Love your car
OK, so this is a car column. And a bike column, a truck column, and a chainsaw-powered skateboard column, if I had the guts to climb up on one. As a writer of all things automotive, and the occasional wheelbarrow, there are times when coworkers and friends will drop by to get an opinion about a potential car purchase. That means just one thing. The bluff is working. Kidding. While I’m certainly no expert, I expect the amount of research I do on the topic in any given week — that is, magazines I read, blogs I ingest, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram posts I peruse — allows me to give at least an educated opinion on what’s out there, and what might best suit one driver over another.
You have to look at many factors. Unlike my car-writing compatriots across the country (or around the world, for that matter) I rarely get the chance to put the corporate literature to the test.
But others do, and taking a vicarious leap of faith, I can pass along their experiences as if they were my own — without, or course, actually claiming to have the experience on which to base any real opinion.
Which means if you’re coming to me for free advice, you’re getting your money’s worth. I don’t really know what I’m talking about. You’ve been warned.
Mind you, there is one fact that eases the lot of today’s members of the motoring press. For the most part, right out of the box just about every new car today is pretty darn good.
Sure, you have to temper your expectations according to your wallet, or credit rating, and accept that meat-and-potatoes money ain’t gonna get you no caviar ride. Still, meat-andpotatoes is not what it used to be.
Any of today’s new cars are well stuffed with the kind of technology once only available to the caviar slurpers. Voice-activated accessories, serious sound equipment, navigation aids are close to becoming standard equipment on all but the most base of base models. Drivetrains have advanced to the point where fuel barely makes it from the tank — numbers like five or six litres per 100 kilometres are no longer surprising.
Have I mentioned that’s better mileage than I get from my motorcycle?
Even the interiors are more plush, with better-designed seats and more durable finishes.
Want my advice? Drive a bunch of cars, check the company’s quality ratings, and buy the one you love the best. The more you like your car, the more likely you are to cherish it — and by cherish I mean assuring regular maintenance, keeping it clean and coated with anti-rust coatings.
That new car won’t be new forever, but you’ll get a lot more happy miles out of it if you pamper it, just a bit.