Pimping your own ride?

"Oh, no, sorry, we have two and two Skoda Superbs" :)

The subtle point I was trying to make, and failing ;), is that everybody has an Audi Ax, where x = looks like most other similar sized VAG product.

Ahhha, but there's logic.

Chap here won't know the difference between good and Corsa at this point. Start low, aim higher in the future. I mean, he thinks we need to be senior management to run a big BMW, heh.

How come the Superb isn't, the Carisma has none and the Streetwise certainly is not...

Marketing.

Cheers,

If they run one, they are affording it. I can't usually pay unexpected bills of several hundred squids, but I'd be a hell of lot worse off paying for public transport, which would cost the family in the region of a grand a month (not to mention a few hundred extra man-hours).

Which is just daft.

Paul Rooney ( snipped-for-privacy@aol.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

No, it's a fact of life.

If you can't afford to do something, you shouldn't be doing it. Easy as that.

If you can't afford to run a car, then either you rejig your finances to afford it - cut back on luxuries like consumer electronics, multi-channel- tv, smoking, drinking, holidays.

"Affording to run a car" includes being able to finance maintenance and repairs.

No, it's your opinion about how other people should manage their lives! Since when have such opinions been facts?

Well, it's certainly an opinion, but not one I share.

Not necessarily - it depends on what the repairs cost, and whether they are expectable or not. Affording something doesn't mean you have to budget for unexpected, expensive repairs. I own lots of equipment that I don't expect will need repairing during its lifetime. I enjoy its use and I see no reason why I should stop using it because of some theoretical possibility that I may one day be unable to have it repaired. Many people take a similar line with their cars: buy a cheap, good runner, and when it's too expensive to repair, replace it with another cheap one. You appear to believe that we can't afford something if we might one day not be able to afford it. Faulty logic.

The message from Adrian contains these words:

Not necessarily. You might just choose to bin it and start again with another old banger.

Fair enough, a lot of things get to the point where they're uneconomical to repair, particularly older cars. But part of affording to run a car includes either carrying out running repairs or replacing it with something roadworthy. If they can't afford either of these, then that'll leave them without a car, and surely that defeats the object, wouldn't you agree? And at the end of the day, most repairs that would be more than the value of the car are preventable (such as the results of a snapped cambelt that should have been replaced as a matter of course).

Anyone with any sense will allow a reasonable budget for unexpected things to go wrong with a vehicle. I know I do.

Peter

Anyone with any sense *and spare cash*. Some people live from day to day - no other realistic choice.

So you don't consider these bills to be a part of running costs?

I understand where you're coming from, but those unexpected bills should be expected when it comes to assessing the running costs.

'Always expect the unexpected', I think the saying goes! Depends what they are really. I ran a car quite safely for years while never being able to put my hands on several hundred quid at any given time. Otoh, I also had one sat on the drive for 6 years when I was at uni and couldn't afford to repair it. My street cred prevents me from telling you what make.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that people have to live each day as they come. But the unexpected costs have got to come from somewhere..

You're worrying about street cred when telling a 30-year-old man with a green modified Ka what you once owned?

:-)

Ka!!????!!!!

GREEN!!!!&&*****%%!!!!

I despair!

Ok - I had a Yugo.

Paul Rooney ( snipped-for-privacy@aol.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

It's worse than that.

He's given it a "cute" pet name.

Oi! Dervy! Is Charlie really a bloke?

When they were little, the kids made a brief (three seconds?) attempt to give my car a name, because they'd come across this sort of thing with one of my more annoying relatives. I nipped it in the bud (-: The use of 'she' for cars makes me cringe too.

You're worrying about your street cred when conversing with a 30-year-old man who drives a modified Green Ford Ka?

:-)

Peter