Odd car selection of a house close to mine.

Kinja'd!!! "mazda616" (mazda616)
02/20/2017 at 18:18 • Filed to: Different

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My neighborhood is two streets of mid-to-upper middle class homes (3-4 bedroom, 1.5 to 2 bath) and it connects to a neighborhood of bigger, more expensive homes (4-5 bedroom, 3-4 bath). The bigger home part has HOAs and all that. It’s mostly rich, old people. That’s why this one house on the corner of the middle street perplexes me. For as long as I can remember, these three cars have sat in the driveway in various states of disrepair.

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My friend’s parents live up the street, so I knew this neighborhood even before I lived close to it. This household also has a Mercury Topaz of the same vintage as the Tempo pictured here. Their newest and only other car is a Lincoln Zephyr (what the MKZ was known as when it was first introduced).

It’s certainly different than the 47 or so other driveways, many of which contain Lexus RX SUVs and/or loaded up minivans of some type.


DISCUSSION (14)


Kinja'd!!! fintail > mazda616
02/20/2017 at 18:25

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I like how the 86-87 Tempo has “historic” plates, and the bustleback Continental doesn’t (it appears to be older). Someone likes Fords.


Kinja'd!!! mazda616 > fintail
02/20/2017 at 18:29

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Right? I thought about that, too. But, the Continental hasn’t moved for around 10-15 years. I know it was sitting there my senior year of high school, which was 2008. I remember my friend’s parents complaining about it. They live two houses up from this one.


Kinja'd!!! Viggen > mazda616
02/20/2017 at 18:32

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I’ll give them $1.50 and some pocket lint for the lot.


Kinja'd!!! mazda616 > Viggen
02/20/2017 at 18:35

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I guess the neighborhood has gotten more lax about things as time has gone on. Most of the homes were built in the early ‘90s and I know upkeep and such had strict rules applied to them then.

But, the house next to this one was a bankruptcy/foreclosure mess and sat empty for 4-5 years (and not maintained well during that time), so apparently they aren’t as up people’s butts about things as they used to be.


Kinja'd!!! Viggen > mazda616
02/20/2017 at 18:38

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Probably a case by case basis. HOAs can become cliques rather fast.


Kinja'd!!! mazda616 > Viggen
02/20/2017 at 18:40

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Very true. I’m so glad my neighborhood doesn’t have one. I’d probably get complaints about my s10 being parked on the street.

I know one guy that had a Chevette with no paint left on it as his work car, because he worked at a factory where ash fallout would occasionally screw up paint of the cars in the parking lots.

He got so many complaints from the HOA that he had to put the Chevette in the garage at night and leave his brand new truck in the driveway.


Kinja'd!!! comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer > mazda616
02/20/2017 at 18:47

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I was about to swear those wheels on the tempo were right off an ‘89 ranger, but then saw they were 4 lug (looked closely when I finally thought...I doubt a ranger and topaz have the same lug spacing).


Kinja'd!!! Viggen > mazda616
02/20/2017 at 18:49

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I’ve yet to live somewhere with an HOA. I’d like to avoid living in one because I’d like to be able to work on my car and leave it out for a few days if I can’t finish it on a weekend. Or fly a flag off my house.


Kinja'd!!! fintail > mazda616
02/20/2017 at 18:50

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Yeah, with that air suspension failure, it’s not going anywhere fast. doesn’t appear to have a CHMSL, so pre-86. Maybe an unincorporated area? Code enforcement types love to crack down on non-op cars. Something tells me the T-Bird (1969 perhaps) isn’t going anywhere either.


Kinja'd!!! Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > mazda616
02/20/2017 at 20:13

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[Clenches chest] Ahh! Those oil stains...


Kinja'd!!! Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > mazda616
02/20/2017 at 20:16

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Only owned one home (or does the debt own me?), no HOA. Happy to not be in one.


Kinja'd!!! Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > fintail
02/20/2017 at 20:18

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May be a matter of use. I was going to get collector plates at some point, but WA says that vehicles with them cannot be used for work or utility purposes. Namely, that I can’t use my pickup to haul crap. Considering that’s its primary function, no fancy plates for me.


Kinja'd!!! fintail > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/20/2017 at 21:07

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Use and age, no doubt. Makes me feel old when cars I remember as being fairly modern are now considered “classic” by the authorities.

I don’t know if the law is enforced too much (although I guess it only takes one zealous cop). I had year of manufacture plates on my fintail when I was a student and it was my everyday car. No real issues, only was questioned once when the plates weren’t showing up in the database (1990s quality). I even commuted it in it for a little while before I finally bought a modern car.


Kinja'd!!! Frenchlicker > mazda616
02/20/2017 at 21:21

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I passed by a Topaz at the gym I just joined today. If I walk by it too many times I am going to buy that damn thing. It has one dent and no rust!!!