Open Mike: We Live in a World Where...

Good Morning! Or is it afternoon already?

I promised the Dogs Baker's Dozen for this morning (cardinal blogging rule: never, ever make promises), but I still need a little more time to finish it. I know that's going to frustrate some people, so I'll say a little more about it at the end of this.

Meanwhile, a more conventional Off-Topic Open Mike—

Under the category of "Signs That It's the Future," it is now possible for humans to complain that a car gets "only" 47 miles per gallon (5l/100km). Which made my small old-fashioned mind do a shock-jump.

I have a whole bunch of big purchases coming due, and I've been investigating how best to negotiate them. For one thing, the people who renovated this house didn't see fit to replace the furnace, air conditioner, or roof—I wish they had done all three—so those are going to fall in on me soon (not literally in the case of the roof, I hope). I just learned that my furnace and air conditioner are coming up on 30 years old! That's not good. Meanwhile, faithful chariot is at 11 years and 147,000 miles. I don't need a new car yet, or a new-to-me car—financial guru Dave Ramsey says no one should buy a new car unless and until they have a net worth of $1 million or more, and I already have a used car that I like—but I figured I'd better get started getting the lay of the land. So I've been watching a few videos. And I took a few test drives.

In one video, someone was complaining that they only get 47 MPG in a '25 Honda Civic Hybrid.

Well, I got my driver's license way back in the 1970s....

My father's 4th-gen (1971–1976) Buick Electra 225 could get below 10 MPG. That's 10 as in TEN. Thirteen was good. I never saw 16 when I drove it. Granted I never took long highway trips.

And not only that. My father's friend would give me the keys to his Porsche 911 Targa whenever they went on vacation. I did their yardwork. The guy's wife got the car for him for his birthday. I was 16! Damn near killed myself in that evil Porsche, which was wickedly tail-happy. You had to power through curves as if your life depended on it, because it did. Lay off the gas mid-curve and you were gonna get dizzy right quick, because the car would snap off a few high-G 360-degree spins. I speak from experience. When it happened I thought my heart was going to thump right out of my body through my mouth.

Scarred by youthful experience, I have never coveted Porsches!

However, there's this. In 1972–73, the Porsche 911 got a new, larger engine (the 2.4L, which despite its designation was 2.3 liters) and a beefed-up transmission derived from the one in the 908 race car. That vintage of 911 was called the E-series. The point I am trying to get to here is that the 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid has a significantly lower 0–60 time than that 1973 Porsche 911E (6.2 sec. vs. 7.5 sec., 1.3 seconds faster).

Just sayin'. For some more perspective.

AI Overview says that Porsche got 15–18 MPG. 

Our Volvo 145 station wagon daily driver back then, nominally my mother's car except that I happily did all her driving chores for her, had a 0–60 time of 13 seconds, and that was not considered slow for a family car at the time. The Honda Accord automatic my mother got in 1981 (the Accord's fourth model year in the U.S.) went from 0–60 in 13.1 seconds. My brother Scott and I dubbed it "Phred" and put a lot of miles on it. We remained a Honda family for some time thereafter. At least, my mother's side of our family did, although she briefly had a Peugeot 604 that my brother Charlie wrecked. My father had a Gremlin, an AMC Eagle, and a Checker among other quirky choices. He marched to the beat, as they say. You know the cliché.

Duke of Oil*
Another thing I just learned: oil change intervals are a hot topic online, much discussed and disputed. It turns out that by recommending long intervals, car manufacturers reap a side benefit in terms of carbon credits or something. So if you see a manufacturer-recommended interval of more than maybe 9,000 miles at the outside, it only means they're being nefarious scoundrels and lying to you. Next, the interval depends on the kind of driving you do—something I never knew. Lots of lazy highway miles and you can change the oil as infrequently as every 7,500 miles. Starts-and-stops as well as idling is harder on an IC engine, so if you do a lot of that you should use the classical recommendation to change the oil every 3,000 miles. Various people make various compromises to be safe but also economical: whether 4,000, 5,000, or 6,000 mile intervals is best is a subject hotly debated.

And, full synthetic motor oil and high-quality oil filters are best. Some of you already knew all this and more, some of you didn't. I didn't. Thought I'd pass it along. So there's that then.

Perfect car but with an Achilles' Heel
The 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid is the perfect car. The ride is wonderful, the steering smooth and precise (steering, above all else, sets the personality of a car), and as a hybrid it's nicely responsive to the throttle since the slower speeds are powered by the electric motor(s). And Sarah 'n' Tuned (now she's a hybrid for ya—[example]—supermodel looks coupled with the wrenching skills of a veteran grease monkey) says she got nearly 60 MPG over a 100-mile test period. Yes, as a hybrid it does have a non-manual transmission, but here we are: it is the future, after all, and we have to live in it. The interior is sumptuous and high quality (much better than Corolla or even Camry, although Toyotas have stronger warranty coverage and it has to come from somewhere).

And it fits me just right...with one major problem. The center stack jabs me in the right knee in just the wrong spot. All three of Honda's sedans that I might be interested in do the same: Civic, Accord, and Acura Integra. It set me to wondering if I could get some hot-rodder around here (I go to all the local shows, where I meet those guys) to rig up a flat pad that projects further out and meets my leg further down. But that's academic, as I do not have a net worth of $1 million.

However if you are thinking of a Honda sedan, go sit in one before you get too far down the rabbit hole. Honda made a stupid mistake with that center stack, at least for some people.

To the dogs
The Dogs Baker's Dozen has proven to be the toughest one yet. There were more than 200 submissions, and two of the best ones came in too late (one was Chris Skarbon's, which I used in the Love of Dogs post). And as many as 90% of them concern subjects deeply personal to the person who sent it. How can I resist anyone's beloved dog, especially the ones now in the Great Dog Park in the clouds, where they happily congregate together? How can I get past my emotions, having recently had Butters ripped from my arms by death? How can I resist the adorable steeliness of the recently departed and deeply mourned Spike, for example, beloved of Nick and Christine? (He came to them with that name, and they didn't care for it, but I love it. Perfect name for a super-cute little tough guy if you ask me.) But I already had a head-and-shoulders dog portrait, Charlie Dunton's. I'll cheat just a little more:

Spike

Nick says, "This is one of my few pictures of Spike that convey the utter and effortless self-assurance of this 12-1/2-pound tyrant."

As an aside, I watched Nick, a good friend, search for years to find just the right outlet for his artistic creativity apart from photography, including a stint during which he attempted to learn to play classical piano. He finally landed: it's pottery. Once he found it he matured in the medium by leaps and bounds. I seriously and sincerely love his work, in which controlled and simple forms juxtapose against complex and free glazes which accept serendipity. The contrast really hits the spot for me, and I visit his work frequently, so I won't miss new stuff, yes, but mainly for pleasure if I'm honest. Some of it might be for sale—ask him. He doesn't do it for the money. Either way, I recommend a visit! There are more links at the link.

But I digress.

Over repeated passes I narrowed down the 200+ Dog picture submissions to only 48 selects, which didn't help very much. Then, I expected more time to help, which it didn't, this time. The truth is that I could make four portfolios of 13 pictures each, in each of four areas: dog portraits, like the one of Spike above; domestic scenes; dogs in action; and environments with dogs in them, not necessarily featured or rendered large. Merging all four broad areas into one set is not going to be as cohesive as any of those four would have been, but I reconciled to that, ginned up my fortitude, and forged ahead. I continue to think the "Yellow" Baker's Dozen is still the most coherent. 

I'll keep plugging. It should be the next thing you see here. (Mike! Don't make promises!)

Cheers, in the non-alcoholic sense,

Mike

*The name of an oil-change place in West Chicagoland near where my brother lives.

Original contents copyright 2025 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

JimR 'Longviewer': "I remember oil changes. I definitely don't miss them and won't argue about them. My Niro EV (55k) has like-new brake pads thanks to regenerative slowing, though it is now on its second set of tires. Fine driving."

Mike replies: I would love to have an EV. The luxury of having your own private "gas station" in your own garage sounds so appealing. I already have a 50-amp panel in the garage suitable for Level 2 charging. I'd also love to have solar panels on the roof of the garage to charge the car, and never pay for gas. It's all do-able; just not yet. 

Andreas: "In the UK, oil changes are generally at yearly intervals which equates to about 10,000 miles, give or take a couple of thousand each way. So the frequency of oil changes in the US seems absurdly high, especially given that engines can run for well over 200,000 miles when serviced at the 'UK frequency.' I wonder what the situation is in other parts of the world under non-extreme usage or environmental conditions?"

Robert Roaldi: "It would be useful to keep track of an engine's hours of operation, but miles is not a bad proxy. And yes, different operating conditions warrant different oil change intervals; stands to reason. Leaving oil in there for a long time might not make any sense unless you're changing the oil filters a few times in between oil changes. Synthetic oil can last a long time but if the filter is going to bypass because it's clogged, that's not a good thing. I've known people to leave synthetic oil in for a long time, 25,000 km or so, without it breaking down (as judged by chemical analysis) but that's only recommended if you're changing the filter every 5,000 km. Trouble is, that only works if you do it yourself. Might be difficult to find a commercial lube shop that will do that.

"As for the high cost of body work [see John Camp's comment in the full Comment Section —Ed.], yup, that's real. And that was true before they put all those gizmos into the bumpers and other bits that get hit. Doesn't help that parking lots are filled with oversized vehicles now; perfect storm you might say. Lots of people miss passenger trains now. I used to like cars and was involved in amateur motorsports for years. Now I hate everything about our car-based environment. It seems like freedom at first glance, but when there is no alternative, it's a prison."

Comments

[David Dyer-Bennet]

My rule was to never mention a quarter and a year in the same project estimate. So it's okay to say "in the fall", and it's okay to say "next year", but "next fall" is overly specific and will end up causing trouble.

[Dave Levingston]

My 2014 Honda Pilot is approaching 200,000 miles. It has never had a repair. Just routine maintenance, tires, oil changes, the timing belt replacement at 100,000 miles, and only two brake jobs in all that time. I was reluctantly thinking about replacing it before the next timing belt replacement is due. It's been such a great drive that I hate the idea of trading it in.

I talked about this with my mechanic. He put it up on the rack and came back saying there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Tight front end, nothing leaking, no rust or other corrosion.

So, I'm keeping it. I'll get the timing belt replaced and see how long it will keep going. No matter what happens, it will always be my best car.

So, I suggest you talk to your mechanic and have him check out your current drive. That information will help your decision.

And, by the way, I disagree about buying new cars. The two ways to spend the least on a car are to buy new and drive it until the wheels fall off, or buy the cheapest old car you can find that runs okay and when it dies, just buy another one. Since I travel a lot I've been buying new cars since it became a financial possibility. I like knowing that the car has never been abused. And that it's likely to get me where I'm going.

[James Meeks]

I am participating in a photo a week project with various themes each week. The moderator chooses but uploads all of them to a site. People can vote for photos they like so it’s interesting to see which ones get more likes, his picks or the rejects. Maybe you could try that.

[Mike Kukulski]

I watch and like Sarah n' Tuned on YouTube as well. However, Sarah Greenwood is more "hybrid" than you may think - the supermodel looks you admire are not original equipment...

[Speed]

Re: Servicing cars.

I was just reviewing Honda's service schedule for the 2001 Acura Integra Type R -- my first Honda automobile. A car that I drove about 30,000 miles per year -- I had a long commute to work.

“100,000 MILE TUNE-UP INTERVAL The Type R’s first scheduled tune-up is required at 105,000 miles; during that time only routine inspections and fluid changes are required. Long-wearing, platinum-tipped spark plugs makes this longevity possible. Careful design and engineering of the VTEC valvetrain allows the 1.8-liter in-line four engine to reliably maintain proper valve tappet clearances without inspection until the scheduled first tune-up."

http://www.integratyper.org/specs/images/press/Press_USDM_2001/r_intro_tech_overview.pdf

Since then I have had three additional Honda automobiles with equivalent maintenance schedules.

[David Brown]

Our first Honda was a two-year-old ’83 Accord. I then bought an ’80 Prelude as a work car. It got traded in on a new ‘89 Accord; my first ever new car. Went other ways until an ’06 Accord and traded it for an ’09 Ridgeline because I thought I needed a pickup. (Drove it for 10 years; perhaps I was right.). When I was shopping in 2019 for a new car, I naturally went first to the Honda dealer, but I did not like the interior of anything I drove. They’re still great cars, but I just didn’t like them! Clothes, cameras, and cars have to fit!

[John Camp]

An automotive warning. A very, very close friend of mine was in a fender bender with an Audi hybrid SUV not quite two years old, with 15,000 miles on it. It was literally a fender bender: a front fender was bent, and after talking to the insurance company, she took it to a body shop where the preliminary repair estimate was $5,500 because it *was* a fender bender -- if you know anything at all about car repair costs, you know that $5,500 is virtually nothing. A week later, the insurance company called and told her the car was being totaled, and she would be getting a check for more than $40,000. The reason? There are so many auto-safety gizmos on modern cars that many of the cars are virtually unrepairable. In addition to the bent fender, it seems the accident knocked out radar (?) and cameras (?) located on the front fender and bumper. I was shocked, frankly, but not as shocked as I might have been, if not for another tiny accident. A very, very close friend backed my Ford F150 into something pointy, and broke the lens on the left rear taillight. Not the light itself, just knocked out a piece of the red lens. I took it to the Ford dealership to find out about replacing the lens, which I'd temporarily patched with transparent red tape (because the light worked fine.) The cost? $1,800 plus tax, bringing the total to over $1,900. Seems that the taillight is a sealed unit and you have to replace the entire unit. The lens alone, no can do. So be careful out there -- a little bump and you can lose your shirt.

[Lisa s. Gorrell]

I love the idea of 4 portfolios of 13!

[JimR]

Mike - we understand, take as much time as you need. As Wille Nelson has written, and sung: It's not something you get over, but something you get through. Last Man Standing, track 5, 2018. Take care.

[hugh crawford]

I don't understand why modern cars have a center console. Even old sports cars with manual transmissions didn't have a center console, maybe a bit of a transmission hump but that was it.
Now cars are mostly front wheel drive and hqve automatic transmissions and they have this big thing between the front seats. even pickups have it. Apparently, the only way to avoid the center console is to buy a police car, because they need a place to keep the computer and a shotgun.
I really don't like center consoles, but I don't really want a police car either.

[Herman krieger]

Doggonit!

[Allan Ostling]

My 2015 Subaru Forester has 223,000 miles on it. The only brake job (at 210,000) cost $200 because I found a mechanic who agreed to not machine the discs. I had the spark plugs changed at 100,000, but the old ones were free from pitting; I'll not make that mistake again.

Under no circumstances should you let a dealer near your car. That $1900 taillight replacement could have been done for a pittance by a Mexican mechanic and his junkyard buddy. Mind you, this advice is easier to follow in Phoenix, where old cars come to die (and never rust).

[MikeR]

I had a Toyota Solara 2-door that I really liked. My aim was to get it to 250,000 miles. With a total knee replacement in the offing, I realized that the Solara was no longer practical. I needed a car that I could just park my butt onto, like a chair. So in 2015, traded the Solara with 240,000 miles for a 2010 RAV4. Dealer serviced, all the time.

[Kye Wood]

Geez. Spike looks like he's going to punch someone. Never seen a photo of a dog that so conveys that they don't suffer fools... like, at all ever. Great photo.

RE 4 wheels and an engine:
An early 90's Porsche 911 can get 45mpg, but only at a steady 80mph. Personal experience.

Went down the rabbit hole looking for a new car earlier this year. Ruled out a hybrid for longevity reasons. Doubling the number of systems that can fail was just a bridge too far for my long term ownership plans.

Landed on the least exciting but most competent at everything car - Subaru Outback (non-turbo). Last of its generation (as in 2025 build date), so has all of the inline improvements and quirks engineered out.

It eats miles. And is just good at everything. And it comes alive and is a joy to drive in bad weather. Who knew?

If you're going second hand, the ones designated MY25 (some are built late 2024) include all the latest fixes/upgrades.

[Greg]

What are you basing your recommended oil change intervals on? I hope you're not going to say you found it on the internet! I've never seen any data.

I suspect most of the recommendations other than manufacturers come from oil companies. And the manufacturers probably have different factors driving their recommendation.

[Yonatan Katznelson]

I had a chevy sprint back in the '80s (rebadged suzuki). It had a three cylinder engine smaller than many motorcycle engines (at least the big ones), and driving cross-country, I got about 50 miles/gallon. No lie.

[ChrisC]

Why not go for two dozen or maybe three?

[Al]

On Vehicles & fuel mileage. 82 Audi 4000 diesel, 54 mpg on the highway for decades now. Original engine nearly a million miles - regular oil changes. One new set of Glow plugs in that time, one new water pump.
Friends 82 VW diesel pickup. 45mpg regularly & up to 52 on highway trips. Newer 92 Jetta diesel engine in it a few years ago - the extra 12 HP sure is nicer than the original 52hp.
The VW Lupo (no longer made) diesel got 78mpg off the showroom floor and top speed was just over 100mpg.

Good fuel mileage is nothing new. Taking care of older vehicles is much less expensive than buying a new one. Lower insurance costs as well.

On the Bakers Dozen of Dogs. A good tribute to Buttars. Looking forward to seeing your choices.

[Patrick Dodds]

John Camp's comment says everything we need to know about modern life.

[John Krumm]

I paid $50 to “reserve” one of these. I have fond memories of our old 2wd Toyota pickup, and the simplicity sounds appealing. We will see, maybe.

https://www.slate.auto/en

[Marc]

I too really like my Niro EV. Five years and 100K, battery still at 96% and drives like a new car.
Find a used Niro EV, a Leaf or a Bolt. You won’t regret it.

[Roger]

Many years ago I had the opportunity to drive a 911T. I knew it was a bit more than I needed when I caught myself doing over 80 in a 45mph zone. That car was so smooth at that speed that I didn't realize how fast I was going until a building near the road was a blur. That's when I checked the speedometer.

Later, I bought a 914-2.0. I lived in a hilly area with a twisty road I drove to and from work pretty much daily. One day I pulled on to that road and ended up behind a Pontiac GTO Judge. I'd never seen this car on the road--not many cars used it so never having seen it was a good sign the driver didn't know the road.

The Judge slowed to a crawl when I came up behind it. The idiot wanted to race. He had me with horsepower but the Judge was still a floaty boat. So it was go for it or be late for work while waiting for him to get bored and drive off.

Now I'm in front doing around 100 with idiot Judge on my tail. What I knew and he didn't was that up ahead was a very tight S-curve that dropped off enough that you couldn't see on-coming traffic (likely none, but still...). So I stayed on the gas and split the curve down the middle. It was unnerving. When I looked in my mirror the Judge was stopped on the road. I suspect he was trying to figure out how he was going to clean his pants. I never tried that stunt again.

And speaking of car repairs. Just wait until more manufacturers adopt GigaPress technology to stamp out body panels. Got a smashed rear panel? Sorry, that's not a rear panel, it's the entire side of the car that will need to be replaced. Or use lots and lots of Bondo.

[Richard John Tugwell]

What's a car? What sort of thing do you use it for?

(Swiss resident)

[Timothy Auger]

In terms of ground acreage, your father's Buick Electra would have occupied approximately four times that of a normal car. 10 mpg works out about right calculated per square foot of road.

[Bob G.]

Group the dog pix 4x13… get some blog milage while doing a deeper dive into the group’s characteristics?

[jp41]

Another TOP-tier opinion on the handling of the Porsche 911:

"You had to power through curves as if your life depended on it, because it did. Lay off the gas mid-curve and you were gonna get dizzy right quick, because the car would snap off a few high-G 360-degree spins. I speak from experience."

Copilot's response to a prompt for more info on 911 spinouts:

"It’s part of what makes the 911 so rewarding to drive: it demands respect, but rewards skill."

[Tom Burke]

We're driving a 1.5 litre Golf Mk 8, the 'mild hybrid' model. We bought it new in November 2020 and we do a whole 5k miles per annum in it. We often use public transport as well (we live in a large city in the UK) and we have free bus passes and reduced-fare train passes for that.

I doubt we'll ever replace the Golf - we're both in our 70s - but if I was buying new today I'd probably look at a plug-in hybrid ('phev'). The latest generation can do anything up to 80 miles on the battery (manufacturer's figures), and when that's exhausted you've got the petrol engine. For the kind of motoring we do that's perfect - gentle 30 to 50 mile (at the most) trips out into the country, and a small number of longer journeys for holidays. After each of the short trips we'd recharge the battery on the cheap, slow overnight tariff, and for the long trips we'd just use the petrol engine. That would meet our needs perfectly. But as I say, I suspect that we'll keep the current Golf until we're no longer driving.

One drawback to phevs is that they cost rather more - after all, they've got two engines. In very rough figures, a Golf petrol-engined car can be bought new for about £30,000, the equivalent EV for maybe £35,000 and the Golf phev for about £38,000. So there's an upfront cost.

[Roger Bartlett]

"The truth is that I could make four portfolios of 13 pictures each, in each of four areas: dog portraits, like the one of Spike above; domestic scenes; dogs in action; and environments with dogs in them, not necessarily featured or rendered large." Just do it - the only constraint is self imposed - they are your rules so just change them - I'm sure there will be four times the appreciation.

[John McMillin]

Good advice about trying on a car for size before you get too excited about the specs and the looks. Ergonomics, head and leg room, and overall comfort are so important, and completely subjective. Last time I was shopping for a used car, my first step was to go to Car Max and sit in a dozen different models of the vehicle type, from all brands. Before I made my final choice, I took my favorite car on an extended test drive through a Turo rental.

Please, everybody, don't get excited about small MPG differences. MPGs are a logarithmic scale: it's like F-stops, not shutter speeds. Every unit in the F stop scale represents a smaller change. Imagine a car driven 1000 miles. If Car A gets 10 MPG, it uses 100 gallons. Double that for Car B getting 20 MPG and you use just 50 gallons, saving 50. Double that again with Car C getting 40 MPG, and that jump only saves 25 gallons over Car B. And if some Car D got 80 MPG (wow, a big number!), it would only save 12 gallons over Car C. So MPGs under 25 will eat you alive, but figures over 40 won't save all that much. The Euro measurement of gallons per 100 miles is a much better indicator of fuel efficiency.

This is a concept I don't find easy to explain, and I won't take credit for it. Tom of the Car Guys berought it up years ago.

[John McMillin]

Dave Ramsey's advice is classic "Neither a borrower or a lender be" Puritanism aimed at the serial credit abusers. I'm betting that there was borrowed money backing him when he was a startup, though.

There are some situations when you can't afford not to buy that new car. Back in 2017, Ford was closing out a low selling PHEV, the C-Max Energi. A loaded $34,000 model had a combination of factory rebates and state and federal tax incentives that owners the net cost to $20,000. This ended my long struggle maintaining high-mileage VWs and Subarus, and it turned out to be the most economical vehicle I've ever owned. It's still worth $12,000+ on the used market, too.

(Note to Mike: like you, I'm large bodied and sit tall in a car. I like to look out at the scenery out of large windows. After owning four GTIs, I appreciate taut, accurate steering. Based on those criteria, you would love a C-Max.)

Unless miracles occur, the next month or so will be your last chance to get the $7500 federal tax credit on EVs and PHEVs. Anyone desiring such a vehicle should start shopping right now.