My philosophy is that nobody takes care of your car as much as you ( the owner) do, and sharing your car with others will most likely cost you unnecessary expenditures, let alone having to deal with the denialist when problems arise.
But sharing is obligatory most of the time for a single family or a married couple when they can only afford one vehicle.
Sometimes, not all the time, a couple might value their stuff the same and care for them. But I’ve seen cases where one spouse or partner could care less about what the other spouse cares about, and you know the rest.
My ex partner strongly believes a car is simply a box made of metal that is placed on 4 wheels to use as a tool, and I strongly believe a car is my best friend
My wife refuses to drive my Camaro, and I am OK with that. She doesn’t like the seats and the view out the windows.
While my wife is the primary driver of her Ford Edge, I will occasionally drive it. Mostly on long trips where we alternate driving. Even though it is a 2017 it recently passed my Camaro 2011 in mileage. We’ll take her car because it has all the wiz-bang electronics, which the Camaro does not.
We have two cars, a Honda Odyssey and Tesla Model 3. The Honda is my wife’s car and the M3 is mine. I driver her minivan when taking refuse to the dump, otherwise she drives it. I am the only one that drives the EV. That’s because she is intimidated by it. She’s warming up to the idea of learning how to drive it.
Wife and I share our vehicles, and shared with daughter and boyfriend as needed. Outside of that no one has asked, depending on the circumstances I might.
My wife’s primary is the Audi but she’ll drive the truck or the Mustang as needed. I do all the maintenance so all 3 get good care. She parks farther out shopping than I do! But I call my truck a Publix Assault Vehicle because dings no longer matter to me on that vehicle.
There are friends I would loan any car to and there are those I would not let get behind the wheel. Fortunately the latter never asks!
If you have a friend/relative/neighbor who needs to borrow a vehicle for good reason, and you don’t lend it if you can, then you are just a bad person. There’s no other interpretation.
A friend of mine currently has my SUV, in fact. He’s a painter whose work van broke down and he needed it to get by with work for a few days. I didn’t hesitate to hand it over - because I’m not a self-centered jack-a**.
Neighbor? I have my limits. I am not a bad person if I decide not to let somebody use my vehicle. It is my S on the line and one must choose wisely, and accept things if they do go wrong.
Well, I meant - loosely - “friendly neighbor.” Like close enough to a “friend.” Not just anyone who happens to live in the vicinity. But we all do choose our limits.
Case by case, my fun car, only 2 other people have driven it but me in the last 30 years, both are close friends, it can/will get away from you in a hurry… Newish Truck, not yet lol… rest of the fleet, my friend and kids can drive whatever almost when and wherever needed, heck my daughter can drive the old loose gear box 93 Chevy on the back roads better than me… lol…
I have friends that will borrow things and return them in as good, or better, condition than when they borrowed them. They have A+ rating. I start small. People that borrow tools and I have to go retrieve them or they are in worse condition than when they borrowed it, are off the list entirely. Case in point- neighbor borrows ladder for a “few days” but I have to go ask for it back after 3 months and it’s covered in spilled paint. No more borrowing for you! Neighbor sends his kid over to ask if he can borrow a hand tool. Weeks later I go and ask him for it back. He says the kid borrowed it, ask him. You’re off the list!
Only the A+ rated people would ever be considered for borrowing something like a car.
It’s not about the money, it’s about respect. I have given away nice cars to good friends in need.
I like the Model 3 a lot. It has plenty of usable power. Since it’s an electric motor, the 310 lb-ft torque is instantly available. The seats are comfortable and visibility is good, except for out the back window. That’s common for a fast back design though. There are three rear view cameras, one on the trunk and one in each of the B pillars. The latter are for the blind spot on either side and are activated when you active the turn signal. I wasn’t sure about the center screen containing the usual information on the dashboard but I found that I didn’t mind it during the test drive. With the electric motor all I hear is tire noise. The sound system is good too. I would buy another, but not anytime soon.
The same goes for 90% of my driving with my PHEV, due to almost all of my errands being w/in its 60 mile battery range. When I engage the gas engine on longer drives, there is definitely a bit more noise.
+1
Many years ago, a friend asked if he could borrow one of my college textbooks (History of Russia & Eastern Europe) because the topic interested him, and he had never studied any of that when he was in college.
Several months later, I asked when he was going to return that book, and he stated that he had loaned it to someone else–even though it wasn’t his to lend! I asked him to retrieve the book for me, and a few weeks later he handed me some cash and admitted that neither he nor his other friend had any idea of the book’s whereabouts. While I respected him for freely offering to reimbuse me, I resolved to never again lend anything to him.
On the topic of cars, I have loaned my car(s) to my brother, and I wouldn’t hesitate to do so again if he asked. If a neighbor asked, my decision would depend on which neighbor made the request.
My closest friend doesn’t really enjoy driving, so I always drive his car and he takes a cat nap while I drive. I have offered him the opportunity to drive my car, but he seems to be somewhat scared of the technology, and always declines my offer.
There are people that I do NOT lend my car(s) to, and this is due to THEIR behavior . . .
For example, people that rack up parking and speeding tickets while using my car no longer get to borrow it
People that constantly scratch and dent my car also no longer get to borrow it
People that never check fluids, tire pressure, etc. and return it with flat tires, curb checks and low engine oil warnings and low coolant level warnings no longer get to borrow my car
People generally have a clean slate with me at the beginning
If/when they abuse that situation, then they’re crossed off the list
Are you kidding me??? Even though none of my vehicles are particularly valuable (on the open market), I would NEVER share with anyone outside my immediate family. I’d no sooner loan out my car than I’d loan out my wife or child. The ONLY time someone who isn’t in my immediate family touches my car is if it’s being inspected at an emissions testing station, or serviced by a professional mechanic.
