[sumeethaldankar]

Hello all ,
I was thinking of doing a write up on how it feels to own a old car so here goes.Well in my case it's a 97 model 800.Yes i know 12 years is not very old but it's my only car for now and once you have something for around almost half your life time it become's very “daily”.I shudder to think if i would be able to drive any other car than the 800.I mean i drove a friend's Honda city once for a very short time and distance and that thing felt huge in comparision. Drove a swift for a another very shorty distance but
gave it up because i couldn't adjust to the soft brake pedals.
To stick to the point of this thread, here's what you will observe if you happen to own a old car

You start to notice that other people have newer and better cars.

Your neighbor's kid won't mind banging his bicycle in your car's bumper ,hey it's a old car what the heck!

People would often think that you have got the car second hand. Once went to Sai Service for a brake job (the same dealer from where we had purchased the car 12 years ago) the SA asked bluntly sir ,is the car a second hand one?

When you goto buy accessories for the car ,people won't encourage you to buy anything expensive.I went to a accessories shop to buy a new sporty steering wheel for my Maruti.I was shown many sets ranging from 1200-2000 bucks.When i selected the one i wanted , i was told in tone which sounded like the sales man telling me i couldn't afford it ,sir this steering cost 2500 bucks.(Neverthless i bought the same).


All your friends & colleagues would look at your car say hey buddy why don't you get a new so & so model.Some even ask ,what you like this car so much ?Ofcourse i do else why i would hang on to it.

All the people who somehow get associated with your car somehow manage's to remind you that the car is old.Went to the gas station for full tank,the pump attendant tell's me that he cannot keep the pump on a auto cut off mode as the car is old .Sir yeh purani gaadi hai.I don't know why.Go to the car wash and the attendants ask me ,sir what model year the car is.

Your parents don't want you to spend too much money on the car saying hey this a '97 model car. Don't spend so much on it.If i don't spend money maintaining it will probably leave me stranded some place.

Anyway's these are some of my experiences with my oldie. May be some of you could share some of your own.

Cheers.

[MX6]

To hell with what people say. Old is gold. My father kept his fiat for over 20 years. I didn't speak with him for one full week when I found that he sold it when I was away in US. Even now I pick up a fight or two because he sold it off.

[Ravveendrra]

LOL Sumeet, I know exactly what you mean as I had very similar experiences.

I very reluctantly sold my 1989 Premier Padmini in 2006. I sold it as getting right spares was becoming difficult. I was sorely tempted to keep it and buy a new car but, space for 3 cars is difficult to come by.

Cheers,

[Rudra Sen]

Tell me about it! I'm still trying to maintain my Amby.

[1100D]

I somehow have a different experience. Maybe because the places where I dwell with our car recognise me. One day a rustic spewed pan on the car, then he came to me and apologised and used some folks help to clean it up. The neighbourhood kids shout, old car old car and mostly run for their life.

[FastLove]

Sumeeth, Why is it that in writing how you feel about owning a car , you have written how everyone else feels about your car
Or is it that after owning a car for that long you have less to feel about the car than the people around?
Please also share' your ' feelings !

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by FastLove

Sumeeth, Why is it that in writing how you feel about owning a car , you have written how everyone else feels about your car
Or is it that after owning a car for that long you have less to feel about the car than the people around?
Please also share' your ' feelings !

Hi
i guess you are right.Having owned the car for so long and listening to other people's comments on the car have probably made me forget how i feel about the car myself.

I use the co bus to travel to and fro from office.Every time i stare out the
window of the bus and look at all new swift's and puntos i feel like buying
one myself.Every time i sit behind the wheel of my maruti i forget why i want a new car.

For a 12 year old she's only done 30974 kms till date , so there is plenty of engine life.The only thing's that kaput is the a/c which went bust after i FFE'd the car.

I guess when it comes to the status of having and owning a car my car falls short and at the bottom.People only see the old car and not the care and attention that goes in it.

[sachinj12]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

People only see the old car and not the care and attention that goes in it.

+1 to that. A old car and that too a M800, people look down upon you. "He has a old M800". Damn, what is annoying is that people who don't own a car comment this. Better a old 800 than nothing at all

[Ravveendrra]

Originally Posted by 1100D

I somehow have a different experience. Maybe because the places where I dwell with our car recognise me. One day a rustic spewed pan on the car, then he came to me and apologised and used some folks help to clean it up. The neighbourhood kids shout, old car old car and mostly run for their life.

A Chartered Accountant friend once commented that old P.P.s and Ambys commanded a lot of respect as they announced "old money". He explained that most of them were owned by HNIs (High Net Worth Individuals) who were loathe to change their cars. He was polite enough not to say eccentric HNIs.

When I bought my PP, it was just another car on the road. Slowly it started standing out and people started calling me to tell me that they saw me or my car ... Kind of puts a damper on privacy.

But hey, I loved that car otherwise I would not have held her for so long.

Cheers,

[shishir_bn]

Same is the case in my family also. My dad's vehicle was Amby in the year 1987 and then due to lots of problem in the vehicle he changed it to Fiat Premier Padmini and this was a beauty and one of the best cars we had seen at that time. It used to give a very good milage and it was converted to Gas and we drove it for almost 10 years upto 1990. Amazingly when we went to our native(remember ours was the first car in our native and whole of surrounding villages/taluks)it used to carry 10-12 members all sitting one above the other(medium kids on the laps) and the vehicle didn't even shrug or gave problem. In 2000 due to non availability of parts we had to sell it off to get one more beauty called "MATIZ"

[Ragtop]

Hold on to it long enough in a well maintained state and people will come to respect you for it and appreciate the condition of the car. My first car was a hand me down from my dad, a 1986 M-800 which I sold in 2003. I went through the same experience as you for a few years, but during the tail end of my ownership, from the number plate most people who mattered realized everything that went into keeping it in good shape and soon enough it became a sought after car. I eventually sold it for a good premium above the going market price at the time.

[beejay]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Your neighbor's kid won't mind banging his bicycle in your car's bumper ,hey it's a old car what the heck!

You are not alone. I still remember an incident in a Padmini. This was my friends car and it was parked near a church. Some boarding kids were walking past the car and one small kid kicked the front bumper and commented to his friend," what an old junk."

My friend shooed them away.

[FastLove]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Hi
i guess you are right.Having owned the car for so long and listening to other people's comments on the car have probably made me forget how i feel about the car myself.

I use the co bus to travel to and fro from office.Every time i stare out the
window of the bus and look at all new swift's and puntos i feel like buying
one myself.Every time i sit behind the wheel of my maruti i forget why i want a new car.

For a 12 year old she's only done 30974 kms till date , so there is plenty of engine life.The only thing's that kaput is the a/c which went bust after i FFE'd the car.

I guess when it comes to the status of having and owning a car my car falls short and at the bottom.People only see the old car and not the care and attention that goes in it.

Dude remember that line " You dont know what you got till its gone" . Treasure your lovely memories on your Four wheels that no other can give you. Even if you own a JEt tomorrow , you may still not get the undivided attention you are able to give to your M800 . Cherish it and Keep Clocking more miles

[Trust_In_Thrust]

Absolutely true . We have a M800 1995 Model with 3.3 lac Kms on odo .Neighbours have a flashy car so do my colleagues in office and so do my friends and so do just about everyone on the road .Yet still i do not know why but i love the 800 for the ease it offers to people like me who travel alone.
Some times when other people scrape against M800 people say it is just a 800 and so do traffic police wallas when they damage the car during towing .I hate it so much .I feel like running out buy a gleaming new car may be a Linea , Punto anything under 11-12 Lacs but heck no i love this M800 .
When i visit the mechanic and ask for new parts he says it is a old car why spend so much on it .Why get it cleaned every month , why the dry cleaning , why the ac service , why everything ? I get fed up but once inside it i know i am home .
Driven it in every condition known to man mud , hills , ice , sea side and what not .It never gave up except getting stuck in mud sometimes .

And why do kids pick up on the 800 to climb on the roof out of all cars in our apartment , kids use it as a scribble pad for their graffiti !

friends say you get paid decently why don't you junk this M800 !

I think if i ever decide to end this love story will i have a next faithful one as i have one now ?

[MX6]

Originally Posted by beejay

You are not alone. I still remember an incident in a Padmini. This was my friends car and it was parked near a church. Some boarding kids were walking past the car and one small kid kicked the front bumper and commented to his friend," what an old junk."

My friend shooed them away.

Yeah. My 20+ year old Premier Padmini was called "Famous" fiat. I kind of rather liked the name though it was sarcastic. One of my family friend was even saying that after few years, I can sell it off as an antique. I held on to it as long as I was in India. I go to us and my dad sells it off (as he couldn't maintain it). Anyway, some enmity are willingly maintained on accord of this.