How emotionally attached are you to your car?

How emotionally attached are you to your car?

Author
Discussion

Debaser

5,665 posts

260 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
I'm not. They're just machines.

2 sMoKiN bArReLs

30,230 posts

234 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
cloud9

I love my cars. I still go in the garage at night just to look at them.

TheFinners

543 posts

126 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
omgus said:
We are all idiots!

But how good are they at long fairly high speed journeys. They bloody eat up miles and seem to love sitting at a fairly daft cruising speed just below 4k rpm.
As long as you look away from the fuel gauge then great! Engine is a little boomy at about 70+10 but sitting at the limit or going faster seems to solve this. Quick enough to keep the 2.0TDI brigade at bay for the most part too (in the correct gear anyway).

PerfectDark

47 posts

106 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
I know how you feel OP. To most people I drive a 16 year old Peugeot that should have been scrapped years ago and I should instead be leasing something Germanic with all the soul of a mouldy kipper. Through my rose tinted spectacles though I'm driving one of the best hot hatches of the 90's, and even though I've spent coming up to 3 times the purchase price on fixing the various broken bits / servicing, it has plenty of soul. I'd be lying if I said I haven't been incredibly close to cutting my losses and flogging it on, but on the right roads you end up smiling and forgetting about the non working aircon causing you to boil, or the fact that it's plotting to spend more money on my credit card than I would normally be happy with.

I think Jeremy Clarkson sums it up nicely in Eric Bana's "Love The Beast" movie. "It’s what non-car people don’t get. They see all cars as just a ton and a half, two tons of wires, glass, metal, and rubber, and that’s all they see. People like you or I know we have an unshakable belief that cars are living entities… You can develop a relationship with a car and that’s what non-car people don’t get… When something has foibles and won’t handle properly, that gives it a particularly human quality because it makes mistakes, and that’s how you can build a relationship with a car that other people won’t get."

Edited by PerfectDark on Thursday 16th June 18:26

daemon

35,720 posts

196 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
I have to feel a desire for the car to buy it. I dont particularly want something because it does X, Y or Z for me.

Likewise, if i fall "out of love" with it, it generally gets sold quite quickly.

DonkeyApple

54,919 posts

168 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
Ex cars are much like ex girlfriends, Paul.

Some you have fond memories of, some, not so fond but both are just expensive cockpits that would get in the way of the replacement.

2 sMoKiN bArReLs

30,230 posts

234 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
DonkeyApple said:
Ex cars are much like ex girlfriends, Paul.

Some you have fond memories of, some, not so fond but both are just expensive cockpits that would get in the way of the replacement.
....and having more than one at any one time can get messy biggrin

daemon

35,720 posts

196 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
DonkeyApple said:
Ex cars are much like ex girlfriends, Paul.

Some you have fond memories of, some, not so fond but both are just expensive cockpits that would get in the way of the replacement.
Indeed. And for the most part - for me anyway - temperamental and high maintenance.

And then theres the cars i've had too.. hehe

AntiLagGC8

1,724 posts

111 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
My Prodrive Impreza RB5, I've owned it for a long time and in that time its had everything upgraded except for the exterior which is completely standard. It's had its engine worked over and now makes 355bhp which I feel makes it a lot more fun to drive. It always felt slightly underwhelming with 255bhp.

It's still such a raw, involving drive and in my mind looks great! I also feel its been through a lot of experiences with me.

Biker's Nemesis

38,534 posts

207 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
My old Mk1 Focus RS, I've had it years.

Vitorio

4,296 posts

142 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
Depends very much on the car

Ill admit i had a little cry when i had to let my alfa mito 155hp sport go... loved the little bugger.

The recent megane company derv though, meh, havent missed it for a second.

I also kinda miss my old 33 rustbucket, and i really do get on well with the current 147, it has its foibles and weaknesses, but it still is a lovely car to drive/be in, cant imagine i'd say the same about a 14 year old golf

Jasandjules

69,825 posts

228 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
ZesPak said:
Okay I cried a little, that's it, I've officially turned into a woman. I'll leave my balls at the door.
If it helps, when I sold my first Chimaera, I had to fight back the tears.........

talksthetorque

10,815 posts

134 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
Bizarrely I was quite attached to the Baleno, probably because i did a few tasteful mods like spoiler, filter, springs, wheels and of course a flip-front stereo, 6x9s and a sub. Also it was away from the mainstream, mates were driving corsas escorts and 5 turbos.
Had a scoob for 7 years, but never really got attached.
Mark 2 Leon FR tdi was another one that got me. 3 years and 121k miles is enough to form a bond with anything, especially as i was working in Scotland and Newcastle a lot of the time and got to enjoy a lot of driving on nice roads.
So much so that 9 months ago i leased a Mk3 Leon without even sitting in one, but ill be glad when this one goes back. Just not clicked with it.

Alias218

1,485 posts

161 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
jhonn said:
Cheer up - you can always buy another. biggrin
No you can't. Once it's gone, it's gone. It may be the same model, but it won't be the same car. It's like losing a bird and going after her twin sister - looks the same, feels the same, isn't the same.

Although in that instance I think I could be forgiven laugh

TheInsanity1234

740 posts

118 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
I think my family have formed emotional attachments to the Clio and Galaxy we had previously.

We had the Galaxy from 2 years old (acquired some time in 2008) and about 6k miles all the way to 110k miles in November 2015 (purchased from my grandfather who gave up driving). It was a tough old workhorse, and apart from the air conditioning not functioning when it was too hot (in typically British fashion), it was pretty faultless and we only gave it up due to a bunch of small niggles which were slowly mounting up into a very expensive collection of problems, so we decided to cut our losses before it decided to disintegrate. It's been replaced with a VW Transporter converted into a campervan.

Much the same happened to our Clio, we got it brand new back in 2007 and kept it until July 2014 and 120k miles. Mostly faultless until 100k miles when the electrics decided to do a typically French thing, and the wipers packed in, all on top of the engine starting to act up and then the final straw happened when the air conditioning stopped working, at around 117k miles, and we laboured on for another 3k miles before we decided to just replace it with our Yeti. Oh, also, being a French Clio, the 4th speed setting on the fans cut out at random times and we took it back for a fix, and it turns out the problem was a broken resistor somewhere deep inside the dashboard, we just didn't care enough about it to get it fixed.

So right from the get go, both cars had very, very small problems which ended up being endearing faults, something that just made them seem more human.

Both cars went through a lot with the family, as they travelled between both our houses in Essex and West Berkshire as the family went through a two stage move combined with my uncle and grandfather dying at the same time, all on top of me changing schools from a boarding school in Brighton to one in West Berkshire.

Going through that kind of crap with a car which is mostly faultless but never left you stranded is going to endear you to the car.

So yeah, the family shed a couple of tears and there were guilty feelings all around when we got rid of both the Clio and the Galaxy.

vournikas

11,682 posts

203 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
I suppose I'm getting sort of emotionally attached to mine, if nothing else that it's the first car I've ever bought for cash and was done so purely in the knowledge that it's not the most practical car in the world (an E46 325 coupe).

It's not perfect as some blebs have just started to appear on top of the front wheel arches, but (honestly) every time I look at it, and every time I start it, and every time I wring that straight 6 out to the red line I just love the thing.

bigkeeko

1,370 posts

142 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all

Some right faggoty stuff going on in this thread. Some of you women need to sort yourselves out.

Nah, I`m kidding tongue out I actually walked from the house and into the road and watched it drive away. Then went to the back of the house and listened to the old V8 until it disappeared, came into the house sat down and said "What have I done?" I was pig sick for hours. Autotrader PH and Ebay managed to lift my spirits though.

GTIAlex

1,935 posts

165 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all


My first car and daily for four years, off the road for three and now sat on its side having a fortune spent on it.

Could probably buy three roadworthy minis for the money its costing but it just wouldn't be the same

True love.

DonkeyApple

54,919 posts

168 months

Thursday 16th June 2016
quotequote all
GTIAlex said:


My first car and daily for four years, off the road for three and now sat on its side having a fortune spent on it.

Could probably buy three roadworthy minis for the money its costing but it just wouldn't be the same

True love.
Yes, but just imagine, there are people out there who have never owned a real mini!!!! That's the true loss.

AdamIndy

1,661 posts

103 months

Friday 17th June 2016
quotequote all
omgus said:
Focus ST170 the engine warning light has been on for 4 years and no one can figure out why
Geek mode on

The imrc solenoid is a very common problem.

If it's something to do with the imrc solenoid there can be a few different problems. Not many people know much about them so it's an issue that can go unsolved.

The main ones are the plastic arm on the inlet manifold that can break, the solenoid still works but the runners stay put throwing the light on. New arm is a couple of quid and 20 mins to fit.

The other main issue is inside the solenoid itself. Any damp will corrode the contacts on the switch inside the unit itself. Mine did this. It is fixable and costs nothing. It's a bit involved but not really difficult. Just need to open the "sealed" unit, get to the copper motor contacts and hit them with some sandpaper. Rebuild, reseal(not too much*) and likelihood is it will be fine.

  • I didn't clean mine up well enough and it happened again a few months later. Tried to open it up again but used way too much sealant and couldn't get it apart!
I bought a new one and touch wood, nothing has gone wrong again. They are bloody expensive though!

The other main issue is the fuel pump losing pressure. Supposedly a problem that WILL happen between 70-80k. With this looming I found a new, unused pump on the bay and bought it for £100. Ford charge around £300 iirc. It's now on 89k and It's still in the box!hehe

geek mode off hehe

For all there flaws, which there actually isn't many in my eyes, they really are a great, usable quickish car!