Author Topic: I've named my car ... to save money  (Read 3787 times)

Slow road to freedom

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I've named my car ... to save money
« on: June 29, 2019, 04:23:59 PM »
Yup, weird right?

I bought a very nice car a couple of years ago. It's passed it's probation period now, some 55,000 miles later. So I'll keep it.

Or should I say him. He's been unanimously named Burt. Burt Francis George (or 'BFG' for Roald Dahl fans).

Now, I should explain: I've been extremely un-Mustachian when it comes to cars. Changing regularly, and often for new or nearly new. A complete money pit. Until MMM. Having read this on the BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-your-money-48776454) I'm so glad Burt is paid for. And by personalising him, he's part of the family. Whilst many friends are getting dogs (I think as our children are growing up / leaving home, the void appears unbearable for some), my strategy is to treat our family car as a living being, and thus much less likely to part company (and waste money).

It's working so far.

Am I weird?

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2019, 11:01:19 AM »
I won’t leave you hanging Slow road to freedom. Yep it’s weird. When taking it in for a service I wouldn’t call him by his name in front of the mechanics. What you thought was a simple tyre change could easily turn into a cam belt, exhaust, suspension springs and electrics overhaul! However if that’s the trick needed to help you keep it for a long time then that’s great.

I’m one to talk though. I’ve named my bicycle. Not to keep me from selling it though, just because he’s a great companion :-)

DadJokes

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2019, 11:06:36 AM »
I think it's a very good idea to name a car. We automatically build a connection once we have named something, which will hopefully make it harder to let it go. My sister named her 1990-something Pontiac Sunfire "The Burrito," and she drove that car into the ground.

On a related note, if a stray dog shows up on your doorstep, give it away before your kids name it. Otherwise, you're basically obligated to keep the dog.

Slow road to freedom

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2019, 04:17:48 PM »
I’m one to talk though. I’ve named my bicycle. Not to keep me from selling it though, just because he’s a great companion :-)

NGU - I'm interested in the conversation topics you have with your bicycle. I'm usually willing mine up hills, which for some reason never seems to get easier ... No such conversation with Burt. Too many 'One Way' conversations really [sorry] ...

Slow road to freedom

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #4 on: July 01, 2019, 04:18:34 PM »
On a related note, if a stray dog shows up on your doorstep, give it away before your kids name it. Otherwise, you're basically obligated to keep the dog.

Good tip.

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2019, 10:24:32 AM »
Yes conversation topics vary quite wildly but I find he’s such a good listener :-)

RelaxedGal

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #6 on: July 02, 2019, 10:44:21 AM »
Am I weird?

We are weirder - we celebrate the cars' birthdays, our daughter refers to them as her siblings, we give them baths.  And when we got a new lawn mower our daughter introduced it to the cars.  She was 4, but still...

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #7 on: July 02, 2019, 10:53:28 AM »
Aww that’s not weird, that’s all lovely. I introduced a new plant to an existing established plant that was going to be its new neighbour in my garden and I’m in my forties. This thread has made me start to think that I may need help.

solon

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #8 on: July 02, 2019, 11:27:18 AM »
We've always named our cars. We've had:

Shelby (which wasn't a Mustang)
Grandma
Grandpa
Homer
The Duke
The Baby
The Limo (which wasn't a limo)
Annie
The Runabout

I don't think of them as part of the family, I just think it's kinda funny.

haflander

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #9 on: July 02, 2019, 11:49:22 AM »
Ha! I've done this also. Sometimes I'll introduce my car as its name or ask others if they have a name for their car, and they look at me weird. I never thought of it as a money-saving technique, but maybe it is in a subconscious kinda way. I prefer human names (just like all the dogs I've had*). However, I also like names that are kinda like nicknames, such as solon's ^.

1. No name for crappy cars in high school, didn't care about them.
2. Pam: white Mustang. My crush at the time was The Office character. I thought they were both pretty sexy.
3. Kyra: red Lancer GT. Only name I could think of that sounded both hot and Japanese. Hope that doesn't make me a racist somehow.
4. Red: red Frontier. Not much personality, but gets the job done and reliable. Named thusly to make myself laugh once in a while.

I've thought about how each car I've had was less fun than the one before. I'm worried that'll continue, as I want to have kids by next time (2030?). I surely have a midlife crisis sporty coupe in my future. GF's dad is 60 and has a Miata...that's my inspiration.

*I got a dog in 2016, close to 3 years ago, and named her Abby. Sister had a baby a few weeks ago and named her Abigail. Everyone is calling her Abby. We'll see what happens, but I still feel weird about it.

SunnyDays

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #10 on: July 02, 2019, 01:11:28 PM »
Well, why not?  People name boats all the time.

Slow road to freedom

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #11 on: July 02, 2019, 01:54:09 PM »
Aww that’s not weird, that’s all lovely. I introduced a new plant to an existing established plant that was going to be its new neighbour in my garden and I’m in my forties. This thread has made me start to think that I may need help.

I think we might all fall into that category.

I'm off to talk to Burt to see what he thinks.

Serenity

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #12 on: July 02, 2019, 03:15:51 PM »
I’ve lost track of how many cars I’ve had over the years, and have named some, but not all of them. My current car (9 months old Fiat 500X which unusually for me is a keeper now I’ve discovered MMM) is called Pepé. My previous car - brand new Audi A3 saloon which I kept for only 9 months (!) was named Lexy.

What I’ve done with Pepé to encourage me to keep him is bought a private number plate. It makes me feel more invested in him and would be extra cost & hassle to transfer the plate to a new car. Plus my mindset has now shifted completely, which is really the key factor. Had a genuine light bulb moment when I read MMM’s car ownership article. Mind boggling to think how much money I’ve thrown away on getting a brand new car every 1-2 years for the last 20+ years...

DagobertDuck

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #13 on: July 03, 2019, 06:56:31 AM »
When I still owned it, I used to refer to my car as 'burgerlijk koekblik', which means something like 'bourgeois cookie tin'.

Just to remind myself how ridiculous owning and driving a car is.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2019, 07:11:55 AM by DagobertDuck »

AMandM

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #14 on: July 04, 2019, 02:02:25 PM »
In 28 years of car ownership we've had:
Goldie Honda (a Civic hatchback, guess what colour it was)
two blue minivans whose names never caught on (DH tried to call one the Montrealer, I tried to call the other Babe after Paul Bunyan's ox, but the kids never joined in)
Clifford the Big Red Van (15-passenger Dodge Ram; we bought it from a daycare and it came with a Clifford decoration dangling from the rearview mirror)
The Commuting Appliance (Nissan Versa)
Alan (Hyundai Elantra T(o)uring)

When Clifford died the whole family was really sad.

achvfi

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #15 on: July 05, 2019, 02:48:13 PM »
Wow, nice tactic.

Actually we name our cars as well. This might be useful technique to convince my wife to keep our cars longer. Thanks.

Honey, you can't give up on "stacey" already. :)

calimom

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #16 on: July 05, 2019, 08:10:19 PM »
@AMandM I love Alan (ToUring)! A brilliant car.

My previous, very faithful VW Passat Wagon* was Olive because of her beautiful color.

Replaced with a Volvo wagon named Stella for her Swedish heritage, still going strong.

Former Ford Transit van for work named Betty Ford.

Newer Ford Transit Connect called Vanna White.

*When Olive ceased to be dependable to me, she was sold to a mechanic who got her up and running again. Saw her in a parking lot (with two baby seats, just like me!) I serendipitously saw the mechanic's wife loading her kids into it and told her she had my former car and her name was Olive. She said "Olive she shall remain!"

kandj

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #17 on: July 08, 2019, 02:59:15 PM »
I've always named my cars! People think it is a little odd at times but it helps me feel connected to the car and want to take care of them. My newer Honda Civic Hatchback wasn't really my first choice of vehicle but she made the most sense so I very quickly named her, Lucy, and we've bonded now. She gets baths and we introduced her to our dog and refer to her by name when we tell our dog to get in the car.
I think more people should treat cars as a family member and naming them isn't weird at all!

JAYSLOL

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #18 on: July 09, 2019, 09:43:29 AM »
Slightly off topic, but this reminds me of something.  I’ve joined a few buy and sell/community Facebook pages for city’s that I don’t actually live in because I was having a hard time finding a local contractor to do some work for clients in those areas.  It worked and I was able to quickly find good locals by posting in the town specific page.  Anyway, one is for a small oceanside town know mostly as for surfing and the artsy/hippy people that live there.  I now get the occasional post on my Facebook feed from that local page, and if it’s a car for sale I can instantly tell it’s a post from this town because the ads always look like this “1993 Toyota Previa van - Camperized - we named her Dorothy...”.  Anyway, it’s funny every time I see another car thats camperized and named from there

Jesse@Papermonger

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #19 on: July 09, 2019, 01:20:26 PM »
We have two, Sparky (Spark) and White Lightning (Yaris).

MilesTeg

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #20 on: July 09, 2019, 01:54:51 PM »
This could easily backfire if it contributes to sentimentality toward the vehicle which can lead to dumping money into it when it doesn't make sense.

BDWW

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Re: I've named my car ... to save money
« Reply #21 on: July 22, 2019, 01:32:59 PM »
I've found it's much easier to be attached to an older car (say pre-2000s), because they seem to me to have much more unique features.

Things I miss about older cars off the top of my head:

Little triangle wing windows in the front window of old pickup.
Bright switch on the floor.
A manual transmission.
I'm sure there's more.

New vehicles (to me) seem to lack character.

That being said I'd like to add some character to my truck (2014 F150), but can't really come up with anything good that doesn't venture into the "Bro" truck category. Don't need a lift, bigger tires, huge bumper... etc.  Maybe I'll just paint it pink.