How do you side-step the...

[crazylegs]

... the "how much did that motor cost you?" question? Or do you just tell them?

I've had a few people ask me this, and its typically the people I don't want to tell. Its pretty stupid really, because if they asked a few relevant questions about the car, which I am more than happy to discuss, they could easily find out how much its worth.

But it always seems to be me that feels uncomfortable, because I don't want to tell them but I don't want to say "Mind your own fking business" either...

[markmullen]

I just tell them (unless it is someone I think may want to buy it when I am finished / bored with it) but then I deal all day with people who don't want to discuss the value of cars.

I sometimes wish my employers would provide me with a company crystal ball.

[mattd]

usualy a somthing along the lines of "cheaper than you would think" or "too much" would give most people the hint that you don't want to talk about it

[wedg1e]

I usually say "I bet your family hatchback cost more" - which is usually true

Six grand TVR, two grand Lotus.
MG Z-whatsname? More than £8K, I'll wager.

[docevi1]

Or tell them it's only got a 1275 engine in and doesn't actually go that quickly, it just looks different.

Honest.

[towman]

When asked by my lovely wife, experience has taught me that lying through my teeth helps.

[v8thunder]

Gazboy said:

When my cousin asked me how much I payed for the MRT, she exclaimed "For a J reg MR2! I bought my Seicento new for less than that!" "yes, and you still have a Seicento..."

says it all. I find non-car types (and I know this is the point you go 'exactly, so what's your problem') are paying through the nose for cars that aren't worth a bean, based entirely on the letters in the numberplate.

I personally know someone who's spending close to £10k on a brand new Nissan Micra. Getting a lift in it confirmed that, once again, Nissan can't make the Micra accommodating enough for me in the slightest. Full of horrid grey plastic and Fisher-Price touches, and here we have a 19-year-old student who's just put herself in £10k of debt for something that will be worth about £3k when she comes to sell it.

And then they turn round and actively have a go at me for liking 'sports cars I'll never be able to afford' (ie £5-10k non-depreciating classic stuff).

All I can assume is that I'm going to look very very rich in the future, in a £5k Esprit S3 alongside her still-depreciating OAP-mobile

[nonegreen]

Gazboy said:

When my cousin asked me how much I payed for the MRT, she exclaimed "For a J reg MR2! I bought my Seicento new for less than that!" "yes, and you still have a Seicento..."

Some people just do not get cars. I have a good friend who suggested the other day we might do Le Mans next year. So far so good, he then suggested we could go in his car(putting a very positive intonation in his voice). He has a a Mazda 6 saloon, he just did not see that if I go to Le Mans again this next year it will be in the Porsche. When I pointed out that at least my car looks a bit like the ones on the track and would fit in with the scenery and the cars parked at Arnage, he looked at me and said "but surely my car is newer so it must be faster I cant believe you think it would look out of place anywhere". Half an hout later he was back home having been for a "quick" drive with me. He did not speak for a while but the first words were "How much did it cost you?"

[v8thunder]

I despair when the first question anyone asks about a car is 'What 'reg' is it?', with the idea in their heads that all cars get better the newer they get, to the point whereby a brand new Smart is better than a Lamborghini Countach

[minimax]

I will admit it, I was once one of those gimps who changed their car every year... happily I was cured when I got the mini in october 2001 and discovered that I didn't give a fack about how old a car was

now I just look pityingly at people who say "but it's a J-reg!" and I say "yes, but it'll do 160 mph and your paxo won't see it for fumes!" self righteous? me?

[srebbe64]

minimax said:

I will admit it, I was once one of those gimps who changed their car every year... happily I was cured when I got the mini in october 2001 and discovered that I didn't give a fack about how old a car was now I just look pityingly at people who say "but it's a J-reg!" and I say "yes, but it'll do 160 mph and your paxo won't see it for fumes!" self righteous? me?

That is a truly gorgeous car you've got on your profile Minimax.

[minimax]

srebbe64 said:

minimax said: I will admit it, I was once one of those gimps who changed their car every year... happily I was cured when I got the mini in october 2001 and discovered that I didn't give a fack about how old a car was now I just look pityingly at people who say "but it's a J-reg!" and I say "yes, but it'll do 160 mph and your paxo won't see it for fumes!" self righteous? me? That is a truly gorgeous car you've got on your profile Minimax.

why thank you kind sir it takes getting used to, but I love it and I'd never sell it

[srebbe64]

minimax said:

srebbe64 said: minimax said: I will admit it, I was once one of those gimps who changed their car every year... happily I was cured when I got the mini in october 2001 and discovered that I didn't give a fack about how old a car was now I just look pityingly at people who say "but it's a J-reg!" and I say "yes, but it'll do 160 mph and your paxo won't see it for fumes!" self righteous? me? That is a truly gorgeous car you've got on your profile Minimax. why thank you kind sir it takes getting used to, but I love it and I'd never sell it

I'm sure I'd be the same. By the way, how much did it cost you? (only joking!)

[Ding]

If anyone asks me how much anything costs I tell them that I consider it very rude and in fact bad mannered to discuss finances.

Anyone who genuinely cares(and does not ask outright) I tell straight away.

Elizabeth

[wedge girl]

The cost of my car is unmeasurable(sp??) against the joy it brings.

Tell them you have no idea as your wife deals with all the finances, that should stop them dead in their tracks