Stupid things non petrolheads say... Vol 2
Discussion
I daily a Twizy and live just outside the new ULEZ catchment area.
Parking up in the supermarket yesterday, an older couple in a Peugeot 306 struck up a conversation. They said, politely, "ah well your car is sorted for all of this ULEZ stuff, we have to sell this" - etc.
Nothing unusual and of course I sympathised, and said it's been a while since I've seen a nice 306. I last saw ropey ones in my early adult life being driven by my mates.
The comment that made me scratch my head was the old lady saying:
"It's just such a shame that all these kids have modified their cars to be compliant to the regulations, and they've made them all very loud with their racing exhausts. I wish they could tell us how to do that, rather than racing away from all of the stop lights [sic]".
I gave a sympathetic smile and said a throwaway line about "I just went electric instead". I'd probably still be there if I tried to uninvitedly explain ULEZ to an old couple.
Parking up in the supermarket yesterday, an older couple in a Peugeot 306 struck up a conversation. They said, politely, "ah well your car is sorted for all of this ULEZ stuff, we have to sell this" - etc.
Nothing unusual and of course I sympathised, and said it's been a while since I've seen a nice 306. I last saw ropey ones in my early adult life being driven by my mates.
The comment that made me scratch my head was the old lady saying:
"It's just such a shame that all these kids have modified their cars to be compliant to the regulations, and they've made them all very loud with their racing exhausts. I wish they could tell us how to do that, rather than racing away from all of the stop lights [sic]".
I gave a sympathetic smile and said a throwaway line about "I just went electric instead". I'd probably still be there if I tried to uninvitedly explain ULEZ to an old couple.
At work, have to bite my tongue and keep my mouth shut as I am prone to making snarky comments which will make me look like a prick
From the colleagues around my age (late teens/early 20s)
“ VS02, I saw this 2020 Polo on Facebook for 3k, I’m going to buy it”
“It’s probably a scam”
“What do you know, I’ve seen loads of cars for that price, Autotrader just sells their cars overpriced, plus Autotrader doesn’t do finance because all their cars have a cash price”
“Ok just be careful”
It turns out to be a scam.
Different person:
“If you have more than 50k miles on your car, it’s going to blow up”
“Mine has 80k and it runs perfectly”
“I would be worried if I was you, its a BMW, my dad said those are the most unreliable, that and Peugeot, thats why when I got my car i made sure it had less than 40k”
“OK thanks for the advice”
Another:
Me casually mentioning I need to take my car for its major service soon
“I need to take my car for a service soon”
“I do mine every year”
“Oh really, where do you get it done?”
“Just the MOT centre”
“So do you mean a service or MOT?”
“MOT”
“But I mean a service”
“What’s that”
“You know, like maintenance”
“Oh, I never do that, I have a Toyota, it only goes in for its MOT and that’s it”
“Do you at least change the oil?”
“Nah, never done it in 3 years, what’s the point”
?!?!
From the colleagues around my age (late teens/early 20s)
“ VS02, I saw this 2020 Polo on Facebook for 3k, I’m going to buy it”
“It’s probably a scam”
“What do you know, I’ve seen loads of cars for that price, Autotrader just sells their cars overpriced, plus Autotrader doesn’t do finance because all their cars have a cash price”
“Ok just be careful”
It turns out to be a scam.
Different person:
“If you have more than 50k miles on your car, it’s going to blow up”
“Mine has 80k and it runs perfectly”
“I would be worried if I was you, its a BMW, my dad said those are the most unreliable, that and Peugeot, thats why when I got my car i made sure it had less than 40k”
“OK thanks for the advice”
Another:
Me casually mentioning I need to take my car for its major service soon
“I need to take my car for a service soon”
“I do mine every year”
“Oh really, where do you get it done?”
“Just the MOT centre”
“So do you mean a service or MOT?”
“MOT”
“But I mean a service”
“What’s that”
“You know, like maintenance”
“Oh, I never do that, I have a Toyota, it only goes in for its MOT and that’s it”
“Do you at least change the oil?”
“Nah, never done it in 3 years, what’s the point”
?!?!
Zarco said:
biggbn said:
'Looks like a Halfords special ' or similar, about anything with any kind of spoiler or bodykit.
Sometimes they really do. 
V 02 said:
At work, have to bite my tongue and keep my mouth shut as I am prone to making snarky comments which will make me look like a prick
I've had to do the same in various jobs over the years. You can tell you won't get through to some people and will just come across as an arse. I've tried to offer advice, but can see their mind is made up so just smile and agree with their plan.
A colleague (considers himself a petrolhead) mentioned how he loves the naturally aspirated V6 in his BMW 140i.
Another telling me how he is a car enthusiast and how you can't be one if you've owned Japanese cars in the past as they are bought by those looking to save money, not for pleasure - drives a 4 pot A4 TDI.
Another telling me how he is a car enthusiast and how you can't be one if you've owned Japanese cars in the past as they are bought by those looking to save money, not for pleasure - drives a 4 pot A4 TDI.
Last night I was dreaming about Alfa Romeo and Lancia, more specifically the demise of Lancia, as you do.
This morning I did a search ‘What happened to Lancia’.
"We realized the Lancia brand has no appeal outside of Italy," then CEO Sergio Marchionne said in July 2014. "It has no heritage neither in Europe nor in the U.S."
No wonder the brand is not doing very well, with leadership like that.
This morning I did a search ‘What happened to Lancia’.
"We realized the Lancia brand has no appeal outside of Italy," then CEO Sergio Marchionne said in July 2014. "It has no heritage neither in Europe nor in the U.S."
No wonder the brand is not doing very well, with leadership like that.
V 02 said:
At work, have to bite my tongue and keep my mouth shut as I am prone to making snarky comments which will make me look like a prick
+1, my team at work know full well I have a passion for cars, but I try not to talk about it/them at all as I don't want to get involved in conversations as I know I'll probably end up making some kind of snarky correction or give advice that will go in one ear and out of the other.I usually end up sitting there quietly listening to others conversate about their cars and allow myself to be humoured. I heard bits and bats of this conversation:
"My car was in for MOT yesterday, they've got to do something with the tubes for the washers and said my front tyre has about 2,000 miles left"
"How many miles do you do a year?"
"I don't know, I put 5,000 in my insurance as it makes it cheaper but I probably do a lot more haha"
"So you'll probably need to get those tyres changed soon!"
"It was only one tyre apparently, plus my mate uses this garage that gets used tyres for £30 so I'll probably just do that"
"Yeah that sounds easiest!"
SCJM21 said:
"I don't know, I put 5,000 in my insurance as it makes it cheaper but I probably do a lot more haha"
Works, but............... If you have a claim, the insurance company will look online at the MOT history to check it's mileage. They might even do that when you renew your insurance.daqinggregg said:
Last night I was dreaming about Alfa Romeo and Lancia, more specifically the demise of Lancia, as you do.
This morning I did a search ‘What happened to Lancia’.
"We realized the Lancia brand has no appeal outside of Italy," then CEO Sergio Marchionne said in July 2014. "It has no heritage neither in Europe nor in the U.S."
No wonder the brand is not doing very well, with leadership like that.
what they should have said was that after about 1995 they forgot how to make good cars, and it was their output from then had no appeal.This morning I did a search ‘What happened to Lancia’.
"We realized the Lancia brand has no appeal outside of Italy," then CEO Sergio Marchionne said in July 2014. "It has no heritage neither in Europe nor in the U.S."
No wonder the brand is not doing very well, with leadership like that.
Blown2CV said:
what they should have said was that after about 1995 they forgot how to make good cars, and it was their output from then had no appeal.
His comments were on the nose; the brand has heritage, but they'd never defined their market position (rallying? slightly sexy/luxurious mid-market? something else?) and had nothing that could be monetised by 2004. daqinggregg said:
Last night I was dreaming about Alfa Romeo and Lancia, more specifically the demise of Lancia, as you do.
This morning I did a search ‘What happened to Lancia’.
"We realized the Lancia brand has no appeal outside of Italy," then CEO Sergio Marchionne said in July 2014. "It has no heritage neither in Europe nor in the U.S."
No wonder the brand is not doing very well, with leadership like that.
He's right though. among the 0.5% of the population who are car enthusiasts Lancia is legendary, but that's not enough to market a semi-mainstream brand. Even among car enthusiasts it's only the older ones who will remember the Lancia heyday. If you were to go out into the street in the UK you'd probably struggle to find a single person under 40 who knew what Lancia was.This morning I did a search ‘What happened to Lancia’.
"We realized the Lancia brand has no appeal outside of Italy," then CEO Sergio Marchionne said in July 2014. "It has no heritage neither in Europe nor in the U.S."
No wonder the brand is not doing very well, with leadership like that.
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