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Who here is a fanatic about keeping their vehicle clean?

Started by signalman, February 25, 2015, 04:29:19 PM

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J N Winkler

Quote from: Scott5114 on February 27, 2015, 01:46:57 PMI'm hard-pressed to think of scenario in which an entire order of fries remains in the car overnight. If that happened when I got food it would be noticed because it would mean one of us would be missing part of our food and would go hungry. I suppose if you're in the habit of doing something like ordering 4 orders of fries ala carte and sharing them communally, that could happen, but that seems like a portion-control disaster. We tend to order combo meals where each person gets their own fry and drink.

It has happened to us.  Some years ago we got a family dinner from Freddy's Frozen Custard (a hamburger chain local to us, with a presence as far east as Pittsburg).  I was driving, but not by myself, so we waited in the drive-thru, and the order was passed to us through the window in a brown paper bag and put on the floor behind the driver's seat.  After a few days we noticed a persistent smell of grease and salt, so I pulled mats and discovered an entire order of fries had spilled on the rear mat underneath the driver's seat.  It was sheer luck none of them had gotten onto the carpet.

We rarely eat anything but dry snack food (carrots, bananas, jerky strips, etc.) in the car.  The most recent exception was some Subway sandwiches in Tulsa 18 months ago when it was raining heavily and going outside the car to eat inside the restaurant would have meant setting foot in an inch-deep puddle of water.  We got our Freddy's order to eat at home, so the fries escaped the bag when the rear-seat passenger was distracted.

QuoteThe other scenario I can think of that would result in food remaining in the car is spillage, but that is easily enough avoided by folding the top of the bag a couple of times (which also helps to keep the food warm). I also keep the bag on the passenger seat, so if I notice it threatening to tip over I can easily adjust it (or even better, have a passenger hold the bag if one is present).

It is easier to manage niceties of packaging when the car is not in traffic and the engine is not running, which is another reason I don't use drive-thrus on my own account.  I wouldn't even put the bag of food on the passenger seat because of the possibility of grease leak-through.  I'd rather have any leakage go on the floor mat, which can be taken out for cleaning or replaced altogether.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini


briantroutman

As to the topic question–I'm most definitely fanatic about leaving no clutter in the car. Whenever I exit the car, it's in nearly the condition I would return a rental. I'll vacuum the carpets and upholstery, wipe down interior surfaces, and clean the interior glass every few weeks or so. That's less often than I'd like, but I don't drive much, so it stays fairly clean anyway.

It didn't take long living in California for me to forget how dirty cars get in the East, particularly in winter. Here, I can go for a month or more without washing my car, and it will still look reasonably clean. Contrast that with a few weeks ago when I had a weekend rental from BWI–a gleaming new car with 100 miles on the odometer when I left the garage and a filth bucket (outside) the rest of the weekend.

Quote from: Scott5114 on February 27, 2015, 03:19:24 AM
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 26, 2015, 09:43:27 AM
I always keep the interiors clean and I do not go through the drive-thru if the product purchased may smell

You've mentioned this before but it's always seemed kind of paranoid to me. I regularly transport food in my car and as long as it doesn't sit in there overnight or something I don't notice any residual scent at all.

Anytime I pick up a carry-out pizza and take it home (<10 min. drive), even though all traces of it and its container and paraphernalia are removed as soon as I've arrived, I can still smell it when I get in the car the following day. I've taken to putting the pizza in the cargo area (my car's a hatchback), lowering the windows, and opening the sunroof for the drive home.

I've also noticed day-after aromas with other take-out foods–Chipotle, In-N-Out–that are merely transported home without being opened or consumed in the car.

Quote from: texaskdog on February 27, 2015, 01:26:27 PM
At most it is "guy clean" not OCD woman clean.

I don't know where this stereotype comes from, but it doesn't mesh with my experiences at all. Particularly in when it comes to cars, I've encountered far more women who keep a filthy car. And I don't think I'm alone here–I remember Tom and Ray on Car Talk saying that, for the most part, the cluttered, messy cars that pulled into their shop were their female customers'. Perhaps the fact that moms often haul the kids has something to do with this, but that doesn't apply to any of the women I'm thinking of (my wife, my sister, my mother, several ex-girlfriends).

formulanone

My wife kept a clean car even before we met, and that didn't really stop until the kids. For the most part, I don't let them eat in my car (it's rare we're all in my car for more than a 30-minute drive). Her van takes a bit of a battering on those long trips, though.

Admittedly, one perk of owning a silver-colored car is that it visually resists the appearance of dirty, yet still looks shiny when clean.

1995hoo

Quote from: briantroutman on February 27, 2015, 04:00:08 PM
....

It didn't take long living in California for me to forget how dirty cars get in the East, particularly in winter. Here, I can go for a month or more without washing my car, and it will still look reasonably clean. Contrast that with a few weeks ago when I had a weekend rental from BWI–a gleaming new car with 100 miles on the odometer when I left the garage and a filth bucket (outside) the rest of the weekend.

....

I took the car to the mechanic yesterday morning. They always offer to wash the car. I said not to bother–it was snowing reasonably heavily, so it would be pointless to wash the car when it'd just be filthy again 10 minutes after I left. For some reason they washed it anyway. It was covered in gunk and road salt and other crap almost immediately after I left.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Duke87

My car tends to be pretty messy. I never wash the exterior since I do not see fit to spend money or effort on it. The interior has not been touched by a vacuum of any sort since I had some work done back in September and I have no intention of changing that anytime soon.

I also have a habit of using "just throw it in the backseat" as a trash can, and let's just say the trash in my kitchen gets taken out more frequently.
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

texaskdog

Quote from: Scott5114 on February 27, 2015, 03:19:24 AM
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 26, 2015, 09:43:27 AM
I always keep the interiors clean and I do not go through the drive-thru if the product purchased may smell (so no McDonald's food, for example, but a McDonald's shake is OK).

You've mentioned this before but it's always seemed kind of paranoid to me. I regularly transport food in my car and as long as it doesn't sit in there overnight or something I don't notice any residual scent at all.

I would think if you weren't super nose-sensitive like my old roommate you wouldn't notice, unless you delivered pizza



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