The six must-dos of borrowing a friend’s car
Friends are the best. They bring you soup when you’re feeling sick, listen to your woes when you’re feeling low, and some – the closest – even let you borrow their car.Car-lending friends are the best kind of friends; they deserve extra love because, without them, our four-wheeled dreams would be in jeopardy. Think about it: IKEA trips would cost a whole lot more and spontaneous weekend getaways would be nearly impossible.
As the car-borrowing friend, it’s important to be considerate and courteous, even though it’s 2023 and we’re all so busy that sometimes we forget to be. To help you, we’ve compiled tips on the long-forgotten etiquette of borrowing your friend’s car.
Remember these the next time you get gifted the keys and you’ll stay clear of your friend’s car-borrowing blacklist. Here are the six must-dos of borrowing a friend's car.
Fill it up before you return it
The unspoken rule: when you borrow a friend’s car, make sure you replace the fuel you used. A nice gesture would be to top it up a little higher than it was – kind of like a small rental fee. Or just fill the tank regardless of how much your journey guzzled – good karma comes back around.
Respect the unspoken rules
Upon entry, note the current state of your friend’s car. Is it clean? Can you see or smell anything that suggests your friend smokes inside? Do you notice an abnormal amount of bottled water or mints? If you answered ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘no’, then you should take your rubbish with you and refrain from smoking and even eating.
That’s being a little picky, though: at the very least you should take your rubbish with you no matter how trashed your friend’s car is. Even the messiest people notice OPT (other people’s trash).
Keep it clean!
Irrespective of age, automatic car washes are fun. So if you take your friend’s car bush-bashing – or you manage to get it filthy any old way – make sure you return it clean.
Just because it might already look like a skip on wheels, doesn't mean you should add to the mess.
Be clear with your intentions...
If you’ve agreed to borrow your friend’s car for a specific reason, stick to what you’ve told them. Extracurricular activities like working as an Uber driver, hotboxing, festival carpooling and anything illegal or overly sexy should probably be avoided (unless you have permission)...
Do not customise your friend’s car
We get it: hot trends are hot trends, but maybe don’t take that hot opportunity to customise your friend’s car, inside or out. They probably won't like it, at all.
Say ‘thanks’
On top of the bare minimum, show your appreciation. Buy them a beer! A coffee! Shout them some avocado on toast! Give ’em a big hug! Just say thanks the right way and show them how much you appreciate their gesture and the use of their car.
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