Don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t judge a car by its owner. What car a person drives shouldn’t really matter in the grand scheme of attraction. But guess what? It matters. Everything is on the line and that beater you want to roll up in, could be the make or break of that very first date.
We asked readers what cars were embarrassing to take on a first date. These were their responses.
86 Pontiac sunbird station wagon with busted back window. Died twice on the drive....she stayed the night though and 12 years and counting.
Submitted by: Thomas Hart (Facebook)
A hand-me-down 1981 Dodge Mirada that had a door that wouldn’t open, a window that wouldn’t roll down, and had an electrical fire while on the date.
Suggested by: Sufre Mamon
No girl wants to get picked up in a car derided as the “Mister 2" nor kilt in one due to snap oversteer.
Submitted by: NoamChomskyExceptJacked
I drove a 93 Toyota Corolla, 5-speed manual, with manual windows. My date noticed the cassette deck and said “I didn’t know they still had those in cars.”
Submitted by: Miyagi Jo Bangles (Facebook)
In college in the early 2000s, I had a 1981 Chevy Citation. I asked a girl out and went to pick her up. She said we needed to wait for her roommate to come back with her car. When I reminded her I had a car, she said (never having been in my clean Citation), “No offense, but my car is better and doesn’t smell funny.” Her Ford Escort (or similar, my memory is a little fuzzy on that detail) smelled funny (which I pointed out, because I was still a little hurt on the Citation’s behalf), which she attributed to her roommate having used it to go do laundry.
There was no second date.
I don’t think I should have been embarrassed by my car, but it seems she thought so.
Submitted by: Drew
I took a girl out in a date in my beat up Nissan 240. I was making a turn and her door opened up and I told her to hold the door closed until we get back to my place and switch cars.
Submitted by: Kawai C (Facebook)
This is more of a story about how taking an “embarrassing” car on first dates in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills helped me meet my wife.
Long story short, picking up folks on the west side of Los Angeles for first dates in a (at the time) 20+ year old Toyota 4Runner was a great way of weeding out the ones I was incompatible with.
My favorite quote was, “what is this thing? I thought you drove an Audi? I’d rather walk.” Oh and I very much did have a newer Audi. I just chose to take the 4Runner on dates.
Then one day, a girl from Arkansas happened through town, and wasn’t bothered by the 4Runner. In fact, she (later) encouraged/facilitated the purchase of 3 additional (2x 3rd gen, 1x 5th gen) 4Runners. We married soon after.
Submitted by: OldManMcKenna
I took my work truck on the first date with my wife. Not sure it gets any worse than a base model Ford Ranger with 200k on the clock. My other choice would have been my project car that would have broken down within a few blocks.
Submitted by: Don McCoy (Facebook)
I took my old, somewhat janky Thunderbird SC on a first date, and afterwards it wouldn’t start. I gave my date the option of either pushing or popping the clutch. She was extremely not amused but opted to push. This was back in 2001, so long before Uber which I’m 99% sure she would have taken.
We dated for another year so I guess it wasn’t so bad.
On another date, the heater core broke and spat hot coolant all over her legs.
Submitted by: Unacceptably Dry Scones
The most obvious and universal answer. It could be a beater or a Bentley. If your car interior looks like you could have roaches at your house, you are definitely not getting a second date.
Submitted by: VBinNV