robh
Full Member
Posts: 143
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Post by robh on Jul 18, 2003 6:08:16 GMT -5
Please advise who I need to apologise to..I have thoughtlessly gone and spent money on a car that can exceed the speed limit,has windows for the rear passengers to , needlessly , look out of, has dead cow skin on (gasp) both seats and steering wheel , has carpet not just inside but even in the BOOT , is covered in shiny metallic paint which is totally unnecessary , ......
I am sorry , I could go on but I am traumatised to think that I previously thought the fact that I paid tax on the money I earned , tax on the car , tax on the petrol and road tax somehow meant I could drive what I wanted , even if it upset sanctimonious Peugeot drivers
Regards
robh
p.s. Translation for Grouse boot=trunk!
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Post by TroutBoy on Jul 18, 2003 6:53:36 GMT -5
re:
"My ageing peugeot,now on 189000 miles and costing me nearly nothing in depreciation combined with total reliability merely says curmudgeonly old git.
Which,I feel,is at least honest. "
Firstly: At that mileage it'll be chucking out more pollution than any new car - not very environmentally friendly.
Secondly: Why aren't you using public transport?
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Post by Willie Gunn on Jul 18, 2003 7:18:35 GMT -5
re: Firstly: At that mileage it'll be chucking out more pollution than any new car - not very environmentally friendly. Secondly: Why aren't you using public transport? You are too soft Troutboy public transport, make him walk. |
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Post by Chalkstream Angler on Jul 18, 2003 7:18:36 GMT -5
Rob and TroutBoy. Well said.  ;D ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by ACW on Jul 18, 2003 11:50:54 GMT -5
::)As a happy owner of a peugot deisel ,whos engines are very long lasting ,I,m with robin on this one .
Drove a ford fusion last week in Kerry ,didnt like it at all
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Post by nigelhaywood on Jul 20, 2003 4:53:32 GMT -5
Oh dear, I go away for a week and what happens? You all play with him.
Well, I used to run a 4WD. A Disco, and excellent it was, too. AND I had cow bars on the front, which no-one seems to have mentioned as the ultimate pose. OK, I lived in South Africa at the time, where most fishing trips entailed some serious off road work that would defeat even a hire car. Oh, and I did hit a cow, which rather smashed the front of the car in, though I'd rather not think about what it would have done had I not got cow bars on.
Now happily driving a Volvo estate, bought seven years ago at the same time as R's Pug. Excellent vehicle, but wouldn't recommend it for the Veldt.
4WD in this country? Would have been handy the one time I got stuck in mud and had to spend a couple of hours extricating myself. Otherwise, the family miss the Disco because of its height. Robin's viewpoint is that of a driver. For passengers (I'm told) it's more fun looking out of a Disco's windows because you can see over hedges.
Class warfare. My sons all went to a thoroughly middle class prep school. It's been interesting, over the past 11 years, to see how car fashions have changed. Sports day used to see a field full of battered old Volvos. The 4WDs have been steadily increasing over the years, but so have really flash saloons. Now Jeremy Clarkson's sending his offspring there I expect the ante will have been considerably upped. I observe, though, that if gridlock happens in the leafy roads of North Oxford, it is usually mums in 4x4s that cause it.
While we're on enviro-ranting, why do people change their cars so often? Of course, the Govt encourages it by making it obvious from number plates how old the car is. But it's hugely environmentally unfriendly. With proper maintenance, most cars (assuming they were properly built in the first place) should last at least twenty years. Aircraft certainly do. And older cars cost far less to run (my insurance premiums are minimal these days.)
I couldn't give a toss how people spend their money. And buying new cars helps the economy develop, at least insofar as they have any UK input. But I do sometimes wonder what, exactly, er, drives people.
Nigel
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Robin
Full Member
Posts: 221
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Post by Robin on Jul 20, 2003 18:47:19 GMT -5
I drove past one of these trout puddles the other day and dropped in to see what might be happening.
It was difficult to park as,being a weekend, the tarmac car park was full of huge shiny vehicles,but for the chrome it could have been a display of military hardwear.
Standing around the nearest puddle,which is only marginally larger than a good sized garden pond,and considerably smaller than a reasonable sized garden were ,meticulously spaced out,a number of immaculately dressed and equipped large garden gnomes all standing in such a way as to appear to be pissing.
This is a place I occasionally fish when I want a large trout or two for smoking and wish to fish with a good friend who lives nearby.Its quite hard to spend more than a couple of hours there without catching a limit,but there they all were,dressed to kill,and blanking!
I'm sure they all think they are out there,in the great outdoors,following in the footsteps of Zane Grey.
But to my eyes the whole scene was just hilariously comic.
If their wretched trucks had been parked on one of the many places around here which are hard to get a car to(so you walk,i'm of the last generation with legs,you know) and I had found them 200 feet down a cliff getting drenched in surf my admiration would have been considerable,but they were not.
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Robin
Full Member
Posts: 221
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Post by Robin on Jul 20, 2003 18:57:42 GMT -5
Oh,and by the way,the Pug does'nt burn any oil,emits no black smoke,and returns better emissions and fuel consumption figures than when new.
The secret is to spend the money on re-optimisation and correct servicing,rather than chrome and depreciation.
The original question asked why people wanted to drive around in these monstrously ungreen lumps.
About one of you,who lives in UltimaThule,has provided an answer.
The rest of you appear to have made yourselves look far more ridiculous than I should ever dare to have done.
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Post by The Famous Grouse on Jul 20, 2003 22:11:35 GMT -5
I didn't attempt to "justify" my 4X4 ownership, Robin, because there's no need for me to do so. To offer any "justification" would imply that somehow I may not be entitled to own and drive it. It seems to be only you who thinks along these lines.
Were I to attempt to justify it, I might add that I live in a place where:
- It snows in excess of 6 feet per year.
- Unlike most of England and Scotland, the snow does not melt as soon it hits the ground here. It stays on the ground and simply accumulates from November to April.
- When all that snow melts there are months of wet, muddy roads in any rural area. Areas which I frequent.
- I shoot, fish, and stalk. All of which require transport of loads of gear and people.
- Unlike in England where nearly the entire country is served by tarmac roads, the majority of the rural roads here are not paved. See previous comments about the spring melt.
And by the way, your Pug isn't one of the old models that lacks a catalyist, is it? The UK rather lagged behind most North American and European countries in requiring them.
Grouse
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Post by zagaschin wannabe on Jul 20, 2003 22:43:32 GMT -5
can't see it being fair To criticise someones choice of vehicle, When you also use a vehicle.
Thats like someone who smokes 10 cigarettes per day, Telling somebody else who smokes 25, that they're out of order- and should cut down.
My only Gripe, is the Cost of Landrovers. I've had to retire ours. Although she'd given many years of reliable duty, and taken some horrendous abuse, I could no longer justify keeping her in fuel and repairs, And buying new or nearly new is out of my league nowadays.
I've returned to the humble Pushbike. Its been difficult getting used to having no vehicle, but I'm starting to get a lot fitter. as well as taking life that little bit slower....
of course, I can now heckle and lecture to all you 'Mobile-Monoxide' Smog spreaders. All that noise and fuss. Cramming the roads. going fast. but never really getting anywhere....
Bet you all smoke as well
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Post by JME on Jul 21, 2003 2:43:49 GMT -5
My poor little Beetle got very stuck in a field the other day. Thank goodness someone happened by with a 4x4 otherwise it would have delphinium growing out of the window by now.
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Huge
New Member
Posts: 21
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Post by Huge on Jul 21, 2003 11:11:47 GMT -5
2 sides to every story, guys. as someone who drove a battered old Citroen for 10 years, and now have a 4x4 as my wife has been taken in by the marketing folk, all I can say is that it has made shooting, fishing and towing an altogether easier proposition But it would have been cheaper to have stuck to the old Frenchie and hired a range rover when I need one In any case, they'll go out of fashion in a few years-till then I'd keep your blood pressure down and relax  |
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