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What do your 'other halves' think of shite?


Guest greenvanman

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Guest greenvanman

Mrs GVM, although she is an unwitting shiter with her crusty 306 diesel, says autoshite is OK as long as she can't see it. Which means I'm limited to scooter shite (or possibly one of those electric Enfields) as that's all that will fit in the garage. Just wondered how the rest of us get on?

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I'm 23 and I drive a hearing-aid beige Colt Galant and metallic beige Daihatsu Charmant around town, blasting Magic 828, whilst wearing gold Rayban aviators, a sensible jacket and driving gloves. One arm on the windowframe/steering wheel, nonchalant stare into the middle-distance, Earth Wind & Fire shrieking out of the radio.....Why yes ladies, I am single! Apply within. No hambeasts.

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I reckon I have it good. Wifey gave me a budget to bid on the Jag and when the bidding exceeded that limit, she secretly kept going until she won it. Great 30th birthday present! It makes up for the nagging and rolling of eyes every time she spots the brown screen and pics of old Hondas when i really should be helping around the house a bit.

 

And I can have as much Shite as I like providing:

 

We have completed the houses out here

I have bought a decent house in UK with plenty of garage space

She has a Discovery and a Frogeye Sprite to play with

There is at least a 2 year supply of SKII and L'Oreal products in her bathroom cabinet

She has everything she allegedly needs from the Lakeland Plastics catalogue

etc etc

 

So, I'll have to make do with the Jag for the next 50 years or so

 

bless 'er lil cotton socks

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I'm quite lucky as Mrs L likes old cars generally as long as they are reliable and the place isn't filled with them! She has an aging Suzuki Alto which she is perfectly happy with and actually uses in preference to the decent car we do own - 04 Seat Toledo.She is about as much into the R4 as I am which is rather nice and has not discouraged me from buying anything else as long as the house gets done and everything else gets paid and whatnot.We get married in summer and I can be fairly sure I'll be the only person in the UK with an R4 F6 as a wedding car!

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Mrs W is tolerant of the current shite (although prefers not to ride in it unless absolutely necessary), turning to firm but fair (like the Moscow police) when stamping out further shite purchasing activities.However, she is now 13 weeks pregnant and I'd be interested to hear tips from other members of the board who have been in similar situations on how to balance shite purchase/shite maintenance activities with the demands of (a) a hormonal wife and (B) when the baby arrives.

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My girlfriend doesn't understand the attraction of shite and of collecting brochures, pictures of old cars etc. but she's happy with the current wheels, so no silly obsession with clean, safe, ugly modern cars at least. But to my surprise last weekend she suddenly started to ask me what I would buy as a sensible old daily, to keep me from buying some obscure Japanese car and stuffing it in a garage miles from home like before I guess... so next year we might sell the Starlet and get an old Volvo, fingers crossed! She likes Amazons, but maybe I can get her to like 140s too, slightly cheaper I hope.

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My other half refuses to drive "shitty little hatchbacks", as she so eloquently puts it, she has a penchant for large automatic saloons, with unfeasibly large engines. Consequently, we've had a succession of Rover 827's, big Volvos, and now an '89 XJ40. [rust free! yes really] Fine by me!

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Congrat’s RW!Mrs SL has her moments but is pretty tolerant of it most of the time. She sees new/nearly-new cars as as big a waste of money as I do; so long as the car she gets is tidy and reliable for family carting duties that’s OK with her. The Carina E continues to fulfil that role well and with only 50k on the clock is likely to be with us for many years yet. That’s the car we tend to use for trips with all of us, which leaves me free to have whatever, so that’s my tip for you RW.My argument is that I probably spend less on 2-3 cars which also happen to be my hobby than someone who just has a new(ish) one as a tool for work etc, then also spends money on other pursuits.Lucky that we have space here for a few cars (such that we’ve even taken custody of two of Wuvvum’s) and when looking at prospective houses that was important. What sometimes annoys her is the amount of magazines, brochures, kits etc that are stashed away (or aren’t, which is the problem), especially now we have the children. New place should solve all those problems though…Some cars she likes more than others (the Galant being particularly disliked), others she just can’t remember. We did use a 100A FII estate to try to bring on the birth of child #1, hoping its bouncy ride might speed up the somewhat overdue appearance of my daughter.We had the Datsun show at our wedding of course and I think I’ve always had more than one car for most of the time we’ve been together.

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Heh. 405 suspension is supple so don't think that will induce labour :lol: Family car duties will be taken on by my dad's Accord. I'm itching to get my hands on it to give it a thorough valet, looks like early March. Then the Fabia can be sold and hopefully a decent amount of cash generated in the "cost-to-change" which can be put towards the inevitable DIY around constructing a nursery etc.Anyways, the wife has tolerated the motors but did get a bit narked when I got out of control with 6 motors this time last year. So that won't be happening again.Ironically she thought the brown Belmont was the nicest one (probably because it was the most modern) and the gold Rekord (easily the best car I've ever owned) was the worst, as it made her carsick.Unfortunately I can't see a wholesale switch to a 100% shite fleet, but perhaps that's the protective dad in me coming out and a wish to have a 'family' car with 4 airbags and plenty of metal. Still, the Accord is only costing us a grand which is a bonus. Ticks all the boxes too - A/C, auto, cruise, tape deck for the iPod adapter, big boot. My wife would still like another Golf but I see Japanese stuff as the way forward for reliable motoring. Although an 850 T5 estate does hold appeal, but not when my wife does 20-25k miles a year...

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Anyways, the wife has tolerated the motors but did get a bit narked when I got out of control with 6 motors this time last year. So that won't be happening again.

Thats the way I see it too. I could get away with buying another so long as funds allow but if I got back to the stage of owning many more then there would be trouble!
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It was more a case of I had sufficient storage but neither enough time or funds to get them all how I wanted them.Crunch time for me was the second May bank holiday weekend - 3 solid days of working on motors in the pissing rain, which also involved covering my patio in Vauxhall Silver Green paint because I had to rig up my improvised 'spray booth' (i.e. a Workmate with some old sheets around the bottom of it) under the lean-to at the back of the house. The paint's still there, must get out there with thinners at some point.I have huge admiration for Mr_B, wuvvum and Nigel Bickle in how they keep motivated with their huge fleets, I'd find it difficult to keep for sure! I think my aim is to by the best-condition shite I can going forward, I like fettling but major surgery is a different matter.Still, I'm doing the cambelt and water pump on my estate next Saturday so wish me luck...!

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I have huge admiration for Mr_B, wuvvum and Nigel Bickle in how they keep motivated with their huge fleets

Ditto. I would love to have more but common sense mean that for me its not possible. If I did have more cars then it would give me too much hassle in terms of a lack of time, storage space and money so I would rather get what I have got right. I did get to having many more a few years back but the fact that having too many cost me too much so I never had the money to get them to the standard I wanted.Having a small number of decent, working cars has the added benefit of ensuring continual household harmony too!
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Not being married to her might make all the difference (people say women change after you push a ring on their finger - thanks for the warning guys... :lol:) but... I currently have seven cars with plans to buy another and she doesn't seem to mind. There's just one clear rule - the back yard and the two floors of the house that we live in are off limits for cars and parts.She actually kinda liked the Charmant a bit when she first saw a pic of it, since it is boxy three-box sedan just like how she learned to draw cars in her childhood :shock: Doesn't seem to care a bit about the others though, she tells them apart only by their colors and license plate numbers :shock:She does applaud the fact I've put three cars up for sale - even I feel the need to clean out once in a while. Too many projects.

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However, she is now 13 weeks pregnant and I'd be interested to hear tips from other members of the board who have been in similar situations on how to balance shite purchase/shite maintenance activities with the demands of (a) a hormonal wife and (B) when the baby arrives.

Excellent procreational work!Maybe you could follow my example: days before the birth of Poglet Minimus, I bought a non-running 47-year-old vehicle with only 3 seats, no "boot" and no seatbelts. WINNER. :roll::lol: It's not so much the shite itself which causes the strife. It's when shite overload occurs and outside our house resembles steptoe's yard that thing get tense. Oh and when I "forget" to tell her about purchases. That's when the shit really hits the fan, especially if she has to go on rescue missions with me. The towing frame has allowed me to sneak a coulple under the radar, and a decent profit made of "speculative shite" keeps her slightly less miffed, especially when it leads to treats. She is not keen on owning or driving shite though, even when it's good shite: won't drive my BMW's as they are too "heavy" (this is perhaps a good thing, as I would anticipate the first corner ending in massive oversteer and a smouldering wreck).
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Heh. I rope in my brother for rescue missions where the train is not a "transportation to" option. He seems to enjoy it.The estate is already banned from the driveway due to it's "Police Aware" bodywork at the moment. Waiting for the weather to improve so I can dig out the compressor and paintgun to get it a uniform colour. Might sack it off and get another one because there seems to be a lot of pressure in the cooling system, I've lobbed in some K-Seal but really don't want to take the head off as the book time is 9.3 hours :evil: Wanna take it as a p/x on your 740? :wink:

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Mrs P tolerates my shite interest/addiction/compulsion providing that I don't acquire any more ...My fleet of CX, GS, CRX, 127 and 440 has all gone since we met and married. The Fiat 500 stays as she thinks it's "cute" , and for the time being there is no pressure to sell.I regularly send ebay etc pages to her computer usually of cheap motors with a ticket, in the hope of starting a pre-purchase discussion, but she deletes them without even opening them now.She's a woman who likes the latest cars with the latest gizmos, and no worries about breaking down/not starting/MoT's etc. She hated the quirkiness of both the Citroens, and (I kid you not) when I left her in charge of the GS she couldn't get the handbrake off, but instead managed to get the thing to rise up and down using the hydro height adjusting lever. Oh, and she snapped the key off in the ignition. So I s'pose I can see a bit of where she is coming from.Despite all this, and as a result of my incessant enthusiasm, she is weakening again - she would "quite like" an old Alfa Spyder, although this hardly qualifies as shite.When she had the infant, that was the cue for me to shed my sheds. Transport wasn't an issue when she was on maternity leave, but she then insisted that I get a safe and reliable motor, with airbags etc to cart him around in. I couldn't really refuse, could I?But my time will come again ..... Fiat 600 Multipla with modern engine in the back is what I'm currently dreaming of 8)

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My mrs used to be really unhappy about the old French Shite I kept buying / running / selling on after 6 months - then I gave her ownership of the new car and registered all the shite in my name ( had previously been the other way round for insurance reasons)Now she could not give a stuff - her words "if it breaks down, dont think for one moment you are taking my car to work".Mind you some of this possibly dates back to a time when I crunched the rear bumper of the 3 week old Xantia we had, whilst using it for work. I didnt tell her waited til she came back from brownies and said "oh my god, what the fugg have you done to the car" etc etc. She really believed it was her fault for several weeks. Then she found out it wasnt and, well you know that film Basic Instinct?..... :shock:

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I guess I'm kinda lucky -but my drive was full of exotic shite when she first met me -so its always been there.She allows me a pretty free rein -although occasional revulsion is noted and acted on sharpish. I guess having the sheds helps -out of sight out of mind etc etc.We do have one or three 'nice' motors in there- but they arent allowed out 'cos they're only used for pulling'!!! -and i respect that -so there they sit.She tends to stick to one or two motors -but is a harsh driver & regularly breaks them -so I always keep a spare ready -which is clearly appreciated. We tried a new motor -but they arent strong enough/fast enough etc -annd she hates depreciation more than I do!I don't tell her what I've bought -she just notices it if it comes home.So I dont have to tell her about the 1973 Renault 5 I've just bought, and the 1986 Mk2 R5 -with 8 months ticket that I've just bought in the flatlands for £1.04! Oh -the joys of Ebay.

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I too am pretty lucky, I think, in that my other half loves the 25, and it's usually her who reminds me to pick up the camera when we go out, "Just in case we see something"! Not sure how tollerant she'd be if we had the space to accumulate the sort of fleet some lucky buggers on here have got!

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.., so my mk3 Escort had to make way for a '99 Mundaneo :lol:

How exactly was that an improvement? :shock:

 

Sorry, I've got a personal thing against Mu.. Mo... M... I can't even get the damn word out of my keyboard!

Tis a good point. She showed her appreciation by dumping my ass :lol:
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