Do cars cause "A difference of opinion" in your house ?

[BDR529]

My mum understands my choice in cars, my dad however doesn't approve much, for some reason.

[davidjpowell]

No rows until car change time.

If its her car (that I pay for) can be interesting. She wanted a A4 convertible this time. Had a drive in a 3.0 quattro and said no - rattled and slow...

Ended up with a Merc C320 diesel that she likes. But she's pushing our daughter in the way of ponies - am pointing up that if we need to tow a box, it's her car that changing, not mine.

My car she does not care about, unless she shows disaproval, in which case it had better not go wrong.

Changed my car a few days before moving house, and it was a very quiet house for some time...

[gamefreaks]

Generally speaking 'er indoors doesn't get too involved in my car purchases. Her usual response is simply "If you want it, get it.".

Until I came to get my last car that is. The converstaion went something like this:

Me: Umm...think I am going to replace the car soon.
Her: What are you going to get?
Me: Dunno yet. Just looking really. Would love one of these... [Points to slighly dubious XJR8 on autotrader].
Her: Oh ok. Yeah I like Jags. Get one!
Me: Hmm...maybe not such a good idea but an X-Type is probably a bit more sensible...
Me: (Phew! She approves!) Hmm...see what I can find for the money...
[Some time later]
Me: Ohhh...look at this one...
Her: [Expression of abject discust] Its...an...estate...
Me: Yeah...I think they look better than the saloons.
Her: Well if you wanted a bloody estate why not just get another sodding Volvo...or just go all the way and get a van. We don't even have a dog!!! What do want an estate for???












In the end I got a saloon.

[J4CKO]

With her its the upheaval, the agro and the financial side but I am not talking lots of money, just bored with my car, I cycle most days as to be honest I need the exercise. I think she worries it will break but like I said I hardly use it and I am reasonably competent with the spanners. We had a difference of opinion over a past car which I made a point of getting against her will which went a bit wrong and I lost 2 grand, to be fair it was the 2 grand profit I made on the previous car. I earn the money and have payed for pretty much everything for a long time, she seemed to be getting more amenable but just tells me to shut up and that its boring !

I have spent a lot of time on her Fiat, just done an engine rebuild so I think she owes me some leeway, seeing as she has two cars.

[tucks]

my girlfreind liked my rx8, more than my monaro.
for this reason alone, i no longer have any respect for anything she says.

[Alex@POD]

I'm lucky enough that my girlfriend and me are on the same wavelength about cars. We are independent financially (for now), so when she finally learn to drive she'll buy her own car, and if I need to change mine I'll buy what I want. If we see a TVR go past, she usually says "I wouldn't mind you driving me around in that!"...

Volvo estates are forbidden though, they are an old man's car, no matter how many pictures of BTCC 850s I show her

As for my parents, both have been into fast bikes, my dad still is. He bought an Impreza turbo wagon a few years ago, to replace his old Passat. A few months later he was looking to trade it in for "the big one". He now drives a WRX, at 60 years old.

So all in all, very few arguments there!

[Xtriple129]

My wife suffers my obsessions (whatever they may be) with stoic acceptance. It does help that she was a biker and is into classic cars - the older the better! She likes the Merc but loves the Metro and the Mazda and would use them all the time.

She's got a new Colt and for her birthday she wanted a set of new wheels for it - 17" black multi-spokes and she cried the first time she scuffed one.

I think I may be contagious.

[pixieporsche]

OH and I are both into old cars. We do sometimes have a difference of opinion about what looks good etc though.

Never had any problems with anyone I've lived with, parents were both approving of my cars. My mum is also into cars, dad is more of a biker!

[Jasandjules]

No, we both agree that cars are important. To the extent that our first house together was checked out so that the TVR could fit in the garage. Any house where this was not feasible was discounted. We also both agree that if possible we will keep the current Chimaera for ever.

She is happy for me to drive fast. She is happy for me to try and instruct her on how to drive faster (though she doesn't drive the TVR really as it's, to her mind, too powerful for her).

It is also clear that in the event that we win more than 10million on the lottery, I'll be having 500k or so worth of cars. We agree that there will be an F430 Spider and DB7 Volante for me and a Vantage Volante for her. Had we won the 100 plus the other week, it would have been rather more than that on cars, including a Zonda roadster... She can't understand why I would have 20 cars, but she accepts that I would.

The only thing we disagree on is whether this is a sexy beast or not (however, it is accepted that I will have one if we win enough money!)

[stewies_minion]

Disagree? Ever so much.

More so when sold her Golf and bought myself a shiny toy instead.

I mentioned that when the family Passat gives up, I fancy a hot hatch type. Arguements a plenty.

Have every intention of doing it though. She'll love the nursery run in a fast Clio.

[OldSkoolRS]

I'm another lucky one as my OH appreciates that me liking cars is just who I am. Going away for a weekend with friends for a track day and out for a run in another friend's TVR at the drop of a hat doesn't bother her. She's also actively encouraging me to sell my RS2000...to buy a TVR instead. She replaced her Corsa diesel earlier this year for a Mini One, but the reason she chose the particular one she got was the 17" alloys and leather interior, plus she lets me take it out for a run if I want to (it's only a 1.6 but it's much more fun to drive than my works A4 diesel).

OTOH my ex wife had no interest in what car I wanted to buy next, so long as it was cheap to run and insure...guess that's why she's an ex.

[otolith]

I bought my wife a Citroen AX D in which to learn to drive. It took her about a week after passing her test to chop it in for an MX-5 and ask about being insured on the Civic Type R. Turns out that adding her was peanuts, so on she went. She loved that MX-5, but eventually changed it for a 350Z, because it wasn't quick enough. For my birthday a couple of years ago, she paid for tickets and hotel to do the whole weekend of the Goodwood FoS. She's a huge F1 fan. Suits me!

[Faust66]

[/quote]

Sir, I salute your taste.

Ah, a time when Aston's were cool... and football players hadn't tainted the brand.

[martin mrt]

The missus before we got together drove a Saxo VTR, totally standard, within a year it was lowered on VTS wheels and had a non noisy powerflow exhaust fitted as her previously replaced one had fallen off,

After that she bought a Mini Cooper S JCW, purely because it was grey and had the splitrim BBS wheels fitted, the fact it was a JCW was a bonus.

Since the mini we have shared a car, M3, A3, 335d, 118d, 330d, Golf TDi and now another 335d, and she has been fine with me chopping and changing, although she has said if I sell the current car she will be leaving too, as it always gets a little stressful, so I've got to keep it.

So before she met me she didn't have much of an interest, now she knows her stuff to an extent, she does get a little fed up of my constant car chat, but likewise I ain't too interested in clothes, shoes etc.

We now work on the basis of she sorts out the house, decorating, choosing colours etc, and i sort out the cars, it works for us and she seems quite happy with this

[marcosgt]

tucks said:

my girlfreind liked my rx8, more than my monaro.
for this reason alone, i no longer have any respect for anything she says.

Classy lady!

M.

PS My wife hates my RX8, but she's never given me grief over cars (except to tell me to get the Marcos back on the road, which she's right about )

[Twincam16]

PumpkinSteve said:

My Mum complains when I get a new car, she believes that you're supposed to buy one car and then keep it for the rest of your life...

My Mum's family are like that. They believe that regardless of who you are, the ONLY criteria for buying a car should be fuel economy, cheapness, and simplicity of build (she's the sort of person who buys base-models as there's less to go wrong, and things that electric windows are for unbearable showoffs). Her entire family are like that. Regardless of how much money they make, the most they can justify will be a nearly-new supermini. As far as they're concerned, a McLaren F1 is just an ostentatious way of getting to the shops.

Worse - they don't believe in selling anything as they're all hard-left types. Cars are handed down like old clothes are to babies, so you keep something running, patch it up regardless of cost, and if you have no need of it, you give it to someone else in the family (I narrowly escaped being lumbered with an automatic Micra for the rest of time - waited til she went on holiday and bought a Porsche. Popular I was not. 'When I saw that I felt physically sick. That's not how I brought you up to behave', she said). As a result they have no concept of depreciation or trading-in, and as a result if I rock up in a £1k Porsche, Alfa, Merc etc it's assumed I must've paid £30k I don't have for it. When I go and visit them I'm not allowed to park any of my cars on their drive as, and I quote, 'people might think we have something worth stealing and break in'.

They live in the leafy Cheshire suburbs and their neighbours all have new Audis, Mercs and Alfas

Thankfully my Dad's family is full of engineers and designers who love cars. It's from him that I got the interest.

That said, some of my friends are worse. The sort that talk worriedly of their car 'coming up to it's three years' as though something without a warranty has some kind of Blade Runner incept date, and that they want to drive independent mechanics out of business as they're 'all cowboys' (ie the ones who've poured more money down the drain over cars than anyone I know with a patched-up second-hand bargain). They can't actually get their head round the concept of classic car magazines and start all their questions to me with 'what's the point of...'

Urbanites are almost as bad. They do get why people had cars, but surely, now, in the 21st century they're all a bit old-hat and we all live in utopian tower blocks these days, taking public transport everywhere and getting all our food from the local urban rooftop farm, and surely cars are far too dangerous these days so we'd all be better off in a drug-fuelled haze every weekend?

They really get my goat, the lot of 'em.

[aizvara]

My girlfriend hates cars in principal, and specifically dislikes both my car and my driving. She says that any BMW I like the look of e34, e39, e46 are all "boy-racer" cars. Actually, that term seems to apply to a huge range of vehicles. When I try to talk about cars I'm thinking of getting next (even if its for practical, sensible reasons) she switches off entirely. Doesn't go any further than just a general antipathy, though I suspect if I came home one day with an M5 she'd kick off. Having said that, if it were the same colour as my 3er, she might not notice.

Her ideal car, if there could be such a thing, would probably be a bright yellow VW Beetle. Fortunately this means she likes the look of 911s too, so there is hope.

[Snoggledog]

My missus has a strange fantasy to own an Alfa 33 Stradale, a TVR Sagaris and a RUF CTR.

Oddly enough she doesn't have any real desire to own a Ferrari.

ETA. We tend to agree on most cars. The only one she doesn't like that I do is the Lancia Integrale.

[tucks]

marcosgt said:

Classy lady!

M.

PS My wife hates my RX8, but she's never given me grief over cars (except to tell me to get the Marcos back on the road, which she's right about )

to be fair, most women(massive sweeping general statement alert) seem to like my RX8 more. i think the fact it wasnt 30 foot long and 18 foot wide helped

[otolith]

I don't think my wife wanted me to trade the RX-8 in for an Elise.