I'm sometimes amazed at people who continue driving cluelessly while their car is falling apart around them. Is it denial?
Some people notice every little clunk and squeak and over-react but what's with the people whose brakes are shuddering, exhaust falling off, valves clattering, wheel bearings groaning until the car finally grinds to a halt?
I once had a GF once whose VW engine started making noises, she turned up the stereo to drown it out and continued driving until there was no more engine and she was left at the side of the road in the middle of winter. Another who drove my car around town one afternoon leaving the hand-brake on and wondering why it was so sluggish and smelled like it was burning. Even the red "brake" light didn't clue her in for a while.
My brother would drive around with obviously almost flat tires and not care, "they haven't blown yet".
I don't get it, my cars may have some rattles, but I know where they are coming from and whether they're going to leave my stranded. I can usually tell you if a particular tire is low on air compared to the rest (GF's Subaru had 20psi in RF last week). C'mon folks, it's not rocket science, and your life could depend on being aware of whether your car is going up in flames.
