History Main / WatchThePaintJob

* ''Film/{{Cannonball}}'' has a beautiful black Lincoln Continental owned by an elderly couple who wants it transferred from Los Angeles to New York. The driver is told to be careful, but he takes it on the cross-country race. Add to this that the driver is the movie's ButtMonkey, and that black people were AcceptableTargets in TheSeventies. Of course, there isn't much left of the car when he arrives in New York. Other cars, especially the green Mustang with which Cannonball Buckman continues the race, can crash as much as they want and keep healing themselves unless the plot requires otherwise.

* ''{{LightNovel/Durarara}}''[='=]s Togusa may not look like it, but just one scratch on his van means that he'll [[DrivesLikeCrazy drive like crazy down the stairs]] for you.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* The title character of ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'' has a habit of taking Arnold’s car out for rides without his knowledge or consent. Once, she drag races in the car, denting the rear bumper, and Arnold catches her before she can do anything about it. He’s so angry that he kicks her out of the house.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film — Animated]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* ''Film/TheMummyReturns'': "No, no, not my CAR! Oh, I hate mummies."

** The demise of the [=DB5=] was also slightly averted as well. While it did remain out of comission for the second half of the ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' movie. The car did ''ride again'' briefly for the next film, ''Film/{{Thunderball}}''. Some damage occurred offscreen in ''Film/GoldenEye'' (while shooting the scene where Bond in a [=DB5=] chases Xenia's Ferrari, the cars crashed into each other, leading the producers to rush after a mechanic). Finally Bond drives again a fully-equipped [=DB5=] in the [[MilestoneCelebration 50th anniversary]], ''Film/{{Skyfall}}''... [[spoiler: and the car is shot until it explodes. Bond's reaction just screams "Now ItsPersonal!"]]

[[folder:Fan Fic]]
* In ''FanFic/LightAndDarkTheAdventuresOfDarkYagami'', Soichiro panics when his car's paint gets scratched... by a nuclear bomb going off in the street.

* Cyborg's car in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', in the first episode it was shown and built, was stolen by hoodlums, then stolen from ''them'' by his EvilCounterpart Gizmo from the H.I.V.E., and then possessed by the living circuitboard Overload. When Overload mocked Cyborg by claiming that he couldn't stop Overload without hurting his precious car, Cyborg calmly stated that "It's not my car anymore" and blasted it.

Somebody has a car. Maybe he owns it. Maybe he just bought it, probably blowing a fortune on it. Maybe it was "borrowed" from his dad, or belongs to his employer. Maybe it's been surreptitiously stolen and needs to be transported somewhere in one piece. Maybe he ''is'' a car. In any case, there is one important rule to remember: the rarer the car is, the more [[CoolCar expensive and exotic and classic]] it is, and ''especially'' the more a character fawns over it as though it is one of the most important things in the world to him, the [[ItsGoingDown less likely it is]] [[FinaglesLaw to make it through the movie or TV episode]] [[WhyWeCantHaveNiceThings in one piece, much less intact]]. In fact, it's not terribly uncommon for the car to get utterly demolished during the course of the story, either through sheer bad luck, WackyFratboyHijinx, or through the mistake of lending it to (or having it stolen by) someone who DrivesLikeCrazy.

* In the 1926 silent comedy ''Film/ForHeavensSake'', Creator/HaroldLloyd plays an EccentricMillionaire who, for his EstablishingCharacterMoment, wrecks two new cars in succession and doesn't even care because he's ''that'' rich.

** Sunstreaker and Tracks from ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1'' are notable examples. With Sunstreaker, damaging his paint is his BerserkButton that will set him on a relentless quest for revenge against the individual responsible. Tracks, on the other hand, falls into depression at the thought that his appearance is anything less than perfection.
** There's a few Decepticons like this, too. Knockout from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' takes this particularly far. He took a car alternate form purely for aesthetics (a decision derided by Starscream), and becomes enormously upset when his paint job is messed with (to the point where [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment Starscream once punished him for disobedience by scratching his finish]]). As of "Tunnel Vision", he gets hit by Vogel's train--twice!--and as a result has his paint job utterly wrecked. [[BigNo He doesn't take it well.]]

[[caption-width-right:300:[[{{Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail}} 'Tis but a scratch.]]]]

->'''Cameron:''' We're not leaving the car here.
->'''Ferris:''' Why not?
->'''Cameron:''' Because we're not. I want the car back home where it belongs. C'mon, let's go.
->'''Sloane:''' What could happen to it? It's in a garage.
->'''Cameron:''' It could get wrecked, stolen, scratched, ''breathed on'' wrong... a pigeon could shit on it! Who knows?

* Seeing as the Autobots of ''{{Franchise/Transformers}}'' canon ''are'' cars, the more narcissistic soldiers will obsess with their paint jobs; Sunstreaker and Tracks are notable examples. With Sunstreaker, damaging his paint is his BerserkButton that will set him on a relentless quest for revenge against the individual responsible. Tracks, on the other hand, falls into depression at the thought that his appearance is anything less than perfection.
** There's a few Decepticons like this, too. Knockout from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' takes this particularly far. He took a car alternate form purely for aesthetics (a decision derided by Starscream), and becomes enormously upset when his paint job is messed with (to the point where [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment Starscream once punished him for disobedience by scratching his finish]]).
** And as of "Tunnel Vision", he gets hit by Vogel's train--twice!--and as a result has his paint job utterly wrecked. [[BigNo He doesn't take it well.]]

Compare BrokenTreasure, which this trope can turn into if the car ''is'' demolished. When this happens with what you're wearing, you've got yourself some DoomedNewClothes. When the car does not belong to one of the main characters, it's ThePreciousPreciousCar. The DreadedCarMakeover also has some relation, in that the person's car also ends up being given a makeover so ridiculous that they can only express shock and horror at seeing the "modifications" of the car. Closely related to ActionInsuranceGag.

* This happens twice in ''Series/CobraKai'' with Johnny's somewhat dilapidated but still rather nice sports car. It goes without saying it's not a good idea to mess with the car of a guy who has a black belt in a particularly vicious form of karate either, as both times the people responsible end up [[CurbStompBattle taking the ass-kicking of their lives]] when they decide to stand their ground against Johnny.

Somebody has a car. Maybe he owns it. Maybe he just bought it, probably blowing a fortune on it. Maybe it was "borrowed" from his dad, or belongs to his employer. Maybe it's been surreptitiously stolen and needs to be transported somewhere in one piece. In any case, there is one important rule to remember: the rarer the car is, the more [[CoolCar expensive and exotic and classic]] it is, and ''especially'' the more a character fawns over it as though it is one of the most important things in the world to him, the [[ItsGoingDown less likely it is]] [[FinaglesLaw to make it through the movie or TV episode]] [[WhyWeCantHaveNiceThings in one piece, much less intact]]. In fact, it's not terribly uncommon for the car to get utterly demolished during the course of the story, either through sheer bad luck, WackyFratboyHijinx, or through the mistake of lending it to (or having it stolen by) someone who DrivesLikeCrazy.

* Seeing as the Autobots of ''{{Franchise/Transformers}}'' canon ''are'' cars, the more narcissistic soldiers will obsess with their paint jobs; Sunstreaker and Tracks are notable examples.

** TruthInTelevision here. The Jeep was so simple and durable that it could do just about anything. Many [=GI=]s loved the thing so much they bought their own from surplus, or bought one when a civilian model became available. When a Jeep finally did give out though, many a soldier would put it out of its misery.[[note]]A tradition carried over from the Calvary.[[/note]] This is even seen in an episode of MASH where Col. Potter shoots his jeep after Frank ran it over with an M4 Sherman.
* A RunningGag in ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon''. When the ''[[BadBoss Súper]]'' boasts about his brad-new, expensive, car, you can bet the latter will not last more than a couple of panels ''at best''.

* Crowley of ''Literature/GoodOmens'' takes almost every opportunity, both in the narrative and out loud, to talk about his vintage 1926 Bentley. It's his full-body glove, his prized position. Then, it's time for what he thinks is his final journey, and he couldn't make in anything other than the Bentley, which ends up traveling in its own ball of flame while Crowley holds it together through sheer force of will, until it's carried him to his destination and finally falls apart, unrecognizable.