We all like to take care of our cars by keeping them clean, maintained, andperfectly shiny and new for the duration of our ownership. But, whether through unpredictable circumstances or simply a desire to send it, we can’t always uphold that standard of automotive living — sometimes, things just get abused.
For most non-enthusiast cars, a life of abuse is normal. After all, many commuters see their cars as little more than expensive appliances. As long as they keep running, some dents or dings or missed oil changes won’t make a difference. Who cares if your dishwasher gets a couple scratches, as long as it still washes dishes, right?
Personally, the worst abuse I’ve put my cars through may just be life in a city. All the dents, dings, bumps, and scrapes that my FR-S accumulated during its years in Rochester truly made it worse for wear. But for real, intentional abuse, I’ll have to use a different example — a rented Subaru Forester, with the full insurance.
Three years ago, I entered the self-described World’s Most Idiotic Motoring Event: The Rental Car Rally. My team, comprised of a couple coworkers and a baby-blue Forester, made a drive from Los Angeles to a casino on the Arizona-New Mexico border. The route was eighteen hours of backroads, off-roads, and the occasional semi-abandoned military installation. Did I mention the car was constantly being hit with eggs, and was dressed up like a tank? That poor, abused Subie.
That’s my pick for a tale of car abuse, but what’s yours? Have you off-roaded your street car, jumped a rental, or drowned a Bronco in a bay in Maine? Tell your best stories in the comments, and you may find yourself included in tomorrow’s roundup.
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