Does anyone else keep comparing every car to one they used to own?
Posted by mrcanada66@reddit | Autos | View on Reddit | 20 comments
No matter what I drive now, I keep mentally comparing it to a car I had a few years ago. It wasn’t perfect, but something about it just felt right - the way it drove, the way it sounded, even the little quirks. Now every new car feels like it’s missing something, even if it’s objectively better in almost every way. I don’t know if it’s just nostalgia or if certain cars really do leave a stronger impression than others
Anyone else deal with this? Or am I just stuck in the past a bit
cshmn@reddit
I still miss my 1993 Cadillac Seville. 260 km/h top speed, computer air suspension that makes the car drive better the harder you push it, 4.9L pushrod V8 exclusive to Cadillac that sounded amazing, kickass sound system...
I've owned Mercedes, BMW, a Lincoln Town Car... hell, I even bought a 2013 Cadillac XTS. None felt as right as that Seville.
z7v7a7@reddit
what car was it
shizbox06@reddit
“objectively better” is a nonsense statement if a person is driving the car.
The_Salty-Spitoon@reddit
The car itself can be objectively better. The experience of the driver whether they think it is better is the subjective part. Objectively one car will have better grip than others, better acceleration, better NVH damping, an LSD to improve drive. Subjective can be one person thinking the better car doesn't "feel" as much of an improvement as someone else will think.
shizbox06@reddit
None of that makes the car “objectively better”. It makes the car “objectively better” at certain things, maybe, sometimes, such as skid pad circles, and 0-60 times, but nobody drives a car in those situations where one aspect of it’s engineering is essentially isolated. Unless you do 65mph on the roundabout, I don’t mean to judge.
The_Salty-Spitoon@reddit
Yeah, thats kinda what I meant. The car will be objectively better at different things but as a whole when there are so many differences, that is when it just comes down to what you prefer and how you feel about it.
LeadfootYT@reddit
Depends on the car. Out of 50-odd cars, there are some that I wish had happened at a better time, but all of them were sold for a reason—or kept for a reason. As your identity evolves, your cars should evolve; it’s okay to move on, just as it’s okay to make the deliberate choice to buy something again, but know that it will not feel the same as you remember.
Cherish the memories, and make new ones. There are plenty of cars out there to try.
Viperlite@reddit
Not if you exclude SUVs and trucks, and EVs. They have pushed most car models out of the market. Now put a reasonable price cap on the list and see what’s left.
LeadfootYT@reddit
You don’t have to buy new cars.
Viperlite@reddit
I only buy used cars, but expensive, fun cars tend to make for expensive used cars, regardless of age.
LeadfootYT@reddit
Correct. Help me understand how that’s relevant to what OP asked? There are good expensive cars and good cheap cars, and plenty of both to go around.
Viperlite@reddit
It ties in to OPs question because the dearth of good, affordable newer cars makes me long for cars I used to own (or wanted to own) decades ago when compares to even modern used cars.
TheTimeIsChow@reddit
If you live with something long enough... it eventually becomes yours. Maybe not a 'part' of you per se... but it becomes almost an extension of you.
You develop a seating position and posture, your eyes develop an expected driving sightline, the seat itself eventually takes your shape, you become so familiar with the sounds and feeling of driving it that you stop thinking about it (until something is off), you know where all the buttons and controls are without looking, and so on.
Driving a new car is similar to sitting in the passenger seat of your old. It would have felt wrong... despite being the same car. It feels different, the sounds on that side are different, the seats different, the sightline is different, your posture is different, etc.
If you replaced that previous car with a brand new version of that identical vehicle... you'd have the same feeling. Because it's not 'yours'.
Slow_Description_773@reddit
Yes, all the times. I have a 2025 Subaru Crosstrek I’ve bought because I was tired to drive dull Toyotas but so far this car has been fucking money pit and I hate it, I don’t care how much it drives, I miss my dull Toyotas.
Ran4@reddit
get a Corolla wagon. They're not dull at all.
Simoxs7@reddit
You don’t want an objectively better car, you want a subjectively better car.
Now I still miss my first car, a ‘92 Audi 80 due to nostalgia but my current Audi TT Mk1 is still the best most fun car I‘ve ever had and its driving capabilities beat the better equipment I had on my 2007 Passat by a lot.
So my current car might objectively be worse than my previous Passat but subjectively its the best car I ever had.
Left4DayZGone@reddit
Newest vehicle I’ve drive was a 2022 Pacifica PHEV I rented for a week.
I’ll keep my 2014 Town and Country, thanks.
Not because it rides nicer… it doesn’t. Not because it looks nicer… it doesn’t. Not because it is nicer… it’s not.
But because it’s simple, right at the cusp of mass touch screens and super nanny safety systems like auto braking, and the annoying ass start/stop bs.
I still feel the road, I still feel the vehicle. I feel in control. I had no idea what the Pacifica was up to at any moment.
0992673@reddit
Yess. We had multiple Toyotas and Hondas since 2006, in the moment of ownership they were so boring, now I miss so much about them. They didn't ask for updates, didn't send my driving data to the cloud, the menus were simple, nice buttons, dials and knobs. Felt very thought out and they just were designed so right you didn't have to think about it and if there was a need, I felt like I could grasp it and do it myself
Then we got a hybrid VW in 2021, it just isn't the same. Has all the trendy issues of modern shit. Definitely going back to other brands.
s4ltydog@reddit
I mean I have an atrocious car history due to being flat broke until my mid 30’s so pretty much everything since 2015 has been better than what I had previously LOL
Unusual_Piano7118@reddit
That’s even worse in the motorcycle space.