Your Car Isn't Perfect

Each year, we drive over forty new cars. Many of them we have for a week, and some for a few short days. But these are more than your typical test-drives. We put each vehicle through hard driving, we connect our Bluetooth phones, we listen to our iPods, and we put gear in the trunk. Yet no matter how many we drive, the same people always conclude we have no idea what we’re talking about… These are the owners of any car we didn’t like.

The truth is that every car, no matter how amazing or horrible it may have seemed at first, has features we love and ones we despise. Cars are like people in this way, all different and all imperfect. And just like people, a car becomes a integral part of our lives and we grow to love them. If you have a car long enough, you’ll even love its faults.

All of us have a friend or relative who owns a car with a list of “rules” or things you have to remember to use the vehicle in a normal way. My in-laws own a car with certain doors that only open from the inside, specific window switches which only work in one direction, and a procedure to work the transmission. Yet, they love this car because it was the first really nice car they bought. And twenty years ago when they bought it, it was nice. Now it’s simply terrible. But if I say that, it will start a fight.

Our cars are an emotional purchase. It’s like a marriage, where you test drive lots of models before picking one to be with until one of you dies. Of course, every car we look at will get us to work and take us everywhere we want to go, but one of the options just excites us more than the rest. And because we choose cars with our hearts as much as our wallets, most people can’t handle any criticism of their choice.

Because Paul and I don’t live with the cars we drive, it’s easy to see the good and the bad before we grow accustomed to each. It’s the same as meeting someone who initially seems mildy attractive until you fall in love and conclude they are the most beautiful person you’ve ever seen. You were right initially, but love does strange things.

So with each review we release comes a new round of people who can’t state their displeasure fast enough. Comments which begin with “These guys are idiots… I own one of these cars and…”, it really doesn’t matter what follows after that because the result is always the same; We ignore it. We know that for some people, our fault-finding is the same as insulting their spouse.

But we promise you this: our goal is to offer honest first impressions so you the viewer can decide if you’d like to take this car out for yourself. Maybe you think it’s beautiful, and that problem with the transmission doesn’t bother you. Congratulations, and we hope you’ll live happily ever after until the doors don’t work and the windows won’t roll down. However, know that the same information may make another buyer run away screaming. And you’re both right.

The Awarning is this: Remember every car is flawed. Whether you own it right now, or only dream about it, the car you love has features that someone else wouldn’t accept. So embrace your love. We want you to love your car completely. But remember love is blind. And in the case of some really terrible cars, love is also deaf, mute, and unable to sense proper movement.

#doingitwrong #carknowledge #Rants #Awarnings #CarBuying #CarDebate