@werehatrack@yakkoTDI Yes, my Mini Cooper Convertible (F57) has a 1.5L 134 hp three-cylinder turbocharged engine made by BMW (who owns Mini). I’m very impressed with its power and acceleration and the amount of (presumably) BMW technology that made its way into the Mini.
DNA. Have a truck and a motorcycle.
Maybe your poll questions should be more broad-minded. Or realize that not every vehicle should be generically referred to as “car”.
Good lord. We don’t even still call everyone “he” now.
@kittykat9180@phendrick Hey, I had a Vespa. Don’t leave me out! And yes, I guess you could say it was messy. After 20,000+ miles it was missing the side reflectors and had plenty of dents and scratches in it.
Did you really mean everyone or just when you don’t know the gender of the person? I can’t remember ever using “he” for the former, but it’s still being used sometimes for the latter, like other languages that don’t have or regularly use neutral third person singular pronouns.
@ItalianScallion
He as in singular, for anyone, no particular gender; not he as in plural, for all of mankind. (Yeah, that word can be thought of as sexist also.)
@phendrick So “he” when you know the person’s gender is masculine, don’t know, or are using the impersonal (general), but not “he” when you know the person’s gender is feminine, right? That’s what I was taught (or figured out on my own) long, long ago. Of course you can use “one” for the impersonal, but it sounds a little stilted.
@ItalianScallion@phendrick Ancillary Justice has everyone referred to as “she”, regardless of gender. And that’s the smallest of the oddities in the tale. A great read.
@BingleDerry@ItalianScallion@kittykat9180@phendrick Okay, if we’re getting that deep into semantics, when you write, “call everyone he,” it suggests that you’re speaking, so it would be more clear if you used the phrase, “refer to…” when citing the historical use of the generic he.
If that strikes you as too nitpicky for an informal forum such as this, i would submit that your original point also fits that description, since the word car is commonly used as a synonym for vehicle, such as the Oxford Languages definition of car: “a four-wheeled road vehicle that is powered by an engine and is able to carry a small number of people” or the Cambridge Dictionary entry: “a road vehicle with an engine, four wheels, and seats for a small number of people.” Neither one of those excludes the concept of a pickup truck, and a motorcycle wouldn’t generally qualify as a “messy” vehicle (considering the intended meaning of the word), since any enclosed space on it would automatically become a de facto trash receptacle if filled with clutter, while any loose items usually would blow away at travelling speed.
TL;DR: Let’s not be too persnickety about semantics, the forums aren’t supposed to be a scientific dissertation, eh?
@ItalianScallion@phendrick @blaineg “Ancillary Justice” does sound interesting, & the story has a point, i think, since we all have an X chromosome; only the inferior male of the species has a Y, so it seems more appropriate to use “she” as the generic, or even s/he for those who are too squeamish to acknowledge the inevitable female takeover.
@BingleDerry@ircon96@ItalianScallion@kittykat9180
i think this horse should be pronounced dead, but I’m still going to beat it a bit more. You disparage nitpicking but then seem to be doing it, so I will.
car is commonly used as a synonym for vehicle, such as the Oxford Languages definition of car: “a four-wheeled road vehicle that is powered by an engine and is able to carry a small number of people
If a car is a 4-wheeled road vehicle, does that make any 4-wheeled road vehicle a car?
A “definition” done by an example is a pretty poor definition. Wouldn’t pass muster in my old profession.
According to the above, I could say that “a fork is an implement for eating, able to be held in one’s hand” which then makes a “fork” a synonym for any eating instrument, such as a spoon or even chopsticks.
The forum choices way too often are similar to this exchange:
“These parking spaces were designed for cars, so park your car there!”
“But my ‘car’ is a pickup, and it is too big to fit in that space”.
“Well, make do.”
One of my pet peeves is calling some automated phone service (e.g., customer service) and being given a phone tree menu and none of the choices match my situation. Then hopefully there is an escape # to get a “real person:” but often all it does is just repeat the same choices. That pushes MY buttons, so to speak.
A little fore thought by the implementer could go a long way. Or is that extra 30 seconds too much to ask for when dealing with possibly thousands of readers?
@BingleDerry@ItalianScallion@kittykat9180@phendrick I’ve never been one to euthanize a perfectly good horse, so here goes: IIRC, your field was mathematics, so we’re dealing with apples & oranges. Language is an ever-evolving (granted, some would say “devolving,” so let’s use “changing” instead) mode of communication, so word usage continually morphs and often relies heavily on context. When a word or phrase becomes commonplace, such as car being substituted for vehicle, you can either accept the direction of the tide, or you can swim against it & drown in your own truculence. Maybe we can all go back to using “horseless carriage” to make it less confusing for the fuddy-duddies among us.
As far as the phone tree example, i completely agree that they’re insufferable, but luckily the forums have a built-in escape #: the comments. You can very easily say, "My pickup, dune buggy, golf cart, UTV, John Deere combine, etc, etc, is a total disaster, as clean as the day i bought it, or any state in between, & nobody would bat an eye. In summary, to paraphrase a retro expression, Keep Calm & Comment On.
@blaineg@ircon96@ItalianScallion Believe it or don’t, but that movie was actually before my time.
But I rushed out to see it as soon as I could walk.
Seriously, a very interesting film, significant in cinema history, and better appreciated now than at its release.
For anyone curious, there is a link on Wikipedia to watch (almost) the full (original) film. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(1927_film)
As WikiP notes, the film is now in the public domain, so feel free to make copies for your friends. Or even derivative works (AI could probably make a great animation with a more modern story line using cut scenes. Could be titled “The Downfall of Men”?) Shes would approve?
@BingleDerry@ircon96@kittykat9180@Kyeh@phendrick But does the glue holding your truck’s body panels on come unstuck so the panels fall off? Oh wait… that’s a specific brand of “truck” that no one here would admit to owning.
I answered the poll taking messy to refer to things rather than filth. I try not to leave anything in the car that doesn’t belong to the car. The first thing I do whenever we get home from a long trip is empty everything trip-related from the car. I try to keep it tidy.
That said, it’s dusty and you shouldn’t look too closely at the floor. I happily pay to get the car detailed once a year or so. If you have the means, treat yourself. There’s no way my time is so worthless that I could clean the car cheaper than paying a place to detail it.
@gnafuthemeh Sometimes it’s about the satisfaction of doing the work yourself and knowing it was done right. Then there’s the rest of us who are just cheapskates. Plus we don’t need the detailers to stumble across the contents of the duffle bag or ask about all the random shell casings.
@gnafuthemeh Wouldn’t it be great if we only had to do the things we liked? Unfortunately, most of us non-millionaires don’t have the option of waking up in that alternate universe.
@kuoh I find it’s much more useful to be near one that’s relatively shallow but overgrown, and well supplied with large carnivorous reptiles and assorted scavengers of all sizes. Because there are some things that just won’t stay sunk reliably.
OTOH, if you have access a big enough boat, inexpensive but abyssally inadequate shatterable pressure vessels, and the mass to make them sink, the process of disposal becomes essentially 100% guaranteed to leave next to no traces recoverable.
@andrewpunch A couple of months ago I needed a transmission for a 2010 Toyota Sienna (which is messy inside - ti is an extension of the shed and garage I don’t have).
@kuoh@xobzoo@yakkoTDI Non-customer states this is incredibly ugly - even worse than my ghetto van (named that by my kid as it was the era of the peeling paint and the junk yard bought it from me when it was 25 years and 3 mo old (Dodge grand caravan - who knew I could get it to last that long).
My car sometimes functions as an external storage unit, like PODS. Great place to hide presents. I also keep about a thousand shopping bags in my car, but then of course forget to bring one when I go into a store.
@heartny@ItalianScallion The issue I have is that I usually go to the store with one or two things in mind, so I’ll just take one bag. Then I often wind up impulse buying several more items and am stuck with either purchasing another bag (to add to the pile) or trying to carry a bunch of loose items out to the car without the extra bag(s).
@heartny@ItalianScallion@macromeh I have these nifty little folding bags that clip on to my purse; they unfold to be quite large. Too bad for those of you who don’t carry purses.
I do have larger sturdier bags for big stuff, as well as insulated ones for frozen stuff, etc.
@Kyeh I have dozens of those and carry 2 different ones with me. Have a few in my car too. I got a bunch from Aldi a few years ago in various colors and patterns. I got a cute dog shaped one from Target. My favorite is a round one I got from Tommy Hilfiger when they were a client. Unfortunately some of these handy bags are a b*tich to get back in their pouches.
@catgrrl Well the cats (in a large dog metal crate with a shelf I built) and I sleep in my minivan when I am driving somewhere and it takes more than 1 day to get there. Well unless it is too cold for the cats.
I am a Dog Sitter, so mostly my car has lots of dog hair. I have doggy seats throughout my car so there’s no room for anyone except in the driver seat. My car is not full of junk it’s just full of dog stuff.
@ItalianScallion@kittykat9180@yakkoTDI I wash the outside of mine every 6 months, whether it needs it or not. Except sometimes I might skip it if there’s something else to or I don’t feel like washing it that day. The back seat looks like someone lives there, I don’t know who it is but as long as they don’t bother me I don’t bother them.
@algae1221@ItalianScallion@kittykat9180@yakkoTDI My husband once parked near downtown and came out to find a homeless guy asleep in his back seat! I think the guy assumed the car was parked for the night and thought he could be up and gone by early morning.
@ItalianScallion@kittykat9180@yakkoTDI Or sprinklers that are watering the parking lot along with the plants. We aren’t allowed to wash our cars in this apartment complex so I park under the sprinkler and rub it down there. So far not been called out for washing my car there since the parking lot is already wet from the sprinkler.
@macromeh A coworker was obsessed with his high-end car and washed it every single day. Another coworker put his Porsche 911 up for sale. One prospective buyer asked if it had ever been rained on. He roared with laughter. Oh, he lived in New Hampshire, so snow too.
@ItalianScallion I’m not fanatical about my car, but I do keep it reasonably clean. Mostly, it is parked in the garage and I don’t drive it that much (WFH during COVID, then I retired). 5.5 years old and <16K miles on the odometer.
@macromeh I know what you mean. I’m retired and live in a city with good public transportation and a subway station close to my house. My Fiat was 13 years old and had only 82,000 miles on it when I got rid of it. I did have a Vespa almost the whole time I had the Fiat so that picked up quite a lot of miles before I sold it after neighborhood vandals did a bit of a number on it trying to steal it. Hint: you’re not going far if it doesn’t have a battery in it and the steering is locked in a turn position.
@kuoh One of them is definitely the human equivalent of an InSinkErator, but unfortunately does not have a taste for wrappers so they just end up on the floor or shoved into a seat pocket.
The joke is on them though since my car will become their daily driver once they get their licenses next year. Then they can make a mess in their own vehicle and fight over who has to clean it.
@mikey Umm… you might be missing the actual joke. Take a look at their rooms, how high of a priority do you think keeping the car clean will be? Who do you realistically expect to be paying for the insurance, maintenance and repairs on that car until it is ultimately sold or scrapped?
@kuoh Based on how frantically one of them cleans his room when his girlfriend is coming over, I’m guessing he’ll make it a priority to keep the car clean. He’s also applying for jobs to help pay for the car insurance rise and other costs once he gets his license.
I know some kids care about appearances and keeping things clean (at least occasionally) and other things in that category.
Mine are not (yet).
We’re trying to train it into them. I hope it sticks at some point, preferably before they’re 30 and move out.
So where would you draw the line on working on a filthy vehicles? Dirty? Filthy? Garbage up to the windows? The roof? Mold? Roaches? Other animal life?
My front seats are pretty clean for when I take my elderly mother to appointments. The back has stuff in it that needs to go to thrift stores, etc. plus a tarp for when I haul home bags of garden soil or plants. But wrappers, cups and such don’t get left in it.
YES!!
Not yet. It’s only two weeks old and has only been subjected to two on-the-road fast food meals.
@ItalianScallion What did you feed it?
@werehatrack Cylinder 1 had a Wendy’s Baconator, cylinder 2 had a Popeye’s chicken sandwich, and cylinder 3 is still hungry.
@ItalianScallion @werehatrack 3 cylinders? BMW i8, Subabru Justy, Geo Metro/Suzuki Swift or Dihatsu Charade?
@ItalianScallion @werehatrack @yakkoTDI Honda V-3.
@werehatrack @yakkoTDI Yes, my Mini Cooper Convertible (F57) has a 1.5L 134 hp three-cylinder turbocharged engine made by BMW (who owns Mini). I’m very impressed with its power and acceleration and the amount of (presumably) BMW technology that made its way into the Mini.
DNA. Have a truck and a motorcycle.
Maybe your poll questions should be more broad-minded. Or realize that not every vehicle should be generically referred to as “car”.
Good lord. We don’t even still call everyone “he” now.
@phendrick chill out, its just a poll
@BingleDerry Right, it’s Meh, why go for perfection when you don’t have to?
@phendrick just be happy that they spelled everything correctly.
And that the discussion forum is even here.
@kittykat9180 @phendrick Hey, I had a Vespa. Don’t leave me out! And yes, I guess you could say it was messy. After 20,000+ miles it was missing the side reflectors and had plenty of dents and scratches in it.
@BingleDerry @ItalianScallion @kittykat9180 @phendrick So, when did we ever call everyone “he”?
@BingleDerry @ircon96 @ItalianScallion @kittykat9180
For quite a while. i don’t have start and stop dates handy for you (not sure was completely stopped):
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/gender-shifts-in-the-history-of-english/history-of-gender-people-and-pronouns-the-story-of-generic-he/3E2F96D822D33455D7371F7B9590A821
also
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/224554/generic-he-correct-or-incorrect
Note there is something of a movement to get back to it, e.g.:
@BingleDerry @ircon96 @ItalianScallion @kittykat9180 My last link above seems quirky and only showed up when i refreshed the page
96, whisper if you’d like to read the op.cit. at top.
@BingleDerry @ircon96 @kittykat9180 @phendrick
Did you really mean everyone or just when you don’t know the gender of the person? I can’t remember ever using “he” for the former, but it’s still being used sometimes for the latter, like other languages that don’t have or regularly use neutral third person singular pronouns.
@ItalianScallion
He as in singular, for anyone, no particular gender; not he as in plural, for all of mankind. (Yeah, that word can be thought of as sexist also.)
@phendrick So “he” when you know the person’s gender is masculine, don’t know, or are using the impersonal (general), but not “he” when you know the person’s gender is feminine, right? That’s what I was taught (or figured out on my own) long, long ago. Of course you can use “one” for the impersonal, but it sounds a little stilted.
@ItalianScallion @phendrick Ancillary Justice has everyone referred to as “she”, regardless of gender. And that’s the smallest of the oddities in the tale. A great read.
@BingleDerry @ItalianScallion @kittykat9180 @phendrick Okay, if we’re getting that deep into semantics, when you write, “call everyone he,” it suggests that you’re speaking, so it would be more clear if you used the phrase, “refer to…” when citing the historical use of the generic he.
If that strikes you as too nitpicky for an informal forum such as this, i would submit that your original point also fits that description, since the word car is commonly used as a synonym for vehicle, such as the Oxford Languages definition of car: “a four-wheeled road vehicle that is powered by an engine and is able to carry a small number of people” or the Cambridge Dictionary entry: “a road vehicle with an engine, four wheels, and seats for a small number of people.” Neither one of those excludes the concept of a pickup truck, and a motorcycle wouldn’t generally qualify as a “messy” vehicle (considering the intended meaning of the word), since any enclosed space on it would automatically become a de facto trash receptacle if filled with clutter, while any loose items usually would blow away at travelling speed.
TL;DR: Let’s not be too persnickety about semantics, the forums aren’t supposed to be a scientific dissertation, eh?
@ItalianScallion @phendrick
@blaineg “Ancillary Justice” does sound interesting, & the story has a point, i think, since we all have an X chromosome; only the inferior male of the species has a Y, so it seems more appropriate to use “she” as the generic, or even s/he for those who are too squeamish to acknowledge the inevitable female takeover.
@BingleDerry @ircon96 @ItalianScallion @kittykat9180
i think this horse should be pronounced dead, but I’m still going to beat it a bit more. You disparage nitpicking but then seem to be doing it, so I will.
car is commonly used as a synonym for vehicle, such as the Oxford Languages definition of car: “a four-wheeled road vehicle that is powered by an engine and is able to carry a small number of people
If a car is a 4-wheeled road vehicle, does that make any 4-wheeled road vehicle a car?
A “definition” done by an example is a pretty poor definition. Wouldn’t pass muster in my old profession.
According to the above, I could say that “a fork is an implement for eating, able to be held in one’s hand” which then makes a “fork” a synonym for any eating instrument, such as a spoon or even chopsticks.
The forum choices way too often are similar to this exchange:
“These parking spaces were designed for cars, so park your car there!”
“But my ‘car’ is a pickup, and it is too big to fit in that space”.
“Well, make do.”
One of my pet peeves is calling some automated phone service (e.g., customer service) and being given a phone tree menu and none of the choices match my situation. Then hopefully there is an escape # to get a “real person:” but often all it does is just repeat the same choices. That pushes MY buttons, so to speak.
A little fore thought by the implementer could go a long way. Or is that extra 30 seconds too much to ask for when dealing with possibly thousands of readers?
@blaineg @ircon96 @ItalianScallion
Thought it was going to be the bots, or is that the same thing?
@ircon96 @ItalianScallion @phendrick
@BingleDerry @ItalianScallion @kittykat9180 @phendrick I’ve never been one to euthanize a perfectly good horse, so here goes: IIRC, your field was mathematics, so we’re dealing with apples & oranges. Language is an ever-evolving (granted, some would say “devolving,” so let’s use “changing” instead) mode of communication, so word usage continually morphs and often relies heavily on context. When a word or phrase becomes commonplace, such as car being substituted for vehicle, you can either accept the direction of the tide, or you can swim against it & drown in your own truculence. Maybe we can all go back to using “horseless carriage” to make it less confusing for the fuddy-duddies among us.
As far as the phone tree example, i completely agree that they’re insufferable, but luckily the forums have a built-in escape #: the comments. You can very easily say, "My pickup, dune buggy, golf cart, UTV, John Deere combine, etc, etc, is a total disaster, as clean as the day i bought it, or any state in between, & nobody would bat an eye. In summary, to paraphrase a retro expression, Keep Calm & Comment On.
@blaineg @ircon96 @ItalianScallion Believe it or don’t, but that movie was actually before my time.
But I rushed out to see it as soon as I could walk.
Seriously, a very interesting film, significant in cinema history, and better appreciated now than at its release.
For anyone curious, there is a link on Wikipedia to watch (almost) the full (original) film.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(1927_film)
As WikiP notes, the film is now in the public domain, so feel free to make copies for your friends. Or even derivative works (AI could probably make a great animation with a more modern story line using cut scenes. Could be titled “The Downfall of Men”?) Shes would approve?
@BingleDerry @ircon96 @ItalianScallion @kittykat9180 @phendrick
Maybe you mean “truckulence?”
Haha badummm tshhhhh
@BingleDerry @ircon96 @ItalianScallion @kittykat9180 @Kyeh My truck does indeed leak, and not just from me.
@BingleDerry @ircon96 @kittykat9180 @Kyeh @phendrick But does the glue holding your truck’s body panels on come unstuck so the panels fall off? Oh wait… that’s a specific brand of “truck” that no one here would admit to owning.
I answered the poll taking messy to refer to things rather than filth. I try not to leave anything in the car that doesn’t belong to the car. The first thing I do whenever we get home from a long trip is empty everything trip-related from the car. I try to keep it tidy.
That said, it’s dusty and you shouldn’t look too closely at the floor. I happily pay to get the car detailed once a year or so. If you have the means, treat yourself. There’s no way my time is so worthless that I could clean the car cheaper than paying a place to detail it.
@gnafuthemeh Sometimes it’s about the satisfaction of doing the work yourself and knowing it was done right. Then there’s the rest of us who are just cheapskates. Plus we don’t need the detailers to stumble across the contents of the duffle bag or ask about all the random shell casings.
KuoH
@gnafuthemeh @kuoh

@kuoh I definitely do not get a sense of satisfaction when I have to do something I don’t enjoy. I wonder what that’s like…
@Cerridwyn @gnafuthemeh Shovels are optional if you live near a large, deep body of water.
KuoH
@gnafuthemeh Wouldn’t it be great if we only had to do the things we liked? Unfortunately, most of us non-millionaires don’t have the option of waking up in that alternate universe.
KuoH
@Cerridwyn @gnafuthemeh @kuoh lye
@kuoh I find it’s much more useful to be near one that’s relatively shallow but overgrown, and well supplied with large carnivorous reptiles and assorted scavengers of all sizes. Because there are some things that just won’t stay sunk reliably.
OTOH, if you have access a big enough boat, inexpensive but abyssally inadequate shatterable pressure vessels, and the mass to make them sink, the process of disposal becomes essentially 100% guaranteed to leave next to no traces recoverable.
I need an alternator for a 2016 Kia soul 1.6 L engine to pop up on meh for sale.
@andrewpunch Yesterday was pop-up day
https://meh.com/forum/topics/4-pack-securebrite-pop-up-lanterns-with-flashlight-and-emergency-flash
@andrewpunch A couple of months ago I needed a transmission for a 2010 Toyota Sienna (which is messy inside - ti is an extension of the shed and garage I don’t have).
This sounds like the beginnings of a “Just Rolled In” video. Does the term dumpster on wheels hold significance with anyone?
KuoH
@kuoh Customer states…
@kuoh @yakkoTDI Customer states it’s a truck.

/image cybertruck
@kuoh @xobzoo Customer lied.
@kuoh @xobzoo @yakkoTDI The biggest customer lie is “Another shop…”
@kuoh @xobzoo @yakkoTDI Non-customer states this is incredibly ugly - even worse than my ghetto van (named that by my kid as it was the era of the peeling paint and the junk yard bought it from me when it was 25 years and 3 mo old (Dodge grand caravan - who knew I could get it to last that long).
My car sometimes functions as an external storage unit, like PODS. Great place to hide presents. I also keep about a thousand shopping bags in my car, but then of course forget to bring one when I go into a store.
@heartny My shopping bags all end up in the house then I get to the supermarket and ding! ten cents per paper bag.
@heartny @ItalianScallion The issue I have is that I usually go to the store with one or two things in mind, so I’ll just take one bag. Then I often wind up impulse buying several more items and am stuck with either purchasing another bag (to add to the pile) or trying to carry a bunch of loose items out to the car without the extra bag(s).
@heartny @macromeh In that case, I just bite the bullet and pay ten cents for each paper bag. I end up needing them for paper recycling anyway.
@heartny @ItalianScallion @macromeh I have these nifty little folding bags that clip on to my purse; they unfold to be quite large. Too bad for those of you who don’t carry purses.

I do have larger sturdier bags for big stuff, as well as insulated ones for frozen stuff, etc.
@Kyeh I have dozens of those and carry 2 different ones with me. Have a few in my car too. I got a bunch from Aldi a few years ago in various colors and patterns. I got a cute dog shaped one from Target. My favorite is a round one I got from Tommy Hilfiger when they were a client. Unfortunately some of these handy bags are a b*tich to get back in their pouches.
My car looks like I live in it. And I could!
@catgrrl Well the cats (in a large dog metal crate with a shelf I built) and I sleep in my minivan when I am driving somewhere and it takes more than 1 day to get there. Well unless it is too cold for the cats.
Lots of people have something called “windows” to throw the bourbon bottles out of.
@brennyn
So that was YOU!
I have a collection of crap you’ve tossed out in front of my house if you’d like to come back by and pick it up. I’d appreciate it.
I am a Dog Sitter, so mostly my car has lots of dog hair. I have doggy seats throughout my car so there’s no room for anyone except in the driver seat. My car is not full of junk it’s just full of dog stuff.
@gjrupert
Work vehicles get a ‘pass’.
@gjrupert what are dog seats?
@gjrupert I read this quickly and my brain saw “dog sh–” instead of “dog stuff.” Hope your car isn’t full of that too.
I haven’t washed the outside in about a year, but I did recently vacuum the inside.
@kittykat9180 You’re supposed to wash the outside of cars?
@ItalianScallion @kittykat9180 Isn’t that what rain is for?
@kittykat9180 @yakkoTDI Yes!!
@ItalianScallion @yakkoTDI
I hear that some people do.
No rain in the garage. And I hope it stays that way. Especially with a new metal roof 2.5 years ago.
@ItalianScallion @kittykat9180 @yakkoTDI I wash the outside of mine every 6 months, whether it needs it or not. Except sometimes I might skip it if there’s something else to or I don’t feel like washing it that day. The back seat looks like someone lives there, I don’t know who it is but as long as they don’t bother me I don’t bother them.
@algae1221 haha.
I don’t have any random stuff, but my seats and floor were dirty from a few trips to the local nursery.
@algae1221 @ItalianScallion @kittykat9180 @yakkoTDI My husband once parked near downtown and came out to find a homeless guy asleep in his back seat! I think the guy assumed the car was parked for the night and thought he could be up and gone by early morning.
@algae1221 @ItalianScallion @kittykat9180 @Kyeh @yakkoTDI I’ve heard some cars come with door locks.
@algae1221 @blaineg @ItalianScallion @kittykat9180 @yakkoTDI Yes, he just forgot, I guess.
@ItalianScallion @kittykat9180 @yakkoTDI Or sprinklers that are watering the parking lot along with the plants. We aren’t allowed to wash our cars in this apartment complex so I park under the sprinkler and rub it down there. So far not been called out for washing my car there since the parking lot is already wet from the sprinkler.
I don’t have a car, but my motorcycle is…sorta.
My car? Spotless. My wife’s? Um, not so much…

@macromeh A coworker was obsessed with his high-end car and washed it every single day. Another coworker put his Porsche 911 up for sale. One prospective buyer asked if it had ever been rained on. He roared with laughter. Oh, he lived in New Hampshire, so snow too.
@ItalianScallion I’m not fanatical about my car, but I do keep it reasonably clean. Mostly, it is parked in the garage and I don’t drive it that much (WFH during COVID, then I retired). 5.5 years old and <16K miles on the odometer.
@macromeh I know what you mean. I’m retired and live in a city with good public transportation and a subway station close to my house. My Fiat was 13 years old and had only 82,000 miles on it when I got rid of it. I did have a Vespa almost the whole time I had the Fiat so that picked up quite a lot of miles before I sold it after neighborhood vandals did a bit of a number on it trying to steal it. Hint: you’re not going far if it doesn’t have a battery in it and the steering is locked in a turn position.
The front seats are not even a little messy. The back seats where my teens sit is bleh and putting a trash bin back there will not make a difference.
@mikey Aren’t teens already considered to be the trash bin in most households, especially where food is involved?
KuoH
@kuoh One of them is definitely the human equivalent of an InSinkErator, but unfortunately does not have a taste for wrappers so they just end up on the floor or shoved into a seat pocket.
The joke is on them though since my car will become their daily driver once they get their licenses next year. Then they can make a mess in their own vehicle and fight over who has to clean it.
@mikey Umm… you might be missing the actual joke. Take a look at their rooms, how high of a priority do you think keeping the car clean will be? Who do you realistically expect to be paying for the insurance, maintenance and repairs on that car until it is ultimately sold or scrapped?
KuoH
@kuoh Based on how frantically one of them cleans his room when his girlfriend is coming over, I’m guessing he’ll make it a priority to keep the car clean. He’s also applying for jobs to help pay for the car insurance rise and other costs once he gets his license.
@kuoh @mikey Lucky!
I know some kids care about appearances and keeping things clean (at least occasionally) and other things in that category.
Mine are not (yet).
We’re trying to train it into them. I hope it sticks at some point, preferably before they’re 30 and move out.
@kuoh @xobzoo I don’t think HE cares about appearances or cleanliness. I think his gf does. I take no credit for training him up in that regard.
My car needs to be cleaned so bad, it’s been over a year since I’ve cleaned the inside of it. The dashboard is super bad.
I just replaced my Murano that was on it’s last legs, but also softball season, so… reasonably messy?
It’s pretty clean, but I’ve only had it about a month in a half. My old one was pretty messy. Give it time
There might be a body under the stuff on the floor of the back seat. Maybe even a family.
@dude Maybe it’s the homeless guy that was sleeping in the back seat of @Kyeh’s car?
So where would you draw the line on working on a filthy vehicles? Dirty? Filthy? Garbage up to the windows? The roof? Mold? Roaches? Other animal life?
@blaineg “Fuel leaking from differential”!
My front seats are pretty clean for when I take my elderly mother to appointments. The back has stuff in it that needs to go to thrift stores, etc. plus a tarp for when I haul home bags of garden soil or plants. But wrappers, cups and such don’t get left in it.
Not at all, still new, and I’m an empty nester!
/giphy messy cat car
