Another strange topic - but NOT a political issue.... ;D ARE CARS ALIVE?

[John Hubertz]

Are cars alive?

My 1994 Dodge Caravan, 156,000 miles, recently had its FIRST breakdown.



My driver Mike who usually has it noticed a low front tire.  He drove all the way across town because he is:

1.  Grumpy
2.  Hates paying a quarter for previously free air
3.  Grumpy

He pulled up in front of Steve's gas station service bay, and as he aired the tire the car shuddered and quit.  The tensioner had snapped and the serpentine belt had jammed the crank pulley.

Hmmmm.  Any of our science guys want to do a statistical analysis of that occurring...  AT THAT EXACT MOMENT OUT OF 160,000 MILES,  in front of Steve's service bay...  and Steve gives me $25 an hour labor because of the church vehicles I bring in and because he works for fun not money?

Total cost:  $82.  The part was $47.

Hmmmmmph.

My cars ALL do stuff like that, and always have.  The "doesn't work except for John" stuff.

My right rear window (Benz)
My check engine light (Lincoln)
My "won't start the moment you sold it"  (Studebaker)
My "invisible to cops without a muffler, even when you accidently hit them because you are sliding on your slicks in the rain" (rail dune buggy)


etc etc etc etc.

Now, am I crazy?  ....ummmm     No wait....   BEING insane as I am, am I making something out of nothing?  Has ANYBODY had similar experiences?

[oscar]

At first John, I thought in response to the title - Only Herbie, Christine and KIT were alive.

I'll still stand by that but after reading your post I've been rather fortunate with never becoming stranded despite having some breakdowns.  My 350 has failed but always at work or at home and never on one of these long haul drives I'll do.  In other cars, I've never run out of fuel but have managed to roll into a servo' (gas, petrol station) and then fill the tank above the manufacturers rated tank capacity.

Is it luck, is it karma, is it fate?  I don't subscribe to the latter two so it must be luck.  Which, by that rationale, means the unlucky day of having to call for a towtruck or roadside assistance may be looming ever so nearer.  As atheist as I am, I always put faith in my car.  Is that weird or what

Another story from my early Catholic High School days.  A preist who was our soccer coach drove us into town after games in a minibus.  He believed in the power of prayer and whilst we mocked him on his plea with the team to join him to pray for a carpark in the main street, blow me down, he always managed to pull the van into a carpark infront of Charcoal Chicken.  Yes it was a very busy street

[WGB]

All cars are emotional.
Mine get jealous and sulk if I drive one more than another eg flat batteries, develop new strange tapping noises etc.

The newer cars have quite a degree of electronic intelligence and this will, I would imagine in time with deterioration,  lead to variations in performance with temperature and use.

Just try putting 91 in a high compression modern car built for 98 and see what sulking is all about.

Bill

P.S. My doctor says if I think the car is talking to me that I mustn't talk back but take one of the Blue Pills instead.

[116Benz]

Old cars= personality
New Cars= AI

[John Hubertz]

Oh yeah, one more.

Nunmobile...  Sr. Rita's....

Check engine light on....  starting poorly in the morning.  Lights up and down with revs.

Battery seemed obvious....

Took to batt shop...  in the morning.  I STARTED it, and took it 3 miles.  Battery showed 9 volts and less amperage then a radio battery when tested.  And I had STARTED it outside the shop to pull it in for the analyser.

Took old battery out, crossed the terminals....  pip of a spark...  no heat... nothing.

Hmmmmmph.

[Andrew280SEL]

Yes, I believe they seem to be. Well, old cars anyway.

My dad and I are adament that my 280SEL actually seems to be "happier" now that I own it, rather than when the guy that weighed 550Kgs owned it as it seems to go better every time I drive it (apart from a few little mechanical issues needing sorting out of course  ).

But yeah, all our w116's and indeed all our cars seem to have different personalities and like different things.
 

[James R]

I know that if I wash my car it always immediately rains so the fucking thing must be capable of talking to someone up in the Gods. Shit, it has pissed it down all bloody summer over here and I'm convinced its because I washed the Benz back in April. Its all my fault.

[alabbasi]

At first John, I thought in response to the title - Only Herbie, Christine and KIT were alive.

Ahem..... it's KITT 

[oscar]

oops

I got stuck on the spelling of Herbie, I forgot about KITT.

[Brian Crump]

If a car is alive, which orifice is used for mouth to mouth? 
Regards,
BC

[Andrew280SEL]

^The radiator filler, maybe, or the oil filler.

And...uh...the exhaust pipe is...you know...

[500eguy]

I would have to say possibly, my 450 died right as i was pulling into my parking stall....i have had other strange occurances... just can't think of them right now.

[michaeld]

P.S. My doctor says if I think the car is talking to me that I mustn't talk back but take one of the Blue Pills instead.

Obviously, I need to take one of WGB's little blue pills, but...
I'm going to take this thread seriously.

Cars don't have souls.  People do.  But there's nothing like a classic automobile to bring out the exuberence of life in that soul!

My dog has intelligence, opinions, and personality that he otherwise would not have if I did not "give them to him."  I talk to him every day, and - when he looks at me, barks at me, plays with me - he "talks" back.  We have a bond because I love him and - in pouring my love into him - I formed that bond.  [This just an aside, but I believe animals have souls as well, although they are categorically different than human souls.]

I used to drive a base version Nissan 200SX that I bought brand new with my "Airborne qualified" bonus check of $5000US.  2.2 Liter, manual transmission, power nothing.  I drove that car all over the darn country; it was reliable as heck.  I put over 200,000 miles on it before a big pickup backed into it and totaled it in a parking lot.

But that sucker had no soul, and nothing about it ever inspired me to "give it one."

It was just a car, nothing at all like my 450SEL or my old Pontiac.

Let me postulate this question:

Do cars take on "something extra" from the people who build them?  I mean, build it with love and pride, and something of that love and pride will somehow stay with the car through the years?  But if you build it with nothing more than "bottom lines" in mind, and that magic disappears?  That would explain a lot, IMO.

I think my 450SEL has a soul because I love it enough to invest some of my passion into it.  And I wonder if the men who built it invested some of their passion into it as well - way back in 1977 - that still survives to this day.

Like I said, maybe it's time for me to take one of those little blue pills!  You got any extra, WGB?