it was equipped with two cup holders and not much else, unless you want to count the stereo cassette player.
In 1995, cup holders were a pretty nifty addition to a car; one gets to drive through the Grand Canyon while sipping on a 7-11 quart-size Slurpy. What better way to enjoy a driving experience? I’ll give Honda some flak, though. They placed the cup holders in a place that was impossible to reach thus making them irrelevant. Our other car (a 2004) is also pretty spartan in terms of accessories, having cup holders and not much else.
A few weeks ago the 2004 car had to be rescued by a tow truck from the clutches of a Safeway parking lot due to a massive automobile electrical failure. [As an aside, if you wish to place a curse on someone you dislike, use the phrase "may your car have a massive electrical failure". It's a fate worse than death]. In the end, the process of tracing the electronics of our 17 year-old automobile was time consuming and, at $125 per hour, exceedingly costly. So costly, in fact, that it led me to believe that we should replace the car with a new or newer model.
To that end, in my calls to Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Hyundai and Mazda dealers, I asked the following question: "I'm looking for a minimally-equipped car...one that has cup holders as the only add-on feature." This simple question was met with total silence on the other end of the phone line.
What I discovered was that it is next to impossible to find a late model automobile that is minimally equipped. Thus, along with the requisite cup holders, car buyers have to invest in backup cameras, lane warnings, Alexa compatibility, Bluetooth such and such, MP3 hookups, digital thermometer controls, rear seat DVD players, etc., etc.
Given the fact that buying a new car requires an investment into a vast array of unwanted technical gizmos, I've decided to put the money into repairing the old car with the cup holders.
The $125 per hour repair cost is not so bad after all.
Readers, enjoy your day.
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