The Joy of Owning A S**t Box

If you go on any social media platform now-a-days, you'll see endless amounts of videos and photos about the latest and greatest cars that are going to change your life and then next year it'll be something new. As much as I do love watching those videos I can't help but think "Are they really that good?"

over the river

I drive a 2011 Hyundai Accent hatchback with almost 310,000km on it. I absolutely love it. Is it the most beautiful car ever made? Absolutely not. Does it have the most lavish interior on the market? Prisons are outfitted better. Is the sound system bumping? I wear headphones to listen to music. Is it the most powerful? My daughter can crawl faster. I think you're getting the idea here.

I've been a wind turbine technician now for almost a decade and this shitbox of a car, affectionately called the "Red Rocket", has been with me every step of the way. I've taken it up some gnarly mountain pass roads, along countless farming lanes, across Canada 3 times and moved all over the place with her. It's been the most consistent relationship I have ever had.

Over the years it has also taught me how to love and appreciate the simple things in life. This car is bare bones, doesn't even have ABS, and that forces you to slow down and enjoy the moment. I catch myself often just loving having the windows down, air rushing over my hands, and listening to the rattles coming from the front right of my car. Is the car the safest? Debatable, but it gets me from point A to B.

Dirty hands, clean money

Inevitably, while owning a shitbox, you are going to have to perform repairs on it. It happens. Do you really think parts are going last for 300,000+kms? No. Now I will admit that I have been pretty lucky in this department in that I haven't had to do much. But the biggest advantage to owning this thing is that it's a very mechanical car, there aren't a lot of electronics or do dads, you can just dive in and get your hands dirty. It's cars like this that give you an immense sense of pride when you repair something, crank the engine over, and it turns on. But then you start driving away and here a new rattle, it's a never ending circle of fixed and repaired.

A car is designed for freedom and to take you places. When you drive a shitbox you really get to know the car's quirks, they have personalities that you just don't get from anything else. I know that if I go above 120km/h my steering wheel is going to start to shake more than a grade 10 boy asking his crush out. I know that if I don't move my back hatch release into its original position that some homeless guy is going to take everything in that car. You don't get that with modern day cars. I mean who doesn't like waking up in the middle of the night wondering if the hatch is locked correctly or not? It keeps you on your toes!