Ask the Best and Brightest: How Do You Bond With A New Car?

Justin Crenshaw
by Justin Crenshaw

On business in Vegas last week I came across a smokin deal on an ’06 M Roadster and in a moment of spontaneity I signed the dotted line. I was then confronted with a 1200 mile drive in an unfamiliar car. Since I arrived in Vegas by plane, I was without my usual road trip conglomeration of hose clamps, duct tape, and other essential tools. With the return airline ticket canceled, armed with a Diet Pepsi and a $50 Radio Shack radar detector, I set off to the Midwest. The S54 engine chewed up 1200 miles of asphalt and returned 25.6mpg. Not bad for over 100hp per normally aspirated liter. Would I have tried that in the 23 year old BMW M636CSI I bought last fall from FL? Nope. That car arrived on a truck. What an incredible bonding experience to bring your new car home on a long trip. Now it was my intent to bring this car back to a less saturated market and sell it for a small profit. But now I’ve kinda got a thing for her. Have you had a memorable new car bonding experience?

Justin Crenshaw
Justin Crenshaw

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  • Anonymous Anonymous on Mar 12, 2009

    When possible I try to take somethign apart. For example, I'm waiting on the transfer by CarMax of an '06 Dakota Quad Cab (thank you depreciation) from Knoxville to my local dealer here in Connecticut. The first thing I'm going to do when I get it is tear apart the interior and install the satellite radio kit. Others are tempting me with exhaust systems and whatnot, but I think I'm going to keep things pretty stock for the forseeable future...

  • Mullholland Mullholland on Mar 12, 2009

    In early June of 2006, I purchased a 1994 Miata R package w/ 35,000 miles on ebay. The Laguna Blue roadster was in San Jose. I flew from OC to Oakland and had my brother who lives in Santa Rosa give me a lift from the airport the auction house to get the car. Our bond built over the next day during a gloriously sunny summer top-down drive all the way back to SoCal along PCH. Santa Cruz, Monterrey, Big Sur, Hearst Castle, Santa Barbara--I'd taken this route before but never like this (several other Miata drivers winking their pop-up lights or offering a nod or an understated wave as motorcycle riders do in customary greeting as they pass). Best drive ever. Little car. Big fun.

  • Beken Beken on Mar 12, 2009

    Back in 1985 I bought one of the very first Fieros with a V6 engine in it. Shortly after picking up the car, I set out east on a drive from Vancouver BC through the Cascade and Rocky Mountains. By the time I decided it was time to find a hotel to sleep, I was in Idaho. It turned out to be a week long drive. In 2005, I bought a brand new MINI Cooper S. Drove south and attended A MINI Vacation in Vegas (AMVIV) with 300 other MINI drivers. We drove along route 66, and crossed into Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Idaho. Great fun.

  • Jgh Jgh on Mar 16, 2009

    I made the mistake of introducing my 3-day-[used] Outback to my ham-footed friend prematurely. He proceeded to detonate the clutch. Needless to say, "Obie" and I bonded over a $1800 repair bill, a tow truck ride, and quibbled about a mistress loaner car during our Virginia-Minnesota return trip.

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