Charger Paranoia

[volk68]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

I keep sane by allways have sevral Chargers

[CharlieCharger]

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

[Charger-Bodie]

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]

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]

     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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

   
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]

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]

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]

 
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]

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]

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!]

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]

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]

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.