October 2 is National Name Your Car Day. And if you've ever introduced someone to your vehicle by name — "This is Bertha," "That's the Blue Bullet," "Meet Old Faithful" — you're in good company.
Research suggests that around 40% of car owners give their vehicles a name. That number goes up among people who drive older cars, which makes a certain kind of sense. You spend more time fixing something, you start to develop a relationship with it.
Why People Name Their Cars
It's not as weird as it sounds. Cars are an extension of daily life in a way few possessions are. You commute in them, take road trips in them, sing badly in them alone. Some people have driven the same car for 15 or 20 years. Of course you're going to name it.
There's also something practical underneath the sentiment: people who name their cars tend to take better care of them. Ownership becomes personal. Maintenance stops feeling like a chore and starts feeling like looking after something that matters.
"I've had 'The General' for eleven years. I'll keep him running as long as he wants to go. That means finding someone who works on him like they care too."
The Trust Problem
Here's where it gets real. If you care about your car — named or unnamed — you need a mechanic you can actually trust. And that's genuinely hard to find.
The auto repair industry is the number one source of consumer complaints in America, seven years running. Not because all mechanics are bad. But because the industry has almost no standardized transparency, and that creates space for the ones who aren't honest.
Finding a good mechanic is a lot like finding a good doctor. You want someone who:
- Explains what's wrong in plain language
- Tells you what's urgent versus what can wait
- Doesn't recommend work you don't need
- Puts everything in writing
If You Love Your Car, Give It a Good Mechanic
Whether your car has a name or not, it deserves to be worked on by someone who's straight with you. EthicalMechanic.org exists specifically for that — a directory of repair shops and mobile mechanics vetted for transparent, ethical practices.
Happy National Name Your Car Day. Take care of them out there — the cars, and the mechanics who earn your trust.
(What's your car's name? We genuinely want to know.)