This is a 3-part blog about my wife Tanya and I switching from my 2002 Honda Civic LX manual transmission car to owning 2 electric cars. This blog is written in 3 parts: 

Part 1: Tanya decides to buy her Electric Car in March 2024
Part 2: The death of my 2002 Honda Civic in late April 2026  
Part 3: Tanya and I choose to buy an Electric Car for me in May 2024

Tanya and I owned two cars for the first time, but my Honda Civic had repair issues 

After Tanya bought her Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV on March 24, 2026, I felt freedom to go wherever I wanted with my car. I never minded that Tanya used it to commute to her job. However, I now had an independence to go wherever I wanted without worrying how Tanya would get to and from work. Tanya no longer needed my car, which felt a bit sad. Yet, it was now available for me all the time. I still planned on using Portland’s TriMet public transportation. However, now instead of taking the bus from home to connect with the MAX commuter trains, I planned to drive to the parking garage at the Gateway Transit Center or the park-n-ride lot at the E 122nd MAX blue line stop. I figured this would save me time to drive to locations where I could catch the MAX, instead of waiting for buses and the slow bus rides with all the passenger stops. 

Having total and easy access to my car came in handy for returning to the dermatologist to get my stiches removed from the Mohr’s surgery on Monday, March 31st, as well as shopping that day for a new pair of walking shoes for my upcoming canvassing job. I also used my car to April 4th for my first canvassing event in Welches, Oregon for my friend Nick Walden Poublon who ran in the Democratic primary to represent Oregon House District 52. I knocked on over 50 doors for Nick that day. I drove my car to the E 122nd Max Blue Line stop to on April 8th for a Portland Citizens’ Climate Lobby coffee meeting with Congresswoman Maxine Dexter. Later that day, I knocked on doors in east Gresham, Oregon for Nick.

For the next week, I knocked on over 200 doors for Nick and drove over 150 miles on my car canvassing for him in east Gresham, Oregon. On Friday, April 17th, I took my car in for an oil change. I was worried that it might be expensive since my clutch squeaked like a rusty door in a haunted house movie. I was afraid it would need to be replaced. Sure enough, Steve, the service advisor at the Tonkin Gresham Honda Dealership, advised me that my clutch was worn out and I should get a new one installed. That would cost me over $2500. In addition, they noticed I had a bad front engine mount that would run over $600 to repair. I was looking at a bill over $3,200 to keep my car running. They would have to order the parts. Steve told me that it was fine to drive my car home, and he would inform me when the parts arrived. 

The next day, Saturday April 18th, I planned to drive my car to Hood River to knock on doors for Nick. When I drove just 5 miles from home, I noticed the check engine light came on my Honda Civic. I immediately took the car back home. I did not want to take any chances with engine issues, especially since it was an over 50-mile drive to Hood River. Tanya offered to drive me in her Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV to Hood River to canvass. That was very helpful of her because I knocked on almost 60 doors that Saturday. On Sunday, April 19th, Katie Collins, Nick’s Walden Poublon’s Campaign Manager, gave me a ride to Hood River and Nick gave me a ride back home. Monday April 20th to Wednesday, April 23rd, Tanya generously allowed me to borrow her Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV so I could knock on doors in Hood River. 

The joy of learning to charge Tanya’s Hyundai Ioniq 6 Electric Car 

Monday, April 20th was my first time charging Tanya’s EV. I charged it at the NECA-IBEW Union Training Center located less than a mile from our apartment. The IBEW offered the ChargePoint EV charging network kiosks. My dad was a member of the IBEW union for over 40 years with his full-time job working for the electric utility in St. Louis, Missouri. He worked for the area power utility called Union Electric. Since 1997, Union Electric changed its name to Ameren. As I charged Tanya’s EV, I called my parents to let them know that I was charging her EV at an IBEW facility. 

I charged Tanya’s Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV with the Level 3 fast charger outlet. It took 44 minutes to charge this Ioniq 6 EV up to 80%, the recommended level to charge the EV battery. Charging an EV battery up to 100%, especially using a Level 3 fast charger, is not considered to be healthy for the battery and will reduce the battery’s range over the long term. It cost me $12.76 to charge her EV, adding around 175 miles to the battery, at a cost of $0.30 per kilowatt hour. It impressed me how fast it was to charge Tanya’s EV, especially since I took time to walk around the IBEW campus, plus I read a book and called my mom waiting for the car to be charged. This Level 3 charging station inputted about 62.5 kilowatts of direct current into the battery.

On Tuesday, April 21st and Wednesday, April 22nd, Tanya continued to let me borrow her Ioniq 6 EV to canvass in Hood River. On those days, I chose to charge her EV at the nearby Rockwood Library in Gresham, Oregon, which was a 3-mile drive from where Tanya and I live. The library charges a much lower rate of $.17 per kilowatt hour through the OpConnect EV charging network kiosks. Yes, the price was much cheaper, but the library only offered level 2 charging, which was a much slower rate of charging. It offered a 7.68-kilowatt charge of altering current, versus the 62.5 kilowatt of direct current I received the day before at the Level 3 charger at the IBEW facility. Thus, it can take many hours to charge an EV at a level 2 charger, as opposed to under an hour with a Level 3 fast charge. 

I spent 3 hours and 15 minutes charging at the Rockwood Library. I did not have enough time to charge to 80%. On Tuesday, I charged Tanya’s EV to about 61% with a 171-mile range, which left me plenty of charge to drive her EV to Hood River and back, since it was over a 100-mile drive round trip. I did not mind spending hours at the library reading and writing blogs. 

The good news was that it only cost me $3.10 to charge Tanya’s EV at the library. Yes, Level 2 charging is much slower than Level 3 fast charging, but the total costs are so much cheaper. Many EV owners simply charge at home with a Level 2 charger in the evenings or at night while they are sleeping. These EV owners have the convenience of paying a lower cost using their home electricity and the freedom of charging their vehicle while they are working, relaxing, or sleeping overnight. They simply plug it in for hours when they are settled in for the evening and night, without thinking much about it, and the EV is ready to go with an 80% or even 100% charge, if they choose, for the next day. 

Tanya and I do not have the advantage of home charging since we are renters. Our apartment complex does not offer EV charging on our property. However, I hope to eventually approach ChargePoint, OpConnect, Blink or some other EV Charging Network, plus I want to engage with the managing corporation of our apartment complex, to try to get a few EV charging ports installed in a couple of our apartment facility’s parking spaces. We must more to make EV charging more friendly and accessible for apartment renters, like Tanya and me. I hope to make that a future active cause to advocate for more EV charging for renters. 

In case you have not noticed, I loved charging Tanya’s EV. With petro-dictators like Vladmir Putin of Russia and Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia trampling over human rights and causing unnecessary wars of choice, oil producing nations blocking significant agreements at the annual United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change conferences, huge American fossil fuel corporations funding climate denial and slowing progress to renewable energy, and the Trump Administration fighting against policies to switch to clean energy and refusing to protect the environment, I was very happy to charge an EV with electrical power rather than fill up a car with gasoline. Even more, I would rather spend hours charging an EV than spend minutes supplying gasoline to a car that will contribute more to air pollution, emit greenhouse gases that cause climate change, and provide money to giant oil companies. 

Are you bored reading all the details of me charging our EV for the first time? You probably are. I don’t blame you! However, I am not done yet! I felt like I was on a new adventure in uncharted territory learning how to charge our EV. 

I had so much fun charging Tanya’s Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV on April 21st that I decided to charge her EV again at the Rockwood Library the next day on April 22^nd. I got there early to start charging her EV around 8:14 am and stopped charging 6 hours later around 2:13 pm. It cost me $5.74 to add 162 miles of range and charge the battery up to 58% of capacity. Like the previous day, I brought a book to read, called my mom, and brought my laptop computer to work on my blog. 

At the end of the day in Hood River, I worried I might not have enough charge to get home. Thus, I used an Electrify America Level 3 Fast Charger at the Wal Mart in Hood River. It took me 23 minutes to get the battery up to an 80% charge, costing me $17.85 at $.48 a kilowatt hour. Obviously, the Rockwood Library is so much cheaper to charge at $.17 a kilowatt hour. I took the day off on Thursday, April 23rd. However, I had so much joy charging Tanya’s EV twice that week that I decided to charge her car that Friday, April 24th. I charged for about 2 and a half hours, getting her EV batter up to about 68% or over 180 miles of range. 

The joyful moments in April 2026 of receiving the OLCV award and canvassing with Nick

I finished charging at 2:30 pm on that Friday, April 24th. I then quickly made lunch, cleaned the dishes, showered, and put on my dress suit for Tanya and I to attend the OLCV (Oregon League of Conservation Voters) Annual Celebration Dinner. We volunteered to help the OLCV staff make the event a success. Tanya and I were designated to manage the coat check for the paid guests that wanted to check their coats and gear near the front of the facility. 

Tanya and I were elated to attend since OLCV selected me as the 2025 OLCV Volunteer of the Year. OLCV Political and Organizing Director Britney VanCitters presented me with the award towards the end of the event. The audience of several hundred people, including the current Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, former Governor Kate Brown, 3 members of Congress, many legislators, and other leading Oregon environmentalists gave me a standing ovation. To be more climate friendly, Tanya and I were excited to drive her Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV to this event. 

The next day, Saturday, April 25th, I was back in the groove of knocking on doors for Nick Walden Poublon. On that Saturday and Sunday, April 26th, Nick Walden Poublon gave me rides to Hood River to canvass for his campaign. It was a joy to ride with Nick. I liked his sense of humor, optimism, and determination to win this election. He liked to buy at the Burgerville Drive Thru an extra-large Diet Coke for himself for the car ride home. He felt guilty purchasing a huge drink for himself, plus he wanted to award me for my hard work for him that day. Thus, he graciously would buy a small Burgerville milkshake for me. Milkshakes are my favorite dessert and drink, so Nick spoiled me fast with those daily rewards. 

On Monday, April 27th, Tonkin Honda Service Department in Gresham had the replacement parts ready for my 2002 Honda Civic LX. I dropped the car off that morning, and the dealership gave me a new Honda CRV loaner car to use while my car was in the shop. I waited to several minutes that morning see if the mechanics could determine what caused the engine light to light up on Saturday, April 18th. They diagnosed the thermostat was worn out. They estimated the cost at $600. With the clutch getting replaced, the front engine mount, and now a new thermostat needed, my total bill was now over $4000! Ouch! 

I drove the loaner car to the Columbia Gorge Outlet Mall, by Interstate 84 in Troutdale for Nick and I to carpool to Hood River to knock on doors. I always had a great time riding with Nick. It was not just the Burgerville milkshakes he bought me, such as chocolate, their specialty flavor of the month – strawberry cheesecake, and vanilla. Although receiving those milkshakes were fantastic, I liked the positive camaraderie we shared. We had a great time teasing each other. When I requested the vanilla milkshake when he ordered his extra large Diet Coke at the Burgerville Drive Thru, Nick pointedly asked me: “Isn’t a vanilla milkshake just melted ice cream?” 

I laughed, agreed with him, but still ordered that milkshake anyway. 

At our rendezvous point at the Columbia Outlet Mall, I carried my belongings to Nick’s car in my arms. Late that afternoon, I noticed my brown large brim sun hat was missing. It could not be found in Nick’s car. I hoped on the car ride back from Hood River to my car that the hat would be inside my car or maybe on the road where I possibly dropped it. Sure enough, when Nick pulled his car into the Columbia Gorge Outlet Mall at 5:30 pm, I spotted my hat in the middle of the road while sitting in the front passenger seat of Nick’s car.

I enthusiastically yelled, “Hey, Nick! That’s my hat!” 

He did not see it in time, and he ran over the hat with his car. The hat fit me just as well as before, but it now looked dirty from tire marks across it. Whenever I wore or brought the hat canvassing in the future, I would point out sarcastically to Nick: “Here’s my hat you ran over!” 

We both chuckled knowing it was 100% my fault he ran over my hat. When my car would be eventually fixed, I would miss the comedy of carpooling with Nick Walden Poublon. 

On Tuesday, April 28th, I woke up to a text and email from the Gresham Honda Service Department that indicating that the rear main seal was leaking and they recommended replacing it. My total bill was now estimated to be $4500. 

Nick was not available to drive me, so I used the new Honda CRV loaner car to knock on doors for Nick. I arrived home at my usual time around 8 pm. Tanya generously cooked dinner for me. We were eager to hopefully get my car back the next day fully repaired, while dreading what the final bill would be. 

The death of my 2002 Honda Civic LX stick shift car 

Around 10 am on Wednesday, April 29th, Steve Tischy, the Service Technician from Gresham Honda Service Department, called me to say that my car was ready to be picked up. It surprised me how fast my car was ready. I worried that all the repair work may not have been completed, but Steve assured me everything on the work order was finished. I then returned the loaner car to the Honda Dealership to pay the bill and retrieve my car. The final bill was over $4200, sucking most of the money out of my checking account. 

I relished canvassed for Nick Walden Poublon to urge voters to support him in the Oregon House District 52 May 19th Democratic Primary. I was eager to drive my repaired Honda Civic out to Hood River to knock on doors for Nick and try to forget that massive car repair bill as soon as possible. The good news was a local newspaper of the Portland metro area, The Willamette Week, endorsed Nick in his primary race that day. I was certain I supported the strongest candidate in this Democratic primary. I felt I had a good short-term purpose engaging with voters to ask them to vote for Nick. 

During the day, I texted Tanya: “I like the feel of the new clutch! Heck, I should, I guess, because I paid enough for it! Seriously, though, the new clutch does feel good!”

Tanya texted back, “Oh wonderful! No more squeaky squeaky?” 

I was too busy that afternoon to text her back, but the answer was YES! The new clutch felt smooth, firm, and quiet when I engaged it. No more squeaky haunted house sound from the old clutch! 

The weather on April 29th was a perfect balmy most clear spring day in Hood River to canvass. Nick’s campaign manager, Katie Collins, assigned me to knock on doors in a more rural area just outside of Hood River, Oregon. As usual in Hood River, nearly all the voters I encountered knocking on their doors were kind and open to chat with me about Nick and the upcoming election. In this area of Hood River with sprawling ranches and large homes with expansive yards, I received plenty of exercise canvassing where these homes were more sporadically spread out. It was a lovely day to photograph some horses while I worked, as well as the vibrant bushes of spring flowers at their peak colors of pink, white, and magenta. I looked forward to returning home to show the photos to Tanya and post them on social media of the beauty I saw that day.

At 7:13 pm, I texted Tanya: “I am leaving Hood River to head home now. I’ll be home around 8 pm.” 

During the nearly one-hour car ride home from Hood River to our apartment in Gresham, I listened to NPR’s Fresh Air program hosted by Terry Gross. On that evening, Terry interviewed Pulitzer Prize-winning environmental journalist Elizabeth Kolbert about “How Trump’s EPA head has transformed the agency — and sided with polluters.” 

As I listened to that episode while driving through the Columbia River Gorge on I-84, I felt angry to hear how EPA chief Lee Zeldin rescinded regulations to reduce the threat of climate change, cut or eliminated departments, and terminated the jobs of many scientists. It was another reminder that elections, such as the 2024 Presidential Election, matter and has consequences. As a climate organizer for over 16 years, it made my blood boil to hear how Zeldin gutted and eliminated EPA environmental and climate regulations. It was another reminder to me that I should not be driving a gasoline powered car and I should switch to an EV as soon as possible. 

Around 7:20 pm, the check engine light lit up, and the temperature gauge showed the car overheating. I wanted to ignore it and drive back home to Portland. However, the car would not let me do that. I was losing power as I drove. I had no choice but to pull my car onto the shoulder of the highway and call for a tow. 

After I stopped the car, I was unsure what to do. I had never been in a situation before driving a disabled vehicle. When I was sitting there inside my car on the side of the road, I noticed a bit of smoke rising from under the hood. No way was I going to open the hood to check on what was happening. I had read and heard that could be a very dangerous thing to do with a possible engine fire of giving oxygen to the flames to intensify the fire. I just sat in my car wondering what I should do next. I noticed that I was next to mile marker 44 on I-84, next to the town of Cascade Locks. I felt good with my proximity to the mile marker that it should help a towing truck find me. I had never called for a towing truck before, and I was unsure what to do. 

I called Tanya to let her know what happened to me. She suggested that I call State Farm on my insurance card to see if I could get my car towed. That was a terrific idea from Tanya since I was having trouble thinking straight as I was still shocked by the reality of the situation. I had a flat tire in April 2010 in central Illinois and my engine overheated with the thermostat failing near Price, Utah. Both of those situations I was able to get help to get my car repaired to get back on the road. This situation seemed like my car might have died on me. 

I called State Farm to explain my situation and give them my policy number. The call receptionist told me I had good news that I had a free towing available within 15 miles of where my car had broken down. They suggested I get my car towed to Hood River, Oregon or White Salmon, Washington. I rejected that idea since I live in Portland, Oregon and wanted to see if I could still get my car fixed there. The response was I would need to pay $120 to get my car towed back to Portland. I agreed to pay the amount and gave the State Farm receptionist my credit card number of the phone. The State Farm employee then gave me the name of the towing company and informed me that they would soon be contacting me. 

I was now stuck waiting for a tow truck to come rescue me. Soon after my State Farm call, the tow truck driver called me. He asked me to text him my exact location. I never did that before. It took me awhile, with Tanya’s help texting back and forth, for me to figure out to how to Share my Current Location button on my iPhone. On the phone, I attempted to explain I was at mile marker 44 on I-84, right next to Cascade Locks. I tried let him know that if he was driving east on I-84 that he would have to drive past my location to turn around at the next exit because I was on the shoulder of west bound I-84. English was a second language for this driver. He did not seem to understand my directions. He just wanted my Current Location texted to him. 

All I could do was to sit there and wait as the sun set and it grew darker for me hanging out inside my Honda Civic. My car would flinch from the vibrations as 18-wheel tractor trailer trucks and even large pickup trucks drove by me at full interstate speeds. I did not have a book to read. I ate a raspberry fig bar. I texted Tanya to keep me company. I then texted Katie Collins and Nick Walden Poublon to inform them about my car situation. They texted back supportive statements while expressing frustration with car breakdowns. 

To pass the time, I looked at my emails. I received a Google Alert that my letter to the editor supporting Nick was published in the Columbia River News. I shared the good news with Tanya, Nick, and Katie. They were all excited for me. I still had to wait a couple more hours in the dark for the tow truck to arrive. It finally arrived around 11:30 pm. 

I had the tow truck operator haul my Honda Civic to Tonkin Gresham Honda to see if they could fix it the next day. I texted Tanya when I was around the Multnomah Falls area, about a 20-minute drive from where we live in outer northeast Portland. Tanya then headed to Tonkin Gresham Honda. She arrived about the same time I did around 12:30 am. Fortunately, a security guard was there who had not yet locked the gate but was in the process of doing that. He graciously allowed the tow truck to come on the lot to deposit my car. Tanya was parked on the street outside of the dealer lot ready to take me home. She had a late dinner ready for me.

I woke up the next morning on Thursday, April 30th hoping that the dealership forgot to fix the rear main seal and they could fix my car at a low cost. When I talked on the phone with Steve Tischy of Tonkin Gresham Honda that morning, he told me that they were surprised to see my car back on their lot so quickly. He assured me that they had fixed my rear main seal. 

Later that morning, Steve called me with the bad news that my engine head gasket blew. They could not detect that when my car was in their shop the previous day. My choices were basically to repair the head gasket at $2,500 or build a new engine at $5,500. I told Steve that I was finished sinking money into my Honda Civic. Steve offered to put me in contact with one of the sales representatives at Tonkin Gresham Honda to possibly purchase another car. 

It was the end for my 2002 Honda Civic LX stick shift car. I bought it brand new on February 22, 2002, and it lasted over 24 years. I put over 333,109 miles on it. My next goal was to get the odometer to 333,333 miles on it. I was within 224 miles of accomplishing this. The car was super dependable for me over the years. I drove it to 34 U.S. states and numerous cross-country trips from Crater Lake National Park, Oregon to Everglades National Park, Florida. The car transported me from Vancouver, Canada to the Florida Keys. I journeyed with the car from San Luis Obispo and Joshua Tree National Park, California to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I took it numerous times to beaches on the Pacific Coast, Gulf of Mexico beaches in southern Florida, and Atlantic Ocean beaches by Miami, Florida. The car traveled from 282 feet below sea level at Death Valley National Park in California to mountain passes such as Beartooth Pass on the Wyoming Montana border at 10,947 feet and the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel in Colorado at 11,158 feet. 

My Honda Civic was there for me when I went sky diving twice, zip lining, and riding in a hot air ballon. It met all the women I dated over the years and was there after my breakups. It was the car that Tanya and I drove to our wedding ceremony and reception. She also drove it every day to work while we lived in Portland, Oregon over the last 9 years. It was the vehicle that transported me to hike in numerous national parks across west to scenic viewpoints and hiking trails. It was the car that greeted me after completing challenging hikes, such hiking down to the bottom and back to the top of the Grand Canyon. It was there for me when I gave my climate change talk to over 213 visitors at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. I drove that car over 1,600 miles across Oregon in October and November 2017 to give 11 climate change talks across the state. I gave that car regular oil changes and maintained it like an airplane. 

My 2002 Honda Civic was always there for me and felt like it was a part of me. The only car I ever owned. Hard to imagine life without it. This compact green low emissions car perfectly fit my personality. I hoped to drive it until 2032 until it was 30 years old. At the same time though, I wanted an electric car for years. Now the time arrived for me to make the transition. 

Stay tuned for part 3 of this blog:
Tanya and I chose to Buy an Electric Car for me in May 2024

This is a 3-part blog about my wife Tanya and I switching from my 2002 Honda Civic LX manual transmission car to owning 2 electric cars. This blog is written in 3 parts: 

Part 1: Tanya decides to buy her Electric Car in March 2024
Part 2: The death of my 2002 Honda Civic in late April 2026  
Part 3: Tanya and I choose to buy an Electric Car for me in May 2024

Buying my 2002 Honda Civic LX stick shift car in February 2002 

For decades, it was my dream to own an electric car. As I blogged about previously, I needed to buy my own car in the spring of 2002 when I worked as a seasonal park ranger at Crater Lake National Park, Oregon and Everglades National Park, Florida. Before then, I never owned a car. For the previous 5 years, I relied upon my girlfriend Shelia’s 1997 Ford Ranger truck for transportation from the parks to town from the parks to get groceries and for recreation. However, we broke up in the summer of 2001. She generously let me use her truck for many months after we stopped dating. By 2002, it was obvious I needed my own car. 

The 9/11 terrorist attack happened the previously year. According to the FBI 9/11 Investigation, 15 of the 19 terrorists suspected carrying out the attacks were from Saudi Arabia. Dark networks of money in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East financed Saudi national Osama Bin Ladin and Al-Qaeda to commit these horrible acts by these terrorists. Where did Saudi Arabia make most of its money? Drilling oil on their lands and selling it on the global market. Who was one of their biggest customers? The United States. After 9/11, I wanted to buy and use the least amount of gasoline possible so I would not fund terrorism that killed many Americans that day.

I was intrigued by the concept of electric vehicles or EVs in 2002. However, I knew of no EVs that were available to purchase at that time. I still was curious about owning an EV then. I did not like all the air pollution created by gasoline powered vehicles and the American dependance on foreign oil. When I mentioned this to my roommate Mike, he dismissed and was condescending about my thoughts. He immediately took out a piece of paper to draw a car plugged into an outlet then attached to a power line getting electricity from a polluting coal powered plant. He scoffed at the idea of EVs reducing pollution if they received their power from dirty energy.

I refused to accept his patronizing tone and rejection of EVs reducing environmental pollution. Even as far back as 2002, I envisioned EVs as the primary automobiles, trucks, and buses of the future. I would never let someone’s absolute dismissal of EVs dissuade me of a world someday dominated with EVs and driving my own EV. I did not like Mike anyway. I was happy to no longer room with him when I stopped working in Flamingo in Everglades National Park in May 2002. I thought he was rather opinionated, arrogant, and intolerant of ideas different than his own thoughts. At the very least, someday I needed to purchase an EV just to prove Mike wrong. 

On February 22, 2002, with the help of my parents, I bought my brand-new green Honda Civic that I still owned up to 2026, 24 years later! It was a stick shift manual transmission car that was fun to drive. It had a shiny emerald, green exterior, my favorite color! It had excellent gas mileage, with a sticker on the side window stating it was a low emissions vehicle. Sheila’s silver Ford Ranger extended cab pick up truck always seemed like it was too big of a vehicle for me to drive. I wanted a compact car. My new green Honda Civic fit my personality perfectly. 

By the spring of 2002, I worked as a naturalist guide at the Flamingo Outpost in Everglades National Park for four years straight. I was felt burned out of my job of narrating the boat tours and stuck living in that remote area. I longed to return to work seasonally at Crater Lake National Park, Oregon where I worked in the summers from 1992 to 1997. In the summers of 1996 and 1997, I worked as an entrance station ranger for the National Park Service at Crater Lake. I trained my friend Amelia Bruno to work at the entrance station in 1997. She later became the supervisor of the entrance stations and fee collection program at Crater Lake. She was enthusiastic about hiring me to return working there for the summer. 

My brand-new Honda Civic gave me the freedom I needed to break free of Flamingo, drive across the continental United States, and spend my summers working at Crater Lake National Park where I longed to be. I drove across the U.S. several times in the 1990s with Sheila to reach our seasonal jobs at Crater Lake, Everglades, and spend a couple of winters with my parents in St. Louis, Missouri. However, this would be my first solo drive across country. My parents were excited to see my car when I visited them in May 2002.

My dad insisted riding with me from St. Louis to Crater Lake, Oregon in June 2002 to spend time with me. To save on gas, I set my cruise control around 60 mph. It alarmed him how slow I drove. He yelled, “You are driving too slow! Other cars and trucks are going to run you off the road!” 

I will never forget him driving my car for the first time on Interstate I-70 in western Missouri. He drove my car upwards of 70 mph, which made me nervous that my over 42 average miles per gallon, would diminish with him at the wheel. On the other hand, he loved driving my car. He joyfully remarked, “This is such a sweet car to drive!” 

All my previous summers at Crater Lake from 1992 to 1997, I relied upon Sheila’s compact Plymouth Horizon and her 1997 Ford Ranger Truck to ride together with her to obtain groceries in town and drive to the scenic overlooks and hiking trails in the park. In the summer of 2002, it felt so liberating to be able to explore the park on my own and to visit the nearby cities on my weekends without having to depend on Sheila’s cars. I hoped having a spiffy new car that it would help land me a girlfriend, but that would not happen until years later. I felt as free as a bird to have my own car for the first time in my life in 2002. 

Discovering my passion for climate change advocacy

As the years progressed, I grew increasingly uncomfortable buying gasoline for my car. Besides the U.S. dependance on oil leading to Middle Eastern terrorism such as 9/11, I was deeply troubled by the disastrous 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, a major oil extraction country. Even worse, it angered me how the oil industry spent millions of dollars in advertising, lobbying, and public relations campaigns to deceive many Americans that climate change was a hoax.

In 1998, I started giving ranger talks in Everglades National Park. Visitors then asked me about this global warming thing. Visitors hate when park rangers tell you, “I don’t know.” Visitors expect park rangers to know everything. Don’t you?

Soon afterwards, I rushed to the nearest Miami bookstore and to the park library to read all I the scientific books I could find on climate change.

The information I learned really scared me, specifically sea level rise along our mangrove coastline in Everglades National Park. Sea level rose 8 inches in the 20th century, four times more than it had risen in previous centuries for the past three thousand years. Because of climate change, sea level is now expected to rise at least three feet in Everglades National Park by the end of the 21st century. The sea would swallow up most of the park and nearby Miami since the highest point of the park road less than three feet above sea level.

It shocked me that crocodiles, alligators, and beautiful Flamingos I enjoyed seeing in the Everglades could lose this ideal coastal habitat because of sea level rise caused by climate change.

I became so worried about climate change that I quit my winter job in Everglades National Park in 2008. I moved back to St. Louis in the winters to give speeches and organized about climate change. In November 2011, I co-founded the St. Louis Climate Reality Meet Up (now called Climate Meetup-St. Louis) group to discuss, learn, and take climate action.

Meeting my wife Tanya and sharing a car while I organized for climate action

At one of the Climate Reality-St. Louis Meet Ups in early 2012, a beautiful slender woman with long blonde hair sat at the bar drinking a birch beer. Her name was Tanya. We slowly became friends. We started dating in February 2013 and we got married in November 2015. She is always 100% supportive of my climate change organizing.

In December 2015, just one month after we got married, I expressed my frustration to Tanya. I felt like I was not doing enough to organize and write on climate change. To boost my morale, my wife surprised me by booking an appointment with the nearby Tesla store to test drive the 100% electric Tesla Model S. We had a blast test driving this car. Tanya’s action lifted my spirits to see this could be the future for automobiles: 100% electric with no carbon tailpipe emissions!

In 2015, very few EVs were seen on the roads, and they seemed to be too expensive to own. Because of my frugal lifestyle as a summer seasonal park ranger at Crater Lake and a winter climate organizer in St. Louis, we could not afford to own a Tesla or any EV at that time.

In February 2017, Tanya found a job in Portland, Oregon, so we moved here. I worked one more summer as a seasonal park ranger at Crater Lake, but I decided to become a full-time climate organizer in October 2017. Ever since we test drove the Tesla in December 2015, Tanya and I dreamed of buying an EV. However, my 2002 Honda Civic was a reliable car then and years afterwards. Tanya primarily used it as a short commute to her job. I nearly always used TriMet buses and MAX light rail commuter trains to get around Portland to do my climate organizing.

We often talked about purchasing an EV, but we managed to jointly use my car for over 9 years while living together in Portland OR. My Honda Civic worked for all our driving needs. In the summer and fall of 2022 and 2024, plus the spring of 2024 and 2025, I worked campaign jobs, primarily for the community organization East County Rising (ECR). My work was primarily centered around me knocking on doors in the Gresham and eastern Portland metro area to urge voters to support progressive local and state level candidates running for office. 

To commute to our jobs, Tanya and I came up with the compromise that I drove her to work in the mornings. I then had the car for the rest of the day to work for ECR. Tanya would take the public TriMet bus home while I worked. Our driving arrangement worked well overall, with small exceptions. It was mildly inconvenient to drop off Tanya at work when I wanted to sleep in longer in the mornings. Tanya had to deal with heat, rain, late buses, and walking around treacherous homeless encampments at times when she commuted home. 

In the back of our minds, we were concerned about our joint sole reliability on an old car if it had a major breakdown, accident, or if the engine died. At the same time, we made it work for 9 years jointly using only one car. For the environment and climate, we felt like we were doing the best thing for the planet properly maintaining an older fuel-efficient compact car. 

I strove to drive my car as minimal as possible while living in Portland. I loved using the TriMet public buses and MAX commuter trains often in my climate organizing to minimize the use of my car. I relished using public transportation to use less fossil fuels, less wear and tear on my 2002 Honda Civic, lessen my fears of my car getting into an accident driving it on busy Portland streets, not having to fight for parking and even parallel park in certain parts of Portland, not worrying about my car getting stolen or vandalized if I drove it and parked it in certain parts of the city, etc. In addition, I felt like I got good exercise walking and running to catch the buses and MAX trains. It was a joy for me to read books while riding public transportation instead of being nervous fighting traffic and dealing with the stress of driving a car. 

Most of all, I liked using TriMet to get around Portland because I never wanted Tanya to feel trapped at home without my car available for her. Even with all my considerations for Tanya and my pleasure in taking public transit in the Portland area, Tanya and I knew my 2002 Honda Civic would not last forever. It became more expensive to maintain as parts wore out. Every other time I took my car to the local Honda dealership for an oil change, the mechanics found parts needed to be replaced. Expensive maintenance items were creeping up that could not be avoided to keep the car running to avoid a stressful engine breakdown.  

On Sunday, June 26, 2022, I had a scare with my Honda Civic that made Tanya and I wonder if we should think about purchasing a different car. At that time, I worked as a campaign organizer for Raz Mason for her campaign to run for Oregon Senate District 26. She had an event in Canby, Oregon that day she wanted me to attend. As I drove down I-205 in southwest Portland just 10 miles from home, the engine light came on, and the car started losing power. It would not let me drive it over 35 mph. Fortunately, I was able to drive the car home. I told Tanya she had to take the bus to work the next day while I immediately took the car to the service department of my local Honda Dealership to see if they could diagnose the problem. 

The Honda mechanic determined it was a bad sensor that had to be replaced. They had to order the part to get it fixed the next day. It cost me $430 to complete the repair. However, the car ran smoothly when we drove it the 4th of July weekend to see friends in Maple Falls, Washington to see friends who lived a couple of miles from the Canadian border. The car performed well the rest of that campaign season when I knocked on doors for Raz Mason in the summer and then worked for ECR in the fall of 2022. 

That incident led Tanya to start researching suitable used hybrid cars and EVs that could possibly replace my Honda Civic. The car still seemed to be dependable and reliable, so we did not want to give up on it yet. 

In October 2025, the timing belt and the passenger window switch needed to be replaced, costing over $2500. Tanya had kept an eye out online for possible replacement cars for my Honda Civic. At the same time, she knew how much I loved and was attached to that car. She figured that if I was committed to keep that car running for both of us she would abide by my decision, but she started to wonder if it was time to consider replacing my car. 

Traveling to Florida in November 2025 and choosing to rent an electric car

November 1, 2025, was our 10th wedding anniversary. Tanya and I wanted to do something special to celebrate. She wanted us to go to Tampa, Florida for several days to visit her best friend, Bertha. Tanya had not seen Bertha in over 30 years since they attended high school in St. Louis. I was excited because I lived and worked for 16 years in Everglades National Park, Florida. I was eager to show Florida to Tanya since she had never been there before.

It was a long day of flying from Portland, Oregon to Tampa, Florida. We had to leave our apartment around 5:30 am to catch our 7:30 am flight. After a 3-hour layover in Phoenix, Arizona, we arrived at the Tampa airport around 7:30 pm. We found the Tampa airport to be very convoluted to reach the location where my rental car reservation was booked. It was after 8 pm when Tanya and I stood in a line for several minutes to obtain our rental car.

By the time, we walked up to the rental car desk, we were bone tired from flying all day. The rental car agent gave us lots of choices for cars. However, I didn’t care. I just wanted to get in a rental car, drive to Bertha’s house, and fall into a bed. I felt overwhelmed and indecisive with the rental car options. Then the rental agent offered, ‘I tell you what: I have a Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV that I have available for you to rent. This would be great for me if you could rent it. I will include in the agreement that you won’t have to bring it back on a full charge.’

My ears perked up: Rent an EV! Not use gasoline on this vacation! Get a brief experience of driving an EV! I enthusiastically told him, ‘Yes! I will do it! Please sign me up to rent the EV!’

After we signed the paperwork, it took Tanya and I a few minutes to look for the car in the cavernous parking garage at the Tampa Airport. When we found the car, it looked like a lovely and ideal car for us to rent. It was a grayish blue color. However, when the sun shined on the car during our trip, we noticed that the car looked like it had a touch of a greenish hue.

It was a mid-sized car roomier than my Honda Civic. Tanya and I noticed after we got into the car that it had a battery charge of over 270 miles. As we started driving the car through the maze of the parking garage and then outside on the Tampa streets, we were amazed that the car was much quieter to drive than my Honda Civic. It drove with the silence of being inside a library, unlike the more vocal engine of my Civic.

We had a terrific time driving that EV to see and stay with Tanya’s friend in Wesley Chapel, Florida. While staying with Bertha and her husband for 4 full days and 5 nights, we visited Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park so Tanya could see manatees for the first time. We drove to the Siesta Ky Beach to swim and lie on the sand. We then went to Myakka River State Park so Tanya could look at alligators and various wading birds. On the third day of our trip, Tanya and I drove to Fort De Soto Park to enjoy another beach, see more birds, and walk around the historic fort. On the final full day of the trip, Tanya ventured up to Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge so we could get more views of manatees before we left Florida the next day. 

Thursday morning, November 6th, our trip to Florida was over. Tanya and I headed to the Budget Rental Car Returns at Tampa International Airport to drop off our vehicle and then catch our flight. We were excited to fly to St. Louis, Missouri to see Tanya’s parents and brother, plus meet up with my mom. The next day, Friday, November 7th, Tanya, my mom, and I planned to drive to Kansas City, Missouri to attend my niece Bailey’s wedding. We looked forward to spending time with family. However, we were sad to stop driving our Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV.

Tanya and I could not wait to tell family and friends about our Florida vacation and renting an EV. Nearly every day since then, Tanya and I talked about eventually owning an EV. 

The dark cloud of evil oil industry and petrostates after we returned from our trip 

The fabulous memories of this trip did not last long. Late November 2025, I read the crushing news that the United Nations COP30 Climate Summit held in Brazil was a failure.

For background, COP stands for Conference of the Parties, basically international countries that agreed to participate in and be bound by the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). Today there are 198 Parties or countries participating in the Convention.

The UNFCCC is a multilateral treaty adopted in 1992 – shortly after the first assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1990 – to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations “at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system.”

The 30 in COP30 refers to the 30 of these international conferences held over the years. Berlin Germany held the first COP in 1995. COP30 was held in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025.

According to Reuters, the host of the conference, “Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had launched the summit calling for countries to agree on a “roadmap” for advancing a COP28 pledge to shift away from fossil fuels. 

The result was similar to Egypt’s COP27 and Azerbaijan’s COP29, where countries agreed to spend more money to address climate dangers while ignoring their primary cause.

Nearly three-fourths of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 2020 have come from coal, oil and gas. Demand for these fuels is likely to rise through 2050, the International Energy Agency said in a report midway through the COP30 summit that reversed expectations of a rapid shift to clean energy.” 

For the first time, the U.S. did not send a delegation after President Donald Trump said the country will leave the landmark Paris treaty that committed countries to act on climate change in 2015. He has branded climate change “a con”. In May 2024, Trump pressed oil executives to give $1 billion for his campaign. In return, he promised ‘to do what they wanted.’ 

Many climate advocates felt like this was another COP wrecked by fossil fuel interests, autocratic petro-states such as Russia and Saudi Arabia, and our American and global leaders’ cowardice.

After I saw this news, I told Tanya that I was done driving a gasoline-powered car. I really wanted us to get an EV. This was a shift in thinking for me because I love my 2022 green Honda Civic. It was almost 24 years old now and still running well. For years, I wanted to see how long Tanya and I could drive it before it died. If possible, I wanted to even drive for another 6 years so that I could say that I owned the same car for over 30 years or close to half of my life.

Climate change triggering flooding in December 2025 

Locally, climate change is showing more of an impact on our weather. In December 2025, record rainfalls from ‘atmospheric river’ weather conditions brought flooding to the Portland, Oregon area. Then in 2026, the opposite happened, Oregon experienced very little rain or snow for the rest of the winter. We were projected to have a record low snowpack.

By the end of March 2026, Crater Lake National Park registered its lowest snow water equivalent levels ever recorded for the month of March, according to the National Weather Service. This alarmed me to see reported in the news because I noticed the snow pack diminishing while I worked as a seasonal park ranger for 25 years from 1992 to 2017. NBC Montana posted a graphic image on Facebook of the dismal snowpack level in the western U.S. states on March 26, 2026. It was gut wrenching for me to spot that Oregon only had about 15% of its normal winter snowpack. Even worse, nearly all those states had snowpacks that were severely below normal (<50%) or well below normal (50-69%).

Locally the red warning lights were flashing, and the alarm bells rang loudly that we must act quickly and effectively to reduce climate change. What’s causing climate change? For many decades, climate scientists stated it was because of humanity, collectively and individually, burning fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and natural gas, which emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Throwing all that dirty fossil fuel pollution into our air supply warmed up and destabilized our global and local climate. Most climate scientists think if we act quickly, together and personally, we can reduce the damage we are doing to our planet and to ourselves.

For over 17 years, I spoke out for the urgent need for effective climate action. I gave climate change ranger talks at Crater Lake National Park, lobbied Congressional offices in Washington D.C. over 10 times, organized for an Oregon legislative climate resolution, created comedy videos that led to an appearance on TV Comedy Central’s Tosh.o, was a plaintiff in a Missouri Sierra Club lawsuit against my local electric utility for their over reliance on dirty coal energy, led two speaking tours across my home state of Missouri and one in Oregon, and I gave over 200 climate change talks in 12 U.S. states, Washington D.C. and Ottawa Canada. Even more, locally I use public transportation on almost a daily basis to reduce my car’s tailpipe emissions. 

Driving a gasoline powered car when it was not feasible to use public transportation really bothered me. My wife Tanya and I were eager to buy an electric vehicle when the timing was right for us. Our recent visit to Florida, November 1-6, 2025, showed us that driving an EV was fun and it was easy to recharge it. That trip inspired us that we wanted our next car to be an EV! 

Tanya decided it was time to shop around for her own EV in March 2026 

It took over a month to write, but I completed and posted my blog, For Climate Action, renting an EV for a 2025 Florida Vacation, on March 6, 2026. Around that time, I had regular conversations with my friends Katie Collins and Nick Walden Poublon to work for his campaign to run for Oregon House District 52. Like my work over the previous four years, I would be knocking on doors and attending campaign events. Even more, I would be driving long distances to areas such as Hood River, over miles 50 miles, and The Dalles, over 75 miles, from home. 

At this point, Tanya decided it was time to buy her own EV so she would not be dependent on my car. Katie, Nick, and I figured I would start working for them around the beginning of April 2026. I had various activities happening in April, such as I was finishing up and graduating from the ECR Senior Fellowship Program on March 21st. I was scheduled to have Mohr’s surgery on my nose on March 23rd to remove a small area of basil cell skin cancer on my nose. Before I started working for Katie and Nick in April, I wanted to complete as many blogs as possible to help prepare me write an eventual memoir of my life that I hope will be published.  

After the ECR Fellowship graduation celebration, Tanya asked me if we could go to Platt Auto Group in Milwaukie OR to look at a used dark brown Nissan Aria. Platt specialized in selling used EVs. It sounded like an excellent idea, even possibly overdue, for us to drive there to see the EV she spotted online, as well as check out other possible EVs on their inventory lot. 

When we arrived on that Saturday afternoon, I was awestruck to see various models of around 30 EVs in this tight parking lot. A few other customers milled around to look at the EVs. Then Tanya spotted the used grey Nissan Aria Venture Plus with a charging range over 300 miles. The car was unlocked so we were able to sit inside to get a feel for the vehicle. We soon encountered the salesman working on the lot that day. He graciously responded to our request to take it for a test drive. Almost immediately as I drove it, it felt like it was too big of a car for Tanya and me. It was around the size of a small SUV (sport utility vehicle) and it appeared to be so much bigger than my Honda Civic that we were used to driving. Tanya liked the range of the vehicle and the price, but she readily agreed with me that it seemed to be too much car for us. 

The Nissan Aria looked like a great EV, but not an ideal fit for Tanya and me. In addition to seeing this EV online, Tanya noticed a Hyundai Ioniq 6 at the Tonkin Gladstone Hyundai dealership just a mile down the road with a range well over 300 miles. On Sunday afternoon, March 22nd, Tanya and I decided to go to the Tonkin Hyundai dealership to see that EV. When we arrived, we noticed a big selection of new and used vehicles there. However, it did not take us long to find the Ioniq 6 on the large parking lot, much more spacious than Pratt EV Auto Sales lot.

Immediately, when we saw the Ioniq 6 EV, it felt more like a suitable car for us. It had inviting bright white appearance of a mid-size sedan with a stylish well rounded oval appearance. We soon chatted with a small mousy looking salesman named Mason who enthusiastically agreed to our request to take it for a test drive. Mason had a deep knowledge when showing us all the features of this EV. Tanya and I immediately felt this EV was a good fit for us. 

As we admired the Ioniq 6, Mason pointed out the ceramic coding that the previous owner put on the exterior to make the white color shine even more intensively. After the test drive, Tanya and I went to Mason’s desk to chat with him further about this Ioniq 6. He kept asking us, ‘Is there anything I can do for you today for you to buy this vehicle?’ 

He seemed eager to make the sale, but Tanya and I were not ready to take the plunge yet. We wanted to think more about it, sleep on it, and do more research before deciding to negotiate to purchase the vehicle. We choose to make an appointment with Mason on Tuesday, March 24th at 5 pm to have another discussion about the car. After we left, Tanya and I both felt like this EV might sell quickly, so we needed to determine soon if we would buy it.

Tanya and I decided to buy (and bargain down the price) for an EV on March 24, 2026 

After we got home, I kept thinking about Mason asking us several times, ‘Is there anything I can do for you today for you to buy this vehicle?’ 

It felt like Mason was hinting about negotiating the vehicle price with us. I googled to see if we could negotiate the price of this Certified Pre Owned vehicle and the answer was yes. I then researched the trade in value of the car, plus the itemized costs on the sales printout they gave us at the dealership. I told Tanya that we could bargain down and even eliminate several of the expense items listed on the sales print out. We were both excited about the possibility of negotiating down the price further to make the car more affordable for us. 

Late Monday morning, March 23rd, I had Mohr’s surgery on my nose to remove a small spot of basil cell cancer. The procedure took a couple hours and felt like a very bad bee sting on my nose, as the doctors warned me beforehand. After they completed the procedure, they gave me a choice of a simple badge but leaving me with a deep pocket scar on my nose. Or, they could insert stitches leaving me with a much bigger bandage. They would then take out the stitches a week later, but it would leave a much less noticeable scar on my nose. I chose the stitches, which left me with a protruding large white bandage on my nose for all to see. 

Tanya and I made an appointment with Mason to see the Ioniq 6 on Tuesday, March 24th. She noticed that the listed online price of the Ioniq 6 dropped since we saw the car on Sunday. We were relieved that the car had not sold. At the same time, we were committed to go to the 5 pm appointment at the dealership to further discuss the EV. We concluded that if we were keeping this appointment, we were serious about buying this car. 

This felt frighteningly serious that we were purchasing a car. Yet, the timing felt right for both of us that we needed a second car since I would be working soon canvassing for Nick Walden Poublon. I would need use of my car with driving a lot of miles to east Gresham, Hood River, The Dalles, etc. to knock on doors for Nick. Plus, the Iran War started one month earlier with no end in sight. It looked to greatly increase gasoline prices. We agreed it was time to buy an EV with gas prices possibly skyrocketing. Even more, we would be competing with more potential buyers switching to EVs to avoid the gas price hikes. On top of that, Tanya and I wanted to purchase an EV for years. We were nervous but felt the time to buy had come.

When we arrived at Tonkin Hyundai Dealership, Mason happily greeted us. However, he was helping another couple purchase a car. Thus, we got switched to the sales manager, a large overweight scruffy looking, slightly disheveled middle-aged man who was not nearly as warm and personal as Mason. 

He was direct with us, “So are you looking to buy the car?” 

Me: “Yes, we are interested, but we have some questions about the price to go over with you.” 

The sales manager: “Ok.” 

Me: “First, we noticed the price dropped $250 since we saw it on Saturday.” 

Sales manager: “Gee. I did not know that. Sometimes I am the last person to know these things.” 

I could not tell if he was acting like he didn’t know that or generally caught off guard that the price of the car dropped. 

He replied, “Ok. We will deduct that off the price.” 

I then stated, “We are not paying for the ceramic coding because Mason told us that the previous owner placed that on the vehicle.” 

The sales manager sighed and retorted, “Yeah. Mason should not have that. I will have to have a talk with him afterwards.” 

I next affirmed, “We do not want the extended warranty.”

As I shared with Tanya the previous day, I nearly got burned with the extended warranty when I bought my Honda Civic brand new 24 years ago. At the Honda Largo Dealership in Key Largo, Florida in 2002, that salesperson and I were getting close to determine the final amount I would buy for the car with my monthly payments. Suddenly, the monthly payments jumped a lot, nearly out of my price range. The costs were not adding up. Then it dawned on me that the marketing person negotiating the financing terms with me snuck in the extended warranty.  

When I realized this, I lost my temper, “You tried to sneak in the extended warranty on me when I specifically told you that I didn’t want it!” 

The Honda sales agent knew she was caught red handed by me. She knew she was in the wrong and I caught her deception. She said with embarrassment, “Ok! If you don’t want the extended warranty, I will take it off!” 

I was not going to let that experience happen again. 

This time, the Hyundai sales manager went through all the reasons why Tanya and I needed the extended warranty with all the possible maintenance repairs. Tanya and I were not buying his reasoning. This Ioniq 6 was already a Certified Pre Owned vehicle, meaning it was overall in excellent condition. Now it looked like he wanted to scare us with all the future servicing costs. He was determined to make this to be part of the sale, but Tanya and I would not back down. 

Finally, he relented, “Are both of you Costco members?” 

“Yes,” we responded. 

“I will give you the extended warranty at the Costco rate.” 

He then walked to the back office to readjust the sales price for us. 

In a hush tone, I whispered to Tanya that I was glad we dealt with the sales manager and not Mason. My impression was that Mason was meek and accommodating to us. However, if we had negotiated with him, Mason would have went to the back office for approval to agree to our demands. The sales manager would probably insisted Mason play hardball instead of agreeing to our negotiating demands. I thought it was better to deal with the sales manager directly rather than him putting pressure on Mason to be stubborn in bargaining the price with us. 

When he returned, I was not finished bargaining the price. I felt like I was still just getting started. Me: “What’s this CA tax?” 

The sales manager: “That’s the corporate earnings tax that the state of Oregon charges businesses for the cost of doing business our state that we pass along to you.” 

Me: “That seems like your problem, not ours in buying this car.” 

“Well, that’s something we can do very little about.” 

Me: “I still don’t see why we should be paying this.” 

Sales manager: “Fine. If I take that off, will you sign on the bottom line to buy the car?” 

Me: “These licensing and registration fees seem high. Is that really the costs?” 

The sales manager trying to be flexible: “Let me go to the back to see the exact costs for the licensing and registration.” 

He returned with several hundred dollars taken off that expense. 

I felt like I was playing with house money and I still was not done negotiating. Tanya sat mostly in silence, but she was pleased and proud of me with my hard negotiating tactics. The price had come down nearly $4,000 since we walked into the showroom that afternoon. 

I still felt like a dog on a bone haggling over the price and I was not done yet. Finally, Tanya placed her hand on my arm and gently told me, “I think we have done about as good as we are going to do with the price. I don’t think you need to do anymore.” 

I could see Tanya was happy how the price came down and how I helped her. She felt it was time to reign me in with my adrenaline rush of bargaining that day. I saw she wanted to complete the deal, and she was impressed how I helped her. Looking at Tanya eager to complete the sale, it felt like it was time for me to let her sign and finish with the paperwork. 

I did not know I had that skill in me to be a dogged negotiator. As Tanya started signing the paperwork, I asked the sales manager for the final sales printout. He looked a bit beaten with all my tactics to haggle down the price. I had to ask several times, but he finally gave me a copy of the final sales printout that showed we had lowered the sales price almost $4000. 

While Tanya signed the large stack of paperwork, I had nothing to do. I told Tanya that I would go for a short walk. She was engrossed with completing the paperwork, so she had no issue with me getting some fresh air. It was almost 6:45 pm. The sky was overcast and getting a tad darker. I walked two blocks to see a sign I wanted to take a photo of the previous day. I saw at the nearby Chevron gas station that that that price of unleaded gasoline was $4.95 a gallon, nearly $5.00 a gallon in Oregon to buy gasoline. I marveled at Tanya’s timing to buy an EV at the time of spiking gas prices due to Donald Trump’s unnecessary war with Iran. 

It felt like a thrilling new chapter for Tanya and me with her buying an EV that evening with each of us taking a car home. Tanya with her new Ioniq 6, and me with my 24-year-old Honda Civic. The next day, Tanya and I were on a video call with her parents to announce the big news she bought an EV. My mother-in-law Nancy Couture asked me with exasperation, “Brian, is this another green colored car?” 

“No!” I proclaimed, “It’s Couture white!” 

Both cars of Tanya’s parents are older white Toyotas. Tanya looked so good driving her new 2024 used Hyundai Ioniq 6. The car looked like it was made for her. She had a new vibe like she got a new pair of wings to have her own car and to no longer be dependent on my car. For years, she wanted an EV and her dream came true! I was so excited for her! 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this blog:
The Death of my 2002 Honda Civic in late April 2026