Why do some people just not care?

[overrun]

I have decided to give my fathers car its yearly shovel out. He never ceases to amaze me, with the shit hole he can create.

 

The car often has a boot full of timber, and carries a dog or two. As well as it would seem two pairs of wellies, old CD's, receipts, three walking sticks, ice scrapers x5, a bag of rock salt and other pointless shite.

Plus, of course, door pockets and glovebox rammed with more crap that he does not need, nor will ever use.

 

Hoovering the boot took me well over an hour. Sawdust and bits of wood everywhere. Plus a few dog hairs.

 

The passenger footwell was the worst though. Again, over an hour in here, removing dog hairs.

It is hard to see, but the kick plate covers and tunnel were rife with it. As was the mat and carpet beneath it.

 

 

I wish I had taken some more pictures now.

 

Even the drivers mat was folded right up from being in twisted and jammed up against the pedals.

That has been rescued by standing under a heavy weight for the best part of a week.

 

How can you let your car get this bad? I mean he never, ever cleans it. Not even the inside.

 

My Mondeo is not kept spotless, but at least it is presentable.

 

I would be embarrassed to give anyone a lift in his, the way it was.

[dollywobbler]

When I (very briefly!) worked at Mr Clutch, we had a Sierra come in. It literally was an ashtray. Ash and fag ends were EVERYWHERE! We had to put a seat cover in it to keep our overalls clean.

 

This week, I've also noticed a LOT of cars making horrific 'brakes are entirely fucked' noises. Do people not realise that this is a BAD thing?! The one I saw today was a 12-plate Zafira. 

[brickwall]

I had a friend who drove a 340 complete with cig ash pile and hardened sneezes on the windscreen and dash.

[overrun]

That Sierra sounds disgusting. Imagine having the windows down at speed!

 

I once pulled over a police Focus to tell the WPC that her rear brakes were trailing on something chronic.

I could hear them from behind, with music on ffs.

 

There are so many people on the road that should not be allowed to control a vehicle.

[overrun]

I had a friend who drove a 340 complete with cig ash pile and hardened sneezes on the windscreen and dash.

 

Probably bogeys on the steering wheel and under the seat base, too.

 

I'd rather walk than get a lift in something like that lol.

[Junkman]

This week, I've also noticed a LOT of cars making horrific 'brakes are entirely fucked' noises. Do people not realise that this is a BAD thing?! The one I saw today was a 12-plate Zafira. 

 

Do you sometimes ride shotgun in other people's cars?

Usually, the moment they turn the key, some horrible newfangled boom badda boom shit comes from 15 speakers. Just noise.

You know, nothing decent or cool, with a melody to hum along, like the stuff AC/DC and Mötörhead did way back when things were still nice and good.

 

Phakt is, they haven't heard their engine, or other potential 'it's fubar' or 'it's snafy' noises in years. They never ever check any fluids, neither oil, nor brake fluid, nor coolant.

 

'Why, I only bought it [enter up to five] years ago, new cars are 100% reliable, aren't they?'

[Jim Bell]

I would not buy a car unless it was reasonably clean inside.

 

Apart from when I bought a BX blind. That car had enough DNA crusted onto the touchable areas that you could have cloned a whole army of filthy barstewards from what I scrubbed off the gear knob alone.

 

Took a whole day to get the thick off, then a whole bottle of Fabreeze, and it still stank.

[Wilko220]

Having once upon a time done a job which gave me the benefit* of seeing inside lots of people's houses, it surprises me not in the slightest that some folks' cars are a bit skanky.

 

I have to say though, the concept of a daily driver which is immaculately spotless and polished every week is a bit of an alien one to me also.

[Partridge]

I can’t stand a dirty car. It’s purely mentalogical, but I swear cars drive better when they’re nice and clean. I also think I drive better when mine is clean somehow...I have tons upon tons upon tons of AutoGymp, quite literally a bottle for everything. I’ll post a picture when I do it next, you won’t believe it. 

There’s nothing more satisfying when you park up and looking over your shoulder, admiring your clean motor.

[Junkman]

Apart from when I bought a BX blind.

 

Fuggin how it's done. Bravo!

[overrun]

I swear cars drive better when they’re nice and clean. I also think I drive better when mine is clean somehow...

 

There is a lot of truth in this. It puts you in a better frame of mind, no question.

 

It just makes the car a much more pleasent place to be. Who doesn't want that?

[oman5]

My dad's car was like that sierra. he just never used the ashtray and floormats (originally black) were light grey from all the ash. when you turned on the windscreen demister ash would come out of the vents. that was back when I used to smoke so I didnt notice the smell..but now, jeez!! I don't EVER remember him cleaning one of his cars, inside or out. the house was always immaculate, though. 

[trigger]

Many years ago i used to collect the cars from the local garages that needed bodywork doing to them to take back to our yard as it was only me and my boss and we didn't have a trailer or recovery truck back then, most the stuff we collected were trade in's that hadn't been cleaned and were often in a real bad state.

 

The one that sticks to my mind even 14 years later was a gold Nissan Prairie that i collected from my bosses brothers garage, it was thick in dog hair and full of fleas, it was uttering mingling and to make things worse was it was a hot summers day and it stunk of dog too.

 

We refused to drive it back and made one of their garage bods collect it instead.

[Spiny Norman]

Having once upon a time done a job which gave me the benefit* of seeing inside lots of people's houses, it surprises me not in the slightest that some folks' cars are a bit skanky.

 

This. Some people are just pigs.

My car is kept almost spotless inside, I hate sitting in a load of crap, the outside gets washed when it rains.

[dollywobbler]

I have to say though, the concept of a daily driver which is immaculately spotless and polished every week is a bit of an alien one to me also.

 

Oh aye. I certainly can't be arsed keeping a well-used car immaculate. Or any of them for that matter. But I do try to keep them relatively tidy. I hoovered out the BX only last week (mind you, it was full of bits of tree which kept blowing about in the breeze!).

[RedSparrow]

My dad does MOTs and so regularly has to sit in some pretty disgusting cars. Fast food wrappers all over the floor are a favourite. I always thought even if my car was that messy inside I'd clean it a bit before the MOT, just to avoid embarassment if nothing else.

 

Photo nicked from :http://beanquest.wordpress.com/page/2/

[Partridge]

I would have thought submitting a fleapit wouldn’t make a good impression?

[overrun]

My mates van is a winner.

 

Usually the passenger footwell is literally six inches deep in old Greggs bags, fast food cartons etc.

Plus of course the food remnants and accompanying smell.

 

Lovely.

[Hendry]

I used to be a valeter for Arnold Shark and some of the sites I saw were not pretty, even people who drive big flash expensive 2 year old Mercs and BMWs are clatty bastards.

 

One thing I did learn though was that some cars could be really minging but be really easy to get cleaned up and looking ok again, others could be actually fairly tidy but a nightmare to get clean, as I discovered it was usually medium family hatches which were the hardest (Astra/Focus/Megane) whilst the smaller (Corsa/Fiesta/Clio) and bigger (Vectra/Mondeo/Laguna) models were far easier. Very odd.

[overrun]

Because some people don't give a shit about cars.

 

This is basically it.

I asked a question, even though I knew the answer.

 

It's fair enough not caring about cars, but as said, houses are kept clean. Why should the car (inside) be thought of as any different?

 

Very strange mindset imo.

[vulgalour]

No point telling all about my cleaning routines with cars, it's well documented here.  It is, however, worth talking about my Dad whose attitude to his own car has changed considerably with his current car, a Vauxhall Omega saloon.  It's the first car he's had in a while that he genuinely tries to keep tidy and nice inside, which is no mean feat considering his increasing mobility difficulties.  He is, however, proof that you can have a tidy car with minimal effort.  He keeps disposable wipes for the steering wheel and handles in the centre console and a cloth specifically for the inside of the windscreen so everything important is kept clean.  He's fussy about rubbish being taken out of the car by himself and passengers to cut down on the amount of vacuuming required and if he can get someone else to clean the outside of the car for him he will, especially since he can only really do the top half of the sides these days.

 

Dad's mindset and driving seems much more relaxed and less distracted when his car is clean and he's always far prouder of the car when meeting friends, family and complete strangers than he has been in the past when he was more physically capable but had a scruffy car because he didn't care for the cleaning.

[Cavcraft]

I used to wonder why people left their cars in such a shit state, but now I'm about the same. To be fair once every couple of months or so I empty out all the bits of scrap paper with addresses written on them, some of the empty pop/water bottles and some of the pens, broken reading glasses and general shit up.

The outside is nearly as minging as the inside again now though.

[Station]

The Saab I had was disgusting. The bloke was fat with long greasy hair and smelt. The carpet was covered in grime, there was a strange blob of something that looked like an egg on the door card which could've been where he spat out of the window and missed. There was also chip and McDonald's chips under the seats and even behind the dashboard. Even the glovebox was filthy. Even after leaving it for three months while I got to take the engine out of the poor car, it still stank and two of my workmate's said the same.

 

I have other cars that have been thick in dog hair, it's horrible having to clean these messes out so you have even think of driving it.

[Partridge]

I take it they were long term leases or company cars in that case?

I used to be a valeter for Arnold Shark and some of the sites I saw were not pretty, even people who drive big flash expensive 2 year old Mercs and BMWs are clatty bastards.
 

[oldford]

One that I MOTd a while back:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It only failed on a windscreen and a rear light, despite it venting hot coolant over me, it also had a nice little mouse nest in it.

[skattrd]

Any car I use for work for more than a couple of weeks ends up looking like a tip. When i get a car i say I'll always keep it tidy, that usually lasts a fortnight.

 

The boring is especially bad at present, so bad I was even thinking about cleaning it out (not done that since Feb). To me it's just a workhorse though, mechanically it's sound and well looked after. It's got 213k on the clock and it went through the MOT last week with no advisories. Cosmetically it's horrendous, most panels have some damage, there are parts receipts and odd parts scattered on the floor. The passenger foot-well currently has loads of vac hoses, jubilee clips, cable ties and an N75 valve in it. It starts, goes well and earns me money, I don't care what it looks like.

I may clean it out this weekend, then again I've been saying that for a while.

[DVee8]

My old man was of it get cleaned when it rains and the ashtray gets emptied if and when it is over flowing the mats were rolled up under the pedals the fag burns on the seats due to him tipping the ash if and when the time was right.

The farter in law and i were given a Mazda estate that we got around 5 black sacks full of crap out of including used(full) and new nappies so many KFC boxes but we got around 30 cd's and 2 solder irons and a socket set.

[hairymel]

it was usually medium family hatches which were the hardest (to clean).....Very odd.

 

you obviously don't have children

[Mr Lobster]

Having worked in car rental and having seen the state of some of the cars when they were returned I wonder what some peoples houses are like.

 

That said, anyone who had brought a rental car back in a particularly bad state always, always got charged for valeting it.

 

There were many full of general grime and shit and a fair few with used nappies left in. I reckon the worst was a Bora with a glovebox full of sick. Guy told us that his son had been sick in it mind but that it was to be expected because he was ill. He took the right hump when he got charged for cleaning it though.

 

Once rented a black Ford Galaxy (with tinted back windows) to an undertakers who were using it for moving bodies - they didn't actually state that was its purpose but when you come and collect it, leave all the seats at the rental place, lie down in the back and take measurements it pretty much gives the game away. That came back immaculate with the exception of a couple of patches of sticky, strange fluid just behind the front seats. The valeters wouldn't go near it so I think we sent it to the local Albanian Auto Clean place to sort that one.

[jakebullet]

Idiot sister's guide to buying a new(er) car:

 

1) Pay over the odd for low mileage 'cos this means you'll never have to service it.

2) Visit halfords, acquire powered by fairydust pink mats.

3) Drive to stables, attempt to impress the other idiots who own walking dog food.

4) Drive home in shit covered wellies, via mc D's

5) Turn it into a mobile skip, ruin it mechanically within a year. Rinse, repeat.