Why are cars important to you?

jjdrer

My Dad was the same in that he took great pride in the appearance of all vehicles.
He washed it weekly, polished it about every 3 months (depending on how much it had been outdoors). He was a motor mechanic so he serviced the car himself at weekends (he worked as a mechanic for a Semi-Govt Dept. weekdays - it was partly owned by shareholders). He reckoned sosme of the service station mechanics didn't do them properly. For one thing they weren't checking thre air in the spare tyre at all, even though it was on a list he gave them when we were going away for a holiday in the Flinders Ranges. He doesn't think they had checked it the time before either because it was "stone flat" Mum was unfortunate to puncture a tyre. Luckily he had a good tyre pump in the car because the tyre had to be blown up. Is was 1962 model car and the spare tyre was visible , not covered as they are now. Trouble was it was a really hot afternoon in September, Dad had a really bad knee which swelled in hot weather and Mum had to pump the tyre up. It would have been nice if somebody had pulled over to help for a few minutes. My brother and I were too small to help, but neither of us have forgotten that experience.The worst part was it was the rear driver's side tyre, the road was narrow and there was trees right against the edge of it so Dad couldn't move the car any further of the road which was dirt/gravel. About an hour later we passed a school bus and stopped to see if Dad could help them at all. Somebody had stopped and arranged transport of the children to Blinman and a tow to the garage. When we got to the service station we found out we in fact had another damaged tyre. The tyres were brand new when we left home. The old ones were still good and our local service station guys reckoned they had well over 1/2 their original tread on them and nowhere near bald but Dad had insisted on replacing them as a precaution. He wished afterwards he had left them on. Luckily the service station guy at Blinman was able to get some sent up by train and go to the nearest town that the train stopped in to get them for us. Motto:: Make sure your car is serviced properly.
It must run in the family. My brother is a fanatic too, and a motor mechanic.
One of his gripes is people who open their car doors onto another person's car or drive or reverse into one, or trolleys being pushed into or let roll into the car.. It doesn't seem to matter where they park at shopping centre, close to the centre entrance or away from other cars, every while somebody manges to hit the passenger side back corner.. I have lost count how many times it has been repaired, I think he has too. Lucky he has friends in the Crash Repair Industry, as most times it isn't just dented, the paintwork is split too. Left, it rusts. Last time it was hit the paint wasn't split so he has decided to wait to see if somebody hits it. Now they just ring the Crash Repair and ask the guy when does he want the car for another corner job. Once a friend was with them and noticed the dent before he did. Mum and I had had a new car for 10 days, went shopping, put our shopping the boot, then discovered there was small dents in the driver's door either from another car door or a shopping trolley. It wasn't parked near other cars - Mum never did if she could avoid it - and it was only the 2nd time we had been out in it. Some people are so inconsiderate. A car is supposed to keep you safe if well maintained and everybody drives carefully.
We always saved up for our cars until we could afford a later model. We never borrowed money and paid interest on it. We were proud of what we achieved which made us more determined to look after them properly. They used to build them that they didn't fall apart if nudged. Now it is likely to cost up to $1000.00 if a small panel has to be replaced, more if it is a luxury car. A friend of mine hit a kangaroo as it passed between their car and the one in front of them just on the edge of Horsham before the sign to increase speed. The front passenger side corner of the car was the contact point. It actually hit is head on the lights but it buckled the bonnet, side panels and a small section of the door. $8000.00 damage. The parts had to come from overseas. The damged parts were stripped by the crash repair then the car sat idle until the parts arrived. What is going to happen when all the body parts have to come from overseas???
Considering how much a car costs to buy, you would think people would look after their cars. They would save more money in the end, rather that treating as a "it gets me there" and risk it breaking down at the most inconvenient time, possibly putting lives at risk too. Car suspension needs constant checks as part of the servicing. Failure can cause some very frightnening accidents.