Category Archives: Guest Writers
Where is the American Automotive Love Affair Heading?
I have a deep sinking feeling in my stomach as I type this. Today’s youth are hopeless when it comes to automotive enjoyment it seems, the reason I say this is because I just got through reading a thread (9 pages long) on an internet automotive forum I belong to that was just about cruising. The first post reads:
“I first saw signs forbidding “cruising” in Hollywood a few years back. I took a split second to think of what the sign was exactly forbidding, and it was explained to me that it involved driving up and down the same street. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why this appealed to anyone. It seems monumentally anticlimactic and boring. Perhaps it is something people did before my generation (I’m 25)? Can someone who has done this explain the appeal?”
What is cruising you ask? If you must ask that question you ARE NOT at the right URL, but I digress. Tthe definition of cruising is to travel without destination or purpose; to go about the streets at random but on the lookout for possible developments. Ok so now we have a basic understanding of what cruising is. What? You still don’t get it? Let me break it down into regular car guy terms.
2006 Toyota 4Runner – Not your average grocery getter
3 years ago I was driving a truck, an extended cab four wheel drive truck; sure it mustered a lowly 12.5 MPGs and made Al Gore turn in his bed at night, but it was my piece of so called Americana. It was a hunk of metal hastily made in Detroit, and was probably one of the most problematic vehicles I have ever owned. After I got sick of the repair bills I decided it was time to try something from the other side of the pond, no I don’t mean Europe, they aren’t known for reliability, and I didn’t need an ultimate driving machine. So what were my other choices? A Korean car? Nope. That leaves us with the land of the rising sun. I was no stranger to Japanese cars, I had already owned an Acura and 2 Hondas by this point and none had ever let me down (save for the multiple burnout induced transmission replacements in my first car, an 88 Honda Accord but I digress.) So I knew I wanted to give the notorious Japanese reliability a shot again, I had thought about getting a car again and had the list narrowed down, Nissan Altima, Honda Accord and the Nissan Maxima….. GREAT!!!! I had a game plan, time to search for a car. I hopped online with my trusty iPhone…..and exactly a minute later I found what I was looking for, a 2006 Toyota 4Runner with 47,xxx miles on the clock…..wait, I wanted a car right? Oh screw it, lets go test drive it, the price is right and I knew that the 4Runner was a rock solid performer for soccer moms so why not a 25 year old (at the time) single firefighter like myself? I arrived at the dealer and saw the 4Runner positioned ever so eloquently in front of the dealer, I took it for a test drive with the salesman, and right away I was sold, but we’ll get back to that.
