[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?