Irony overload

[Betaphile]

...even if they don't realise it.

 

The Bondini family of Beaconsfield, just outside Melbourne, is an example of this type of lateral thinking and 20-year-old daughter Lucinda is one of the beneficiaries. A pretty switched-on car fancier, father Marc figured a quality car was needed when his daughters started to learn to drive but couldn't face the thought of a bland hatchback when there was so much choice about.

 

So he opted for an Audi A3.

 

Yup, an A3 just screams 'lateral thinker', I see this now.

 

For Marc's part, the decision to buy a second-hand Audi rather than a new hatchback was based on the engineering involved.

 

''Because I was aiming for a combination of power and fuel economy, I admired the technology involved,'' he says.

 

''I just couldn't see that the Japanese new hatches had cracked that power-versus-efficiency thing. But to be honest, I bought the engineering and the badge just came with it.''

 

Indeed, I have to admit that's a good point. Modern VAG products are famed for their engineering, especially in the reliability stakes, not like that cheap knockoff Jap stuff.

 

It hasn't, however, been completely clear sailing.

 

Within a few months of buying the car, the DSG gearbox failed. We've heard of these units failing before and it backs up the point that even prestige brands can have ongoing reliability problems.

 

''The gearbox started engaging with a big clunk and then it just fell to bits,'' he says. ''The repair price quoted at a dealership was pretty hysterical, too.''

 

...oh. Still, know better for next time, eh?

 

Despite that, however, the Bondini family remains happy with the vehicle and Marc says he'd buy a quality second-hand car over a brown-wrapper new car again.

[MrDuke]

Are her trousers a statement of Irony as well?

 

 

Seriously, the quoted sections read like a SniffPetrol article. Thankyou for giving me my first gigglesnorts of the day

[Cavcraft]

Not got to her trousers just yet, found something(s) further up I can't take my eye off.

 

LOL @ Mr Environmental with ''I'm happy to do that because I'm extending the life of an existing vehicle, rather than throwing away hundreds of kilos of plastic and chemicals and buying another car that's consumed more materials and energy to build,'' Marc says. ''That's a forgotten point these days.''

[pompei]

Haha! Priceless! Thought it must be April 1st! My first car (a Mini) was 15 y/o. the second (another Mini) was 18. And so it went on... Poor old Lucinda having to put up with a second rate A3

[quicksilver]

couldn't face the thought of a bland hatchback...So he opted for an Audi A3.

ERROR. DOES NOT COMPUTE.

 

It must have been a really slow news day for this to make the paper. Man buys decent secondhand car for daughter. Big deal, so have many others so why is this news - or are Audi A3s considered unusual down under?

[Betaphile]

couldn't face the thought of a bland hatchback...So he opted for an Audi A3.

ERROR. DOES NOT COMPUTE.

 

It must have been a really slow news day for this to make the paper. Man buys decent secondhand car for daughter. Big deal, so have many others so why is this news - or are Audi A3s considered unusual down under?

Yeah, that was classic. Rest assured, an A3 is just as bland and conformist here as it is in the motherland. But it was quite amusing to see the amount of post-facto "It really was the engineering, nothing at all to do with daughter dearest having a 'prestige' German ride to give the right impression to her uni friends" rationalisation going on. I trust daddy got stung on the 'box repairs.

 

On the subject of which, I also liked how the author skimmed over the running costs on the 7-Series. A good rule of thumb is that if you couldn't afford to run a car when it was new, best of luck trying to run it as a daily once it's got a few miles under its belt.

[oman5]

couldn't face the thought of a bland hatchback...So he opted for an Audi A3.

ERROR. DOES NOT COMPUTE.

 

It must have been a really slow news day for this to make the paper. Man buys decent secondhand car for daughter. Big deal, so have many others so why is this news - or are Audi A3s considered unusual down under?

Yeah, that was classic. Rest assured, an A3 is just as bland and conformist here as it is in the motherland. But it was quite amusing to see the amount of post-facto "It really was the engineering, nothing at all to do with daughter dearest having a 'prestige' German ride to give the right impression to her uni friends" rationalisation going on. I trust daddy got stung on the 'box repairs.

 

On the subject of which, I also liked how the author skimmed over the running costs on the 7-Series. A good rule of thumb is that if you couldn't afford to run a car when it was new, best of luck trying to run it as a daily once it's got a few miles under its belt.

 

Amen to that, as I discovered with an ageing but temptingly cheap Mercedes 420se.

[Ross_K]

''My life right now is about study and not breaking down by the side of the road,'' she says.

 

Within a few months of buying the car, the DSG gearbox failed.

 

 

Funny isn't it how a country of people descended from British and Irish horse thieves might see a 6-year old German turdblower as a prestige car?

 

On this side of the world people just assume you're a photocopier salesman if you're piloting an Audi A3.

 

Maybe it's not irony, but just the pull of the universe on their half of the world? Kinda like the how water goes down the plug hole the wrong way down there...

[fotorabia]

Melbourne has routinely bought German cars.It is not a city descended from Irish horse thieves..but of Italian ,Greek ,Lebanese ,Spanish .Middle Eastern who knew they where buying quality vehicles such as the Merc W123..which are all still in use rather than a bland Australian Leyland product that was under developed by the lack of investment from the Motherfukaland...the article represents a naff attitude that is omnipresent in Nth and Sth Hemispheres..and whilst you Northerners stand and listen to your cars rotting away...i stand in front of my 35 yr old car and know it hasnt a blemish of rust on it..

[Betaphile]

...well, I think the point is that a W123 is perhaps not quite comparable in engineering integrity or longevity to a modern disposable hatchback?

 

I think it's true to say though that Melbourne is by some margin the most interesting city for a car buff in Oz. Apparently, a lot of it is to do with the fact that for many years post-war it (rather than Sydney) was really Australia's commercial capital. That meant it was home to much of Australia's 'old money', which tended to manifest itself in the sort of cars (imported ones) that were prominent around the city centre. Until the 1970s imported cars copped a tariff of 60 percent, so anyone that wanted to sell in quantity had to assemble here. Your W123 would have been a SERIOUSLY expensive car in its day, at a guess probably at least three times the price of a new Cortina or such. Same goes for anything Italian/French (except Renault, they had a local assembly operation for a while here), specialist Brit, or German (apart from VW's short-lived stint here in the 1960s).

[fotorabia]

well said Beta...i am aware of the expense factor of my Merc [it was 20000DM's in Germany..so double that nrly here]..even in my teenage yoof in Sydney early 80s...i would wander thru the prostitutes on William St where all the exotic Euro car showrooms were..and marvel at the heinously expensive tin they had on display..theres a huge Audi dealer down the road from me here..and the flashiness reflects the massive price tags..and funnily enough..one of the Israelis who comes to my house..his 2000 Merc needs more work than mine does!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That article is quality! I can't believe that its even made it into a newspaper, then the bit about the gearbox exploding is just an added bonus, like finding a caramel keg amongst the leftover hard-ass toffee and minging coconut sweets in a tub of 'Roses' thats someone has brought to the office.

[Richard]

Here's one closer to home. No irony though, just odium. Local rags are notorious for filler and non-stories but even by these standards I can't see how anybody would think this was news. http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Perths ... -gift.html

[504GL]

...well, I think the point is that a W123 is perhaps not quite comparable in engineering integrity or longevity to a modern disposable hatchback?

 

I think it's true to say though that Melbourne is by some margin the most interesting city for a car buff in Oz. Apparently, a lot of it is to do with the fact that for many years post-war it (rather than Sydney) was really Australia's commercial capital. That meant it was home to much of Australia's 'old money', which tended to manifest itself in the sort of cars (imported ones) that were prominent around the city centre. Until the 1970s imported cars copped a tariff of 60 percent, so anyone that wanted to sell in quantity had to assemble here. Your W123 would have been a SERIOUSLY expensive car in its day, at a guess probably at least three times the price of a new Cortina or such. Same goes for anything Italian/French (except Renault, they had a local assembly operation for a while here), specialist Brit, or German (apart from VW's short-lived stint here in the 1960s).

 

Not just Renno's. Renault actually assembled some Pugs in Australia. My beige 504 was a Renault built one.