My friend Hy recently sent me some pictures from the day (July 17, 2003, to be exact) when he bought a new 2004 Acura TSX from a dealership in Scottsdale, Arizona. Happy 23 years of ownership to him as of today! The car had 56 miles on the odometer when he got it home.
Hy had the foresight to capture photos that day to memorialize the occasion.
The most endearing picture in the series featured his dog Yoda proudly sitting in the backseat. Yoda is no longer with us, but the TSX is, and its odometer currently reads just under 82,000 miles.
Dare I say it, the car still looks fresh, too.
All of this made me think about the ways in which we document special occasions like car-purchase days. I went down a rabbit hole looking through photos from some of my own car acquisitions, and I realized there are certain obligatory steps. Car-purchase days are special!
A friend who runs a used-car dealership in New Jersey puts a giant red bow on top of each vehicle he sells, and he invites proud new owners to be captured in photographs. I did the same thing when I bought myself a 1996 Integra Type R.
When I flew out to buy a 1994 Acura Legend from Orange County, California on January 15, 2007, I took a picture of my airplane ticket as well as various shots from the trip.
Here are some ideas I’ve used:
- A key hand-off picture — the most important artifact
- An initial odometer reading
- Photo of a purchase (or down payment) check
- Photo and receipt from the first fuel-up
- Photos of any documentation (window sticker)
When I bought a new 2021 Acura TLX Type S several years ago, I had the dealership leave the car completely “in the wrapper”– exactly as it came off the delivery truck. There was plastic covering the seats and carpeting, stickers on the wheels, and protective films over all the infotainment screens.
That color (Tiger Eye Pearl) was fun while it lasted, but it ended up being one of the things about the car that got old in a hurry.
It was satisfying to remove and retain all those protective items and tags.
Down the road, it’s fun to look back on photos of a vehicle in its “as-acquired” condition. Now, if only we could bottle up the new car scent or add a “scratch and sniff” feature to photographs.
