The Stages of Car Ownership

"B_dol" (bdolan40)
09/09/2014 at 10:30 • Filed to: None

Car ownership, like many experiences in life is characterized by a number of recognizable stages found commonplace amongst enthusiasts. One may not experience them entirely, in order, nor at all, but they still hold true. I'll try to supplement this with my own photos as best I can...

The Hunt

The hunt for a car can manifest itself in many different ways, be it weeks at local dealerships, months scouring Craigslist and Auto Trader or a happenchance discovery in an abandoned lot across town. For many this can be the most exciting and agonizing stage, and a daydream fantasy for others while practicality or money dictates reality. Emotions run deep during the hunt as you take those first (or second) test drives. Stranger in the passenger seat be damned, you're trying to gage a lifetime in a mere 10 minutes while "Bob" extols the finer brochure points.

Some window shopping ...

The Honeymoon

OK, you've secured your dream-ride (or at least a grocery getter). Now begins the honeymoon stage of car ownership. Like any true relationship, you have a few weeks or months before you'll notice any downsides to your car. That awkward button interface or door latch, forget it. You grin ear to ear and show your purchase off, taking the busy route home as sunshine bounces off freshly detailed paint. The wife gives you the solo garage spot. The neighbors take note. Life is good.

Day 1 of ownership, still no clue how to operate a manual transmission... whoops.

The Doldrums

One would hope this stage takes a backseat to the first days of ownership, but often the 100 mile drive home from XYZ Craiglist poster's house becomes a living nightmare. Hidden zip ties give way and a mysterious smoke billows out of unseen crevices, your neighbor's 10 year old son decides to doodle with a sharp object on your freshly waxed car. Mechanical and cosmetic failure aside, suddenly that brand new car is a year old and 12 months into loan payments. The interior doesn't look as great and the front bumper has become a shrine to bug carcasses.

Yep. This car is no longer the joyful machine it once was, rather a finicky time and money pit. Things just aren't the same, and it might take a weekend in a Hertz rental Corolla to remove the sour taste from your mouth.

Wandering Eyes

Late at night on Craigslist you find you could be driving a 6speed Cayman S for peanuts more than you spent. Open this month's Road & Track and come face to face with the new model of your car, now 100lbs lighter and sporting a factory warrantied turbo. Suddenly your car isn't flavor of the week and everything seems more tantalizing than the sorry pile of metal in your driveway.

Wandering Eyes can set in years into ownership, or for those particularly afflicted... nearly daily. The grass will always appear greener and a broken record of what-ifs will haunt your existence.

SOON says the FR-S in the upper right corner.

Reality Sets In

Remember the doldrums? However unhappy or overextend you might be on the car, it is still your car god-dangit. You have learned to live with the flaws and temperamental check engine light. As a A to B car things are just fine, only the emotion has been forgotten or lost. Who knows, perhaps it is time to trade this sucker in and get back on the Hunt.

The FR-S being practical...

Enjoyment

Hopefully a car is something you enjoy on a regular basis, yet we all know some days the world is against us and the car is in pieces, broken down or simply not fit for stop-n-go traffic duty. I often find myself enjoying my car most as I take the scenic route home from work on a friday, hearing that familiar grunt as I start the engine and roll out of the parking lot. A few minutes later, I make it to my favorite overpass, and promptly blast underneath at 7500rpm just to hear the exhaust growl. Nearby home, I exit the freeway and roll the windows down. This is the best time of day, as the sun dips low and scatters its way through the thin tree trunks. Small leaf tornadoes kick up around the car and the exhaust burbles as I pull into the driveway. I wish every drive could be like this one.

Retirement

Sometimes, a car has to be let go. Whatever the reason, financial, logistics, old age or an upgrade, it's a strange sensation much like shutting the door on an old path in life and beginning anew.

For some this is a constant process across one car, and for others across a collection. Pretolicious wrote about car monogamy and how experiences may differ, check out the link below

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DISCUSSION (11)

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > B_dol
09/09/2014 at 10:43

Christ this is like me with relationships. Replace car with female and there you go. (Now I understand why I'm driving the same car I've owned for 7 years and only "act" like I'm shopping or looking for something new.)

Sn210 > B_dol
09/09/2014 at 10:44

this is what the truth sounds like

Soloburrito > B_dol
09/09/2014 at 10:53

I'm having a hard time with wandering eyes. Problem is what car do I find with better performance per $ than the Mustang I have now?

It's a trade-off of improved driving dynamics for intoxicating power or modern convinience and new warranty for something nearly a decade old.

So I guess I just have to buy a new Mustang. Oh well.

ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback > B_dol
09/09/2014 at 11:14

I don't drive as much as I'd like (being a 100% remote worker in IT for a bank) so my eyes wander frequently. But then as soon as I get into my car for a drive, all other cars fall away. E60 535 all day long!

V8VespaStoppie > B_dol
09/09/2014 at 11:33

Still in the enjoyment phase. I have wandering eyes but I will never get rid of him, just looking for an El Camino to join my stable. Love my V8 Charger to death.

quarterlifecrisis > B_dol
09/09/2014 at 12:03

I toy with the idea of getting rid of my car on a frequent basis. I want a fast sedan, of some sort. But then it's nice out, and I take the top off of the car, and realize I don't really want to get rid of it.

Or doI?

No. I don't think I do.

Yet.

Maybe.

B_dol > Soloburrito
09/09/2014 at 12:11

The new Mustang in Dark Green....mmm my eyes have wandered as well

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > B_dol
09/09/2014 at 18:16

This is why I'm 24 and have owned 8 cars, and a truck. I get bored, I get wandering eyes,, and I never take enough time in the hunt. which means the honeymoon ends sooner.

B_dol > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/09/2014 at 18:17

What have you had thus far and for how long?

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > B_dol
09/09/2014 at 18:53

92 Camry 4 banger auto: 10 months. the trans blew up... I blew it up doing neutral drops to get it to spin the tires

99 Civic sedan EX manual: 10 months. I found something better...wandering eyes

91 Civic hatch, 5 speed : 2.5 years. She was rear ended an totaled, but technically I still "own" it. It just that she's not road legal and hasn't be driven on pavement in 2 years.

also during the 2.5 years I had the 91.

97 Tacoma 4x4, 3.4l V6, manual: 4 months. I lost my job and had to sell it. It it wasn't for that I never would have let my "bullfrog" go.

and a 93 Mazda MX6 4 cyl manual: 3 months. It was a total POS the third time it left me stranded I said F**K it and crush the B*tch.

97 Integra sedan GSR: 6 months. It was sketchy. I never got a title for it. I drove it with the PO's plates for 6 months and then traded it as a parts car.

97 Accord sedan Ex, manual: 8 months. It was rusty and white, and I found something I liked more...

01 Civic coupe EX manual: 1 year and 1 day.

This car would be gone and replaced by one of the many things on CL I'd rather have, but I can't seem to sell it for what I want b/c I paid to much for it when I bought it.

Side note: I'm never buying a used car at a dealership again, it's just stupid. People always say that new cars drop to much in value "as soon as you drive off the lot", but really with rebates and stuff you get a great deal, and with a little luck your car will still be worth what you actually paid for it one the private market to some one who doesn't understand that 90% of the time M.S.R.P. is not what a car actually cost . Used cars however do really take a hit, cuz you buy them at retail and you can't sell them for retail. So say the retail KBB for your car is 6000, and you paid 5500, not bad. Except 6 months, and 3000 miles later the private party value of your car will be 4000, because the KBB private party value was 4500 when you bought it.

Also I miss counted that's 8 all together.

So I started driving my Camry in Sept of 08. So that's 8 vehicles in 6 years.

DanZman > B_dol
09/09/2014 at 19:51

true story... a 40" TV just like that one fits in the back of my Vette