The "CARdrobe" - are you part of the club?

H3llR4iser

I heard about this survey on the radio this morning; Didn't really make much of it (I was still in the "zombie" phase!), but then I read this article:

http://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/three-quarters-live-out-cars-11922166

I am not surprised in the least; Almost every single car parked around seems to be filled up to the brim with a collection of clothes, shopping bags, random items and even plain straight rubbish. I personally find the attitude completely disgusting - I am not the neatest of people, not in the least, but I can't stand having anything laying around in the car.
Sure, the wheel well underneath the carpet in the boot is filled up, but the space is taken by tools, emergency bottles of fluids (engine oil, power steering oil, brake fluid, antifreeze and screenwash), fire extinguisher and a can of "tire repair gunk".

One aspect the survey doesn't seem to focus on is the danger all those unsecured objects in the cockpit pose - a half drank bottle of water, laying on the back seat, can do quite a bit of damage launched forward at 50+ kph in case of a collision...

sunnysoutheast

H3llR4iser wrote: »

I heard about this survey on the radio this morning; Didn't really make much of it (I was still in the "zombie" phase!), but then I read this article:

http://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/three-quarters-live-out-cars-11922166

I am not surprised in the least; Almost every single car parked around seems to be filled up to the brim with a collection of clothes, shopping bags, random items and even plain straight rubbish. I personally find the attitude completely disgusting - I am not the neatest of people, not in the least, but I can't stand having anything laying around in the car.
Sure, the wheel well underneath the carpet in the boot is filled up, but the space is taken by tools, emergency bottles of fluids (engine oil, power steering oil, brake fluid, antifreeze and screenwash), fire extinguisher and a can of "tire repair gunk".

One aspect the survey doesn't seem to focus on is the danger all those unsecured objects in the cockpit pose - a half drank bottle of water, laying on the back seat, can do quite a bit of damage launched forward at 50+ kph in case of a collision...

I can't stand it and can't understand how anyone can drive around with the car full of crap like that. I'd love to see their houses. My favourite is the metal tissue box cover on the rear parcel shelf which turns into a full metal jacket projectile in a crash. Or a golf umbrella sideways.

I used to work with a guy who bought a year old avensis and used to drive around eating in it, all the time. Chocolate wrappers, pistachio shells, empty drink cans, sandwich wrappers, all dumped in the back seat and footwells. Cleaned out every year or so. Disgusting.

colm_mcm

I keep mine reasonably tidy inside. Not spotless but presentable. My missus on the other hand keeps hers like a pigsty. Unreal. Full of clothes and old coffee cups.

Alanstrainor

I don't hoover/clean the interior of my car that often. But it is otherwise completely empty. Any rubbish is taken out as soon as possible, and nothing remains inside long term. Even my boot is kept empty asides from essential tools/oil & coolant.

Senecio

The only things I keep in my car (tuck out of sight under the passenger seat) is two reusable grocery bags and a pair of sunglasses. Spotless aside from that. Every time I leave my car I take everything out.

Dartz

Bottles of oil. Old shoes. Leather and Dash wipes. Work tools. Socks.

The occasional rat in a plastic bag weighed down with a breezeblock on the way to the pier.

CIP4

I use to be good for keeping mine clean and tidy. But the last few weeks it's in a fair state inside a load of water bottles wrappers. Then just a load of general crap especially in the boot, jackets, boots, shoes, clothes, folders along with all the usual emergency tools, first aid kit, high viz, warning triangle etc etc.

ba_barabus

colm_mcm wrote: »

I keep mine reasonably tidy inside. Not spotless but presentable. My missus on the other hand keeps hers like a pigsty. Unreal. Full of clothes and old coffee cups.

You should try and talk about it some evening with her.........

alchemist33

"We're all guilty of having a few pieces of clothing stashed in the backseat of our car."

No, we f*cking are not. What good are clothes in your car?

colm_mcm

ba_barabus wrote: »

You should try and talk about it some evening with her.........

Yeah, ill let you know how it goes.

GustavoFring

The cabin is usually spotless and clear but I need to sort the boot. I've just accumulated stuff since I got it and I've managed to almost fill the it...in a bloody Octavia of all things. Couldn't even put a suitcase in it tonight. I know there's some jackets and boots in there...somewhere...

JBokeh

I bring a jacket with me every morning when i'm leaving for work, never bring it back in the house in the evening, every saturday I take 5 jackets or jumpers out of the car.

Nobody that gets into my car would know i'm a pig, unless they lift up the boot floor, or open the centre console, every time I go through a toll I put the 10c change and receipt in there, about 10 usb cables for the phone, heaps of work USB sticks, that have no labels on them, and an inverter that also doubles as a heater

Back of my van is full of sand from surfing gear, and bits of bicycles, have her ply lined and stuck some industrial carpet on, so it cleans really easily, but it holds onto a smell

Mc Love

Before I had a kid, I would have picked the first option. But the car i drive to work in i.e. the ohs car is spotless.

Andrewf20

Anything that negatively affects power to weight ratio needs to be removed. That's the 1 rule above all.

Jesus.

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

I can't stand it and can't understand how anyone can drive around with the car full of crap like that. I'd love to see their houses.

Why would it bother you what other folk have in their car? Petrol heads need to recognise their hobby is not interesting to the large majority of people who simply have vehicles for transport. So what if a guy's car has stuff thrown all over it?

_Kaiser_

Can't stand mess in the car. It's normally empty of any crap or emptied of a single can/coffee cup at the next bin The little fella however tends to leave a load of stuff in the back but isn't too bad (he's already learned that Daddy likes a clean car)

My biggest issue is that living in an apartment means hoovering it out regularly is a pain, but other people don't get why I bother as it's fine.

Noccy_Mondy

Sunglasses, phone charger, water bottle is all thats kept in the cabin (alongside some bunting, air freshener and teddy handing from the rear view mirror).

Oil bottle and water bottle in the wheel well. Everything else out, keep it nice and clean!

Tommyboy40

Always keep it empty and tidy inside. Apart from the dead hooker in the boot

jca

Spotless inside. I took photos of the bypass yesterday and left 2 dirty footprints on my mat....they will be vacuumed away today. Sad aren't I?

CorkMan_

If I want to go somewhere with my father in his car I'd have to clear a space to sit, put my feet. The boot is full so usually it's either pile it somewhere else or put it in the house. Drive's me insane.

alchemist33

I keep the car as clean as I can, rubbish from eating, receipts etc goes in the door pocket and I clean it out regularly and the car is dusted and hoovered fairly regularly.

I will always have some clothes, jackets and shoes though left neatly on the back seats or in the boot and always have an umbrella in the boot as well as oil, coolant and jump leads etc.

I travel between a rented place and home place often enough so it's handy to have a spare pair of shoes always in the car and maybe a pair of boots if it's wet for the weekend rather than having to be bringing them in and out of the house all the time. I'd have a choice of jacket and a fleece so if it's wet I can wear a rain jacket, dry I can wear a different jacket and cold I can put on a fleece with my jacket. It's easier to have them in the car than arrive at the car park and work and have forgotten the suitable one.

I'd have a change of t-shirt in the car at times and a change of socks maybe, it's easy get wet in Ireland so good to have a change. Or I might need old clothes for something so could have them at times. In general though my car is the cleanest of any car I get into.

alchemist33 wrote: »

"We're all guilty of having a few pieces of clothing stashed in the backseat of our car."

No, we f*cking are not. What good are clothes in your car?

See above.

ba_barabus

colm_mcm wrote: »

Yeah, ill let you know how it goes.

I may have tried to have a similar conversation which may have ended up not going the way I thought it would....

Autosport

I'm fairly tidy and the inside of the car is hoovered/Vaccumed once a week. I have a pack of wipes and tissues in the glovebox and 2 umbrellas and a bag for life in the boot. I hate if anyone leaves their rubbish in the car.

Voodoomelon

Bit OCD here, so if the car doesn't look like it rolled out of the showroom on the inside it annoys me. Never keep anything on the seats, if anything to stop items from marking the finish. I once have a huge (20+ stone) furniture dealer a lift and he left a small permanent crease in the passenger seat leather, drives me bananas!

80sDiesel

Have had my 06 commuter car for 4 months and have never cleaned or emptied it. Filled with clothes in the back as I am back and forth different places. Found a duvet cover this morning in it that I was looking for earlier.
I am a disgrace.

I once lived in an 84 60series Landcruiser in Sydney for 6 months. Parked near Bondi and used to go to work every day. Loved it. I got used to living in a mess.

Whatever the opposite of OCD is, I have it.

frozenfrozen

Worse if there are two child seats in the back, the back footwells full to the brim with random toys, crisps mashed into every surface, spilled drinks making everything sticky.. You go to get into the front of their car "just throw that stuff anywhere" they say. As they fling their jacket, a bunch of coins and receipts, a bottle, the stale end of a breakfast roll rolled up in the paper bag, into your footwell.

My car is cluttered with random stuff but not food or drinks or dirt. But I do leave random bits and pieces in the car, at the moment I have two bin bags in the back seat full of clean clothes to be brought to the recycling centre for whenever I get the chance

Boot also has a few tools and bottles of fluids oil etc just thrown in, as well as a mess of torn up cardboard boxes. Sue me

zilog_jones

I try to keep my car clean and don't leave anything on display. I keep a small amount of tools and spare bulbs in the boot, also spare shopping bags in a cargo net (very handy for stopping bottles, etc. flying around the boot).

I don't let anyone eat in the car - I've heard enough stories about mice and rats getting into cars (you'd be surprised how open the ventilation system is in modern cars) so have zero tolerance for that.

H3llR4iser

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

I can't stand it and can't understand how anyone can drive around with the car full of crap like that. I'd love to see their houses.

I'm fairly sure there's no connection - as I said, I ain't the neatest of people. My apartment is definitely less tidy than my car - any cleaning/tidying up is done in the week ends, so depending on work/commitments schedule, on a Friday night the place will sometimes look like it was used as a bombing range by a squadron of F-15s.

But the car is a different story - it's a small environment and extremely easy to keep tidy.

colm_mcm wrote: »

I keep mine reasonably tidy inside. Not spotless but presentable. My missus on the other hand keeps hers like a pigsty. Unreal. Full of clothes and old coffee cups.

Eh...eh...ehrm...I noticed the same in a couple of (female) friends and at least one ex-girlfriend. They places are completely, totally, faultlessly spotless at all times; The car...well, apparently all the rubbish from the house ended up in there.

I suspect there's a little bit of truth to this meme:


That said, even in this thread it's clear that plenty of guys also use their car as a self-propelling wheelie bin

vandriver

My car was stolen by a heroin junkie,who used it for a few robberies then it was recovered and brought to the pound.
The guard meeting me there said I wasn't to bring my wife or kids along,because of the state the junkie had left it in.
Picturing the worst in my mind's eye,I rocked up to the depot and was again warned by the guard about the state of the car .
Upon a full inspection,it appeared that the junkie had not made any extra mess at all ,it was exactly how I'd left it!
(I did agree with the guard that the interior was a disgrace,but didn't own up to who really caused it)

80sDiesel

zilog_jones wrote:

I don't let anyone eat in the car - I've heard enough stories about mice and rats getting into cars (you'd be surprised how open the ventilation system is in modern cars) so have zero tolerance for that.

I had a nest of ants in the pizza boxes.

Summer wind

I love my car to be clean and fresh. Can't abide any mess. It's not too bad when you are out on a long journey and everyone brings their stuff along but when I get home I like to empty the car out completely.

Jesus.

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Worse if there are two child seats in the back, the back footwells full to the brim with random toys, crisps mashed into every surface, spilled drinks making everything sticky.. You go to get into the front of their car "just throw that stuff anywhere" they say. As they fling their jacket, a bunch of coins and receipts, a bottle, the stale end of a breakfast roll rolled up in the paper bag, into your footwell.

What a gracious passenger you are!

lawred2

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Worse if there are two child seats in the back, the back footwells full to the brim with random toys, crisps mashed into every surface, spilled drinks making everything sticky.. You go to get into the front of their car "just throw that stuff anywhere" they say. As they fling their jacket, a bunch of coins and receipts, a bottle, the stale end of a breakfast roll rolled up in the paper bag, into your footwell.

My car is cluttered with random stuff but not food or drinks or dirt. But I do leave random bits and pieces in the car, at the moment I have two bin bags in the back seat full of clean clothes to be brought to the recycling centre for whenever I get the chance

Boot also has a few tools and bottles of fluids oil etc just thrown in, as well as a mess of torn up cardboard boxes. Sue me

You could always walk

frozenfrozen

Jesus. wrote: »

What a gracious passenger you are!

lawred2 wrote: »

You could always walk

Found the people with filthy cars

lawred2

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Found the people with filthy cars

Our cars are spotless as it goes even with two kids.

Jesus.

Funnily enough my car is actually very clean and always is. But I wouldn't dream of being so arrogant as to think that the next guy should be the same as me.

Still less if he was good enough to give me a lift!