I'm very glad to find you folks.

Current car: 96 Civic DX hatchback, about 90,000 miles, purchased brand-new.

I love my car. I drive it gently (always within the speed limits, no jackrabbit starts or unavoidable quick stops). With that kind of treatment, the gas milage is great, around 38 mpg over the life of the car. Its good handling probably saved my life one time about three years ago on a West Virginia two-lane; I rounded a curve into a mudslick where (I presume) the creek had jumped its banks. A lesser car probably would not have made that next curve. Did I say I love my car???

My first car: 76 Civic hatchback, likewise purchased brand-new. I ran it (mostly in business use, mostly more of those West Virginia two-lanes) for about 150,000 miles and gave it to my sister in 1984; she ran it daily in commuter traffic on the Washington Beltway for another 150,000 or so until it rusted to pieces around 1990.

Environmental issues are important to me; that is a big reason that I got that 76 Civic, and why I drive the one I have now, when I'm not on my bicycle. You can't beat a car that gets this kind of milage, and is a solid, reliable, mostly trouble-free vehicle, and fun to drive on top of that.