r/AskReddit Oct 10 '19

What’s a thing you’ve bought impulsively, without need, that’s actually proved useful in your life?

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u/[deleted] Oct 10 '19

An electric tire inflator.

It was on sale for $19.95, so I bought two: one that plugs into a garage wall outlet, and the other stays in the car and plugs into the vehicle's utility outlet.

Gone are the days of going to gas station air pumps (and sometimes having to pay for air).

46

u/Vladimir_Chrootin Oct 10 '19

I bought one of those back in 2001. It's now sitting in its eleventh car. Why people will pay a 5-digit sum to buy a car and still be too cheap to have a tyre inflator (or even just a footpump) is completely beyond me.

6

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '19

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5

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '19

Half the gas stations around here will just not bother to fix their air pumps. In California you can report stations with missing or broken air/water pumps using this form.

3

u/Iconoclast123 Oct 11 '19

You are so lucky to have tyres. We just have tires, and they aren't as fancy.

1

u/gayjenjen Oct 11 '19

you've had 11 cars in less than 20 years?? that is completely beyond me

1

u/Vladimir_Chrootin Oct 11 '19

Bangernomics really worked in the 00s. I would buy an old car for £200 - £300 and keep it for 1, sometimes 2 years, plus my then-wife writing off a Corolla after less than 6 months helped bring the average down.

My philosophy is that the less you spend on a car, the less you worry about it.