Och

iTrader: (3)

I busted three tires and bent one rim so far this winter on my m235, but I still would not want to daily drive a crappy car.

SW17LS

Of course I'm going to jinx myself by saying this. I drive all over the area, in the city, MD, VA, highways, local roads, all of it...and I've never hit a pothole. I'm just careful, and I pay attention. I know all kinds of people who hit them all the time. My partner always buys the wheel & tire protection package, and uses it he can't believe I don't buy it and that I don't hit potholes and blow out tires and bend wheels. We drive on the same roads...

Like I said though, now that I've said it I'm doomed LOL

mmarshall

Don't be superstitious. That's an old wives' tale....ranks up wth black cats and Friday the 13th. There's nothing wrong with letting others know if one drives carefully. I do it myself. In fact, one should set a good example.

You are correct, though, that a lot of people drive with their heads the clouds, instead of watching the road in front of them. Two of the big culprits, of course, are hand-held cell-phones and texting....though, in some cases, even built-in phones can be distracting.

When I first learned to drive in this area (I've lived here since I was a kid) the roads were mostly quite smooth. They didn't use salt in those days....just dumped sand on the roads (which could be abrasive and damage the finish on cars), so the ice didn't really melt. You also didn't have the insane traffic-load you have today. But, since then, traffic, harsh weather, heavy trucks, neglect, cheap paving materials, and diversion of government funds from highway-use to other purposes have all taken a toll on the roads.

SW17LS

It was a joke

Och

iTrader: (3)

You can be careful all you want, but when traveling at highway speeds, but the time you see a hazard its often too late, especially at night.

SW17LS

I've logged many miles at highway speeds at night...many many miles.

Like I said before, now I'm doomed though!

Och

iTrader: (3)

Just last month, I get onto the highway after a snowstorm, and not even a mile later I drive over a metal plate that has been lifted by a snow plow Several other cars hit it as well. Both drivers side tires destroyed. Next week, hit a huge pothole on the highway - front drivers side tire busted. Following week, hit a huge pothole on the local road at night - bend drivers side front rim. Roads in NYC are ridiculously bad. My daughter lives in Reston VA, and she says that their roads are glass smooth in comparison.

SW17LS

Stroock639

that because your cars are both under warranty haha

my commute is 3 miles each way, not enough time for the oil to warm up and too short to really get any proper driving in before i just have to park it for the next 9 hours or so. now it's sitting in the parking lot, usually either under the sun's damaging rays or in bad weather. other people can open their doors into it or physically drive into it, so i'd much rather use a car i don't care about so much for that kind of duty. you get a new car every few years (not saying there's anything wrong with that) so of course it doesn't really matter, but i want my LS to last AS LONG AS POSSIBLE... i think it's unlikely a car like that will ever be made again (you yourself have even called it the best lexus of all time) and it's basically a parting gift from my grandparents and my first car so it's got quite a lot of sentimental value as well.

i don't need the relentless pursuit of perfection or a 500hp supercharged autobahn missile with active suspension and 6 piston caliper cross-drilled ventilated rotors to drive less than 10 minutes each way on only local roads... or in nyc traffic on crappy roads where it feels like the other two are just being wasted. plus, going from the good car to the crappy car and back to the good car helps you better appreciate the good car lol... now you don't get quite as accustomed to the good car and you only associate it with the enjoyable driving experiences and not the arduous ones. oh well that's how i view it at least...

Aron9000

I had that same mentality when I hit that bad pothole in my SC300 that blew the tire out and damaged the wheel. There was a guy in a green 1990's Explorer kind of in front of me, like his rear quarter panel was lined up with my front fender, I could've done the PIT maneuver on him. Anyways, he was kind of driving a bit erratic, swaying back in forth in his lane. I was so focused on this guy I didn't see the massive bomb crater in the road right in front of me and hit it dead on at like 55-60mph.

As for Stroock639, I had a 1993 Toyota pickup that I felt the same way about, if somebody hit it, it would make their car way uglier than my beat to pieces POS. I actually loved that truck because it was liberating not giving a **** about its cosmetic condition. At work there was a customer who was kind of law enforcement affiliated, had a just MINT 2004ish to 2010 Crown Vic with like 40 or 50k miles on it, black, grey leather, civilian model, just a one owner cream puff type of car. Always waxed, always garage kept. I told him if he ever wanted to sell I'd buy it. He's still driving it though, told me he'd never sell it. Kind of glad he didn't sell it to me in hindsight, as I'm way too OCD to own a really nice black car.

Burch_RCF

Och

iTrader: (3)

I leased a Mazda once, to use as a daily beater and save money. I started to regret the decision almost right away, because daily beater is the car that you drive the most, and deal with lack of all the conveniences that modern cars provide. I gave it to my employee way before my lease was over and got something proper. No more beaters for me.

JessePS

I am 8 km from my office by car and 6km by bike.
I would use the bus to get to work, so I wouldn't have to deal with filling up my car every week but the schedule sucks.
Maybe after they are done building the rapid transit train near me, I will use public transit again.

Stroock639

that's exactly why i didnt want a nice one, i knew i'd probably start caring about it too much when that was the opposite of why i got it. fun car the vic is though, in terms of laughter per dollar i think it takes the proverbial cake. of course my idiot friend had to have his vic crap out, (bad timing chain guides i think) effectively negating my reason for getting one since i thought having two identical looking vics driving around would be funny, especially if actual cops were next to us lol... considering how awesome it is in the snow however i'm actually happy i have it

SW17LS

I get the sentimentality, but I would still want to drive the LS400 even if it were just for a couple miles.

I'm VERY **** and careful with my cars, even though they're leased (I.e I paid $1700 to have the front of the LS wrapped in clearbra), but still, I have a car I like because I like to drive it, and given the choice I'd rather drive it everywhere.