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April 11, 2025 – For nearly two years, a dead Nissan Altima has sat motionless in front of the Nashville home of Lunchbox, a co-host on The Bobby Bones Show. The car doesn’t start, the battery is long gone, and it doesn’t even turn over. Yet Lunchbox, who earns a solid income and bikes to work, has no intention of getting rid of it—or buying a replacement. The crew’s reaction? A mix of disbelief, humor, and a suggestion straight out of a Norse saga.
The conversation started when a storm rolled through Nashville, and Lunchbox admitted he relies on Uber on rainy days. The obvious question from the crew—“Why not just buy a car?”—uncovered a surprising answer: pure emotional attachment. Lunchbox drove that 2005-ish Nissan Altima for nearly 20 years, racking up around 208,000 miles. Even though it’s now a stationary piece of sidewalk furniture, he holds onto the faint hope that someone will knock on his door and say, “I know how to fix cars.”
His neighbor, however, isn’t so patient. According to Lunchbox, the neighbor has taken to lightly trolling him every time he walks by, casually noting that the Altima “hadn’t moved today.” It’s become the street’s most consistent—and annoyingly immobile—landmark.
Rather than towing the car or doing the logical thing—replacing it—the Bobby Bones crew jokingly suggested a ceremonial send-off: push the Altima into a nearby body of water, light a flaming arrow, and shoot it Viking-burial style. Lunchbox seemed intrigued by the idea in theory. Buying an actual replacement car? Not so much.
Without a car, even a light drizzle turns Lunchbox’s morning into a stress test. He described the panic of watching Uber drivers cancel one after another, worrying about missing his kids’ bus, and debating whether to wake his wife to borrow her car. On one recent morning, he got lucky with a $13 ride, but then had to mentally calculate the return trip cost—a round trip that adds up fast for someone who clearly has a perfectly good (well, previously good) vehicle sitting right outside.
Biking in the rain is out of the question. “I’m not showing up to the studio like a wet dog,” Lunchbox said, dismissing practical suggestions like a rain jacket, a hat, or a trash bag over his backpack.
While everyone else on the show pulls up a radar app to plan their morning, Lunchbox admitted he simply walks outside and looks at the sky. No percentages, no Doppler—just a man stepping out to personally assess the clouds before deciding if today calls for an Uber.
Lunchbox’s story may seem like a quirky radio bit, but it highlights a real phenomenon: many people struggle to let go of old vehicles due to sentimental memories. According to a 2024 AAA survey, nearly one in three car owners admits to keeping a non-functional vehicle for more than a year. The reasons range from “I’ll fix it someday” to “it was my first car” to “it holds memories of a road trip or a loved one.”
In Lunchbox’s case, the Altima represents nearly two decades of commuting, family trips, and daily life. Local auto experts point out that even if the car were repaired, the cost of a new engine, transmission, or electrical system could easily exceed the car’s value—often $2,000 to $5,000 for a 20-year-old Altima. But logic doesn’t always win against emotion.
For now, the Altima remains parked, the neighbor keeps making his comments, and Lunchbox keeps rolling the dice with Uber drivers every time the forecast looks even a little gray. The Bobby Bones show has even joked about staging a “car removal intervention.” Whether Lunchbox will ever let go remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure: that dead Nissan isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
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