Some days, I just think "why bother,"

"BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast." (boxerfanatic)
09/18/2013 at 17:35 • Filed to: Bah Humbug

Why bother driving a nice car around... I realize it is somewhat anti-jalop, but still, I wonder.

Why not just get a ratty old little truck, with a flatbed on the back. Something mechanically sound, with heat and air, and runs fine, but ugly and beat up. I see one on my way to work, and wonder if it is reliable... If it is mechanically sound, I would think it would be simple to use without being concerned about it.

Pavement SUCKS, and beats cars with sport suspensions to death, and causes high repair costs for suspension, driveline, exhaust coming loose from hangers... etc.

Traffic SUCKS, and people rear-end you when you have to stop for construction or utility vehicles in the middle of the road. Yes, this happened to me yesterday.

Weather SUCKS, and goes from sweltering hot and drought dry and dusty, to cold, and rainy, and back to hot, in the space of days or hours. The car gets dirty, muddy, and cruddy, just by being outside. And it isn't even winter yet, which is a whole other kind of suck.

Door dings, parking lot prangs, insurance rates, gas prices, having to park far away from everything, and leave it un-attended all day, hail storms, sun baking, all SUCK.

Maybe I should just stop giving a damn, and buy a disposable vehicle that I don't care about, that can take the abuse, feed it cheap gas, liability insurance only, cheap tires, cheap parts or held together with fence wire...

DISCUSSION (25)

J. Walter Weatherman > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 17:39

I guess I don't see that as being anti-Jalop. Finding things to enjoy about beater cars is actually quite Jalop in my book. Maybe I am outside the norm though...

B_dol > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 17:40

I completely agree with you. I hate caring about the look and performance of my car.

DD a beater, sure. But at some point I'm driving around a $2000 unappealing, numb, economy car more than a car I paid good money for. I will DD my FR-S until I can't take it any more

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > J. Walter Weatherman
09/18/2013 at 17:46

No, I totally agree with you. Jalopnik alwasy talked about "liking a car for the curve of the hood", so I believe finding things to like about a car even an old beat up car, is pretty jalop.

Plus, even a somewhat bland car gains personality if well used and taken care of.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > B_dol
09/18/2013 at 17:47

Most of the time I think it would be nice to have a garage queen, special-occaision and road-trip nice car...

But then all the same crap can happen to that... or the garage can start on fire, or someone could see and try to steal the car, if it truly is nice. Some days I don't even know about that.

But daily slogging is really taking a toll on my car, and beating it, and it has been getting worse of the last few years, with roads not being maintained, yet gas, insurance, and costs of ownership all going up, while wages don't. It is getting harder to afford a nice car, or to pay to keep a car nice.

And as my car gets beaten, and even just looking for other cars... used car prices are much higher than they were before, as well... for something that will likely get beaten again on the daily slog.

I thought that having a nice, sporty car to drive every day would help my commute be less depressing. The car being beaten and costing more money is not having that effect, quite the opposite.

Plus, my commute is still boring as hell, except when I get hit by someone who was probably texting instead of driving.

Dakotacowboy > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 17:48

Another advantage to a truck like the one pictured is big steel bumpers. If someone does rear-end you, this truck can be repaired with a torch and sledgehammer. The person that hit you on the other hand will need at minimum a whole new front fascia.

Takuro Spirit > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 17:48

You can buy my Camry, if you want to.

ttyymmnn > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 17:49

Jalopnik used to be tagged "Obsessed with the cult of cars." Not "the cult of pretty cars" or "the cult of bad ass luxury sports cars." Personally, I'm more obsessed with the act of driving , rather than the vehicle itself. So whatever you enjoy driving, for whatever reason, is Jalop, IMO.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > J. Walter Weatherman
09/18/2013 at 17:49

I am not talking about enjoying it.

I am talking about getting something that I care little to nothing about, is stone-simple, and not made of tin foil and rubber bands, so that when it gets damaged and abused by the prevailing conditions, I don't care.

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 17:50

I live in Northern Virginia. And that's how I feel almost every day. I love my Si, but I know it's only a matter of time before someone fucks it up.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Takuro Spirit
09/18/2013 at 17:52

I think I need something with more ground clearance, and stronger parts for the section of city street that I drive over to get to work, that is so badly, and often asphalt patched, that it looks, and feels like driving on the moon. Freakin' gravel roads are smoother than that particular street... but it is several blocks well out of the way to go around it.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 17:53

From personal experience, daily driving an M3 DOES NOT SUCK .

But I bought used (last year). My car is a driver, no garage queen. It's been to the track a few times and gets taken on long road trips where the sole point is driving . I like to keep it as clean as possible, do my best to keep it in good shape, and the day I get a dent worse than a paint chip will be a very sad day, but I thoroughly enjoy the hour I spend in my car each day.

If you can find a daily that gives you everything from your last sentence, and you love driving it, I think you'll have nailed it.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Dakotacowboy
09/18/2013 at 17:54

That is one of the things about the flat bed....

With a steel beam as the back edge of the flat bed, bolted directly to the frame... someone who rear ends that... crumples the hood back half way to the windshield cowl... and the beater just gets another battle scratch, and the universal tail lights are a couple of bucks at the auto parts store.

J. Walter Weatherman > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
09/18/2013 at 17:55

Exactly, any idiot can fall in love with an Audi or a Lambo, but it takes a special kind of idiot to appreciate a shitboxed 1996 Ford Ranger with no options and 250,000k miles... and we call those special idiots Jalops!

Takuro Spirit > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 17:56

I was in my 3 on the way to work last week, and came across a closed road for some type of road work..... It had a huge hump at the entrance that I didn't want to rip plastic bits off the bottom of the Mazda on, but would have been ready and willing with the 'Yota. It's got some clearance. And worn struts. You won't even feel the potholes.

dinobot666 > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 17:57

Why bother kinda car? How about a 2014 Toyota Corolla? Be warned, it uses the same trunk hinges from the previous model, so that makes it pretty terrible. By why bother right?

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > J. Walter Weatherman
09/18/2013 at 17:57

Haha, good point!

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > dinobot666
09/18/2013 at 18:03

Whether or not I like the 2014 Corolla... which I don't happen to... because it is mostly ugly...

Is that it is new, and probably at least 20 grand. (16.8K is probably the loss-leader stripped out model that nobody ever finds in stock, and even breathing on the option list puts it up to 20K+) I would have to borrow for that, and insure it as collateral for the loan.

If I wanted to spend anywhere near 20 grand, there are a lot of used cars I would look for.... and then all those things I mentioned above... would happen to a car I owed money on, and would have to worry about...

It is bad enough having to worry about a car I like. I am NOT going to worry about a car I owe money on, that I really DON'T like. There is no up-side.

Dakotacowboy > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 18:03

Also, the sheer intimidation factor. A truck like the Toyota pictured will make people more courteous towards you. I've noticed since I switched from my Neon to my Dakota that I get a lot more respect on the road.

J. Walter Weatherman > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 18:07

Got it. I guess my reaction to that is: why not both? Cars are tools and are meant to help us in our daily life, so I don't see any conflict between having a car that you are ok with getting used and abused while serving its purpose, but also really appreciate for what it is. Just because you love your car does not mean you have to baby it and agonize over every door ding. That is pretty much exactly why I have my salvage-title 1993 Land Cruiser. It exists to take the abuse that I need out of a utilitarian car, and does it ever get abused! That does not mean that I like it any less, though!

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
09/18/2013 at 18:09

Evidently, you don't drive where I drive. The roads are straight, and boring...

And this morning I had to follow a freakin' white rusty Pontiac Montana minivan for more than 8 miles of the highway section of my commute, at 40 damn miles per hour, because there was just enough traffic to not be able to pass.

I have had my car "bumped" and paint scratched many times in the parking lot at work. Divots in plastic bumpers, a nasty little divot in the fender lip on the driver's rear... door dings...

I would feel bad about subjecting any M3 to that treatment, and that is kind of the point. I am getting sick and tired of worrying about that, and am giving up on the idea of enjoying my commute, since I don't enjoy it now, even with a turbocharged, manual gearbox AWD Subaru. If I can't enjoy that... and only worry about it... what is the point?

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > J. Walter Weatherman
09/18/2013 at 18:15

I guess I don't equate the appreciation of something being worry free, the same as having something that I really like/love.

If I really like something, I want to keep it fairly pristine, or in good shape.

It is getting harder to do that, due to external circumstances, and reduced economic buying power.

If I have something that I don't mind being or getting beaten up... I understand the appreciation of that care-free status... but it kind of means that I don't actively LIKE the vehicle for much of any other reason, or else I would care about it's condition.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 18:17

I feel for you, man. Move, maybe?

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather
09/18/2013 at 18:24

That is about the size of it.

shinsen > J. Walter Weatherman
09/18/2013 at 19:58

A'men brother

JasonStern911 > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
09/18/2013 at 23:48

I can relate to some of what you say. As much as I love my 996, the limits are insane to a point where driving it responsibly in a city is, well, a disservice to the car. Unless I have to get a car for child or motorcycle hauling purposes, my next car is going to be something bat shit stupid insane, like a V8 Porsche 914 with Prius tires.