Automobiles
I sold two cars and got a new one last week so I’ve been thinking a good bit about automobiles recently. Before I get started on this, let me first just say that I don’t really like automobiles or driving anymore. I find the roads just too congested with idiot drivers in a rush. I used to commute a pretty good distance on highways every day and often found myself dodging the lane swayers on their phones. I can now go weeks without leaving the neighborhood because I work from home and ride my bicycle to the tennis courts. I enjoy a vacation where I can just park my car for the week and ride a bike.
I wish U.S. metropolitan areas had been developed before the car. I think the best cities are those that were built before the car even mattered. I was down in Charleston last week and I wish someone would ban cars downtown in favor of trolleys even though the port there is shipping out a mass of them overseas keeping the economy afloat. It’s not just the whole dinosaur juice-burning thing either. Electric cars will only solve part of the equation and we should be focused on high-speed mass transit and urban mobility at this point in the game. I spent almost eight hours in the car last week and it wasn’t exactly what I’d call a luxury. So what I’m hoping for now is a high-speed rail with a station within a short drive. There has been some discussion of a rail connecting Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Washington DC that runs through Greenville just up the road. That’d connect almost the entire east coast. Automobiles used to have that distinctive sort of American freedom attached to them, but they’ve become more of a burden than a luxury1,2.
I still enjoy a nice drive through a quiet country road on occasion. I used to love cars and driving. I have this thing where I can identify almost any year and model of automobile just from the front or rear. I’ve driven up and down and back and forth across the United States in several different automobiles. I’ve also driven hundreds of models of cars too because I would ask the valets at a hotel I worked at to let me park em and go on joy rides. I grew up riding around in a 1967 Pontiac Lemans Convertible. It was the first car I ever drove. My uncle had taught me to drive while I was still in elementary school and one afternoon while my parents were away after school, I loaded up my brother and took it for a ride through our neighborhood while I could barely reach the pedals or see over the dash. I was embarrassed by that car because I thought it was old, but the reality was that my other uncle was quite the grease monkey and had that thing in mint shape tuned up to high hell and back. It would burn the tires off the wheels with the 450 GTO package, Cragar mags, and a Holley carburetor. The top stayed down most of the time and those seats would burn your skin off the back of your legs if it had been sitting in a parking lot during summer. I just didn’t realize that my mom was driving around in the 1980s in a classic muscle car.
I’ve personally had an assortment of vehicles: Honda, Porsche, VW, Jeep, Nissan, BMW, Mazda, & Toyota. I think the best one I ever had was a 1989 Toyota Tercel that I bought for $400 and sold for $1000 after driving it for two years. I lived in downtown Charleston during that time, so it was the perfect beater. I blew up the Porche engine because I was irresponsible and reckless. I’ve put 150,000 miles on the Honda and Nissan. The 86 Jeep Grand Wagoneer got about 12 miles to the gallon and was the worst driving but most comfortable of the bunch.
I got a new BMW X3 last week and traded in a BMW touring. I originally got a BMW for the interstate drivability. I just found that at high speeds it handled better than other cars. I’ve now grown fond of their driving style and will even rent them when available. It’s also partially to support our local economy because the new car was assembled just up the road from me. BMW has been the largest American-made vehicle exporter for the last 10 years. They have been great at customer service providing us with great loaners, customer loyalty discounts, and quick recall repairs. I’m not likely to drive the new one more than 50,000 miles before I trade it in, but our i3 is almost 10 years old now without a single issue3. I think it’ll end up outdoing the old Tercel for my all-time favorite.
I just don’t look see the automobile as the luxury I used to and more like a necessary cost of doing business. I might add a small pickup truck back to the mix at some point because I just prefer the everyman image it exudes. Although I’ve been tempted to take on a project car, I just don’t want it taking up space and I’ve kinda got this attitude now that the perfect automobile is one that’s paid off, reliable, and under warranty. Perhaps when I’m closer to retirement, I’ll fix up an old Pontiac LeMans to try and relive the joy and freedom I had of driving in my youth.
- U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics The Average Cost of Owning and Operating an Automobile – https://www.bts.gov/content/average-cost-owning-and-operating-automobilea-assuming-15000-vehicle-miles-year
- U.S. CDC – Road Traffic Injuries and Deaths – https://www.cdc.gov/injury/features/global-road-safety/index.html
- It’s Electric – https://davidawindham.com/its-electric/