Question Of The Day: What Is The Most Repulsive Thing You Have Ever Seen… On A Car?

by Steven Lang

Published: July 10th, 2012

question of the day what is the most repulsive thing you have ever seen on a car

Baby got back!

I used to be in charge of liquidating over 10,000 vehicles a year.

Each one had a story to tell, and at times the evidence of that recent storied past was quite noxious.

Old diapers. Worn clothes that smelled sweaty and burnt seven ways to Sunday. Dogs who probably spent more time cooped in that poor little car than they did in their home.

Thankfully, most large dealer auctions tend to have exceptional detail facilities. If it can be stained, smelled, or faintly scratched, the folks who run the sale can get it removed without a hitch.

But there is one thing that always tends to hang out on certain anointed vehicles, especially pick up trucks.

Truck nuts. Fake testicles. Bumper balls.

I can’t even fathom why someone would put this thing on a vehicle. Yet, they sell, to someone, somewhere. Of all the rancid things i have seen and encountered, that to me pretty much takes the cake.

How about you? What is the most repulsive thing you have ever seen on a car? As always, a good story is a great way to share your experience.

Steven Lang

More by Steven Lang

Comments

Join the conversation

3 of 141 comments

Capdeblu on Jul 15, 2012

Within the past year I spotted a small older model nissan piled high with clothes and household items at the grocery store. It was clear that the middle aged woman in the car was living in it.

Like Reply
- Joeaverage on Oct 31, 2012
  
  If I had to live in my car, I'd definitely keep the trash cleaned out. I keep our car reasonably clean but don't freak out over leaves and pebbles getting tracked in on the mats. That said whenever I have to spend any real time in the car - like going out of town - I keep the car spotless. I can't stand riding in a rolling trash can. It's right up near the top of my peeves list.
  
  Like
Joeaverage on Oct 25, 2012

"IF YOU RIDE MY ASS You Better Be Pulling My Hair" Saw that in a hospital parking garage on a $40K SUV.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Redapple2 Love the wheels
Redapple2 Good luck to them. They used to make great cars. 510. 240Z, Sentra SE-R. Maxima. Frontier.
Joe65688619 Under Ghosn they went through the same short-term bottom-line thinking that GM did in the 80s/90s, and they have not recovered say, to their heyday in the 50s and 60s in terms of market share and innovation. Poor design decisions (a CVT in their front-wheel drive "4-Door Sports Car", model overlap in a poorly performing segment (they never needed the Altima AND the Maxima...what they needed was one vehicle with different drivetrain, including hybrid, to compete with the Accord/Camry, and decontenting their vehicles: My 2012 QX56 (I know, not a Nissan, but the same holds for the Armada) had power rear windows in the cargo area that could vent, a glass hatch on the back door that could be opened separate from the whole liftgate (in such a tall vehicle, kinda essential if you have it in a garage and want to load the trunk without having to open the garage door to make room for the lift gate), a nice driver's side folding armrest, and a few other quality-of-life details absent from my 2018 QX80. In a competitive market this attention to detai is can be the differentiator that sell cars. Now they are caught in the middle of the market, competing more with Hyundai and Kia and selling discounted vehicles near the same price points, but losing money on them. They invested also invested a lot in niche platforms. The Leaf was one of the first full EVs, but never really evolved. They misjudged the market - luxury EVs are selling, small budget models not so much. Variable compression engines offering little in terms of real-world power or tech, let a lot of complexity that is leading to higher failure rates. Aside from the Z and GT-R (low volume models), not much forced induction (whether your a fan or not, look at what Honda did with the CR-V and Acura RDX - same chassis, slap a turbo on it, make it nicer inside, and now you can sell it as a semi-premium brand with higher markup). That said, I do believe they retain the technical and engineering capability to do far better. About time management realized they need to make smarter investments and understand their markets better.
Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Off-road fluff on vehicles that should not be off road needs to die.
Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Saw this posted on social media; “Just bought a 2023 Tundra with the 14" screen. Let my son borrow it for the afternoon, he connected his phone to listen to his iTunes.The next day my insurance company raised my rates and added my son to my policy. The email said that a private company showed that my son drove the vehicle. He already had his own vehicle that he was insuring.My insurance company demanded he give all his insurance info and some private info for proof. He declined for privacy reasons and my insurance cancelled my policy.These new vehicles with their tech are on condition that we give up our privacy to enter their world. It's not worth it people.”