Just to follow up (see my previous posts on this thread), I finally had the pump replaced last Monday. The swap was performed without incident, and my very sensitive nose detected NO gasoline odor afterward. It might have helped in that respect that I brought the car in with less than 1/4 tank of gas. Performance was also strong and steady, after about 10 miles of driving, although any perceived hesitancy in the first 10 might have been the result of me getting in synch with the car again, after suffering with another model for half a day. I will give kudos to the dealer for this work; HOWEVER, I had also made an online appointment for a dealer shuttle ride the 5 miles back to my house, and received an appointment confirmation from them via e-mail, but when I dropped my car off, the service rep informed me that they had not been providing shuttle service since April 2020, due to Covid restrictions. When I wondered aloud why then they were confirming shuttle appointments online, I was met with a blank, "that's not my department" stare. Since I had a meeting to get to around lunchtime, they did offer me a loaner car, which I happily accepted, but when I got into it, I found that it reeked of nicotine (see previous olfactory reference above), even though their loaner contract emphasizes "No Smoking, No Pets," so I asked for another. The second one had a "lived-in" smell, but at least it wasn't nicotine, although the interior looked like someone had taken their kids on a cross-country trip (crumbs in the seat seams, chocolate and coffee smears on the upholstery; half-empty water bottle under the seat), and no one bothered to clean it after the car was returned. Luckily, I had enough time before our meeting to vacuum up the crumbs and wet wipe the upholstery. On the plus side, I learned that a Civic 2-door trunk will hold a folded wheelchair and accessories without lowering the rear seatbacks, and the somewhat Spartan trim level still provided ample acceleration and gas mileage. On the minus side, I felt like I was driving blind, after spending the last 18 months in a CR-V Touring model. This Civic had no adaptive cruise control, no blind spot warning, no rear cross traffic warning, and a level of exterior visibility approaching that of a submarine. I've driven some pretty Spartan vehicles in my 60 driving years, so it was interesting to discover how much I have come to rely on the electronic safety features that have filtered down to my price level vehicle in the last 5 or so.
