Cars We Drive!

[otc]

I'm not talking about the vanlifers who live in their vans. I'm going to completely make this up but I know like 3 different kinds of people who do this thing.

Sounds like a fair grouping, and we definitely have all 3.

Although I think it is hard to tell group 2 apart from the others if you don't know them personally (or at least have them for a neighbor and get to watch how often they work on it vs how often it leaves the driveway). Just depends how professional their results are

I assume it falls victim to "aspirational purchasing" the same as any other hobby taken up by someone with more money than time. No different than putting a bunch of track mods on your car when you don't have the free weekends to actually spend at the track to learn how to push your vehicle past stock setup...or buying more woodworking tools when 90% of your actual "woodworking" time is just watching YouTube furniture videos when you should be working.

 

[HRoi]

I lol’ed at @UnFacconable ’s description of these people as Larpers. Spot on.

But then I guess most of automotive subculture is a form of Larping, then. Including these full sized pickup truckers (best selling vehicle in America for pretty much my entire adult life) that have never put anything in the bed

 

[brokencycle]

I larp as a car owner. I pay hundreds every year to register and insure my car. This year I have a $1500 repair bill, and I drove 500 miles last year. My total cost of ownership is like $2/mile. Am I doing it right?

 

[Texasmade]

I larp as a car owner. I pay hundreds every year to register and insure my car. This year I have a $1500 repair bill, and I drove 500 miles last year. My total cost of ownership is like $2/mile. Am I doing it right?

No. You need 2 cars. You need an everyday car and a fun car to really do car ownership correctly.

 

[brokencycle]

No. You need 2 cars. You need an everyday car and a fun car to really do car ownership correctly.

We do own two cars, so I guess you could call my 2007 GS 350 a fun car. It is more fun than my wife's Rav4.

 

[Texasmade]

We do own two cars, so I guess you could call my 2007 GS 350 a fun car. It is more fun than my wife's Rav4.

YOU need 2 cars. Not you and your wife. In your situation, you and your wife need 3 cars minimum.

 

[brokencycle]

YOU need 2 cars. Not you and your wife. In your situation, you and your wife need 3 cars minimum.

This is why I need the motorcycle thread to revive. There is is perfectly acceptable to only own one vehicle I never use.

 

[HRoi]

every driver in the household needs at least 2 cars (edit: vehicles) of their own. If other drivers don’t give a **** about what car they drive, then you assign them cars that you like, but don’t fit your allocation

 

[Jr Mouse]

I’ve got a neighbor who owns the new Bronco with one of the higher-end off-road trims. Never seen an ounce of dirt or mud on it and would be shocked if he ever takes it off-roading.

He’s larping the lifestyle.

 

[Texasmade]

I kind of want to get the new Toyota LC and larp like a mofo just because the new LC looks cool.

 

[Fueco]

This is what happens when you have the lifestyle without the vehicle. My old Geo Metro put up with a lot of s—t. This was at Sierra-at-Tahoe nearly twenty years ago.

 

[HRoi]

I kind of want to get the new Toyota LC and larp like a mofo just because the new LC looks cool.

Totally legit reason. I had to run a quick errand just now and noticed someone has a new Lamborghini Sterrato in their driveway. That might be the ultimate off-road LARP along with the Earthmover and those F650 super pickups

 

[HRoi]

New Taycan Turbo GT announced today:

https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2024/products/porsche-the-new-taycan-turbo-gt-35479.html

Now this is the kind of automotive larping I can get behind.

 

[patrick_b]

I assume it falls victim to "aspirational purchasing" the same as any other hobby taken up by someone with more money than time.

"My car's 'ring time is faster than your car's 'ring time" is a perfectly acceptable way of measuring one's self worth.

 

[UnFacconable]

I still enjoy driving my beat up old POS body on frame SUV to the hill. My kids hate it when I take it instead of our new SUV but that just makes me even more determined to keep the old beast going.

I've been thinking a bit about this whole larping notion lately during my long drives to and from Tahoe. I've always assumed that at some point I would buy a sports car, but I'm leaning more heavily toward ski/surf boat as the better toy for my family. As much as I love cars, I don't think I would end up really using a sports car in a way that would improve my life so it would just be one of those things that I marvel at and enjoy having but drive like 500 miles a year and fret over. If I had more time, perhaps a track car would make sense but I don't see myself carving out that much time to track something. I could probably scratch the itch with one or two HDPE's per year.

With a sports boat, it's basically track day every day. Every time I use it, I would have a blast. It would be expensive and wasteful, but I would be using it exactly the way it's designed and built to be used. It's also something that would benefit my family a lot more than a car that I would be the primary driver for.

For now, renting a boat with a driver a few times each summer gives us a lot of the benefit, but if we got into an early retirement situation it sure would be great to go out a few times per week. Obviously there is a theme to the activities I most enjoy - typically gravity assisted outdoor sports - so a sport boat fits right there, plus it brings the motor-driven speed that I would get from a sports car.

Doesn't mean I'm giving up on the idea of ever getting a cool car, but this whole thought exercise has provided me with helpful perspective.