Poll: What annoys you most about your non-car friends and family?

[Drew Dowdell]

Those of us into cars are a special breed.  Many of us keep our cars as if they are another member of the family.  So when we see friends or relatives mistreat their vehicles, it raises hairs on the back of our neck. 

 

What annoys you the most about these people? Is it:

 

How messy they keep their car?

I have a relative that just picked up a clean used Ford Explorer 6 months ago.  I saw it when he first got it and while it is a 2006, it was clean and in decent shape.  I saw it again over the holiday weekend and it was loaded with junk, brake dust all over the wheels and in need of a bath. 

 

Their disregard for for regular maintenance?

Back in high school I had a friend who had a 1986 Mercury Cougar.  It was a 10 year old car but in showroom condition with low miles. A few years into it, I noticed the oil change reminder sticker had never changed and the ink on the reminder had completely faded away.  I asked him when was the last time he changed his oil and he replied "uh... never".  Well, the next weekend he came over so I could change the oil for him.  It came out thicker than crude.  The engine survived though and ran just fine after the oil change. While I was under there, I looked at his tires and they were down to the cords.  We had a talk about that later. 

 

The way they drive?

Pretty self explanatory here. Are they shaving while talking on the phone while eating a taco while driving?

 

Their lack of passion?

I had a friend in college who had a '98 Toyota Corolla and he thought it was just the bestest car ever! He was fairly devastated when someone broke into it and stole the stock cassette / CD player.  I felt they did him a favor. 

 

Their misuse or misunderstanding of how certain vehicle features work?

This is my personal pick.  In my house, I pick out the vehicles and manage their care and feeding. What I can't seem to get through is that in a car with automatic temperature control, you don't need to set it to max because the system will manage the fan speed for you. Every time I get into our Buick Encore, I have to set the climate control back down to 72 from the 85 it is at when I get in. In the summertime, it works in reverse.

 

Other:

Something else I didn't list?  Put it in the comments below.

 

 

 

[Paolino]

It was VERY difficult to choose just one problem.

 

A messy car.  I'm a neat freak, but some people's utter disregard for basic vehicle maintenance drives me wild... you spill coffee in your car on a light tan upholstery in your Prius, then CLEAN IT.  It's been 7 years... still there.

 

Not knowing how to use the car's features.  My dad (and I'm going to have to take a Xanax after typing this), ALWAYS puts the temperature up to high when getting in the car and notches the fan to max.  In the summer, it's the opposite.  I have tried to give the lesson of: "Well, when you walk into your house and you're cold, you don't turn the thermostat up to 90 until the house is warm and then turn it down, right?"  It falls on deaf ears.  I finally caved and explained that they can "sync" their temperature up by hitting a certain button, instead of having my dad continually press the driver's side temp to 90 or Low, and then repeating for the passenger temperature, but alas, that fell on deaf ears too.  Every feature that is automatic in their car they've had me try to disable.  Their mirrors don't tilt in reverse.  Their reverse backup sensors are off.  When they had the Lucerne, they never trusted rainsense and constantly were the car with the "Hyper Wiper" as I call it (when your wipers are on "high" and you have an occasional drizzle out.)

 

Regular maintenance.  Who needs oil changes?  "I can get a little more life out of my squeaky/screechy brakes..." Yeah, I've had this conversation before.

 

Best. Car. Evar.  2003 Camry.  Friend gets into my LaCrosse and falls in love.  What does she buy herself?  A 2014 Camry.  6 months later... "It just doesn't excite me like my old car used to.  It's boring.  I almost wish I bought your car."

 

I can't complain about how people drive because if I don't like their driving... I simply offer to drive.  I don't trust many drivers anyway.

[Drew Dowdell]

LOL! Wow! I struck a few nerves there!

[Paolino]

You have no idea, Drew... no idea.

[Cory Wolfe]

I'll be honest... I rarely use the automatic climate control in my Avalon. I like having finite control over the fan, temp, mode, etc. Also, while I do keep the auto windshield wipers on, they rarely work well. They either fail to work for a light rain/drizzle or they decide something needs to be cleared from the windshield when its completely dry. It's hilariously bad at times. 

 

Otherwise, my vote would have to be for other/lack of passion. More or less, it's the misconceptions people have. For example, my Grandfather, each time I visit he asks how many miles are my car. After I tell him, he always remarks something along the lines of "holy hell that's a lot". He's one of those people who will trade in a car after 25k some miles and thinks anything north of 50k is too many. And then there is the old adage of change your oil every 3k miles. I'm sure it used to be necessary, but not in the last 15 years. Hell, even the book for the Firebird only recommends 7500 intervals for highway driving. This applies to even certain car enthusiasts, not just non enthusiasts. Finally, the biggest of them all, the brand stigma that people have, domestic vs foreign. This goes both ways, many different ways in fact. I hate those who swear American cars are junk because X happened to X car X years ago. I hate those who won't consider a German car because Hitler. I hate those who think all Japanese cars are rice-burners or jap-crap or whatever because Pearl Harbor. The list goes on...