This should be your current car. If you don’t have a meaningful relationship with the current car, you are allowed to descibe ONE special car from the past. If your relationship with your current car is essentially over, then you may describe what the next one should have in it.
I deal with 2 cars, one that is driven mostly by me. The other is the family station wagon.Yes, we are old fashioned, no sport UV for us. I just put 4 plastic hubcaps on it, since I lost one after 105 000 miles. Too much money for the replacement. But these are really nice sporty plastic hubcaps.Looks quite pleasing now. With a wash and vacuum, I could still sell it quickly for a little money. We don’t trade in cars. But we’ll sell to anyone, no special owner is needed.
As warm as it currently is in Southern California, I hate that the car gets so damned hot in the middle of the day, and the air-conditioning mechanism blows cool air through the defroster vents, not the vent ports on the vertical dashboard front.
I love that little button near the gear-shift that puts the top up and down within a matter of seconds and with no effort on my part (the top of my old MGB was a pain in the ass.)
I hate that it is too small to hold me, a 6’6" boyfriend, a 6’4" son, my daughter, and my 8 year old, let alone any-type of camping gear or suitcases. Even a trip to the drive-in movies takes two cars. One to hold kids and the other to hold lawnchairs and coolers.
Currently driving a 1993 Ford Escort Wagon. Teal. Shiny. Relatively cute, for a station wagon. Named Zalman, affectionately called Turbowagon, in order to boost his self-esteem and keep his spirits up in narsty Iowa winters. Purchased in 1997 upon discovery that our family was about to expand. (The Festiva --Chiclet-- was simply not “family-friendly”.)
I love the colourful stickers on Zally’s windshield. One is a big butterfly, the other is a sun. I love Zally’s stereo, and his rollaway hatch cover. I love his luggage rack. We’ve never actually used it for luggage, but when I left my cell phone on top of the car and went driving 65 down the interstate, Zally’s trusty luggage rack caught the phone and held it tight. I love that I can fit three car seats in the back. I love that Zally and I are so in tune (so to speak)… it’s almost like he was designed for me to drive. He’s treated me very well for the past two years, getting me around in yucky weather, getting good gas mileage, taking my son home from the hospital, etc. In light of all that, here is what I hate.
I hate the fact that Zalman the Teal Turbowagon has nearly 125,000 miles on him. My friend is getting old. He spends alot of time resting these days, as he exhausts easily (another unintended pun). It’s very disturbing, the notion that my Zally may not make it through the winter. I take solace in the belief that, since we had a late summer, perhaps winter will be late coming as well, and I may be able to keep him going till March. After that, who knows.
This just in from the Department Of Nifty Things You Discover From The Owners’ Manual.
If I leave my Jetta’s windows open, I can close them without having to get back in the car. I just put the key in the driver-side door, turn it to “lock”, and hold it there for a few seconds; all the windows slide politely closed. (I can open the windows by turning the key the other way, which is useful for letting the car cool off from the sun.)
Another item of note: the passenger-side door has no keyhole.
Of course I don’t fit in; I’m part of a better puzzle.
My car is a 1989 Camry wagon. It’s silver blue and it’s WONDERFUL. It gets great gas mileage, it does well in the city as well as on the highways, but what is the BEST part is the cool “http://fathom.org” chrome thingie on the back! http://fathom.org/opalcat/car.html
Oh, that’s easy. It’s a supercharged late model trans-am.
Like #1: It unwinds like a sonofabitch. Serious, shove your eyeballs out the back of your skull, whiplash inducing acceleration. Which I very rarely actually use, but sometimes on a nice clear on-ramp…
Like #2: After you take the key out of the ignition, the accessory power to the radio/windows etc remains on so you can listen to the rest of the tune, or roll up the windows if you forgot, without putting the key back in.
Dislike #1: Handling-wise, it ain’t no Porsche/Vette.
Dislike #2: You need to feed it high octane gas, which can get pricey.
I love handicapped cars. That’s why I haven’t replaced the mini spare on my Tercel yet. New cars have no personality. I love every rattle and squeak it makes. I love the missing Toyota logo. In my previous cars, many had a door that didn’t work, and I think that’s great, as long as it isn’t the driver’s door.
Above all, I like cheapness, like the plastic window cranks and the flimsy visors.
Don’t ask me about women, I have no room for women in my life. I think I’ll just buy another clunker of a car as back up for the Tercel. Maybe a really old Camaro, for balance to the weak Tercel. I will not give up the Tercel until it dies in traffic or gets totally beat up.
My '97 Town and Country van has the greatest cup holders that can fit everything from a sippy cup to a Big Gulp b/c some genius made them adjustable. The ride is smooth, and there’s lots of room for the kids to kill each other in the back.
What I hate about it? Did I mention it was a mini-van?
Better stay away from any new Volkswagen, then. This is one of the design features they have in common.
Regardless, Omni, I think your move would be ruined anyway; the car has power locks that open by remote, so opening the door manually would be a dead giveaway of premeditation. (You can’t even “lose” the remote clicker, because it’s part of the key itself.)
Of course I don’t fit in; I’m part of a better puzzle.
Auraseer, my husband drives a 97 Jetta and finally figured out that all of the doors have to be unlocked in order to open the door to the gas tank!
As for my car, I LOVE my car. I am on my second Jeep Wrangler. I have wanted one since I was in high school, so when I bought my first car (at 25!) I bought a Wrangler and I just traded her in for a new one. It was very sad, but I love the new one.
I love taking the top down, I love being higher than most other drivers on the road. It is great in Winter not to have to shovel the driveway, just put her in 4 wheel drive and plow thru the snow…
My car. The Airplane (named by my husband). I love it’s size (93 Eagle Vision aka Intrepid)-I can pack in the people. It’s got a spacious trunk to fit everything in. It looks good, even after 6 years and 163,000 miles. Yes, you read that number right. Miles don’t scare me; just maintain it and you’ll be fine. You’re better off doing repairs than taking out a loan to buy a new car. You come out ahead when you consider the finance charges. Has a pretty kickin’ standard stereo. Good speaker distribution. Hubby says that it’s got the best bass sound he’s heard in a regular/stock car stereo.
What don’t I like? It’s missing a hubcap and they are too expensive to replace from the dealer. I have a big scratch where I backed into the mail box (whoops!) that makes it look like someone keyed me. I’ve got a hole in my evaporator coil so my a/c coolant leaks out. (Gee, it’s only about $700 freakin’ dollars to replace cause it’s behind the dashboard ::sigh::.) Also, it’s not paid off (we bought it in '96).
My current vehicle is a '96 Chevy Corsica. I’ve had it for about a year & a half. I do like it. It’s reliable. Get me where I need to go, and I’ve had no major trouble with it. Even though I’ve had it for as long as I have, I haven’t really “bonded” with it, though. But it is special, for a couple of reasons, the first one being that it is the first car that I’ve bought from a dealership, with financing, like real grown-ups do Also, it’s the first car that I’ve ever owned that was manufactured in the same decade that I happened to own it.
My personal fave car, though, was the car I had just before the Corsica. It was a '78 Chevy Impala. My boyfriend (at the time) bought it for me. He is a licensed mechanic, and he also helped to rebuild it, before he gave it to me. It was “Baby.” It was also “The Car That Would Not Die.” I beat the crap out of that car, and still it loved me, and did everything I wanted it to do. It was a big yellow boat of a vehicle, ugly as all get out, but boy, could that thing go. I had a bad accident in the winter in that thing (see the Nice Cops thread), and I hit the guardrail on the expressway. Took out FIVE guardposts, and all that needed to be done to Baby was to pry the fender away from the tire. A little crunched in front, but no mechanical damage at all. Sigh. I loved that car.
my car Betsey and i have grown up together. she is a 1987 Acura Integra, 4-door with hatchback, and has over 200,000 miles under her belt. she and i have driven to houston and back to missouri, to oregon and back, and may be attempting another roadtrip to san francisco this fall. she gets over 30 mpg, even with the AC on in the summer, and still has a little of the original “VAVOOM” she had as a youngster. she’s never broken down on me, and has served me well for 5 years now. i will never own any car but a honda or acura.
I like my Windstar because it is comfy and reliable. Also, the doors slide so my disabled daughter can get in and out without assistance. Fairly good gas mileage, too.
On the debit side – it’s a mini-van, you know? No matter what you can say about a mini-van, you just can’t say they’re cool!
To add insult to injury, our second car is even less cool than a mini-van – it’s a 1988 Plymouth Horizan. Yeah, yeah, but it gets 40 miles to the gallon and my husband has a 40 mile a day commute.
Fotunately, no matter how un-cool our cars are we also have a Harley (1986 FLST with a lot of chrome and a custom paint-job – bright red with yellow and orange flames), so our cool-ness is always guaranteed.
The best part about my car is that it’s paid off. 1990 Honda Accord, 85K miles, bought it a few years ago cheap ($7300), paid it off, it runs great, and the last time I checked the used car ads similar cars were going for $6300. Yay!
I have a '95 Grand Prix. I really like the car, it is much sportier than anything I’ve ever had. The best thing is the cup holders between the bucket seats…they hold everything from a can to my great big water bottles.
The worst part is the keyless entry device. The trunk button is WAY to easy to push, and just holding it in my hand will sometimes open the trunk. I can’t tell you how many times I have cursed that feature as I stomp back and slam the trunk lid down. But I still use it because it is so much easier than a key. Which I don’t even think I have, by the way.
Oh - and Omni - you would definitely get me with your move.
That is handy especially with snow and slush, driving behind a semi. But, otherwise I don’t need them. I worked with this woman that had SUV that she kept the backseat down on, so her dog could run around there.She never could give anybody a ride.
Things I hate about our our Old wagon: electrical cooling fan.Burned out 2. You get this when the 6 cylinder is sideways.
Saturn:Key lock.Failed.Then I bent a key so badly it wouldn’t work.Had to borrow pliers to straighten it back.
I love that I even have a car to get back and forth from school and home. I also like how the parking break is right by my hand, along with the shift (it’s an automatic, but the shift is where it would be for a manual). I also love that my brother didnt take out the radio/casette player.
I hate how old it is, the paint is chipped and its a really ugly boxy '86 cavalier (with an ugly red strip along the side too). I am happy it’s not as bad as this other car in the neighborhood (A really rusted ugly as sin version of mine :)).
It also begins to shake and scare the hell out of me at stops. I pray it doesnt die on me at a busy intersection (it hasn’t, but i just hope the shaking doesnt turn into the engine dying on me). I have had the pleasure of a car dying on me on the highway (i was driving my parents car and the battery died…no power at all). I also hate how the gas pedal is kind of stiff, and how the AC belt squeals sometimes (i had it tightened but it makes a short squeal every now and then.
Also, it’s the first car that I’ve ever owned that was manufactured in the same decade that I happened to own it.