DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS

[annoying_salman]

ITS stands for Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember or Tenth of November Institute of Technology. It's one of the best engineering university in Indonesia, and the top choice for students who live in East Java to study engineering. It was named after the Battle of Surabaya against the British. My father works as a lecturer at the department of Electrical Engineering since late 70s, and he was allotted a plot of land to build a house on. I've been living here for my entire life.

There has been a surprising number of abandoned cars littered around the campus over the years. Some of those are owned by the university, while the others are owned by students – or so I assumed. So here are the cars:

Jeep Wrangler 2-door Lookalike

This car was gifted to the university’s security force when a new rector was appointed back during my time as a high school student. I remembered driving home from the school and saw this car was being driven for patrolling, and was flabbergasted because from afar it looked like a Jeep Wrangler. It is powered by an unknown petrol engine. My father said it was abandoned because it was too uneconomical to run, which for me is hilarious.

Honda Life

This car is owned by the Electrical Engineering department, to do experiments in swapping the engine with an electric motor, among other things. Basically transforming it into an EV. But, it seems that they haven’t done anything to it, so it just sits here.

Toyota Corolla

The plate indicates that this car is registered at Jakarta. This car has been parked here for at least a year, even before the university moved to online teaching. It was moved from its previous parking spot – across where it’s parked now – in recent time. My sister said the car might move itself in the middle of the night when no one was watching…

Fiat Uno

This car is parked at the department of Physics Engineering, near where the Toyota Corolla was parked. I don’t know for how long it has been there. I saw a Fiat Uno being driven around in the city years ago, but I’m not sure if it’s the same car as this one. This image was taken back in May, because the gate to the parking lot is now locked.

Ford Everest

The owner of this car is a bachelor student, and they left their car due to the automatic transmission issues, my friend who lived nearby told me. He also said that the costs to fix it was around $2200. It was abandoned when the campus moved to online teaching during the early period of the pandemic. The plate shows that it’s registered in Surabaya, but I don’t know if the owner also lived in Surabaya. They must be at least gave attention to the car though, because of the LED lights attached at the bull bar and the light bar on the roof. The sticker at the top of the wind shield also shows that it’s a member of Ford Everest owner.

I’m also interested with the tires on this car – Bridgestone D697 – to replace the tires on my Taft. What do you think? Is it suitable with the overall look of my car?

An Electric Bus

I remembered that this bus was introduced with a great fanfare to the public. The newspapers in Surabaya wrote articles about it. However, the bus was neglected after few months had passed. It was told that the bus was engineered by the university’s researchers – as recalled by my father. The funny thing is, my father – and his team – field of research is building EV, and they weren’t involved in this. Hell, he often complained that his proposals to buy electric motors from China to build an EV prototype vehicle were always rejected.

An Electric Hatchback

The rear lamp housing looks like it was taken from a Mazda 2 from 2007 - 2014. The colour is the same too. I never see this car being driven in the campus.

The car used as a prop during a reenactment of Battle of Surabaya at my high school. Every public school in Surabaya held their own drama and festival to commemorate the war annually.

A next-class student during high school owned a blue Mazda 2. I enjoyed seeing her car, which often parked next to mine, because of the colour. Shame I always forget to compliment her car’s colour choice.

An Electric Van

I don’t know what is this van based on, but the rear lamp housing is from a Nissan Evalia – its name here – or the NV200.

So there you have it, abandoned cars of ITS. Do universities abroad also have abandoned cars? I’m curious about that, and my girlfriend also asked the same question.

[StreetsofPerth]

@annoying_salman That little KE70 looks to be in good shape. I hope it finds a good home somehow.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@annoying_salman Georgia Tech doesn't have many abandoned cars. Every once in a while, a student car will never be used and it will gather dust until its parking expires, but space is far too valuable for them not to be immediately towed. Plus, they look bad so they wouldn't have them around.

There is one notable car at GT though. The Ramblin Wreck! Very much not abandoned.

I'm fascinated however by all these abandoned EV one-offs. Such a thing would be expensive and time consuming to make, so it seems weird for them to be abandoned.

I really do think the design of the bus is interesting. The geometric shapes and tint on the windows would probably be annoying for trying to look out the windows from the inside, but it looks cool. I love the huge greenhouse.

Also, is that faux Jeep buggy thing LHD?

The Honda Life is very cool, but it seems like an odd thing to do an EV conversion on. And what's up with the flaking paint? Almost looks like lead paint flaking.

[Highlander]

@annoying_salman Strange, any idea whey they are abandoned?

[Qaaaaa]

@streetsofperth KE70s are getting pretty desirable in the US. A buddy of mine has two, a sedan (rusty as fuck, he's tubing the rear and installing NB Miata IRS) and a wagon with a 4 link rear conversion. Such cool little cars.

[Chariotoflove]

@annoying_salman I love how you have a story to tell about each one. Crazy that so many cars are so easily just abandoned on university property.

[pip bip]

@annoying_salman can you get more pics of all the electric vehicles?? i'd like to know more about them please

[RallyDarkstrike]

Wow, there are a lot of vehicles just abandoned on your campus! My university campus had absolutely none, but it was a very small university (Mount Saint Vincent in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada).

That Honda Life really makes me sad....I love those little kei cars, especially in two-door form!

[annoying_salman]

@streetsofperth said in DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS:

@annoying_salman That little KE70 looks to be in good shape. I hope it finds a good home somehow.

The car is still parked there, because I took the pictures yesterday afternoon when I biked circling the campus. The car's condition is still not that bad though, which make me wonder why does the owner left the car there.

[annoying_salman]

@whoistheleader said in DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS:

@annoying_salman Georgia Tech doesn't have many abandoned cars. Every once in a while, a student car will never be used and it will gather dust until its parking expires, but space is far too valuable for them not to be immediately towed. Plus, they look bad so they wouldn't have them around.

There is one notable car at GT though. The Ramblin Wreck! Very much not abandoned.

Damn, the car even has its own Wikipedia page

So do you have to pay for parking there? That's weird.

I'm fascinated however by all these abandoned EV one-offs. Such a thing would be expensive and time consuming to make, so it seems weird for them to be abandoned.

I guess they're just made for vanity projects, so the builder(s) can brag about making EVs in their CV / resume. The bus disappoints me the most, because I originally thought that it'll be used to transport students in the campus. The condition is perfect for an EV, right? Slow, short & fixed route plus the bus could be charged during teaching process and at night.

However, my father told me the reason that the bus wasn't used for inner-campus transportation was because – and get this – the cost to run it is too high. That really shows how short-sighted this bus was "developed". They just need the publicity.

I really do think the design of the bus is interesting. The geometric shapes and tint on the windows would probably be annoying for trying to look out the windows from the inside, but it looks cool. I love the huge greenhouse.

I've seen that same geometric shapes somewhere, but I can't remember where. The tint was originally dark, but it changed colour overtime. I suspect the tint is the cheap variety, because the tint on my car also changed to the same colour

Also, is that faux Jeep buggy thing LHD?

Whoa, I didn't notice that. I'll definitely have to take a closer look next time I ride my bike.

The Honda Life is very cool, but it seems like an odd thing to do an EV conversion on. And what's up with the flaking paint? Almost looks like lead paint flaking.

I guess the department bought it because it was cheap and small. And the flaking paint must be caused by the sun and the rain. I mean, it has been sitting there at least 6 years.

[annoying_salman]

@highlander said in DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS:

@annoying_salman Strange, any idea whey they are abandoned?

No idea. The campus doesn't care about them, and let those cars sit for years.

[annoying_salman]

@chariotoflove said in DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS:

@annoying_salman I love how you have a story to tell about each one. Crazy that so many cars are so easily just abandoned on university property.

Well, I guess it's because I know some of those cars' background and it will be much more interesting if every picture is accompanied by a short paragraph describing about each car's story.

It's also an opportunity for me to practice writing / story-telling, which I'm really grateful for.

[annoying_salman]

@pip-bip said in DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS:

@annoying_salman can you get more pics of all the electric vehicles?? i'd like to know more about them please

Sure, I'll take photos of the EVs the next time I ride my bike.

You're not a spy from Australia, trying to gain informations about EV development are you?

[annoying_salman]

@rallydarkstrike said in DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS:

Wow, there are a lot of vehicles just abandoned on your campus! My university campus had absolutely none, but it was a very small university (Mount Saint Vincent in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada).

Is this your campus? Looks extremely gorgeous! There are other abandoned cars – the boring ones – such as a late 90s Kia Sephia and Toyota Corolla, and a couple of towable water pumps.

That Honda Life really makes me sad....I love those little kei cars, especially in two-door form!

Yeah, it's rather disappointing to see the condition of the Honda Life. Too bad the department choose to neglect the car, given that it has a simple construction to do an EV conversion experiment.

[DipodomysDeserti]

@annoying_salman said in DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS:

My father said it was abandoned because it was too uneconomical to run

It’s a Jeep thing

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@annoying_salman said in DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS:

Damn, the car even has its own Wikipedia page

So do you have to pay for parking there? That's weird.

It's located in the downtown of a major city. It is undesirable to have most students bring their cars and there isn't enough parking capacity anyways, so they charge a lot to reduce demand.

The Ramblin Wreck is always fun to see out and about. And its drivers really love to whip it down Techwood. It's kind of impressive how fast they drive it sometimes, usually loaded with people in the rumble seat.

I guess they're just made for vanity projects, so the builder(s) can brag about making EVs in their CV / resume. The bus disappoints me the most, because I originally thought that it'll be used to transport students in the campus. The condition is perfect for an EV, right? Slow, short & fixed route plus the bus could be charged during teaching process and at night.

However, my father told me the reason that the bus wasn't used for inner-campus transportation was because – and get this – the cost to run it is too high. That really shows how short-sighted this bus was "developed". They just need the publicity.

Why would the costs of running an existing electric bus be much higher than that of a gasoline powered bus? If it already has the batteries, it's just feeding it electricity and occasional wear items like tires. Surely electricity is cheaper than gasoline.

I've seen that same geometric shapes somewhere, but I can't remember where. The tint was originally dark, but it changed colour overtime. I suspect the tint is the cheap variety, because the tint on my car also changed to the same colour

Old tint can look kinda bad sometimes. Just how old is the tint? Might be time to retint it.

I guess the department bought it because it was cheap and small. And the flaking paint must be caused by the sun and the rain. I mean, it has been sitting there at least 6 years.

So I guess it's just a single stage paint? Sure looks like lead paint flaking to me.

[RallyDarkstrike]

@annoying_salman Yup, that was my campus! Most of the buildings in that shot are residences - the actual school buildings are on the right, with 2 of them out of shot (one of which is a whole new building that didn't even exist when I went to school there.

It was small, but a lovely campus...some of my favorite pics I took there were at night during a snowstorm

This was my residence when I was there - you can see it in your pic above (the second one of these similar buildings in from the left around the pond.

MSVU is on the bank of Halifax harbour, which is one of the largest natural harbours in the world (if memory serves), so you'd see container and military ships of all sorts coming and going! This is the building you see in your pic to the far right - Evaristus Hall....it's mostly where the Science faculties (Chemistry, Physics, etc) and the Administrative offices were.

This is the Seton building where things like the history/English/Psych faculties, etc were located.

I don't have any better pictures, but this is Rosaria, which was the building where the cafeteria/gym/fitness room, etc were located.

This is the new building....which I know nothing about because it was built 2-3 years after I graduated, haha!

[RacinBob]

Oooh, I got excited and thought you were talking about Improved touring S...

[pip bip]

@annoying_salman i assure you i'm not a spy for a car manufacturer.

[annoying_salman]

@dipodomysdeserti said in DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS:

It’s a Jeep thing

That might explains why I don't understand

[annoying_salman]

@whoistheleader said in DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS:

It's located in the downtown of a major city. It is undesirable to have most students bring their cars and there isn't enough parking capacity anyways, so they charge a lot to reduce demand.

And by a lot, how much does the university charge?

The Ramblin Wreck is always fun to see out and about. And its drivers really love to whip it down Techwood. It's kind of impressive how fast they drive it sometimes, usually loaded with people in the rumble seat.

Have you touch the car yet? I read that the freshmen are prohibited to touch the car because they will get bad grades during their study, or something like that?

Why would the costs of running an existing electric bus be much higher than that of a gasoline powered bus? If it already has the batteries, it's just feeding it electricity and occasional wear items like tires. Surely electricity is cheaper than gasoline.

Yeah, I can't wrap my head around how using ICE vehicle is more economical than an EV. I suspect that the bus wasn't built to last a long drive. I mean, the primary purpose of that bus is to receive funding and publicity (in my opinion).

Old tint can look kinda bad sometimes. Just how old is the tint? Might be time to retint it.

The tint on the bus is less than 8 years, and the tint on my car is around 10 years. I had a plan to replace the tint with a better one, but I don't have the moolah

So I guess it's just a single stage paint? Sure looks like lead paint flaking to me.

I have no idea about paint layers on a car. Does that mean that the car has paint that contains lead? That sounds dangerous.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@annoying_salman said in DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS:

And by a lot, how much does the university charge?

$800 for a year is very very steep and I don't even desire to have my car with me anyways.

Have you touch the car yet? I read that the freshmen are prohibited to touch the car because they will get bad grades during their study, or something like that?

Of course not. I wouldn't want to doom the school to lose to UGA again in football (THWg). Can't wait to ride in the rumble seat.

Yeah, I can't wrap my head around how using ICE vehicle is more economical than an EV. I suspect that the bus wasn't built to last a long drive. I mean, the primary purpose of that bus is to receive funding and publicity (in my opinion).

Perhaps, but it's a useful thing to pull out to ferry potential rich patrons around in. You'd think they'd at least use it for that.

The tint on the bus is less than 8 years, and the tint on my car is around 10 years. I had a plan to replace the tint with a better one, but I don't have the moolah

Yeah, I figure it still looks better than no tint.

I have no idea about paint layers on a car. Does that mean that the car has paint that contains lead? That sounds dangerous.

Only dangerous if you plan on licking it or rubbing your hands on it and constantly licking your fingers. It might have a lead content based on the odd flaking but a car is not the most dangerous thing about the car.

[annoying_salman]

@rallydarkstrike Those are very gorgeous pictures! The night shots during a snowstorm give an eerie sensation, but it's also beautiful. My girlfriend said she felt spooked seeing the photos

Here are my favorite pictures:

This building looks pretty too. I always wonder how it feels living in a place like this.

Damn, the view is simply breathtaking. Is it also quiet there? I love hearing the sound of nature, it makes me feel calm.

My girlfriend loves this picture. She said that she wanted to lay on the grass under the shadow then fell asleep. I have to admit that that activity sounds pretty relaxing.

For comparison, this is a photo of the Informatics Engineering building – where I pursued my baccalaureate degree:

Maybe I should start to find reasons to study at Mount Saint Vincent University

[annoying_salman]

@whoistheleader said in DOTS: Abandoned cars of ITS:

$800 for a year is very very steep and I don't even desire to have my car with me anyways.

HAHAHAHAHA, man that's so expensive Are these rates the norm at US universities, or are these cheaper / more expensive than the others?

Of course not. I wouldn't want to doom the school to lose to UGA again in football (THWg). Can't wait to ride in the rumble seat.

Have the school catch the freshmen who touched the car that cause the school lost?

Perhaps, but it's a useful thing to pull out to ferry potential rich patrons around in. You'd think they'd at least use it for that.

I just realized that my university never ferry rich patrons around they usually stay at the rectorate building. Still, I want that damn electric bus to operate for public transportation inside the campus damnit.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@annoying_salman When I dual enrolled at KSU, I paid not even close to that for parking and that was in a parking deck, not street parking. It's far more expensive than the norm. Though the campus student ministry I go to has a limited number of spaces for cheaper on their property. Most of the on campus student organizations that have their own building use parking as a source of revenue I think. It's not like I actually have any use for my car here anyways. I just walk anywhere as you would always have to pay for parking on the other end.