Eating in the car

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

As a kid we went to A&W Root-beer for many meals and ate in the car when dad was away on TDY.

As a car owner I honestly can not remember the last time I ate a meal while sitting in my car. I know I have eaten some jerky or cheese sticks on road trips, but never a meal.

Last Friday I had to drive 850 miles to Montgomery, AL and I decided to rent a car to do it for reasons that are not relevant to this post. 11 hours and 15 minutes of engine run time plus the necessary stops to feed the car and the occupants and other biological needs makes it a 12 hour trip each way.

Most fast food places have the dining room closed, so drive through is the only option. Eat in the car is necessary. So for the first time that I can remember I ate a burger and fries in a car. I am pretty sure I don't want to do it again, certainly not in my car. In a rental, who cares, but it is still not a great option.

So do you eat in YOUR car, or you spouses car?

RANDY P · RANDY P's Garage

Disgusting, no. smells, things wind up all over the place, undignified. In fact, food smells while I'm driving kind of grosses me out.

Only possible exceptions: things stored in baggies, served cold and long road trips.

rjp

onewhippedpuppy · 02-03-2021, 10:38 AM

Never! I consider that to be a big key to keeping a car nice. With kids we allow them to have non-staining drinks and snacks like beef jerky that don’t leave crumbs or smell weird. We never grab fast food and let anyone eat in the car.

KFC911 · 02-03-2021, 10:44 AM

Only BBQ ribs .... nothing else

cockerpunk · 02-03-2021, 10:44 AM

best thing about driving junk cars is never worrying about little **** like this.

Eric Hahl · Eric Hahl's Garage

It's a car, like anything else, it can be cleaned. No big deal to me.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

The rental we had only had 6,400 miles when we picked it up. It had zero new car smell, just the disinfectant smell of the clean up crew. The windshield was covered in a film of something and had at least 10 GPS suction cup marks.

pwd72s · 02-03-2021, 11:14 AM

One of our early dates, Cindy & I were at the coast. She wanted to buy a cooked crab from a roadside stand, take it back to the Valley. "Nope. not in my car!"

Norm K · 02-03-2021, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC911

Only BBQ ribs .... nothing else

C'mon, Man, don't leave out the crawfish!

_

Bob Kontak · Bob Kontak's Garage

Akron to Chicago commute for seven years. 420 miles. Very seldom ate in car for Randy P's reasons above but my car is still cluttered with stuff.

I guess I work on too many cars where I have to brush the french fries out of the way to get under the dash. Grosses me out.

stevej37 · 02-03-2021, 11:31 AM

I will..if it's something easy to contain...maybe a few crumbs to clean-up is ok.

I also draw the line at french fries with ketchup from those squeeze packs...or anything that needs to be dipped in sauce.

And it also makes a difference which car.

Sooner or later · 02-03-2021, 11:32 AM

I do. If I need a snack I can usually find a fresh fry or two between the seat cushions to satisfy the craving.

stevej37 · 02-03-2021, 11:33 AM

^^^ esp the furry ones?

Bill Douglas · 02-03-2021, 11:37 AM

I was highly pissed off.

Some house/cat sitters who got to use my near new car - who I had a falling out with because they turned my house into a party house, spilled food and drink all over the place in the front of my car. They really summed themselves up - pigs.

KFC911 · 02-03-2021, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norm K

C'mon, Man, don't leave out the crawfish!

_

I will make exceptions of course ... peel & eat Cajun shrimp & crawfish ... absolutely!

RANDY P · RANDY P's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

I was highly pissed off.

Some house/cat sitters who got to use my near new car - who I had a falling out with because they turned my house into a party house, spilled food and drink all over the place in the front of my car. They really summed themselves up - pigs.

Funny, people who do that usually have nothing kept nice.

rjp

Scott Douglas · Scott Douglas's Garage

Eating in the car is not the end of the world.
You guys that don't eat a thing in the car don't know how to clean a car would be my guess.

And you'd be hard pressed to say I ever ate in my car if you were to inspect it now.

Eating while driving is a highly developed skill that takes practice to pull off successfully.

p911dad · p911dad's Garage

Wife and I each ate a Krispy Kreme (me glazed, she jelly) this am at the KK bakery store. Yum, right off the conveyor belt.

RANDY P · RANDY P's Garage

Heck I don't even allow napkins to be left in my car. I think all I have literally is a red rag to check oil, maybe an ink pen in the console. I do allow iced coffee etc. tho. Even that gets tossed the moment I enter the garage.

rjp

Seahawk · 02-03-2021, 11:56 AM

Please.

I do it all the time, especially the last six years driving all over the East Coast.

There is no way I am sitting down to have lunch on the road, especially if I am driving alone. My wife packs underway snacks for the love of god.

That is why the vacuum was invented. Oh, and I keep this thing in the car called a plastic trash bag. Yikes!!!

Looks like I just lost a sale on my FJ