Charger Paranoia

volk68 · May 01, 2007, 03:26:01 PM

A few weeks ago, I had the day off and decided to take my charger out for a spin with the wife and kids. We went to a local swimming pool for the day. It was great. The only problem is, I didn't realize just how paranoid I am of someone hitting/screwing around with my car. I found myself making several trips to where I could see it just to make sure. I also made sure that I pulled next to my brother so some idiot wouldn't hit it with a car door or something. I know these cars were made to drive, and I love to drive it, but I can't help but feel paranoid about it everytime she's parked

I feel the same way whenever I am working on it...I have to be totally cautious so I don't dent it up or scratch it. The funny thing is, other people look at me like I'm an idiot for being so paranoid about it

Owning a Charger might slowly be driving me insane

MichaelRW · May 01, 2007, 03:36:08 PM

Join the club. I've been like that since about 1970 and it doesn't go away. I'm like that with my Charger and each new car I own until the newness wears off. I'm the guy that parks way back in the parking lot with a light post in front of me and no spot to park on the one side. Actually since I bought the paint and body shop I don't worry as much any more.

bull · May 01, 2007, 03:51:34 PM

I think about it already and mine is just a hollow shell locked in the garage.

But I do remember thinking about it back in the '80s when I drove my '70 all over creation. Even back then I wondered what I would do for replacement parts if a bird flew through my grill or something. Now I think about having it finished and leaving it in a parking lot for 20 minutes only to return and discover I'm missing a gas cap, half the grill, the mirror, some trim, etc.

Just 6T9 CHGR · May 01, 2007, 03:57:29 PM

At this stage of the game I will NEVER take the car to a local pool, for milk etc & leave it unattended

You have to see my psycho self just leaving the car overnight at the hotel parking lot when I go to Carlisle

roger01 · May 01, 2007, 04:08:30 PM

so im not the only insane one here ......icant leave it alone ...i wont ...too many kids with sharp handle bars love the car
hell ...im even afraid of shutting it off some where when i go for a drive in case it wont restart..
( always carry a cell phone ...and if you forget it ...go back and get it )my tip for the day

ChargerSG · May 01, 2007, 04:12:53 PM

I keep sane by allways have sevral Chargers

CharlieCharger · May 01, 2007, 04:12:56 PM

I used to check the local radar on the internet for squalls and local rain

Charger-Bodie · May 01, 2007, 04:24:10 PM

Quote from: ChargerSG on May 01, 2007, 04:12:53 PM
I keep sane by allways have sevral Chargers

that is not the cure my friend !!! lol........

VOLK you are so very not alone and like said before by others its not gonna get any better and if you do get less carfull thats when id look for help because not caring for youre charger is insane ...... i got my first charger a 68, when i was 15 and going to movies driving it to school ect was already out of the question then already!! thats why they are ment to be drivin so you dont have to worry about them while they are sitting!

hemihead · May 01, 2007, 04:49:26 PM

Maybe I'm the oddball here but I don't worry about it.The only thing I worry about is some Yuppie idiot on his way home from the bar running into it.

deputycrawford · May 01, 2007, 05:28:17 PM

I have learned to let it go. If it gets banged up, I just get it redone with the insurance money. I used to worry until I was sick about it. I have been OK with selling it or loosing it in the divorce for awhile now. I have wanted that car for 20 years. I have been working on it non stop for over 4 years. I will just start over and get another one again. Be willing to loose it and you will enjoy it calmly for many years. How often does something happen to your everyday driver? It can but usually doesn't.

MichaelRW · May 01, 2007, 06:20:01 PM

Quote from: Just 6T9_CHGR.... on May 01, 2007, 03:57:29 PM
At this stage of the game I will NEVER take the car to a local pool, for milk etc & leave it unattended

You have to see my psycho self just leaving the car overnight at the hotel parking lot when I go to Carlisle

Several years ago I went to the Bloomington Gold Show for Corvettes (before I found my sanity) and saw a beautifully restored 1957 'Vette with a huge, deep key scratch all down the side of the car that was parked in the motel parking lot. I said a short prayer to the car gods for the guy.

Rack · May 01, 2007, 06:27:01 PM

Quote from: bull on May 01, 2007, 03:51:34 PM
I think about it already and mine is just a hollow shell locked in the garage.

I was just about to post the exact same thing. There was a guy helping me build the shed (where I'm gonna store my car parts) and I was all paranoid of him moving the front valance ... then I remembered the dang thing is already all dented up and the metal is torn on it. Still, I can't imagine how screwed up I'm gonna be when my charger is actually done.

dpm68 · May 01, 2007, 06:41:30 PM

Bull - mine's a shell locked away in my garage too, but I go one step further and don't even leave the door open because too many people have pestered me about it. I have also learned that there's always someone who wants my stuff maybe even more than I do, and they wouldn't think twice about swiping parts off my Charger in some parking lot. We all need a Trunk Monkey...

hemihead · May 01, 2007, 08:22:28 PM

Quote from: dpm68 on May 01, 2007, 06:41:30 PM
Bull - mine's a shell locked away in my garage too, but I go one step further and don't even leave the door open because too many people have pestered me about it. I have also learned that there's always someone who wants my stuff maybe even more than I do, and they wouldn't think twice about swiping parts off my Charger in some parking lot. We all need a Trunk Monkey...

I just carry a Colt 1911 and leave my German Shepard in the car.

deputycrawford · May 01, 2007, 08:50:27 PM

I had a habit of leaving the garage door open while I mowed the lawn. Two years in a row I went to a large car show with 3300 cars in attendance. During the day, both years, somebody looked at my car and told me where I live. I could not believe the attention these things get. I have not had a problem so far.

I pray nothing ever happens.

BMOTOXSTAR · May 01, 2007, 08:58:11 PM

I am the same way with my Charger. I purchased a nice 74' Satellite to drive all over in the Summer so that I would not be driving the Charger all over town.
I am starting to feel the same about the Satellite, I was thinking that I would not care if it got rained on or if I parked it in parking lots, etc..
Not the case now, even though it is just a Satellite i do not want anyone to F-ck with it & I will not drive it in the rain or leave it outside at night, etc...So much for a driver!

Mike DC · May 02, 2007, 12:46:11 AM

If you think most Chargers are bad, try owning a GL. You're lucky if some jagoff doesn't run up & do a hood-slide on it when you're not looking.
(And if I had a dollar for every person who has grabbed the door handles to see if they're welded shut . . . )

I've learned not to care at this point. When the car is done there's gonna be at least a few skims of bondo in almost every panel on it.

The first scratch -- Heartbreaking.
The second scratch -- Liberating.

Ghoste · May 02, 2007, 07:04:34 AM

I'm like that and my car is a ratty old pos. I've been like that with every old car I've ever had whether it was perfect or just a perfect turd. Much to my wife's chagrin, the newer vehicles seem to get a lot less attention.

bill440rt · May 02, 2007, 08:25:33 AM

Quote from: Just 6T9_CHGR.... on May 01, 2007, 03:57:29 PM
At this stage of the game I will NEVER take the car to a local pool, for milk etc & leave it unattended

You have to see my psycho self just leaving the car overnight at the hotel parking lot when I go to Carlisle

Take the Charger to the store for milk?

Not on your life.
Too much time & money invested for this blue collar boy to have to worry about something happening by some schmuck who doesn't give a rat's a$$ about someone else's property. I've seen it happen way too many times. Other people just don't care.

I was sitting in a Target parking lot in my wife's daily driver '03 Tribute waiting for her to come out of the store. Mind you, it's no collectible show car, but we take pride in the way we care of all our vehicles. Some low life in a rusted out '96 Corolla parks right next to me, the other 200 empty spots were no good, I guess. She flings open her door without a care in the world and BLAMMO!!!!

Right smack into our car.

I cringe to think if I was sitting there in the Charger...

Mike DC · May 02, 2007, 09:43:23 AM

I can understand being sentimental about a Charger. (Who isn't?)
But at the same time it doesn't have to be like that if you don't let it. A modern car can get damaged just as easily and cost just as much money to fix.

An $800 dent-repair bill is an $800 problem, whether it's on the side of a 1969 Charger or a 2004 Ram pickup. You can choose to be bothered by one more than the other, but that's a choice you're making.

41husk · May 02, 2007, 09:50:52 AM

I take mine to the show some times, and just can't enjoy the movie worring about some one screwing with it. They were madew to be driven and I try to take mine out and do that, but it is hard not to worry.

bill440rt · May 02, 2007, 09:53:49 AM

Yes... and no.
An $800 dent on an '04 pickup can be very different than an $800 dent on a show car. Then there's parts availability, and color matching on an older vehicle.
Maybe not so on a driver. For a show car, an $800 dent could be a tiny small ding, whereas it could be a fender replacement with a door blend on an '04 Ram.

I've had to completely restore my '70 TWICE due to negligence, so paranoia is deeply rooted in my veins.

MOPARHOUND! · May 02, 2007, 10:04:40 AM

I do the park 10 spots away from everything also.

But, one night about 10:30PM went to the big HyVee grocery store on an errand for the wife. Hardly anyone there, wasn't in the store 10 minutes and came out and was horrified to see a cart against the door. Of course 99% of the carts at the place had rubber/plastic bumpers on them, but this one didn't. Grrrrrrrrrr.....

Paint chipped in 4 spots, and two dents, right by the vertical stripes on the 71 Charger R/T's driver's side door.

Made me sick:

73chgrSE · May 02, 2007, 10:09:29 AM

That's why I'm not rushing out to do all the paint and body stuff with mine yet. I just got it back on the road after 10 years and I just want to enjoy it again for a while. The original paint looks really good from 20 feet away, any closer and you can see the little chips and dings, and I still see a new one everyday it seems. But knowing that one day it will get the full paint and body works lets me relax alittle more now. After that I'll be scared to drive it or park it anywhere.

Chatt69chgr · May 02, 2007, 10:11:18 AM

I have had that kind of paranoia about every neat car I have owned. I had a 78 Corvette Silver Anniversary and never drove it to work except on random fridays. Even then I would worry about it. It was always parked right next to the booth where they handed out the garage tickets. Last time I drove it to work was when I came back out and found the passenger window broken out and an attempt to slide hammer the lock out of the steering column. It happened the exact 15 minutes that the ticket taker was on break. I believe him as he was an older man and I don't think he would have been involved in something like this. Also had my 84 RX7 keyed one friday afternoon in a parking lot while I was in for 30 minutes of happy hour before heading on home (this was in a different city---I moved). My brother-in-law said that people would regularly turn cokes or ice cream cones over on the roof of his Porsche 911 while parked at the movie theater. I would attribute that kind of behavior to envy------I can't have one so I don't want you to have one either. Now I worry about my 2005 Ram Hemi. I always park away from everyone else and oftentimes will sneak back to check up on the truck. Nowadays, people have absolutely no reguard for other peoples property. I am 61 years old and I can remember when this wasn't the case. Seems like things changed in the 70's. I have no idea why. My charger won't be on the road for a few years but I am sure that I would never drive it anywhere and leave it unattended period. It ain't going to happen.

41husk · May 02, 2007, 10:31:03 AM

That is the reason I would rather have a wing car clone than the real thing, I would be much to paranoid to enjoy it. Well, the main reason is, theres no way I could afford a real Bird are Daytona

6670charger · May 02, 2007, 11:43:55 AM

That's what insurance is for. I used to get a little paranoid too. Now I drive mine every day. It sits out in the rain, gets driven in the mud and is covered in dust every day the sun is out. I have three good scratches or paint chips in it as a result of driving it. Even accidentally backed into a guy a few months ago. No damage to the car thankfully. Eventually I'll get the scratches fixed.

You've got to have fun with your car. Granted, I don't want mine to get destroyed or stolen, but then again, that's why I have insurance. If you're being a slave to your car, you aren't having fun. If you aren't having fun, then it's time to sell the car and get something you CAN have fun with.

70charginglizard · May 02, 2007, 01:31:35 PM

Quote from: 6670charger on May 02, 2007, 11:43:55 AM
You've got to have fun with your car. Granted, I don't want mine to get destroyed or stolen, but then again, that's why I have insurance. If you're being a slave to your car, you aren't having fun. If you aren't having fun, then it's time to sell the car and get something you CAN have fun with.

Very good point.

volk68 · May 02, 2007, 01:49:26 PM

Oh, I am having fun with it

Every time I get in it I get a grin from ear to ear

Still can't help but being worried about her though $:-\$

Neal_J · May 02, 2007, 02:51:26 PM

Clearly, you are not alone. As folks noted above, and I concur, the paranoia is real and at times unpleasant. In my case, I've spent so much time & money getting the Charger done as well as I can that with it now complete, I don't want to redo anything.

Because of that type of paranoia, I'm deliberately not restroing my other car, a 68 Olds Cutlass, to the same level as my Charger. If it rains and the Cutlass gets wet, no worries. If we need groceries, I take the Cutlass and shrug off door dings or mud on the carpet. The overall condition of the Cutlass is nowhere near nice as the Charger, but I don't obsess like I do with the Charger.

Wacky Neal

1BAD68 · May 02, 2007, 04:44:51 PM

I look for any excuse to take my 68 out except for the grocery store, its never been to one and never will.
Women (most, not all) just see it as another car and while dragging 3 kids and two carts full of groceries could care less what they bump, scratch or push their carts into.

CharlieCharger · May 02, 2007, 06:56:11 PM

Quote from: bill440rt on May 02, 2007, 08:25:33 AM
Quote from: Just 6T9_CHGR.... on May 01, 2007, 03:57:29 PM
At this stage of the game I will NEVER take the car to a local pool, for milk etc & leave it unattended

You have to see my psycho self just leaving the car overnight at the hotel parking lot when I go to Carlisle

Take the Charger to the store for milk? Not on your life.
Too much time & money invested for this blue collar boy to have to worry about something happening by some schmuck who doesn't give a rat's a$$ about someone else's property. I've seen it happen way too many times. Other people just don't care.

I was sitting in a Target parking lot in my wife's daily driver '03 Tribute waiting for her to come out of the store. Mind you, it's no collectible show car, but we take pride in the way we care of all our vehicles. Some low life in a rusted out '96 Corolla parks right next to me, the other 200 empty spots were no good, I guess. She flings open her door without a care in the world and BLAMMO!!!! Right smack into our car. I cringe to think if I was sitting there in the Charger...

You should have..

69_500 · May 02, 2007, 09:05:54 PM

Hey chris, next time your all paranoid about leaving your car in the parking lot of a hotel for carlisle.

Do what I did 2 years ago at Carlisle. SLEEP IN THE CAR. Much cheaper than a hotel room anyways. Plus your right there with the car all night long. Granted you can't shower in the car, but there are hoses at Carlisle.

70kracken · May 02, 2007, 09:16:24 PM

i take mine everywhere, but i'm just as paranoid. i like for people to see it! i'll even go to walmart in it at 2 am. if i can park where i can watch it, you better believe i'm in that spot, and every other spot around it.

terrible one · May 02, 2007, 11:25:33 PM

I'm paranoid and it's not even on the road! I've already had two attempted break-in's into it's storage area.

C500 · May 03, 2007, 02:18:24 AM

I know it seems arrogant, but in parking lots, I park right in the center of 2 parks if there are 2 together. No ones doors can bang on the side then, and I park well away from other cars.

If there are a few single parks to choose from, park right beside newer and more expensive cars. Owners of them will take a little more care opening their doors.

kiwi

bull · May 03, 2007, 02:38:27 AM

Quote from: Kiwi68 on May 03, 2007, 02:18:24 AM
I know it seems arrogant, but in parking lots, I park right in the center of 2 parks if there are 2 together. No ones doors can bang on the side then, and I park well away from other cars.

If there are a few single parks to choose from, park right beside newer and more expensive cars. Owners of them will take a little more care opening their doors.

kiwi

But when you take up two spots that's when people take a key or screwdriver to your paint.

C500 · May 03, 2007, 02:41:40 AM

Not if there are enough other parks around, I usually take 2 away from where everyone else parks and just walk a little further. People have more respect for a charger than to scratch it because you're in 2 parks if there are other parks to choose from. I would rather take that risk, especially considering how narrow the parks are over here.

kiwi

Mike DC · May 03, 2007, 06:01:32 AM

I just drive mine anywhere when the car is in one piece. I don't care.

The car can get scratched, but it can also be fixed again.
The body is a 318 VIN and most of the panels have been dented/rusted and repaired again over the various years & owners.

I just wanna enjoy it. I'm glad there are flawless & original cars out there, but this just isn't one of them.

440AirForce · May 17, 2007, 12:44:22 AM

Same feeling here. I'm in Encino, CA where no one speaks english, yet can drive. I'm faced with blue haired old ladies, or chicks with their faces buried in their cell phones--while polishing their nails while driving

Brock Samson · May 17, 2007, 09:03:43 AM

interesting topic,..
I guess one could expect some "history" after driving the holy living crap out of a '69 R/T S.E. for 23 years...
I've had some for sure but i am not afraid perhaps alittle paranoid but not afraid... To begin with, i won't drive the car somewhere simply to park it somewhere for long peirods, that's what the Daily Driver is for...
But i often will take it out for dinner and i will park it within eyesight,.. but only occasionally will it be parked where i can't see it...
on warm days in heavily pedestrian traffic situations i'll leave the windows down so folks can look inside, and i'll sit at the window 'n watch my parade float and smile as i see crowds of tourists gather and take pictures, stick their heads in and gaze at amazment at my excellent taste in seat covers... (that's for Chris G BTW)

anyhow,.. I do take precautions, i have a battery disconnect, & i some times take the coil wire... i park ass out with the wheels truned full lock cause my biggist fear is a rogue flatbed or tow truck, and i pay special attention to them when i see them in the vicinity of my cars...
I park in spots big enuff to have room between cars, sometimes diag. across three parking spots in store parking lots or away from other cars, i will either park under a light so it's well lit or sometimes i will tuck it beween larger trucks so it can't be easliy seen from the street,.. if i have a bad vibe for whatever reason i will move on till i'm satisfied it's safe..
In spite of my precautions i have had some incidents over the years... in no particular order..
..parked in a lot at a small local park, a homerun over the fence put a dent in the previous hood...

I chanced upon three teens about to swing a six-pack of beer through the drivers side window but, i caught them just as one guy was cranking his arm back and shouted at the top of my lungs,.. i spooked them pretty good as they jumped the fence taking the six-pack with them... a second later and i would have been too late,...

I returned from a night shift one night to find my driver's side wing window busted out,.. and the cheap stereo hanging out of the dash... i was pretty upset as the car was parked less than 30 feet from the attendant's booth,.. but as it later turned out, the attendants were actually the ones breaking into cars there...

I had one drip rail corner just above the same wing window taken from the car... $:-\$

I've had both the hood mounted turn signals punched out with what i guess was a screw driver, perhaps they had attempted to steal them, but i had them epoxied in, and they may have been frustrated...

Once when parked at a mechanics shop the name "JOSE" was carved in the top of the fender in large two inch letters...

after getting the monster back from the shop where the headliner was installed i found the driver's side rear (what's it called?..)
the thing the armrest mounts to... vynal?.. under the window?.. hard to find?.. anyhow it was hacked with a carpet knife or pizzia slicer so there are several jagged 6-8 inch rips there... the shop said it was like that when it got to the shop,.. but i'm sure the disinfranchised youth working there actually did the damage...

and while on the subject, the Road Runner has an obvious key scratch about four feet long across the driver's side door that was on the car when i bought it...

Dave.

Argos_Chargers · May 17, 2007, 02:18:13 PM

Paranoia is the reason that I've never restored my '70. It was my daily driver for about 10 years, and I still like to drive it when I have the chance. I've had my share of door dings (and given some pretty nasty revenge dings). I've had the car dented when it was in the shop. My only real fear is theft. If that happens, there's really not much I can do about it. I just pray that if it gets wrecked it is my fault and that I'm going fast enough that I don't feel a thing.

Mefirst · May 17, 2007, 03:01:20 PM

Cant say that I'm paranoid about my Charger. But like everyone else I do take precautions where I park it and I never park it where I cant see it. If I have to leave it for any longer period of time, it will be parked behind locked doors.

Worst fear is that I crash it or someone else crashes into my ride. If that would happen that would be the death of her. Living here in Europe, where parts are insanely hard to find, I don't think Id ever be able to bring her back to life, well depending on how bad the damage would be.. Not even with the 41K insurance I have on it.. Problem is the high tax and shipping cost of parts from the States over to Sweden...

My ride has lived a hard life, it has its share of small dings, then again nothing I care to do anything about right now. I'm gonna enjoy and drive her on the street and at the race track, specially now when she will be equipped with the Hemi. The worst thing I can think of, is people who buy and then keep these old musclecars locked up and never take them out for a ride, I see no meaning in owning a badass ride and not enjoying it and driving it...

/Tom

LargerCharger383 · May 17, 2007, 03:25:17 PM

i was almost never paraniod until someone actually tried to steal it. since then, im VERY cautious about where i take it and where I park.

Manfred318 · May 17, 2007, 03:44:04 PM

I'm paranoid as hell when I drive the Charger. Its my daily driver, but I still dont want some jerk ass wangin' my doors or some smartass kids messing around with it. I usually take up at least 3 parking spots if I can. If I go to a restraunt I will take 2 spaces in the back and I will sit where I can see it at all times. I hardly ever drive it to that hell hole called Wal-Mart. Last time I drove it there I got my door wanged pretty good. I absoutely HATE driving it to the high school on days I work there. It didnt bother me too much untill two days after I had the car painted I drove it to school one day and some shit head kid drew scribble lines all down the side of my car with a black sharpie marker, and about 2 years later a bunch of kids threw rocks on the Charger chipping the paint all too hell and cracking my windshield in 3 places. It totaled around $3000 worth of damage. And of course the school did nothing about it either time.

JMF · May 17, 2007, 03:51:29 PM

Everyone says they try and park in 2 spaces but surely you HAVE to, after all these cars are huge so people understand, when I owned my Charger here in England you can't help but hog the road and take up space

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Charger Paranoia