These Are The Worst Things About Owning A Car, According To Readers

I was indirectly taught about the horrors of car ownership at a young age. My family had a small collection of classics, plus two daily drivers. The classics didn't run, but they still cost a small fortune to keep them stored in our pole barn and protected from mice. As a result, the daily drivers were pretty gnarly, since we couldn't afford anything new or nice — and as they aged, they also started to fall apart in ridiculous ways. I should have taken it as a warning; owning even one car can be tough, but trying to maintain a small fleet is draining. I did not listen.

Earlier this week, we asked you, the fine readers of Jalopnik, what you consider to be the worst parts about car ownership. Let's all revel in each others' misery.

Paying insurance on multiple vehicles when I can only drive one at a time.

Suggested by Maxzillian

Parking. Where I live, downtown is all but vacant because nobody can afford to park. Metered street parking makes well over minimum wage and when I needed monthly parking near my office, it cost about 2/3 what I pay for rent.

Suggested by TRath

Driving on the road with other people.

Everyone driving slower than me is an idiot, and everyone driving faster is a maniac!

Suggested by Thomas Hajicek

And...

If you want something nice you just can't take it out in the wild with all those nut-job drivers and horror-show parking lots — the world is out to damage your pride and joy. But mundane, no-worry cars get boring after a while, too, and then you start wanting something nice. And the circle begins again.

Suggested by ReluctantFloridaMan

How modern cars and SUVs have you spend umpteen tens of thousands of dollars for the ride and you have nothing to show for it. You drive a meh-appearance appliance.

SUVs: just boxes-on-wheels. They're generic boxes that blend right in with all the other boxes on the highways. And how the passenger cars still built nowadays are blobs—Dove soap bars. Anything approaching styling has been wrung out of them in the name of aerodynamics and regulations.

Looking at cars and SUVs on the road and all I see are soap bars and loaves of bread—generic lumps as "exciting" as bowls of oatmeal. That's the worst: the utter blandness of vehicles nowadays.

Suggested by the1969DodgeChargerFan

And...

IMO what magnifies this is that while the general shapes are boring, they are clearly compensating for it by making everything that fits inside the regulatory box as angular and chiseled as possible. The humongous kidneys on BMW, the gaping maw on the front of every Lexus, it's all terrible. Toyota's entire design language now seems to be: World's Angriest Carp.

IDK if there's a way to make the blobs/loaves appealing, but I get the sense manufacturers are making them ugly just because they don't have any other way to stand out.

Suggested by Mosko

Seeing rust on your beloved daily for the first time is like seeing gray on your dog's face, you come to the realization no matter what their time is limited.

Suggested by savethemanualsbmw335ix

Worst thing about owning a car is that I don't really have any choice in the matter. I have to own a car. I know this will sound sacrilegious on a site built around the joy of driving but... I don't want to have to drive everywhere. Mainly because most of my driving is uninspiring commuting or freeway driving or school drop off and pick up or to and from kid sports.

I would love to have options. I would love it if I didn't have to drive everywhere. I would love it if I had the ability to take a train the next time I need to go to Milwaukee or Chicago or Dayton or Indianapolis or Minneapolis. Because those drives suck.

Maybe if driving went from "I have to drive" to "I get to drive," I might find some joy in car ownership but as it stands, it's hard to love something you have to have whether you want to or not.

Suggested by Buckfiddiousagain

The worst thing for me has always been feeling helpless and stupid when a dash light comes on (and it's not just a regular maintenance reminder). When I was very young I had a couple of used beaters (including a VW Fastback w/pancake engine and MOST frequently needing something) which led me to buy new and trade in when the payments were done. Dad was in sales and traveled so I had a model to follow that wasn't really appropriate for my usage.

Keeping a vehicle a LONG time does help me 'feel' what might be an issue and I have a couple of great helpers at AutoZone and a Pep Boys near me who'll read a code, or in a recent visit replaced my battery under warranty (3 months left) because the light came on briefly. This is my third from them no charge.

In the past two years I've probably spent around 2k on the Element with front end, brakes, power steering hoses, etc. Worth it.

TL/DR: Ignorance, the fear of being stranded as an older single woman who can't walk far. "What's that light for!?"

Suggested by sybann

For me, always wanting the latest and greatest...

I bought a left-over 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix GT coupe in December 1995 for a good price.

Less than a year later, the '97s came out, and I wanted one, BAD.

The dealer would have been more than happy to take my 13,000 mile '95 as trade and put me in the driver's seat of that spankin' new '97, but after doing the math I couldn't make the numbers work without eating ramen for two meals a day for the next 60 months, so i passed.

After that, my '95 just felt like a Salvation Army special.

Suggested by Earthbound Misfit I

ok, listen this is a rich guy take – i can deal with that.

I hate that i have to drive over an hour away to a track – and pay 200 bucks for a day of racing just to be able to full let the car out and rip some fun turns.

I go 2 times a year and its hard on the car, hard on tires, hard on the wallet. It is a blast and i love going to track days – but it just sucks that to really enjoy the car, you have drive like a real toolbag on the highway – or be a good adult and wait for track day

Suggested by the_AUGHT

When my car makes a noise or vibration it never did before, and my mind flashes through a lengthy worst case scenario of what it could be and how much this will cost and the stress and aggravation I'm about to experience.

Suggested by Tannhauser

I'm not wild about others passing judgement about what car I choose to own. It's like when you reveal your child's name to someone, and they wince and/or make comments like "that's not what I would have picked!"*. Yeah, well, if I was your parent, I would have picked the name 'Karen' for you, so buzz off.

Identity is not always inextricably linked to car ownership. Let me enjoy what I have without you yuking on my yum.

* these were the eye-rolling reactions to my MR2 Spyder and the inevitable comparisons to the Porsche Boxster

Suggested by paradsecar

Becoming dependent on a vehicle (ie, need to drive to get anywhere because public transit sucks) and then something sidelining that vehicle which can cause absolute chaos to your life.

Suddenly getting to work might take significantly longer, or just be outright impossible. Running errands or simple stuff like grocery shopping might become extremely challenging.

Suggested by blackhawk

When you take all the care in the world to clean your car like using the two-bucket method, foam lance, leaf blower, clean microfiber... and you find another gaddamn door ding because other people are morons

Suggested by Nakam

That I can't own all the cars I want to own. Not enough garage space, not enough money, not enough time.

Currently working on more garage space, but that is going to mean REALLY not enough money for a while.

I don't begrudge the money I spend on the cars themselves. You have to pay to play, and I don't do boring. Life is too short to drive some boring appliance around, if you actually like cars and enjoy driving.

Suggested by krhodes1

The DMV.

Suggested by Nextcar