I Love My Crappy Old Car

[barbaramol]

Today I finally brought my car for it's annual safety and emissions inspection. I thought for sure it was going to fail. I was really just looking for a list of things that I needed to fix. I didn't have any problems with it, but I was very naughty last year and didn't bring it in for it's inspection. It's a miracle I didn't get a ticket all year. I didn't change it's oil or do a tune up either. I suck. If my car was a child it would be taken away by social services. I was also worried that it just might be too old to pass the new emissions tests.

But it passed! Yay! No problem. Go little "bronze" (brown) 1999 Chevy Malibu! You're a rockstar!

I think it thrives on neglect.

Does anyone else have a crappy old car that they love because it defies logic?

[ulstermayniac]

Me personally, no, but I do love cars with a personality like that. Go car!!

[barbaramol]

May 2, 2009 1:52:38 GMT ulstermayniac said:

Me personally, no, but I do love cars with a personality like that. Go car!!

I wonder if cars are designed to take way more abuse than advertised. I didn't think of this before you posted, but I've always had cars that work no matter what. I've always been neglectful when it came to routine car maintenance.

I've only had one car that broke down and left me stranded. However, it had over 375,000 miles on it and it did sound funny the night before it broke down. It warned me. It fell apart on my way home just before 2 am on a highway in Vermont. It was a six hour trip and it fell apart one hour from home. When I say it fell apart, I mean parts were falling off the engine as I drove. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw parts sparking as they bounced away into the night. I pulled over right before an exit. Little did I know it was the exit for the state troopers (police) and they changed shifts at 2 am. It was only a couple minutes before help came.

Vermont is a very desolate state. It's gorgeous and green, but not many people live there. If I had broke down there a few minutes later it might have been twelve hours before another state trooper came by.

I love that car for breaking down when it did. It was Saturn SL2.

The car I had before that was a Chevy Cavalier. I always loved it, it was great in snow, but it never did anything special for me I sold it to a friend of a friend and the guy that bought it loved it. It had about 250,000 miles on it when I sold it. He said one night he was driving home and his street was flooded. He drove through it anyway and at some point the car started floating and it floated to the other side of the flooded area and he continued home. Nothing like that happened for me, but I loved that car so much that I believed it could drive on water.

I've always had crappy cars and they've never let me down. I wonder how much longer they would last if I took better care of them.

[24octane]

I'm always going to have an affinity for my first car, a 1988 Chevrolet Celebrity. No air conditioning or tape deck and the bloody thing had rust, but it got me to places in one piece. The car finally decided to give it up in 2003 when the frame decided to start detaching itself from the car. Mother Octane had to follow me to the junkyard and told me afterwards that it looked like the car was going sideways on the highway!

I drive a Saturn SL2 now. It's still pretty much all in one piece (it's missing one of the lil' airvents and I need to replace the covering for one of the parking lights), and it still drives like a charm.

[(Ali)]

I miss my old car. 1998 Chrysler Sebring. It had 140,000 miles on it by the end and was costing a ridiculous amount to keep running (and was in the shop every other month) but it was a convertible and had a fantastic stereo. My current Subaru is mind-numbingly boring by comparison.

[maureen]

May 2, 2009 1:43:07 GMT barbaramol said:

Does anyone else have a crappy old car that they love because it defies logic?

*raises hand with pride* I do! And I love my old lady. (1999 vauxhall vectra) She's been a great car to me all these years. Tuesday, I have to bring her in for her yearly MOT. Wish me luck. *fingers crossed*

[lymaze]

I love my old fiesta - 1990 and still going strong. In fact it's an insult to say she is crappy and old - as so far she has not had any problems and she has very low mileage so she's really only in her teens. I have no plans on upgrading ever. I might actually be buried in it. ;D

[soraya]

I miss my old holden gemini (T series I think) that my Nana gave me. It was yellow and I called it my RinRin car as that was the sound it made when I changed gears ;D

[jayelem]

I drive a beat up 98 Subaru Outback Legacy....wanted to ditch it last year but a mechanic (of all people) told me I should fix it up and keep it...he said with proper maintenance it would run forever.

So now, I love it, dents, scuffs and al! It has character and I don't need to worry about anyone nicking it, or it getting bunged up in the car park.

The added fact that Jeremy, James and Richard all agree it's a car they like had NOTHING to do with my decision to keep it Nope. Not Even. Out-of-the question. Period. I Promise.

[ulstermayniac]

Is the Legacy Outback an estate car?

[jayelem]

It's an estate.....

**hears Clarkson giving a passionate delivery of specs..... "a 245 BHP 6-cylinder engine delivering a giNORmous amount of torque" **

[ulstermayniac]

Good Ol' Jezza!

[maureen]

I'm so very sad. My 'old lady' failed her MOT badly yesterday. Yes, she's 10 years old, but I was hoping to keep her forever. The cost it will take to fix her is £1300.00. We don't have that kind of money to throw around. We checked her blue book value when I got home after forking over £54.00. She's worth slightly more than £500.00. The current MOT is only good until the 16th, so I have to look for a newer car. I'm really going to miss her alot. We've had some good times together. *goes away crying*

[ulstermayniac]

That is so sad. I am so sad for you.

Poor old car.

All you can do is take a remembrance photo or 400 and give her a good send off.

[maureen]

Yeah, that's true. The worst part is trying to find something I can live with that I'll hopefully love just as much. I get very attached to my cars and find it hard to replace them. I wasn't having much luck looking around this morning and was starting to miss her more and more as I stopped by the different dealers.

[ulstermayniac]

Yeah, it can be soul destroying.

Is there a car that you have always wanted, a particular brand/model? That might be a good place to start looking, might make things a bit easier if you are going after something you really have your heart set on.

[maureen]

Well, this morning when I was looking, there were tons of Ford and Volvos, but neither of us wants one. I like Saab, Volkswagen, and Jags, but we have to be practical and we're on a time limit too. My husband and I have already agree about what we don't want. We're going to be looking this weekend, so we're hoping to find something we both like, since his car will likely fail MOT in August too. His blue book value is even worse than mine, £127 at best.

[ulstermayniac]

Oh dear. Seems like this is a bit of an emergency but at the same time, you don't want to rush into anything and end up with a lemon.

[maureen]

That's true. That's why I really want to make sure this time. No peugots, no vauxhalls, and no renaults this time either.

[ulstermayniac]

Have you not had good experiences with those cars?

My Uncle has a Mitsubishi Lancer and a Honda CR-V ES. They are both excellent. If you need something reliable, would you consider a Honda?

[maureen]

No, each haven't lasted as long as I was hoping. I'm going to go look again tomorrow morning after Son goes to school. I'm thinking about looking more at those as well. I did see a Saab that I liked. None of the Golfs I looked at would've worked of us, even though I'd like to get one, against everyone else's better judgment. I say that because of all the negativity that I saw on DT about them, considering the times we've rented them, we'd had nothing but positive experiences with them. Wish me luck. Regardless of how the rest of this week goes, Husband and I have plans to go to Bury to visit the VW dealer, since we both like Passats as well. *fingers crossed*

[ulstermayniac]

Well I am sure you will find something you are both happy with, you never know, you might walk into the dealership, see a car there and know, instantly that that is the one you have to have.

[maureen]

Thanks, UM. I hope so. And thanks for lending me an ear.

[PP]

Hi Mojo,

Sorry to hear about your car woes.
I haven't read any of the comments on the DT, but I can say that I've had a VW Golf and several VW Polos and, frankly, wouldn't drive anything else. I think that they are great - very reliable, well built and retain their value well. My Father has driven various Passats since the mid 80's and has also never had a problem. If you like them then definitely go and check them out. Excellent cars IMO

[maureen]

Thank you also, PP.

[slowhamster]

up until february of this year, i had a 2001 ford escort. she had about 140000 miles on her when she finally died. that car had been thru a lot with me, and for some reason i still miss her.
she looked like this: www.logical-source.com/images/AutoPhotos/FOES9702.jpg

now i have a 2007 toyota corolla like this one and i'm still getting used to it.
www.gregwilliams.ca/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/2007-corolla.jpg

[ulstermayniac]

My cousin was like that, I think she might still be a bit. Her first car was a wee modern Skoda, a 2 door one and she loved it but it went in for a service and wasn't financially viable for her anymore. She replaced it with a Fiat Punto and she said one time she still missed her old car. One time, she said, she was driving down the road and she saw it coming in the opposite direction. I asked, how could you tell it was definitely yours, she said she recognised the number plate.

She said she felt a bit sad that day but she got over it, sort-of.