GavinJ
Club Retro Rides Member
MGB 3.9 v8 Sebring
Posts: 927
Club RR Member Number: 209
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Apr 19, 2006 22:48:04 GMT
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Does anyone else get mocked for there ride's? All my work colleague's drive round in new cars in finance deals as the job involves quite a bit of driving, so as a result car allowance is paid which virtually covers the finance payments on a new car. So people expect me to do the same.... For the last 3 months or so i've been using my £200 1986 Volvo 340 for work and apparently 'i need some guidance on car taste' and regularly get slated for my choice of transport.... But they soon shut up when i point out that there service costs will cost more than my car and so far in over 3000 miles of driving its cost me nothing more than petrol ;D And more importantly i would rather be seen in a 'shed' as it is known at work than a new depreciating, expensive to maintain euro box. But i must point out, its not just work colleagues as my mates seem embarrassed by it However, my MG seems to be acceptable but the poor old Volvo isn't...... Anyone else suffer similar issues?
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Last Edit: Apr 19, 2006 23:53:23 GMT by GavinJ
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,937
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Apr 19, 2006 23:33:33 GMT
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Err yes.............
How to justify running around in a 15-22 year old car
So how much do you owe on finance So how much does it cost you a month So how much does that whack your tax allowance by
Ok I see the logic of paying all that money - my monza cost me £80 (ish) the cost of the diesel to go and get it and i've just fully rebuilt it for less than your yearly depreciation - plus I'm driving something that people want to ask me questions about and haven't got a clue what it is - FFS it's not a bloody Manta!!!! anyway I'm happy are you?
And I'm a mug?
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Mark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,097
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Apr 19, 2006 23:39:44 GMT
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The weird thing about driving a Mini is that people either love it or hate it. I'm over 6'2" so I do get asked constantly why i drive it with my height. Also, loads of people ask if I cant afford a real car. My car has cost me more then their 4year old Punto, is just as reliable and is actually appreciating. Irritates me. it's worth it though
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The weird thing about driving a Mini is that people either love it or hate it. I'm over 6'2" so I do get asked constantly why i drive it with my height. Also, loads of people ask if I cant afford a real car. My car has cost me more then their 4year old Punto, is just as reliable and is actually appreciating. Irritates me. it's worth it though I used to work with a bloke who was 6'6", and he reckoned that a Mini was one of the few cars he could sit comfortably in the front of. Virtually every other car had a dashboard that got in the way of his legs.
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1953 Minor (Long term project) PT Cruiser
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triang
Part of things
Posts: 36
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Does anyone else get mocked for there ride's? All my work colleague's drive round in new cars in finance deals as the job involves quite a bit of driving, so as a result car allowance is paid which virtually covers the finance payments on a new car. So people expect me to do the same.... For the last 3 months or so i've been using my £200 1986 Volvo 340 for work and apparently 'i need some guidance on car taste' and regularly get slated for my choice of transport.... But they soon shut up when i point out that there service costs will cost more than my car and so far in over 3000 miles of driving its cost me nothing more than petrol ;D And more importantly i would rather be seen in a 'shed' as it is known at work than a new depreciating, expensive to maintain euro box. But i must point out, its not just work colleagues as my mates seem embarrassed by it However, my MG seems to be acceptable but the poor old Volvo isn't...... Anyone else suffer similar issues? Go to autoshite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=48&highlight=yduand see this subject in full. I 've been handing out 'YDU' ( You Don't Understand ) tickets to these numbnits all me life!!!
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I don't get why people pay out huge sums on cars which depreciate. Total waste of money. I don't get it.
My wife is occasionally embarrassed by some of my junk. But I can see that....
As to the question of the Volvo vs the MG - well the MG is recognisable as a classic to most people whereas the Volvo is just an old car and people have been brainwashed that everything has to have a £££ value for it to be "valid".
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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All the time ;D
That's why you have to start turning the tables and start calling your colleagues "finance deal" and names like that.
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As to the question of the Volvo vs the MG - well the MG is recognisable as a classic to most people whereas the Volvo is just an old car and people have been brainwashed that everything has to have a £££ value for it to be "valid". Well said! Being an accountant I get this sh1t all the time, luckily I'm now old and wise enough not to care what people think; Many, many people only need a new car to prop up their self confidence. It's quite sad really. I tried it a while back - had a six year old Escort 1800i Ghia X. I don't know what I hated more - the car, which was flimsy and unreliable, or myself for "selling out" and buying the thing. Plus I lost a fortune on it - despite having bought it as a damaged-repairable! Newer cars have their place - my missus has a 51 plate Vectra DTi for chomping up her 25k miles a year. But we got that at 25% of what it would have cost new, and she'd be driving the mk1 Escort if it did 55mpg and sat at 80mph all day. Incidentally, the £200 Sierra I bought to get me out of a muddle when my mk6 Escort was playing up is still my daily driver 18 moths later....
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My fleet: Suzuki GSX-R600Y SRAD with bald, melted tyres A borrowed Mondeo
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That's why you have to start turning the tables and start calling your colleagues "finance deal" and names like that. ;D ;D LOL, I'll try that on three Lexus-driving colleagues later!
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My fleet: Suzuki GSX-R600Y SRAD with bald, melted tyres A borrowed Mondeo
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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It's a two way street really. Plenty of retro car owners happily rip into peoples taste in new cars.
As a society we don't want to spend their weekend scrabbling under their car changing the oil anymore, just like we don't want to pave their own driveway, wash our own dishes or even make our own meals.
We live in a age of pre-packaged consumerism, minimum effort - maximum (short term) fulfilment.
It's very easy for us, as car fans, to point the finger at other car owners and scoff at their apparent waste and zombie like purchasing but doing so can be quite hypocritical when we are buying our flatpack furniture from Ikea and picking up a ready meal from Tesco on the way home.
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My boss doesn't understand my taste in cars , get a proper car he tells me. He has 2 mini 30's (I drive VW's)
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The lurker formerly known as Cappuccinocruiser.. or wedgedout..
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Our taste in cars are is the same as some peoples taste in food.
They say 'why spend £5 on a microwave meal when you could have a full homemade 3 course meal for the same'.
Some people just can't be bothered.
Also, my dad does 200 miles a day, and has a back problem which means he has a very limited selection of cars which are comfortable. Unfortunately these tend to be top-end new cars, which he can afford. Therefore there's no point in having an older car.
Adam
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1997 TVR Chimaera 2009 Westfield Megabusa
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It's a two way street really. Plenty of retro car owners happily rip into peoples taste in new cars. As a society we don't want to spend their weekend scrabbling under their car changing the oil anymore, just like we don't want to pave their own driveway, wash our own dishes or even make our own meals. We live in a age of pre-packaged consumerism, minimum effort - maximum (short term) fulfilment. It's very easy for us, as car fans, to point the finger at other car owners and scoff at their apparent waste and zombie like purchasing but doing so can be quite hypocritical when we are buying our flatpack furniture from Ikea and picking up a ready meal from Tesco on the way home. totally agree with you, this 'you don't get it' attitude really bugs me. people take the curse word out my cars, i take the curse word out of new cars. Thats life, we don't all think and want the same things, or have the same opinions.
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I suppose it's diff'rnt strokes for diff'rnt folks.
I used to be roundly mocked for the appalling snotters I used to use for work. I wasn't 'bovvered' though, as I knew that I was the one financially better off.
One of the strangest reactions I found was when we bought our Focus.
It's a perfectly bland but able family chugga, ideal for being filled with kiddie seats, crayons & plastic toys. OK, so it's done some miles but had one owner and a full service history. As we will be doing less than 'average' mileage in it, the mileage is not a worry and will evrentually 'normalise'. It cost half the price a dealer would have wanted and I paid for it in cold, hard cash.... but even this raised eyebrows amongst my colleagues etc...
'why pay out all that cash in one go? You could have done it on finance and had a foreign holiday?'
Umm... what?
Robbing peter to pay paul!
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I think the one major issue is that we shouldn't be judged based on our choice of car, as we should not judge others on their choice of car. The difference is, as enthusiasts, we tend to be better educated on the subject. MWF and Locoster made me chuckle - my Mum criticises me for not cooking "proper" meals, but right now, I don't have the time or the knowledge...
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My fleet: Suzuki GSX-R600Y SRAD with bald, melted tyres A borrowed Mondeo
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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Apr 20, 2006 10:08:08 GMT
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It's a two way street really. Plenty of retro car owners happily rip into peoples taste in new cars. As a society we don't want to spend their weekend scrabbling under their car changing the oil anymore, just like we don't want to pave their own driveway, wash our own dishes or even make our own meals. We live in a age of pre-packaged consumerism, minimum effort - maximum (short term) fulfilment. It's very easy for us, as car fans, to point the finger at other car owners and scoff at their apparent waste and zombie like purchasing but doing so can be quite hypocritical when we are buying our flatpack furniture from Ikea and picking up a ready meal from Tesco on the way home. totally agree with you, this 'you don't get it' attitude really bugs me. people take the pee out my cars, i take the pee out of new cars. Thats life, we don't all think and want the same things, or have the same opinions. That's pretty much how I feel about it. I don't see the conversations need ever take place, in fact I think it's ruddy rude of anyone to critique someone elses purchase.
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Apr 20, 2006 10:11:37 GMT
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Hah, I like the confusion / distain / disgust / surprise reactions I get from my old clunkers. I don't bother arguing with people who try to convince me that my old cars are curse word - I'd be wasting my breath, just as they could never convince me that buying a brand new car is a good idea.
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Apr 20, 2006 10:24:13 GMT
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It's a bit like the whole 'why buy a Subaru Impreza for £20k and spend another £40k bringing it upto 500bhp when you could have a TVR of the same performance for £60k?' gang on scoobynet, which I'm also a member of.
The idea is to be different, setting yourself a challenge (ie a reliable 500bhp from a 2l engine), and enjoying yourself. It's also about the satisfaction you get from putting the the effort in, on this forum it could be the satisfaction from keeping a rare car on the road, or simply getting a bit of pace for a little money.
Adam
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1997 TVR Chimaera 2009 Westfield Megabusa
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Apr 20, 2006 10:34:42 GMT
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Some good points - well put Its true its annoying when people question why we choose to drive around in old seemingly undesirable cars - but then its quite nice having that smug feeling when we think we know better But I can see why people choose to buy new unassuming cars, as old cars do require more maintenance and its true that an old car is more likely to break down (although we'd like to think otherwise) If you are not into cars - then you are probably going to be willing to lose out in costs like depreciation, garage fees etc for the convenience of owning something that will never require the owner ever to open the bonnet.
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Apr 20, 2006 10:54:15 GMT
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Speak for yourself ;D! Ready meals = horrible! Just helped neighbour pave driveway Ikea ...spare me please
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