My boyfriend of nine years has had his car since the day we met, probably a few months before we started dating. He has a 1989 Mazda MX-6 with — get this — 256,000 miles on it. It still runs well, yet it has no air conditioner, it's gone through two sunroofs, broken power locks (imagine both of us at Mokule'ia trying to pry his doors open in the middle of the night and a cop drives by), broken power windows, several accidents and repairs. Despite all of this and having to check his fluids every week, he loves that car.

Recently he's accepted a job in Seattle and I don't foresee us coming back home to Hawai'i anytime soon. Nonetheless, he cannot bear to let his car go. When his mom told him that she wanted to donate the car, his heart just dropped. But what can he do?

I think he's finally come to grips with letting go of his baby. He will be back here in Hawai'i in October for several days and will use that time to clean up and clear out everything in his car. Unfortunately, I won't be here to hold his hand or give him a shoulder to cry on when he has to say his one last goodbye.

I have a 1989 Honda Civic station wagon that had 4,500 miles on it when I bought it used in Oregon and shipped it home to Hawai'i. It now has 113,500 miles on it and is still going strong.

My 10-year-old grandson tried to convince me that I actually did have air conditioning and kept fiddling with the air vents until it became obvious, even to him, that it never did have it, which is hard for him to understand. I tell people to just open the windows.

After two years in Washington, D.C., my wife and I returned to Hawai'i in 1970 and began work at the University of Hawai'i. We needed a car, so bought a new VW bug for $2,200. Thirty-four years later, we are retired from UH and still driving the same car.

I have a 1991 Toyota Camry that was purchased as a new car. It has over 330,000 miles on it. It's in good shape (inside and out), is paid for, and it runs well.