# Someone offers you a free car, with a catch... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 9, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774 "2010-05-09T00:32:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/1 "2010-05-09T00:32:37Z")
Okay, so lets just say that you are walking along the street and a person walks up to you. They offer you a free, brand new car. For the sake of this poll, lets say a mid-range vehicle of the type you would normally drive, be that an SUV, a mini-van, a truck or a sedan. There is a catch. The vehicle will be covered in gaudy corporate logos and painted a bright color to match the logo. Think NASCAR. You are not allowed to paint over the logos or alter the outer appearance of the vehicle in any way. You do not get to choose what logos appear on the car and will not know ahead of time which ones they are (just that they are “family friendly”). Do you accept? ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/2 "2010-05-09T00:38:23Z")
A new, free car is a new, free car. I’ll take it, thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/3 "2010-05-09T00:46:25Z")
Can I sell the car? ---
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/4 "2010-05-09T00:47:40Z")
Good question. Let’s say that you must drive the car for a minimum of 3 years. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/5 "2010-05-09T00:50:21Z")
A free car for 3 years? Of course I would. My friends would all joke around until I mention their $4-500 payments that I’m no longer making. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/6 "2010-05-09T00:51:11Z")
Sure, why not? A free car’s a free car. ---
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/7 "2010-05-09T00:58:43Z")
That’s pretty much how I feel about it but when I asked a group of friends, two would not accept. One because he would want to drive around in it. One because she didn’t want to be an advertisement for random corporations. ---
**Author:** ![Kkrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Kkrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kkrose)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/8 "2010-05-09T01:03:58Z")
I have a car and the payments don’t put me out as much as the random annoying questions and comments about the logo on my car would. And I am poor. It is possible I am not much of a people person, but a logo on my car seems like it would be an invitation to the anti-corporation loonies of my fair city to come up to me and start ranting. I am in Northern California, there are a lot of those fine folks here. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/9 "2010-05-09T01:07:31Z")
Yes, I would accept the car. A few years ago I gave my old car away to a bag lady. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/10 "2010-05-09T01:09:12Z")
I’m male and voted yes. A free car is a free car. Where do I sign up? Like you said, I could pretend I’m a NASCAR driver. ---
**Author:** ![luv2draw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@luv2draw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luv2draw)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/11 "2010-05-09T01:32:27Z")
Female. I’d accept the logo covered car. BUT I would have to see what I was advertising first. If it were cigarettes or beer or something I don’t like or don’t want to be associated with, I wouldn’t accept. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/12 "2010-05-09T01:34:58Z")
No, I cannot afford the insurance payments on a new car. And I would not drive it uninsured. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/13 "2010-05-09T01:44:35Z")
> [@luv2draw](#): > > Female. I’d accept the logo covered car. > > BUT I would have to see what I was advertising first. If it were cigarettes or beer or something I don’t like or don’t want to be associated with, I wouldn’t accept. The OP said that you wouldn’t know beforehand what the logos were. I said no, because there are corporations I don’t particularly care to advertise, and I am not enough in need a vehicle to take that chance. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/14 "2010-05-09T01:50:05Z")
A free car is a free car and I wouldn’t turn it down. I’d still keep my other vehicle for situations where I would object to a logo covered car. If the logo’s I ended up with were objectionable I could park it and just use it when i needed to haul fertilizer or something. If I was required to drive it a minimum number of miles or had to rid myself of other vehicles it wouldn’t really be free. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/15 "2010-05-09T01:52:30Z")
I’d accept in a second. A new truck is a new truck. What do I care what it advertises? If I don’t like the products, I can always bad-mouth them whenever I can. Few people are going to be swayed just by a truck with ads on it, no matter what the sponsors of NASCAR think. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/16 "2010-05-09T01:52:31Z")
I’d take it, although I might cringe mightily when seeing what the logo’s were. Bright ugly colors I can deal with, but say it was a Toyota covered with Toyota logs, I’d be in big trouble since I work for Ford. My husband, OTOH, immediately refused, stating that he’d rather be poor making payments than be a ‘corporate tool’. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/17 "2010-05-09T01:59:58Z")
Now what does “family friendly” mean? Is it McDonalds and Bell, or is it fundamentalist churches and anti-abortion groups? (I guess the latter wouldn’t be likely where I live, but we never know.) If the former, I wouldn’t have a problem driving the car, but I also don’t have a car, have never had one and don’t really need one either. So I’d have to ask myself if I really want the expense that even a free car would represent. I’d probably end up taking it; even if I don’t _need_ it it’d be useful to me. ---
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/18 "2010-05-09T02:15:46Z")
Family friendly means that it is something that would be appropriate for children. This means no cigarettes, alcohol or adults subjects. Fundamentalist churches and anti-abortion groups aren’t generally corporations, so not those either. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/19 "2010-05-09T02:37:15Z")
Good taste isn’t always something you can afford. Send me a free car. I’ll get rid of it when I have money for something that’s not an eyesore. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774/20 "2010-05-09T03:02:59Z")
> [@heraldgwena](#): > > TOne because she didn’t want to be an advertisement for random corporations. If it was for causes I had a strong moral objection to, then maybe I wouldn’t agree. My list of such is very small, so I expect I would have no problem. I have never learned to drive, though, so it would be wasted. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-offers-you-a-free-car-with-a-catch/538774.md?page=2)