Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 4]

[21st Century Man]

Exige77 said:

21st Century Man said:

SpeckledJim said:

psi310398 said:

21st Century Man said:

When Daewoo Cars launched in the UK back in 1995, for the first year or two, if a Daewoo employee spotted a Daewoo missing a wheel trim, they'd put it on the system and a new one would be sent in the post.

That so reminds me of the old Skoda joke - Q: How do you double the value of a Skoda? A: Fill the tank.

Daewoo had a great approach back in the day. They just didn't have the right cars.

The cars were just fine at the price, and it was 25 years ago, and just look at Korean cars now.

What did for Daewoo in the UK was that GM took control again in Korea and promptly closed the entire direct sale UK factory shop network and franchised it back to the traditional motor trade, then rebranded as Chevrolet in Europe, then didn't keep up with Hyundai/Kia.

Would that be the Daewoo that went spectacularly bankrupt ?

Yup. Well Daewoo Cars (which was only 2% of Daewoo). Defunct 2011, although that's not quite the case, it just morphed into GM Korea and is still building cars.

[FiF]

21st Century Man said:

Exige77 said:

21st Century Man said:

SpeckledJim said:

psi310398 said:

21st Century Man said:

When Daewoo Cars launched in the UK back in 1995, for the first year or two, if a Daewoo employee spotted a Daewoo missing a wheel trim, they'd put it on the system and a new one would be sent in the post.

That so reminds me of the old Skoda joke - Q: How do you double the value of a Skoda? A: Fill the tank.

Daewoo had a great approach back in the day. They just didn't have the right cars.

The cars were just fine at the price, and it was 25 years ago, and just look at Korean cars now.

What did for Daewoo in the UK was that GM took control again in Korea and promptly closed the entire direct sale UK factory shop network and franchised it back to the traditional motor trade, then rebranded as Chevrolet in Europe, then didn't keep up with Hyundai/Kia.

Would that be the Daewoo that went spectacularly bankrupt ?

Yup. Well Daewoo Cars (which was only 2% of Daewoo). Defunct 2011, although that's not quite the case, it just morphed into GM Korea and is still building cars.

From my perspective there were some UK GM dealers who didn't know the first thing about these funny little cars when it landed in their lap and to make it worse weren't in the slightest bit interested in learning.

[borcy]

FiF said:

From my perspective there were some UK GM dealers who didn't know the first thing about these funny little cars when it landed in their lap and to make it worse weren't in the slightest bit interested in learning.

Why not, not enough money in it?

[FiF]

borcy said:

FiF said:

From my perspective there were some UK GM dealers who didn't know the first thing about these funny little cars when it landed in their lap and to make it worse weren't in the slightest bit interested in learning.

Why not, not enough money in it?

Don't know tbh, maybe we just had a bad experience, with one place in particular that had the sort of attitude that gives the motor trade a bad name.

Long story but we acquired a Matiz free from a relative who'd given up driving and it was handed down to grandkids; hadn't been particularly well looked after, all mismatched ditchfinders, service light on, nothing a great deal wrong with it, just needed a bit of a fettle, decent rubber and some tlc. There were two GM dealers who really weren't interested, one even admitted they didn't really know much about them, managed the basic stuff but when it went wrong, as in completely failed to start / v bad misfire, they couldn't fix it and actually made it worse.

Took it away from them as they were recommending a fix using a engine management box costing 700+ plus fitting plus vat, on a car worth about a grand, with no guarantee of an outcome. Which I interpreted as garage speak for "please just eff off." It was a broken wire in the loom in the end, took some finding admittedly, though the other legacy from that dealer was that they'd also managed to screw up the immobiliser anti theft codes. The most helpful they were throughout was to lend a hand to push it out of the car park and onto a trailer as they threatened to charge for car park space if not removed promptly.

After having found the wiring fault following much grovelling, getting the immobilser recoded meant we found a decent garage who knew what they were doing. Don't have it anymore, horrible device, though it was ok as a learner's first car, possibly.

[Blib]

I've seen some videos of lairy landings and 'go-arounds' at Heathrow and other airports over the past week or so.

In them, several of the pilots are complimented for their skill in landing a plane in such difficult conditions.

Why don't they just stick it in automatic and let the plane land itself?

[lowdrag]

Shakermaker said:

popeyewhite said:

Cheap alloy wheel covers left propped at the side of the road by a helpful member of the public. Anyone stopped and picked one up/know anyone who has?

Yes. Wheel trim made an escape from an old Cavalier that I had years ago, driving to work the next morning and there it was, or at least, one that matched the other 3 that I still had. Duly collected it and kicked it back on and used stronger cable ties to retain it

Driving a 1964 Jaguar S-type down the M1 at not far short of 100 mph when a chrome hub cap made a bid for freedom. There it was chasing us hard and other cars making an effort to avoid it. I slowed down to watch the fun and it made a graceful curve left over the banking and was never seen again.

[borcy]

Blib said:

I've seen some videos of lairy landings and 'go-arounds' at Heathrow and other airports over the past week or so.

In them, several of the pilots are complimented for their skill in landing a plane in such difficult conditions.

Why don't they just stick it in automatic and let the plane land itself?

Some airports might not have the kit, some aircraft when it the wind hits a certain limit will bin off any sort of automatic landing system and hand it over to the pilots.

[nonsequitur]

NoVetec said:

popeyewhite said:

Cheap alloy wheel covers left propped at the side of the road by a helpful member of the public. Anyone stopped and picked one up/know anyone who has?

Saw a bloke use one as an impromptu frisbee for his dog one day.

A Cavalier spaniel called Rover, no doubt. Dropped by a Ferrari Boxer.

[classicaholic]

lowdrag said:

Shakermaker said:

popeyewhite said:

Cheap alloy wheel covers left propped at the side of the road by a helpful member of the public. Anyone stopped and picked one up/know anyone who has?

Yes. Wheel trim made an escape from an old Cavalier that I had years ago, driving to work the next morning and there it was, or at least, one that matched the other 3 that I still had. Duly collected it and kicked it back on and used stronger cable ties to retain it

Driving a 1964 Jaguar S-type down the M1 at not far short of 100 mph when a chrome hub cap made a bid for freedom. There it was chasing us hard and other cars making an effort to avoid it. I slowed down to watch the fun and it made a graceful curve left over the banking and was never seen again.

Had a trailer wheel depart in similar fashion, it shot up a banking and came back down to rest exactly where I had pulled off the motorway!

[P-Jay]

FiF said:

From my perspective there were some UK GM dealers who didn't know the first thing about these funny little cars when it landed in their lap and to make it worse weren't in the slightest bit interested in learning.

Has anyone ever had a good experience with Vauxhall dealers?

Maybe it's just our local ones, but they're a complete throw-back, aggressive sales people, warranty dept which consists of a single rubber stamp with the word 'NO' on it and quarter-arses service department.

Like Ford 20 years ago I assumed they couldn't give a st about consumer sales as they made all their money on fleets, but you just don't see fleets of Vectras (or whatever they're called now) anymore. Do they just sell Corsas to lunatics these days?

[The Mad Monk]

Why do paramedics on TV 999 Emergency type programmes ask patients to, say, 'raise your left arm for me please?

Why the "for me"? Why not just say "raise your left arm, please"?

[Ayahuasca]

The Mad Monk said:

Why do paramedics on TV 999 Emergency type programmes ask patients to, say, 'raise your left arm for me please?

Why the "for me"? Why not just say "raise your left arm, please"?

Establishing rapport.

[SpeckledJim]

Ayahuasca said:

The Mad Monk said:

Why do paramedics on TV 999 Emergency type programmes ask patients to, say, 'raise your left arm for me please?

Why the "for me"? Why not just say "raise your left arm, please"?

Establishing rapport.

Makes it a favour, rather than a cold instruction.

You get more wi' a tickle than a scratch.

[V8mate]

P-Jay said:

Has anyone ever had a good experience with Vauxhall dealers?

Maybe it's just our local ones, but they're a complete throw-back, aggressive sales people, warranty dept which consists of a single rubber stamp with the word 'NO' on it and quarter-arses service department.

Like Ford 20 years ago I assumed they couldn't give a st about consumer sales as they made all their money on fleets, but you just don't see fleets of Vectras (or whatever they're called now) anymore. Do they just sell Corsas to lunatics these days?

Sounds like pretty much every main dealer of every mainstream marque to me.

[GOG440]

P-Jay said:

FiF said:

From my perspective there were some UK GM dealers who didn't know the first thing about these funny little cars when it landed in their lap and to make it worse weren't in the slightest bit interested in learning.

Has anyone ever had a good experience with Vauxhall dealers?

Maybe it's just our local ones, but they're a complete throw-back, aggressive sales people, warranty dept which consists of a single rubber stamp with the word 'NO' on it and quarter-arses service department.

Like Ford 20 years ago I assumed they couldn't give a st about consumer sales as they made all their money on fleets, but you just don't see fleets of Vectras (or whatever they're called now) anymore. Do they just sell Corsas to lunatics these days?

My local Vauxhall dealership was st, but as my wife bought a Zafira I have had to take it back in several times for the recalls to stop it spontaneously combusting. Freezing cold, nowhere to park, couldnt give a st attitude from everyone in the dealers if they had just hung a sign on the door saying "fk off we dont want you here" it couldnt have been more obvious that they didnt care. Luckily I have never given them a single penny as I refuse to get the car serviced by them, I take it to my mates garage where I know he actually does the work I have asked for and he charges me a reasonable rate for the work.
Happily for me they have now suddenly closed this dealers, I got a letter telling me it was closing on the 31st Jan that was posted on the 4th of feb! so I will never have to go back there again. If the bloody thing needs anything else doing on the recall I will make damn sure i never go near another E***s H*****w.

By comparison my local Ford dealer were courteous, friendly, did all the work on my company car promptly and from what I saw of the bills they werent to expensive for a main dealer

[The Mad Monk]

SpeckledJim said:

Ayahuasca said:

The Mad Monk said:

Why do paramedics on TV 999 Emergency type programmes ask patients to, say, 'raise your left arm for me please?

Why the "for me"? Why not just say "raise your left arm, please"?

Establishing rapport.

Makes it a favour, rather than a cold instruction.

You get more wi' a tickle than a scratch.

What about those patients who find the for me bit, irritating and unnecessary? Childish even?

[SpeckledJim]

The Mad Monk said:

SpeckledJim said:

Ayahuasca said:

The Mad Monk said:

Why do paramedics on TV 999 Emergency type programmes ask patients to, say, 'raise your left arm for me please?

Why the "for me"? Why not just say "raise your left arm, please"?

Establishing rapport.

Makes it a favour, rather than a cold instruction.

You get more wi' a tickle than a scratch.

What about those patients who find the for me bit, irritating and unnecessary? Childish even?

It is a bit patronising, granted.

[Halmyre]

The Mad Monk said:

SpeckledJim said:

Ayahuasca said:

The Mad Monk said:

Why do paramedics on TV 999 Emergency type programmes ask patients to, say, 'raise your left arm for me please?

Why the "for me"? Why not just say "raise your left arm, please"?

Establishing rapport.

Makes it a favour, rather than a cold instruction.

You get more wi' a tickle than a scratch.

What about those patients who find the for me bit, irritating and unnecessary? Childish even?

They're free to refuse treatment and wait for a more mature crew to come along.

[popeyewhite]

The Mad Monk said:

What about those patients who find the for me bit, irritating and unnecessary? Childish even?

They're wasting the paramedic's valuable time. Either they want help, or don't. If they don't then the PMs will evaluate and if treatment isn't vital, leave.

[CaptainSlow]

The Mad Monk said:

Why do paramedics on TV 999 Emergency type programmes ask patients to, say, 'raise your left arm for me please?

Why the "for me"? Why not just say "raise your left arm, please"?

These are low paid actors that can usually be found making poncy coffee or walking around in the background of the Eastenders set waiting to be discovered.

They get paid per word so adding some impromptu extras into their lines can help pay the rent. They cant push it though as the production accountant is keeping a live running total.