How do find enjoyment from your vehicles?

[Gerbs]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

My whole fleet is so damn reliable and boring right now that i long for that Maserati ownership again.

It'd be nice to share a fun fleet with the boyz.

[JDMDreams]

Badhobz

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...ibextid=dXMIcH

Seems like a few is being imported from Japan

[trollface]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

Gold diggers actively come up to you at gas stations and parking lots.

God i miss that thing.

I get approached by old men with no teeth when I'm getting a cold cut from Subway (cheapest sandwich).

[ilovebacon]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

I had this thought while driving my camry to work this morning. The lack of an engaging ownership "experience" with the camry really takes away my enthusiasm for it.

Yes its reliable, yes its decent on gas, and it'll probably outlast me, but to take a line from Marie Condo, it doesn't spark any joy. It turned into a soulless machine that I used to commute with.

I think when we initially bought it in 2010 it was still an aspirational vehicle to me. ohhhh a brand new 60k lexus!! that meant something to me back then as financially i was in a different stage of my life. Now i literally see it as a camry and i treat it as such. We never took it on any meaningful trips and therefore it never cemented in my consciousness as a memorable car.

My wife's RX plays that role more as we drove it to all sorts of fun places with the dogs. Its our road trip car. Its also the car that protects her and my doggies from the hardships of weather, the city, hobos on hastings, etc. its our little cocoon of silence and i love it for that reason alone.

Likewise i associate my childhood with that shitty 2001 Sentra XE with blood stained seats (you made me bleed my own blood!!!) and manual roll up windows. I actually looked into restoring a 2001 Sentra SE (with the one with the sr20de engine) before just so i can relive some of that childhood experience.

So im curious if thats the same with you guys? does your enjoyment of your vehicles come from a personal connection? or is it purely based on driving enjoyment?

Which car would you pick if you could choose within your budget?

[68style]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

God i miss that thing.

I love a good old fashioned sadomasochist

[Badhobz]

Originally Posted by ilovebacon

Which car would you pick if you could choose within your budget?

I chose it… the LC was suppose to be the logical choice. It was my maserati replacement what wouldn’t cost me an arm and a leg, still had an NA v8 and relatively affordable at around 170k after luxury tax, etc. also it’s a drop top so I could replace the motorcycle experience with the car.

Ultimately it fails to capture the maserati essence. It has enough styling and road presence but it doesn’t have that quirky Italian soul. The engine / exhaust sounds good but not as good as the GT. It’s significantly more comfortable than the maz but something is off… it’s missing that something and I don’t even know what the hell it is.

I ultimately wanted a Roma, even with my dealership history and full service record they still told me I needed to wait 1-2 years. I don’t even know if that Roma would satisfy, I got a feeling it probably wouldn’t given my preference for quirky ass cars. But half of that is because I always wanted a Ferrari. Not because it’s a good car or a sensible purchase. It’s more like an aspirational vehicle that will not ultimately satisfy.

[ilovebacon]

if those were the cars that brings you joy in the morning, why dont you drive those cars to work?

What the hell is a LC and NA?

We need pictures dude!

[Badhobz]

Cuz all my underlings and co workers would flip their collective shit. I dislike throwing my cash in their faces as it erodes trust in management and they would think I’m some sort of entitled asshole. Not saying I’m not, but I don’t want to give them more shit to hang me with.

I’ve always driven a Corolla or a similar piece of shit to work.

[68style]

If the car doesn't satisfy you, you better be damn sure what's in the passenger seat does.

[Badhobz]

You talking about my chihuahua ?!?!? She’s great !!!! I love her to death

It’s daddy daughter day !!!

[underscore]

Lots of little things, I like planning out and researching different mods, working on them and making them my own (when it's by choice, sudden breakdowns on daily drivers not so much), the sounds they make and the way they look. If they're toys I find them more enjoyable because I can take more risks when they don't have to get me to work on Monday. If something breaks it's not ideal but I can just drag it home and deal with it later.

In my Celica it's also the feeling of changing my own gears, the noises and sensations that you don't get in new cars, occasionally hearing someone compliment it, cruising down a deserted back road to Days Like These or throwing on Initial D and pushing it a bit, stuff like that. And when it snows finding a nice empty parking lot and goofing around a bit.

My Grand Cherokee is different. Apart from being comfortable it's pretty crap on the road, it's completely gutless and it wobbles around like a marshmallow. But it lets me explore trails and find cool views I wouldn't see otherwise. I like the challenge of trying to get it places not everyone can get to and I love that it's cheap enough to not have to really care what happens to it. I had to leave my old Grand Cherokee in the bush overnight once and it was very stressful worrying about someone trashing it. I don't intentionally try to wreck it but the body is already pretty BC pinstriped and the bottom has loads of dents and scrapes and even if it was totaled it wouldn't cause any real financial suffering from the loss.

Originally Posted by Badhobz

Cuz all my underlings and co workers would flip their collective shit. I dislike throwing my cash in their faces as it erodes trust in management and they would think I’m some sort of entitled asshole. Not saying I’m not, but I don’t want to give them more shit to hang me with.

I’ve always driven a Corolla or a similar piece of shit to work.

Park it somewhere 1 stop from work and take the bus/skytrain the last few km. Or at least get a more fun cheap piece of shit, even going to a manual Corolla XRS should jazz things up a little. Back in the day I knew a realtor who needed something respectable to drive clients around in so he got a manual Legacy GT.

Also that hat is adorable.

[ilovebacon]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

Cuz all my underlings and co workers would flip their collective shit. I dislike throwing my cash in their faces as it erodes trust in management and they would think I’m some sort of entitled asshole. Not saying I’m not, but I don’t want to give them more shit to hang me with.

I’ve always driven a Corolla or a similar piece of shit to work.

I'm pretty sure no one cares about your vehicle type. they are more drawn to your character and personality which probably matter the most.

[sonick]

I absolutely do not miss or enjoy having a car that I am worried might not start or leave me stranded.

Maybe I have a low bar, but I can say that every one of my cars I've owned in my signature has some redeeming factor that I enjoy every time I drive it.

Although I've owned it for maybe coming on 5 years now, I still find enjoyment driving my E82 even around town. The NA I6 revs so smooth, quick enough to do a WOT 3rd gear pull but not fast enough to get into trouble. Also whenever I toss it into a right turn and power through in 2nd gear.

Even my Rav4, I love the practicality of it but at the same time find enjoyment from the V6 power when I downshift on the highway to make a pass. I don't think I could get by with a 'modern' SUV with less than 200hp.

Tbh the only car I ever sold because I got somewhat 'bored' of it was my E30, because it was automatic and I was dying to get back into a manual car. But even then, I miss the old E30 because of its driving dynamics.

I think for me it's a requirement to have at least one manual car in the fleet to maintain that enjoyment.

Also, obligatory doggy daughter convertible pic:

[Badhobz]

It matters where I work. There’s a very strong power dynamic here and lots of cliques. Annoying as F and I rather not deal with that. Last thing you want is to be known as the flashy mofo who come to work decked out to the max.

I rather come as I normally am, Costco sweats, and a Kirkland shirt just for MS teams calls.

[JDMDreams]

I think the issue for me over the years is there's no perfect car, that can do everything, that's why I always end up with at least 2 cars, one winter, one summer. Then you can break it down even more summer convertible, sports track car, beater winter, comfortable normal daily.

There isn't really one car that you can do everything with.

Cheap, fast, reliable. you can only pick 2.

[trollface]

I have a chi and a Yorkie, too.

[Badhobz]

Where’s the chi and York in da Datsun pic ?!?!!

[trollface]

Riding dirty

[Badhobz]

Doohhhhhhh super duper cute

[donk.]

The white one looks like the permastoned father, and the brown one is the angry-with-life mom

[68style]

Daddy doghter day in MR2!

[trollface]

Ryan Gosling?

[PDKGD3]

I don't. Too poor to insure 2 cars (Need one for work), too nostalgic and afraid of sellers remorse to get rid of it.

So now it sits under a Mercedes car cover that's too small

[acrophobia]

Driving my Jetta through the winter = blah.

Commuting on my motorcycle = poop eating grin, every time.

[noclue]

I feel like this is the last era of combustion engines and manual transmission before EV's take over with the allure of low maintenance and running costs.

I've gotten to the position where I can buy a 911 but I balk now with the constant MSRP increases along with the fed luxury tax + bc luxury tax and can't justify it anymore. The used 911 market also went cray cray during the pandemic and still yet to subside, especially manual ones. My second choice is the FL5 Type-R but that's impossible to find unless you're best friends with a dealer principal.

WHEN RECESSION COMING TO SINK DEMANDS FOR CARS!!!