I've never bought a car. or actually, I bought ONE car, which was a very old Honda; so old that when I pulled into a gas station, I'd say "check the gas and fill the oil." my other cars were all hand-me-downs. I had a Toyota Cressida from 1981, which I loved. then a Volvo with that fucking 240 Turbo engine which was so terrible, it was d…
I've never bought a car. or actually, I bought ONE car, which was a very old Honda; so old that when I pulled into a gas station, I'd say "check the gas and fill the oil." my other cars were all hand-me-downs. I had a Toyota Cressida from 1981, which I loved. then a Volvo with that fucking 240 Turbo engine which was so terrible, it was discontinued after a few years. the last one was my father's Civic, which was a wonderful, wonderful car. virtually trouble-free. my friend Danny leased Civics for many years (fully loaded, so not especially cheap, but he's got the money) and never had any trouble. one year, he decided he was flush enough to go a more luxurious route and bought a Lexus...and his experience was disastrous. he'd bring it in for whatever checkup was scheduled and they ALWAYS found at least a thousand bucks that just HAD to be spent.
my building's super (and close friend) has the Great American Flaw of liking big, expensive cars (and he's got a big family, so once upon a time, there was a reason for the big, never for the "expensive"). and of course, he's owned by his Land Rover, which he says is designed to be a big, wonderful toy ( to which I usually reply that any toy with that kind of price tag is a toy that's not worth buying). at least I talked him out of a Tesla (the motherfuckers crunched his numbers, said he could do a financing thing, "accepted" his application for the $100 fee and then told him that no, they couldn't but that he was welcome to apply again for another non-refundable hundred bucks). I told him that since he's not the sort of guy who can wipe his ass with hundred dollar bills, he should not consider a Tesla, and I think he was convinced.
when I'm outside, I find that the number of big, heavy four-wheel-drive vehicles just seems to be increasing. it's very depressing. it just seems like most people just don't get it. the two or three times I've tried to drive one of those things, all I could think about was how much I didn't want to be driving it.
but then I'm also the guy who, in the late '60s, would drive my parents' little red Datsun all over town loaded with six average-sized guys (myself included) tripping on acid, so perhaps my judgment about matters pertaining to driving is a tad questionable.
I do, however, still maintain that when I was driving under that particular influence, I was the best driver alive. just like those pitchers who pitched perfect games on acid...
I think I just got carried away. but at least I didn't have to think about Naomi Wolf....
I've never bought a car. or actually, I bought ONE car, which was a very old Honda; so old that when I pulled into a gas station, I'd say "check the gas and fill the oil." my other cars were all hand-me-downs. I had a Toyota Cressida from 1981, which I loved. then a Volvo with that fucking 240 Turbo engine which was so terrible, it was discontinued after a few years. the last one was my father's Civic, which was a wonderful, wonderful car. virtually trouble-free. my friend Danny leased Civics for many years (fully loaded, so not especially cheap, but he's got the money) and never had any trouble. one year, he decided he was flush enough to go a more luxurious route and bought a Lexus...and his experience was disastrous. he'd bring it in for whatever checkup was scheduled and they ALWAYS found at least a thousand bucks that just HAD to be spent.
my building's super (and close friend) has the Great American Flaw of liking big, expensive cars (and he's got a big family, so once upon a time, there was a reason for the big, never for the "expensive"). and of course, he's owned by his Land Rover, which he says is designed to be a big, wonderful toy ( to which I usually reply that any toy with that kind of price tag is a toy that's not worth buying). at least I talked him out of a Tesla (the motherfuckers crunched his numbers, said he could do a financing thing, "accepted" his application for the $100 fee and then told him that no, they couldn't but that he was welcome to apply again for another non-refundable hundred bucks). I told him that since he's not the sort of guy who can wipe his ass with hundred dollar bills, he should not consider a Tesla, and I think he was convinced.
when I'm outside, I find that the number of big, heavy four-wheel-drive vehicles just seems to be increasing. it's very depressing. it just seems like most people just don't get it. the two or three times I've tried to drive one of those things, all I could think about was how much I didn't want to be driving it.
but then I'm also the guy who, in the late '60s, would drive my parents' little red Datsun all over town loaded with six average-sized guys (myself included) tripping on acid, so perhaps my judgment about matters pertaining to driving is a tad questionable.
I do, however, still maintain that when I was driving under that particular influence, I was the best driver alive. just like those pitchers who pitched perfect games on acid...
I think I just got carried away. but at least I didn't have to think about Naomi Wolf....