Your spouse/signifigant other, and cars?

[fastfredracing]

Do you guys let your spouse/ signifigant other drive the hot rods??
The 1997 M3 in my signature is my girlfreinds car. She bought it, and paid for it.
The car was pretty nice when she got it ( we've had it for about 5 years now), and she daily drove it for the first 3 years, but it really pained me to see it go to hell. Although she is a car person, she is not really all that kind to vehicles.
I have since seized the car, and take it from her in the winter months, and I try to keep it up at the shop( in a garage) to keep her from killing it. ( I gave her another 3 series to run around in ). It seems like I can spend 10 hours giving it love, and cleaning it up, and she drives it one week, and it looks like a contractors dump truck when she is done.
She loves to drive it, and I cant blame her, but I try to tell her to keep it for a nice day car, and not to run the wheels off of it. Am I anal?
Thank goodness, she drove the P cars a couple of times, and doesn't really like them as much, says they are hard to shift, so I can keep them safe.

[Oh Haha]

My wife has driven the 911 many times. I don't worry about her a bit.

1. She is a very careful driver.

2. She knows that the car is special and needs to be treated that way.

Funny as she was rearended in it last year on one of the only times she drove it. she was sure I'd be pi$$ed beyond words. I wasn't as she was fine and there was no damage to speak, thank goodness.

What drove me a little crazy was when we had the BMW. She drove it most of the time as it was our family ride but I got tired f cleaning up after the kids like it was just a car. Purses leave tiny scratches in the paint.

[on2wheels52]

I've given up on giving her driving advice. It's not like she's brutal on her car but it would be nice if she could be a little easier on the brakes. It's like every stop sign on her way to town popped up overnight like mushrooms. But her virtues far outweigh her faults (plus she likes me).
Jim

[Schumi]

I let my 'x-wife' (long time past girlfriend for several years) drive my toyota once. I was trying to teach her to drive a manual. All was good until she down shifted from 5th to 2nd on the highway. Thankfully it was a toyota and took the impending beating like a champ.

Even with that... I would still let her drive it if she asked. She is much safer and thoughful behind the wheel than most other people.

[Oh Haha]

My wife even knows I like to hear the exhaust when she drives off.

She even blips the throttle just like I do.


Yep, she's my soul mate.

[Aurel]

If she just makes and lets the car look dirty, no big deal. If she drives over potholes, hits curbs, dings the doors, smokes the tires and doesn`t change the oil, well...that is different. But it is still her car. What else can she drive?

[Zef]

My wife drive the 11.....with my father, they're the only two who have this privilege.....!

[imcarthur]

Bad. Just bad.

My wife treats her car (A4) like her mobile purse. I clean it & she slowly destroys it. Since it is now our only car (other than the 911), it is a shame. It is her daily.

As for behind the wheel, she makes me crazy. She is a nervous driver – never dangerous – but she is the kind of driver who will follow a slow car for 3 blocks & never think to move into the other lane & go around them. She doesn’t drive on freeways. She has never passed a car in her life on a two lane road. She was a late learner. Her sister has told me that for the first few years of driving – in her late 20s – she would only make right turns. She would plot elaborate routes around the city so she only had to make right turns to get where she wanted to go.

Needless to say, a manual transmission is beyond her. She is strictly a passenger in the 911.

Ian

[Dave L]

My wifes car (the Mazda3) is pretty much a disaster. She punched a hole through the front bumper when she drove into the back of a truck. The windshield has be broken for over a year with a huge crack from one side to the other. I have given her money to fix both of these issues but it just doesnt seem to get done. Just last week she backed out of the garage, the door was down, so there is a small dent in the trunk lid and we need to replace 2 of the garage door pannels. The interior isnt really full of garbage but is just very dirty from the kids. I dont think the car has ever been washed or vacuumed by her.

She can and does drive my cars but 99% of the time she drives the Mazda.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

Bad. Just bad.

My wife treats her car (A4) like her mobile purse. I clean it & she slowly destroys it. Since it is now our only car (other than the 911), it is a shame. It is her daily.

As for behind the wheel, she makes me crazy.

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Ian

That's exactly how our Boxster looks and is treated. When we were younger, things were better looked after. Now, I don't even know if I give a s**t.

[mjohnson]

Our SC was her idea after riding in her advisor's during grad school. She can drive it whenever she wants, though she rarely seems to want to deal with the balky 915 (yet I never get around to fixing it -- go figure...).

The 2002 C2 was my idea, but the purchase happened mere days after she uttered the blessed "Oh, will you please quit yapping about it! Just go buy it." She drives it frequently with no complaint. It's just a car. She does manage to both lug it around town and forget 5th and 6th gears on the highway. Since it's just a car, I choose to complain about other things.

[David]

I let my wife drive my hot rods when they're sorted out and reliable. I back off the boost a little though

Her car is the sport package, manual tranny 328i in my signature and she keeps it very clean. She also has an SV650 so she's into motorsports but I haven't been able to get her into racing

When we first moved in together, she got me in the habit of keeping both cars in the garage so we wouldn't have to wash them as much.

[MT930]

I would let my Wife drive the P-car anytime, she has driven it once it scared her.

[VroomGrrl]

My husband and I have swapped cars since he started his new job. He's driving my 2004 Honda CRV and I'm in his 98 Camry. I don't know how to describe him except to say he's a "mangler." Floor mats, seat belts, I don't know what it is, but when he's used them for a day, they are just completely mangled all to hell. Mats all bunched up and out of whack in the footwell, seat belts all twisted and turned around. He actually drives around with the mat all over the pedals. SHRUG. I do not get it. That shiz drives me insane.

It's maddening, but not something that appears to be change-able. And absolutely not worth arguing about. So I go out every night and unmangle the mat and seat belt in the Honda, hoping to keep them from devolving to the condition they are in his Camry. I have removed the mats in the Camry as the carpet under them is not (yet) mangled I am making a project of restoring his driver's side seat belt.

The 911 - hubby has NO interest in driving it - he says it's too much trouble and uncomfortable. And no cup holders! His only times behind the wheel are to move the car around in the garage or driveway. AND THE CARPET WAS MANGLED when he was done (mats are in storage for the track season).

[m21sniper]

Depends on the woman.

I have had G/F's fully capable of handling any car i've had, and some other G/F's incapable of handling a motor scooter.

[Hard-Deck]

My wife is welcome to drive my 911 as soon as she can tell me what all the gauges mean and what indicators are in the normal tolerances. she needs to know why the oil temp, pressure, level have in common during the different RPMs. I'm teaching her, so she should be ready to drive and take care of the car soon. I had to memorize all gauges and normal tolerances before I was allowed to solo every airplane; T34, T2, T4, T45, FA-18, C130 for the same reasons, when things are out of tolerance you need to know immediately so you don't destroy an expensive engine.

[911Rob]

Yes and my kids too, although it's rare. It's a car.

The only one that's ever brought harm to her was me, fwiw.

[porsche4life]

I would let my G/F drive either of my rides. She refuses too. Afraid of making mad. I'm not that type of person but w/e I'm not going to make her. She is a good driver and lets me drive her car all the time.

[Sapporo Guy]

(plus she likes me).

Should be more than enough reason to let her drive your toy

The above advice about the gauges and such is pretty good. But, I guess if it's just to have a bit of fun for the day ... why bother

If my GF took my car out and had some fun or even damaged it, I'd be more worried about her than the car. I can always fix it ... but not her!

[targa911S]

hell yeah, she drove an xke when i met her. she is a good driver and i trust her 1000%