Who gets it??

I park as far as I can in the parking lot, but people still purposely come and park right next to me and I don’t know why. Try to avoid getting those damn door dings.

 

People are assholes. All you can do is try. I like to park next to an island, tight, so someone would have to be over the line for their door to reach my car. Still doesn't always work.

 

I got handicap parking, its amazing, extra wide spots, giant buffers on each side.

Though the downside is it hurts to walk

 

No kidding.... I do the same 'Furthest parking spot away possible' thing with my new rig. Sure as shit, someone with a 92' Accord beater .. (The one that's 2-3 different colors because of junkyard doors and fenders and a busted tail light) always seems to park right next to me. Even though there's 50 yards of open parking spots between me and the front door of the grocery store.
What's even worse .. Even though you try to do everything right... I still remember when i bought the wife a year-old 16' Forester .. Not 'brand new' but very close... Parked as far away as possible ... Came out of the grocery store and saw a cart rolling and headed straight towards it. I couldn't run fast enough to catch it. Cost me a tail light and the body shop to fix-up a small patch of paint.

 

LOL! the wife thinks I'm taking 3 showers a day ... Nope... just rinsing the floor mats off ... LOL!!

 

I'm not saying I never drive it ... I do. And it will get dirty this winter. Through the snow/ice/mud when I have to put it 4WD to take the garbage to the dump or go to the grocery store. (20 miles of bad road..) I just want to keep it as nice as long as I can.
If I had bought, say, a 5 year-old used rig that was getting some wear to it already, it wouldn't be much of an issue..

 

The only vehicles I've ever gotten door dings on were ones I bought new, they got dinged within the first month of buying and not after. I've never had a ding on a used car. Crazy but true.

 

Funny, I shower with my floor mats in the winter too. Usually 2 times a week.

 

This could catch on but wouldn't want to get caught .

 

Totally agree with you here, on all points including the 4x4 van!

Seeing your van still glistening in the sun and hearing how found you are of the memories and the bond that forms when caring for something for the long haul.. it's easy to see why you take such good care of your new Tacoma while enjoying it from the start!

Heck who knows, maybe even a couple more forum members may even "get it" themselves after seeing the results of your effort showing in that super nice "old" van filled with great memories you got there!?

 

The very first car I bought new, off the lot, all by myself, was a forest green 2000 frontier crew cab. I loved that truck. I kept it pristine. When that truck was 2 years old I stopped at the exit of a trail - I could hear that I was dragging a branch and I pulled over to free it from the undercarriage.
That's when I noticed that the entire left rear quarter panel was caved in. Like from the wheel to the tail light, a huge cratered dent now existed that wasn't there when I started the trail. To this day I have no idea how that happened. I never got sideways, never heard crunching, never saw anything that even got close. But that's not really the point of this story.

It took me six months to save up the money to get that dent ironed out at the body shop. For the entirety of that time I always hung out in the left lane like a douche, since the right side of the truck still looked good. In my young stupid mind I'd rather the general public think that I was an asshole than a guy that drove a dented up shitbox...

I now keep my current car reasonably clean. When it gets dirty and trail rashed, I'll polish and wax it back up until it shines like new. But I still drive the shit out of it. If it gets bent, so be it. Metal can get fixed, but the adventure lasts a lifetime. And I'll always remember the trail that gave me the phantom dent.

 

The grand irony being that you were driving a frontier. Nobody looked at it or cared anyways

 

First year that a compact crew cab was available in the US. I sort of wish that I kept that truck.

 

It was a Frontier that got me into my Tacoma. I'd sold my F150 and bought the Mrs. a Toyota Highlander. No way she was going to let me take that hunting, of course. A neighbor had his Frontier king cab for sale. It looked sharp. The day I was going to make him an offer, he decided to keep it. I started reviewing local Frontiers for sale, saw the comparison to Tacomas, and bought the Toyota. He stlll has his white king cab; my Tacoma is a super white A/C. His never leaves the pavement. Mine, ahem, well it needs to be washed occasionally.

 

They're actually pretty good rigs. I was just poking fun at you, but I have nothing against the frontiers.

 

Just got it 3 days ago....My 1st Toyota! also my only vehicle, so full time usage for sure, but I can now do some fun dirt roads in AZ on occasion...not seeking Jeep boulder runs. more I want to do roads in the woods.I plan on keeping over 10yrs for sure.

 

I've got good news for you. Your Taco will do everything a stock jeep will. Insofar as much as what stock jeep drivers generally do with their rigs. Ok, ok, yah, you have a longer breakover angle, and you might not have a front locker or a swaybar disconnect. But further good news. Up until about 35" tires, none of that really makes any difference for "true" rock crawling.

Enjoy your new truck.

 

Ha. No worries, I picked up on that. I was raised on sarcasm.

If I showed off a new car to my grandad, his favorite reaction would be to grimace and say "damn, bud, how many people died in that wreck?"

 

ha .... all these were pretty new. No one really cared about trail rash. We all agree that the kids denting it in the driveway or people at the store sucks. I got 84,000 on my 2017. I bought it to drive it.

I do wash it at least once a week.

Usually wax it every 3weeks.

 

Haha, I forgot I had a headlight out. That was a good day!