I'm bored of Friday TV, let's discuss....
Discussion
.......how others judge your love of cars.
My family understand as they suffer from a similar affliction, but others look at me as though I'd just admitted to being a stamp collector. Their jaws hit the floor when I explain that I chat to like-minded others on an Internet forum.....and then I explain a Sunday Service
My family understand as they suffer from a similar affliction, but others look at me as though I'd just admitted to being a stamp collector. Their jaws hit the floor when I explain that I chat to like-minded others on an Internet forum.....and then I explain a Sunday Service
Being a car nerd isn't socially acceptable. There are only a few people outside Pistonheads that I actively share my car-nerdiness with. One drives a Renaultsport Clio Trophy, another was genuinely excited when I got the Panda and another drives a diesel Astra but has a proper bike for fun times. Others know, but don't understand.
My missus tolerates it and sometimes tries to join in, she is reasonable knowledgeable on makes, models and model variants but has little clue about how things work, even stuff as elementary as the differences between RWD and FWD.
My missus tolerates it and sometimes tries to join in, she is reasonable knowledgeable on makes, models and model variants but has little clue about how things work, even stuff as elementary as the differences between RWD and FWD.
Edited by Papa Hotel on Friday 19th November 21:42
They all think I'm a car nerd with silly ideas about cars until the minute their's starts making a strange noise.
Then I'm a car nerd with weird ideas again because I don't agree with the garages £2k solution to the typically easily fixed problem.
I give up trying to talk to non car people about cars. A friend expected me to be impressed that he's getting an '06 Golf 1.6 auto. He's 19...
Then I'm a car nerd with weird ideas again because I don't agree with the garages £2k solution to the typically easily fixed problem.
I give up trying to talk to non car people about cars. A friend expected me to be impressed that he's getting an '06 Golf 1.6 auto. He's 19...
Most people at work are just bemused, until recently when one of the girls was looking for a Boxster and found one which I asked after on here. She was pleased to find out that it had been imported from Cyprus and had no service history before she drove 150 miles to see it.
Plus, as mentioned above, I'm significantly less nerdy when I'm fixing someones car and saving them money...
Plus, as mentioned above, I'm significantly less nerdy when I'm fixing someones car and saving them money...
my best mate is also a self confessed car nut, who actually introduced me to PH. others think i'm a little nerdy, but i try not to say too much about cars that will make me sound too OTT. may have sounded rather bad when they said they want an audi A3 i said it's basically a golf underneath. they insisted it wasn't. i just gave up in the end
I have a few mates who are very car geeky, one owns a small dealership, one a bodyshop, and one has a habit of buying sheds and old barges that would make Vixpy and Garlick look like people who hate to buy cars.
I guess I was just lucky to know quite a few people who really love cars, though I blame my Dad for getting me started he always had interesting (to me anyway) cars as I was growing up and I got to go to loads of car shows and things as a kid. I remember how amazed I was at the 1986 Birmingham Motor Show I had never seen so many cars and car related stuff in one place, to a 7 year old it was truly awesome.
SWMBO also understands lots, and is nuts about F1 herself, she bought my mini as a late birthday present and tried to convince me buying a non running 924 was a good idea earlier this year.
I guess I was just lucky to know quite a few people who really love cars, though I blame my Dad for getting me started he always had interesting (to me anyway) cars as I was growing up and I got to go to loads of car shows and things as a kid. I remember how amazed I was at the 1986 Birmingham Motor Show I had never seen so many cars and car related stuff in one place, to a 7 year old it was truly awesome.
SWMBO also understands lots, and is nuts about F1 herself, she bought my mini as a late birthday present and tried to convince me buying a non running 924 was a good idea earlier this year.
busta said:
They all think I'm a car nerd with silly ideas about cars until the minute their's starts making a strange noise.
Then I'm a car nerd with weird ideas again because I don't agree with the garages £2k solution to the typically easily fixed problem.
My experience also. My sister, God bless her, filled her car with oil. I mean filled it. To the top. Then I'm a car nerd with weird ideas again because I don't agree with the garages £2k solution to the typically easily fixed problem.
She explained the symptoms to me, the massive cloud of white smoke, the stuttering engine. My first thought was "she's overfilled it with oil", a diagnosis she confirmed. I told her to have my brother-in-law drain the oil and fill it up to the maximum on the dipstick. She didn't do that, she had it towed to a main dealer who relieved her of somewhere north of 200 quid to drain it and stick a new oil filter in. I gave up trying to advise my family on cars after that.
But! One day, out if the blue, my brother phoned asking for oil advice! He listened to my advice and his fiancée's car didn't die!
blaineuk said:
You should see the look on people faces when I say about going to London (I live near Leicester) for a tunnel run.
yeah I got a similar reaction from the missus last winter: "you're getting up at 7am, de-icing the car, taking the roof off and driving 30 miles at -1deg to an airfield with a dozen other nerds for a fry-up? 
"I get a lot of interest locally about my cars and people often chat about them in the local. However , they don't 'get' the tunnel run and hoon thing at all!
Guys I work with are always going on about how their £1000 sheds cost and absolute fortune (£200-£300) per year to run and were shocked at the amount I've spent on mine.
My eldest daughter is starting to get interested. She's been getting me to show her how to maintain her Merc 190E and is asking about making it sound like my Tiv!
Guys I work with are always going on about how their £1000 sheds cost and absolute fortune (£200-£300) per year to run and were shocked at the amount I've spent on mine.
My eldest daughter is starting to get interested. She's been getting me to show her how to maintain her Merc 190E and is asking about making it sound like my Tiv!
None of my family are 'car people' so they see it as 'a way of getting from a to b'
To which I point out clothes are 'just a way to stop you being naked' but people don't seem to notice as much when people waste all their time and money on clothes, which will go out of fashion alot quicker.
For people understood our fascination/obsession/compulsions towards cars then they would have to feel the same.
I bet there are loads of people on comic (sorry, graphic novel) or warhammer websites going on about how people don't understand why they like comics/warhammer.
Except cars are far cooler. And they help you get women. And other men will think you are better than them because you know about cars and things.
To which I point out clothes are 'just a way to stop you being naked' but people don't seem to notice as much when people waste all their time and money on clothes, which will go out of fashion alot quicker.
For people understood our fascination/obsession/compulsions towards cars then they would have to feel the same.
I bet there are loads of people on comic (sorry, graphic novel) or warhammer websites going on about how people don't understand why they like comics/warhammer.
Except cars are far cooler. And they help you get women. And other men will think you are better than them because you know about cars and things.
I refer to Pistonheads as a 'car club' of which I am a 'member'.
I rarely, if ever, refer to it as an Internet forum.
People do tend to judge.
Most people will say something like 'oh, so you're into cars then, the new Corsa looks good dunnit?'.
They regret it muchly when they ask a question about a car they spot, and I go in to a 20 minute speech on the positives and negatives of engine type, size, which wheels are driven etc.
I rarely, if ever, refer to it as an Internet forum.
People do tend to judge.
Most people will say something like 'oh, so you're into cars then, the new Corsa looks good dunnit?'.
They regret it muchly when they ask a question about a car they spot, and I go in to a 20 minute speech on the positives and negatives of engine type, size, which wheels are driven etc.
staff i work with are all good sorts but not really any other car fans. couple of them started on about the usual kids stuff the other day again and it's hard to have anything to say if you don't have any yourself. i offered the information that i just ordered some collinite and was looking forward to seeing the car bead, but it fell on deaf ears.
Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff