rmcelwee

iTrader: (1)

I'm getting one of my Geo Metros ready to sell and I spent some time cleaning it yesterday. I took the opportunity to spray off the new V8 Miata (can't really wash it because there isn't much paint to keep clean on it) and clean the glass. I used the damp towel to wipe off the grime/dirt from the door jams and noted how dirty it was. It got me thinking about all the used cars I have purchased. I don't think a single one (and there have been MANY) have been purchased cleaner than when I sold them. Meaning when I bought them they were filthy. Why would someone not take care of their ****, especially when they are trying to sell it.

Example - I know the V8 is really rough BUT on the first day I owned it I spent 10 minutes scraping some glob of hard plastic out of the glovebox (looked like someone stuck something in there and it melted). There was an owners manual in there and it was stuffed with old receipts for tire balancing and **** that was done as far back as 2001. The steering wheel has a cover on it and you cannot drive the car without getting your hands black and sticky from touching it. So far I have pulled about $8 in change out of the car. Why would someone leave a handful of quarters behind the driver's seat? It has to be laziness. Am I the only one that takes care of their stuff?

SlideRuler

I used to clean my Miata at least twice a week. Now that I moved out of the house I don't really get the opportunity to walk outside, grab the buckets and the hose and go to town on the car.

I always lol at the morons who try to sell cars that have dirty carpets and even trash all inside and in the trunk. Wouldn't you clean your **** first? People are ******* idiots.

dpexp

iTrader: (6)

Im a tad OCD about cleanliness, the inside of my wifes car usually looks like a garbage dump, if she were to open the garage door theres a shop vac plugged in and ready to go not 10 feet from where she parks. If I have to drive her car for whatever reason I clean it before I go.

JayL

iTrader: (12)

What I find even funnier is when someone that's a complete slob cleans their car up just to sell it. Then when it's clean they realize that it's still a nice car and they decide to keep it. A few months later it's completely trashed again and the cycle repeats itself.

rmcelwee

iTrader: (1)

Same thing on stuff that is broken in a car. If your passenger window crank is broken and you drive around like that for years and then fix it before selling the car you are an idiot.

levnubhin

iTrader: (30)

I know what you guys mean. Hell, even when I traded in my last vehicle at the dealership I detailed it before going.
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

shlammed

iTrader: (8)

this reminds me i need to fix my daily.

i bought an aftermarket axle for it, and it makes a ton of vibrating noise because its cheap...but ive just been to lazy to install a new oem one.... and now its -5 degrees C out and falling.

This has always been the first thing i have done when getting a new to me vehicle (besides when i bought new new). It seems that people try to clean but will never meet my definition of clean when i get it.

I am a toothbrush and steam cleaner type of person... however i havent done the undercarriage of my miata recently....once again... procrastinating.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

Rob, would you have bought the car if it was pristine and 20% more expensive?

Godless Commie

iTrader: (2)

I smoke in my car.

When I had to sell my first Miata (a silver '99), I pulled all the inside trim pieces, scrubbed them clean inside out and then used liberal amounts of Fabreze on both the trim pieces and the exposed carpeting, as well as the seats.

A non smoker couple bought the car, and thanked me for not having smoked in it..

I keep it clean anyway, it's just that cigarette smoke lingers in the car unless you go through the car like I did.

I sold the car for what I had paid for it four years ago.

rmcelwee

iTrader: (1)

No, but I would not have been making fun of the guy right now. I think the hole in the hood saved me $500 but I am not thinking it is the best feature of the car. I drove it around yesterday and the hole sure did attract some attention (that and the 150 decibel exhaust).

fooger03

iTrader: (2)

I always wonder what people do in their cars when I ride in someone else's... There always seems to be **** all over the passenger's floor/seat, back seats seem to be a thing of the past, it seems like 50% of the time there is a check engine light on which has "been on since I owned the car", one of the windows doesnt roll down, and you have to open the driver's side rear door from the inside, or something like that. They also seem to always have "old car smell" which is quite easily the strong opposite of "new car smell". "Old car smell" is a cross between dirty wet dog, a supersize order of mcdonalds french fries lost throughout the car, half of a diet coke spilled in the passenger's seat that was never cleaned up, and a strong hint of mold emanating out of the heater vents.

My cars aren't perfect by any means, but I keep the passenger compartments spotless, and they're ready for anyone to jump in and go for a ride at a moment's notice. They don't have the "new car smell", but I'll be damned if they are going to smell uninviting - and no, I don't have a pine tree shaped "blind spot creator" hanging from my rear view mirror. If I stopped at a fast food joint on my way home, the trash goes inside immediately - similarly, if I'm on a road trip, I make it a point to clean **** out at the next gas station or rest area.

I don't know, I guess I just like having nice things...

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Lol, the last NASA tech inspector told me I "should try to vacuum the car before next year, it might lose a few pounds." lol

18psi

iTrader: (76)

I am crazy about keeping my car clean and you can pretty much eat off any part of it almost always.

The only times I didn't wash/vacuum/clean it on a weekly basis is when it woud stand in the garage for that amount of time and still be clean as hell.

rmcelwee

iTrader: (1)

A shot of the battery on a Geo Metro the first day after I bought it. Would you try to sell your car like this:

bluemax

iTrader: (3)

I clean my vehicles every now and then but I guess I'd rather be driving than cleaning.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

That's actually pretty clean. It hasn't started to grow the white, crusty stuff yet.


My sister's car makes me sad to drive, as does my mother's. They are both packed to the gills with old chewing gum wrappers, old CDs, napkins, little dangly things hanging from the mirrors, those little paper packets of salt that come in drive-thru bags, chargers for six cell phones they don't own anymore, oil change receipts for the last 40,000 miles, several photos stuck over the instrument panel completely obstructing everything except the fuel gauge, and on and on...


I mean, I'm not ---- about it. I haven't washed the blue car since I bought it, and I only very occasionally vacuum them. But I don't let random **** accumulate in them until you can't see the floor anymore or open the glovebox.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

You would have no qualms with eating off the motor in my track car or daily, but the interior is filthy...the daily has kitty litter in the floor-board to soak up water from about 4-weeks ago, lol.

05pearl

iTrader: (4)

It's a combination of laziness and the fact that they've had their car for awhile, are bored of it, and just don't give a **** about it anymore.

kotomile

iTrader: (24)

My wife's family doesn't take care of their cars. They're all packed with trash, unwashed, undermaintained, dangly mirror ****, etc.

I get OCD with my cars. My mother-in-law thinks I'm nuts. She told me she'd never seen someone take the seats out of a car to vacuum, or take a hair clipper to the carpet to reduce its fuzziness, wire a radar detector into the car's wiring, or clean out the lettering on a seatbelt with a toothbrush. And that's just the Miata, I'm worse with the VW because it's new...

I bought the JSW two tan towels (to match the tan seats) to go under the kids' seats (a necessity, trust me), after a wash I always wipe out the door jambs, the engine bay, the wheels and tires, around the hatch, etc. The front seats have covers on them, which get washed as needed. Better than having a bunch of toddler-sized shoeprints on the backs of the seats.

I shudder to think what the VW looks like since I've gone.. my wife swears she's keeping it presentable.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Koto's car is insanely clean, it looks like it's new inside and out. I was very impressed with it. I was the same way with my VW's but after so many people wrecking into them, keying, or vandalizing the interior on the TT, I stopped caring.