From the factory to the junkyard: the life of a car

Ever thought about the circle of life for cars? What about from the car’s point of view? In this interesting post we take a look at the life of a car from start to finish, from the eyes of said car. It’s told by way of a story, so get your feet up and enjoy it…

There was once a little car. It was nothing spectacular: just a little runaround that got its owner from A to B. Its earliest memories are in the car factory, although it has since been told by the car on the drive next to his that this was the final stage in its process of manufacturing. But here it remembers being constructed from the ground up. First it had its suspension, fuel tank, rear axle, gear box, steering wheel and braking systems fitted. It then moved down the assembly line, held in place tightly by clamps, to the place where its body was created. At this stage it can remember there being a lot of big, computer-controlled robot arms poking and prodding it, doing things like putting its doors on and fitting its roof.

It was then painted — that was its favourite part. First it was bathed in the paint (this was relaxing), then it was spray-painted (this part tickled), and then it was heated (this part wasn’t so nice). After that its interior was assembled. This included having all of its wiring systems, dash panels, interior lights, seats, headliner, radio, speakers, pedals and carpeting fitted.

Shortly after that whole process, it was taken to a car dealership showroom, where it was sat with other cars just like itself. During this time it heard loads of rumours of how great it felt to be driven down the road by an owner, and it couldn’t wait to experience it itself. It was itching to get out into the ‘promised land’: the road. Unfortunately, however, it had to wait a few months before this happened – but it did, eventually. It was bought by a first time driver; before it was driven off, the other cars warned it that first time drivers took risks on the road, and wished it all the luck in the world. It didn’t take any notice of them, and beeped its horn as it drove off to its new life.

A few more months passed, and they were the happiest months of its short life yet. It was driven every day, and spent every night tucked up safely on its owner’s driveway. Its owner gave it regular maintenance checks and took it the car wash every week. For those few months, life was good. That was until one fateful morning. It could feel ice under its wheels, but wasn’t worried too much because its owner was a good and sensible driver – well, it thought its owner was a good and sensible driver. Suddenly, it felt itself spinning out of control, before BANG, it had crashed into another car. It took some time for it to come around initially after the collision, but once it did it looked at its owner and thought how badly he was dealing with the situation. After this, it didn’t want to believe anything it heard its owner saying to his mom about having to use a company that had told him ‘we buy junk cars’.

After a week of sitting on the driveway in pain, however, it realised that it was now in fact a junk car, and soon its life would be no more. And the car is now no more — well, it is no more than a cube of metal, sitting in a junkyard.

** This is a collaborative post