Why Do We Only Bond With Specific Cars?

Of all the cool cars we ever buy, often with questionable reasoning and man-maths, we only ever end up bonding with a few. Why is that?
Why Do We Only Bond With Specific Cars?

As our parents and/or other halves often take time to remind us, people like us do spend a lot of time looking at buying or swapping cars. It’s a bit of an addiction for some of us – or at least it can seem that way to those on the outside.

From year to year (or even month to month) we’ll chop and change our rides because they don’t excite us anymore, they keep breaking or just because of the constant lure of something better. On the other hand, sometimes we come across a car that we just can’t part with. What’s that all about?

The Berlingo was surprisingly good fun...
The Berlingo was surprisingly good fun...

Often we buy cars for our current circumstances, forgetting the bigger picture. Towing a lot? Great excuse for a pickup or a V6 diesel estate. Parking in cities all the time but want something fun? A hot hatch it is, then. Getting into trackdays? You simply need that cheap E46 M3 you’ve just spotted less than 10 miles from home.

If you play chess one move at a time, you’re going to lose. That same principle is why buying a car for what we need right now is often the wrong thing to do. How often is ‘what you need right now’ also what you need two years from now? Through your late teens and 20s, that’s pretty much never. Your lifestyle changes. Your income changes. Your priorities change. Inevitably, your cars change.

The 182 was wonderful. Well, other people's 182s were wonderful
The 182 was wonderful. Well, other people's 182s were wonderful

Secretly we quite like this financially ruinous merry-go-round. It’s all the excuse we need to swap cars as often as we want to. The enjoyment is partly down to the endorphins released by buying something we tell ourselves we really want; that rush of something new (to us) and the honeymoon period that comes after.

There’s something deeper than that, though; a bug that only bites sometimes. Some cars’ novelty begins to wear off after a week, or a month. Their faults and compromises start to show, and while we tell ourselves that we still love them, we already know exactly why we’ll end up selling them. Shh, don’t tell anyone else aboutthe issue for now, until you’ve found a replacement.

My 206 GTI HDI was a keeper. So I sold it
My 206 GTI HDI was a keeper. So I sold it

In the space of a few years I went from a Renault Sport Clio 182, to a Peugeot 206 GTI HDI, to a MkI Mazda Eunos Roadster, to a base-spec Citroen Berlingo, to a Mazda 6 Sport diesel, to a Skoda Fabia vRS and then, after a gap, a Honda S2000.

Looking back, the best all-round solution would have been to keep the 206. It was a really, really good car and would have got me through that entire period. We’re not always the most sensible people when it comes to these choices, are we?

Low mileage, high fuel economy, but had its problems
Low mileage, high fuel economy, but had its problems

But. Occasionally you’ll land on a car and after a week, or a month, you still can’t wait to take each drive in it. You keep finding excuses to go out. “Ahh, the Mrs needs some more paprika.” “Hmmm, I’m only on three-quarters of a tank so I’ll drive to that Shell station three towns over.” “I, err, thought I heard a clonk on the front suspension so I’m just going to go and have a drive to check…” These are cars we fall in love with.

Maybe it’s a particular noise the car makes. The way it feels. Maybe it’s how many things it’s good at. Something unique to you and the way you’re coded just creeps up, whispers “you’re mine, now” into your ear, and wham: you’re in a long-term relationship.

Now this, I like (at the moment)
Now this, I like (at the moment)

I know I’m not alone in saying that I haven’t bonded with most of the cars I’ve owned. Hands up, I admit it: I’ve bought more than a few cars that made precious little sense at the time, let alone after six months. But there were a few, like the 206, that I really did like a lot and should have kept longer.

I’ve had my Octavia vRS for three weeks, now. I can see it from my office window, and every time I look at it, part of my mind involuntarily finds an excuse to drive it. Right now it’s that I need some new number plate fixings, and you can bet I’ll hit the road as soon as this article is written. It’s been too long since I had that tiny everyday thrill in my life, and I have a sneaky feeling it’s going to last.

Which cars have you bonded with and kept long-term? Which ones gave you short-term thrills but ended up getting annoying? Which cars do you wish you’d kept for longer? Let us know below!

Comments

Nishant Dash

[DELETED]

03/10/2018 - 11:41 |
18 | 54

Why the downvotes?

03/10/2018 - 12:30 |
2 | 2
Pierce Tolar

Well we know Alex bonds to a certain niche of cars…

03/10/2018 - 12:17 |
224 | 4

rustyboi

03/10/2018 - 13:18 |
56 | 0

Don’t forget about Alex and Ethan

03/10/2018 - 16:59 |
4 | 0

SAVAGE 😂😂😂

03/11/2018 - 13:21 |
0 | 0
NotARealRoadTest

I’ve really bonded with my is200 that i bought in January. Not only is it the first car that I bought for myself, it’s the first car I’ve owned that has an addictive engine noise

03/10/2018 - 12:31 |
44 | 2
Hast

[DELETED]

03/10/2018 - 12:32 |
0 | 2
Anonymous

Someone said to me that I would probably end up bonding with my first car, a 1.2 Polo. That hasn’t happened, in fact I genuinely dislike the car for many reasons.

03/10/2018 - 12:33 |
36 | 2
5:19.55

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Was it that their was more downside compared to the feeling of getting your first car or everything was bad?

03/10/2018 - 12:44 |
2 | 0
Hast

I’ve totally bonded with my Corolla T-sport. That instant throttle response, that screaming sound at 8000 rpm… Goosebumps every damn time. Had it for a couple of years. Then suddenly I was going to be a dad! Wife said I had to sell it and get a more practical family car, so I got a Octavia estate. And the Corolla, well…. It is still sitting in the parking lot. Under a blanket of snow. With me stubbornly refusing to sell it. I just can’t do it…

03/10/2018 - 12:40 |
106 | 0
6th Gear Auto

In reply to by Hast

Looks pretty usable as a dd

03/10/2018 - 15:01 |
22 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Hast

Don’t sell it. Selk your wife.

03/10/2018 - 18:53 |
28 | 0
SgtHop

In reply to by Hast

That actually looks genuinely nice. I’d enjoy having these in the US. But no, we don’t get interesting Japanese hatches.

Definitely don’t sell it. I can’t fathom how that car is any less practical than an Octavia.

03/11/2018 - 04:05 |
6 | 0
The Abider

I’ve bonded with my 2005 Camry just because its the car I learned to drive a standard in. She may be worth around 5 dollars and a pack of gum but if I added sentimental value I could trade her in for a optioned out NSX

03/10/2018 - 12:57 |
12 | 0
P1eased0nteatme

Never owned a car so I haven’t bonded with any in that respect, but I’ve been very attached to some of my dad’s cars. Most notably his Discovery 3 and his old Citroen C6.

03/10/2018 - 14:31 |
14 | 0

Same for me but i bonded with my dads skoda fabia vrs the newer one with the 180hp engine and my mums old skoda octavia 2.0 wich was the car i grew up with and it was a bit like the family dog

03/10/2018 - 15:29 |
4 | 0

Ive got a bond with my dads WS6. He said hes never going to sell it, then i will own it and never sell it.

03/11/2018 - 04:43 |
0 | 0

Same for my father’s A4.
It’s only considerable special trait is it’s a convertible, but it feels like a special car. Of course, we never had as fancy a brand in our family, and that might be a factor, but I think it’s also the wonderful times we’ve had in it, and the feeling of adventure it brings whenever you ride top down. Which is also why I’m quite sure that whenever I’ll finally get a Miata I won’t leave it for a long while.

03/14/2018 - 21:45 |
0 | 0

I haven´t owned my own car either…..though I am consistently taking over my dads old Mazda, since I gotten my drivers license….and I just love it´s noise, it´s look (though it could be improved due to age), the practicality, and even its small size…I better stop myself here before I get carried away ^^”

04/10/2018 - 09:28 |
0 | 0
NotARealRoadTest

The pixel quality does make it look nostalgic doesn’t it lol

03/10/2018 - 14:41 |
2 | 6
TheBagel

I want two cars when I can afford them:
1). Ferrari 308 GTS
2). Porsche 911 Turbo Targa (1974)

03/10/2018 - 15:49 |
4 | 0

I also wouldn’t mind living along the Amalfi Coast in Italy…

03/10/2018 - 15:51 |
0 | 0

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