DEFEND YOUR RIDE: Chris At The Pacific Design Center

Q: Hi Chris. Thank you for participating in Defend Your Ride Los Angeles. How did you get your car?

A: I bought it for $900 from this kid in Hacienda Heights. The reason I got it so cheap is because his father, who's like, divorced from his mother, still tries to buy his love in a way. And so he bought him a new car. The kid was trying to get rid of this!

Q: When did you buy it?

A: About two years ago, right after college. I have a website called priceofastamp.com, which is a handy site that reminds people how much postage they need. I made a few sites like this and even sold a blog. That site was the main reason I had enough saved up.

Q: That's pretty cool. How many miles did you personally put on it?

A: About 20,000, so not that many. I did a year in San Francisco. I did a couple drives up and down doing that. But San Francisco is not a very driving-intensive town, which is why I still have my bike and stuff. But I did a few road trips when I moved there, since all my pals still lived down here.

Q: I really like how you don't have a wiper on the driver's side.

A: This is actually kind of funny. That wiper motor is just relatively expensive to replace. They're hard to get since they don't make them anymore. It's like a couple hundred bucks. My mechanic and I just took the one on the left side, unbolted it and repositioned it so that it kind of wipes the other side. It doesn't rain much here, but I kind of have to drive skewed to the right in order to see, which might not be safe.

Q: Does your car have a nickname?

A: This is actually really funny, too. Coincidentally, my girlfriend said the name came to her today. She was like, "Oh my God, I know the name of your car: It's Maxwell." I think it matches because it's sort of an old man type of vehicle. But she thinks it matches because she thinks it's like a hipster car and that Maxwell is a hipstery name.

Q: What is Maxwell's main use?

A: He mainly gets driven to and from work. I work at TMZ nearby. Hopefully, I'll upgrade to biking a couple days a week because I'm close enough to do that.

Q: Do you ever take day trips in Maxwell?

A: Tomorrow we're driving up to Malibu, wine tasting. But to be honest, nobody ever wants to do a long trip in my car except for me because they're afraid that it's unsafe. It doesn't have airbags, so I don't know, it's probably not safe, I guess.

Q: If Maxwell had a human emotion, what would it be?

A: I'd say he's just a little awkward. You know, when you're driving down the road, it's a louder being inside of Maxwell than like, a nice BMW that's smooth. He has some rattling that's going on that's just part of his personality. I always bring him in to make sure that he's in tip-top shape. The rattling isn't a problem.

Q: What do you think your next car will realistically be?

A: I'd love to get a Mini Cooper one day. But honestly, I want to milk Maxwell for all he's worth. It's awesome that I don't have to pay car payments or anything. I just plop down a little cash. There's some maintenance involved, but it's not that much.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about your car that you're proud of?

A: One thing that I love is that when you pop the hood, it comes forward and flips up, which is kind of interesting. You don't really see that with cars anymore. I also love that the sunroof is manual. I've just never seen that before, either. It has a lever and you just push it open. What do you need a button to open your sunroof for? Why waste energy when you can just slide it open like that?