i must be getting old

james butler · Post by **james butler** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 7:46 pm

i had to laugh on the way into work tonight, i was stuck in bad traffic and i noticed all the cars that i can see around me had dinks, dents, cuts, scrapes, key marks and lights not working like brake lights.
is it just me or does nobody care about there cars anymore to at least look after and fix its appearance. some of these cars were 64 plates so not even a year old with damage.
i know my cars a long way from perfect but compared to some of these cars (not even a quarter my roccos age) its showroom standard.

james butler · Post by **james butler** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 12:11 am

another pet hate is curbed alloys! i see so many cars that really aren't that old with curb rash all the way round especially the passenger front wheel.
i went with a pal in the week to have a look at a new car, and that one was no better, the dealer was saying it had "age related marks and kerb scuffs are to be expected"!
ha- so you wont mind a massive reduction in the price to cover the cost of repairing the last owners dreadful driving?
he didnt like that.

jim91 · Post by **jim91** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 8:35 am

People just don't care, same reason for other thread when a member got his car damaged in a carpark, folks have easy come easy go attitude. I have noticed that people who buy new cars generally don't give a damn about them too. Maybe it's just because we're petrol heads and try to keep older motors in tip top shape and know how hard it is to get a good clean car that it stands out. My dad was never into his cars, has driven Datsun/Nissan since I was born, always bought new. He didn't give a fiddlers about what he drove as long as it was respectable and reliable. He'd have gone nuts if any damage though!
I've seen loads of very new cars lately with really bad paint jobs on them where they've been hit, the owners obviously either don't notice the poor work or were only happy to pay for a cheap job.

Post by **Tempest** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 8:48 am

Reflection of the times: Many a new car these days is leased, so belongs to the bank or lease company, hence the owner doesn't care about the car - doesn't "own" it anyway, and usually get a new one from the lease company every 3 years.

Tempest

jim91 · Post by **jim91** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:36 am

Throw away society, if people had to save to buy a new car be different attitude, as you say when just leasing or get into the rolling HP agreements, when instead of final payment to buy car just keep giving us money and we'll give you a new car.

Nate · Post by **Nate** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 2:48 pm

jim91 wrote: I've seen loads of very new cars lately with really bad paint jobs on them where they've been hit, the owners obviously either don't notice the poor work or were only happy to pay for a cheap job.

I think it's partly that insurers nail bodyshop to the wall on price, they cut corners, pay low wages so will tend to get the less skilled staff. People don't necessarily know they can send the car back if it isn't good enuf, or dig their heels in and insist on it going to a good bodyshop, not an approved one

My other half had her focus rear ended a few years back. The repair was done by an "approved" bodyshop. It was one of the huge production line bodyshop places. Came back looking approximately the right shape but very much the wrong colour. Sent it back, and they repainted it again, this time going all the way to the front doors to try and blend the colour. Came back looking like I'd sprayed it myself from a rattle can, on a windy day, whilst throwing grit at it.

Told them that it was going in to my choice of bodyshop for rectification. They eventually agreed. The bill for sorting it all out ran to nearly 6k. Original estimate for the repair was 1200, car was worth 3k. I have photos of the car from when they stripped it down. Panels that should have been welded were stuck on with seam sealer, flaking paint from bad masking, boot floor full of filler.

What can you say, except pay peanuts get monkeys

Nate · Post by **Nate** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 2:54 pm

And along similar lines, my daily is a 16 year old toledo. Gearbox went south last week. For reasons I'd rather not go into, this is being repaired by my local garage rather than doing it myself. 2nd hand box being fitted, supped by a specialist VAG breakers.

Most people seem to think I'm mad, throwing that much money at a "banger"

Even when I point out that it has given very little trouble in the 3 years /55k I've had it, needing nothing more than its annual service and a coil pack.

The car is probably worth around 500/600 quid. Bill will probably come in somewhere around 400.

What would you do?

jim91 · Post by **jim91** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 4:46 pm

Probably what you have just done if it was a good reliable car and you know what you have for the £400, I've thrown around £700 at my scala in past couple months dude! Heard one person recently comment to another like an expert when looking a car, don't by anything with 100k they'll be knackered. Then again how many wee silly things have maybe needed sorted on it that yo fixed in a few mins as you know what you're at? I've seen folks throw the head up with a car after a few relatively minor faults as had to send mechanic each time.

Lukeh17 · Post by **Lukeh17** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 4:57 pm

I couldn't agree more with the comments on here. I think we do have a throw away nation. But fortunately there are people out there that want to look after the classic cars. People say to me, why don't you get rid of that 'old thing' and get something modern and new that doesn't brake down etc? My response is well firstly if I look after this car it will run smoothly. Secondly I enjoy working on it and having it and to be honest I think our cars look so much better than these modern day cars.

I also agree about the leasing issue that Tempest touched on. People now have no affiliation with their car because they see it as will have a few years and then gone.

james butler · Post by **james butler** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 6:29 pm

im so glad im not the only one who feels this way about our motors.
there's no pride in a cars anymore, like has been said people seem to regard the newness of the plate as more important than the car its stuck to.
ive seen someone give up an audi a4 1.8t for a new citroen c1 on the scrap-page scheme and i know for a fact the reason he wanted shot of the audi was it had an advisory on the last mot for brake flexis and a back box

hardly worth scrapping for!

as lukeh17 points out, i also enjoy working on my car, its simple and parts are usually inexpensive. if i spent what people spend on lease hire each month i could probly have had the car gold plated by now, let alone had it completely refurbished.
i remember looking into paying someone to fit a 1.8t in my rocco and most people thought i was mad to think of spending so much money on an old car, yet who would end up with one of the fastest, lightest, reasonable on fuel car for less than £5000 all rebuilt good as new.
the way the car drives is like no other car ive ever driven, especially compared to new cars. its s full of character and FUN to drive, something else i think many people have forgotten about driving, (it can be fun, not just to get from A TO B).
and they definitely stand out better than new cars.
i think if i had a line up of brand new cars and removed all the badging i would struggle to guess what make and model they were.

whiteshark · Post by **whiteshark** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 10:45 pm

100 k on a motor, that's when VW 's start driving better. If they are looked after and serviced well they are great cars. My first Rocco had 100 000 miles on it, was six years old when I bought it and I still have it now. The Webber conversion , Koni suspension and 256 front brake upgrade made it a great motor. I can't believe the number of people that lease cars. They have too much money. I would preferably buy a cheap motor and spend that lease money improving the car every month. Ownership, you care for your car. Austerity, too much of the country lives on debt, hence your throw away society.

Lukeh17 · Post by **Lukeh17** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 12:15 pm

james butler wrote:im so glad im not the only one who feels this way about our motors.
there's no pride in a cars anymore, like has been said people seem to regard the newness of the plate as more important than the car its stuck to.
ive seen someone give up an audi a4 1.8t for a new citroen c1 on the scrap-page scheme and i know for a fact the reason he wanted shot of the audi was it had an advisory on the last mot for brake flexis and a back box
hardly worth scrapping for!

as lukeh17 points out, i also enjoy working on my car, its simple and parts are usually inexpensive. if i spent what people spend on lease hire each month i could probly have had the car gold plated by now, let alone had it completely refurbished.
i remember looking into paying someone to fit a 1.8t in my rocco and most people thought i was mad to think of spending so much money on an old car, yet who would end up with one of the fastest, lightest, reasonable on fuel car for less than £5000 all rebuilt good as new.
the way the car drives is like no other car ive ever driven, especially compared to new cars. its s full of character and FUN to drive, something else i think many people have forgotten about driving, (it can be fun, not just to get from A TO B).
and they definitely stand out better than new cars.
i think if i had a line up of brand new cars and removed all the badging i would struggle to guess what make and model they were.

The last paragraph I could not agree more with. Especially about driving being fun with these cars. I enjoy just driving around not just getting into the car and driving to where I have to go. The part about new cars with no character and removing the badges and guessing is so true. It's like all manufacturers have been sent a template and they only change a badge!!

Nate · Post by **Nate** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 9:51 pm

I remember when I bought my 1st rocco, my old man went nuts coz I had gone from a j reg motor with 85k on it to an f reg with 185k on it. But then he grew up driving Austin and then leyland cars, which really were knackered by the time they got to 70k

james butler · Post by **james butler** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 5:29 am

Nate wrote: But then he grew up driving Austin and then leyland cars, which really were knackered by the time they got to 70k

impressive! most of my mates who went through the rover 25 and mg zr craze all had failed head gaskets at 30k miles max.
in fact one of them, a rover 25 1.4 head gasket went at 17k miles and it was only 3 years old. he ended up selling it with 23k miles with another blown head gasket and a slipping clutch.

mr.brown · Post by **mr.brown** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 7:02 am

I have a 64 plate lease car. Funnily enough it's a also got a minor scrape on the front bumper. However, it's me that's going to have to pay for it to be repaired at some point. Given that it's a two year lease, there's absolutely no point in getting the repair done until the very last minute - just in case some f**ker scrapes it again!

As for lights not working, most (99%) of drivers have no clue about any aspect of vehicle maintenance or inspection. Until these matters are ingrained from the very first driving lesson, it's only going to be at service and MOT time that most folk find out what's wrong with their car.

That said, even though I count myself in the 1%, I'm now reliant on two of my cars to tell me themselves if something's wrong

Scirocco Register

Scirocco Register

i must be getting old

i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old

Re: i must be getting old