Hulk Friday: enthusiasts that buy lesser cars for their wives/family to commute...?

[HULK_I6T]

Ive had a hard week being sick and also at work.. great to see the weekend, time to shift into car mode from work mode, take the edge off the work week and resolve world problems in a friday hulk thread..

ive noticed something of late that really boils my blood.. its car enthusiasts that buy/own a second car for their wife/partner/family that is far inferior to their own. Either on price/quality/safety/reliability. For example if you went out and bought yourself a new fpv GT/f6 and the wife/family a hyundai getz/ smartcar or old 2nd hand falcon etc etc. Its Like eating in a fancy restaurant whilst the family is next door at McDonalds...dont feel right does it?

Some car enthusiasts park up their pride and joy in the garage or drive it off to work of a morning and leave their family to roll around in a bomb (Comparatively speaking)... isnt this a disgraceful manourvre? An unloving act?

Some of these enthusiasts dont let their family/wife/partner even drive their cars freely. Buying these cheaper cars to keep their pride and joy to themselves? What kind of people are they?

Wouldnt you want you wife/family to ride in the safest roomiest and luxurious ride possible not relegate them to a second rate experience?? At least have a 50/50 split (or better in the wife favour) between your car and the wife/family car.

What do you drive as opposed to your partner? Is it at least on par 50/50 with yours? If not....why not!

[Franco Cozzo]

My missus holds my steering wheel.

[cheap]

I have tried for years to have my wife work with my heavy clutch, but all I get is crunched up equipment she is also not keen on driving an ancient XWGT...

[LoudPipes]

I'd rather be in a bomb or at least something cheap that I don't have to worry about when it comes to car parks at the shops.

I get sick of the dents from other people's doors.

[NX74205]

If I were ever to get married, my car policy is this: there will be no negotiation, no consultation, no compromise. I will get what I want with my money and she won't get a say in my choice. Likewise, she can buy what she wants with her money with no input from me unless she asks. If she wants a Getz, I'm not going to stand in her way.

[au2000]

Luckily for me my wife did not want the GTE as her daily, she feels more comftable in her 2000 au Fairmont Ghia, 212,000 on the clock, full leather etc,
Are you married hulk? What does your better half drive?

[Simple6]

My fiancé wanted a little Fiesta to drive around in, she was sick of the Falcons I was buying and she was then using to drive to work/other things.

So in essence it doesn't matter what I drive because what she's driving she thinks is better.

Personal preference hey?

(No offence hulk, but from reading posts from you in the past, I don't think you understand too much that some people have different thoughts and opinions to you)

[XP6]

Wife = FG
Me = 17yr old cheap ute

She gets the better end of the deal

[SensationFG8]

Guilty, I bought my wife a gtf as her car to replace her xr8.

Did you ever think the other halves are happy with a cheap car and spend the saved money on things they like? There's a shocking revelation for you, most women don't like what you do.

[jmack]

hey hulk ,i ran into one of your neighbors the other day a mr &mrs jones.what is your problem with an older car,just cause they are does not make them unsafe.most people have no need or desire to own a new car.to me a new car means starting the modification cycle again.my theory is anyone can afford to make the first payment but its being able to afford the last that counts,until then you are just a passenger in a finance companies vehicle

[Sox]

I'm with Hulk on this.
There's no way I'd let wifey flog around in a tin can while I hoot around in something significantly better/newer/safer.

We don't really have a your car/my car mentality anyhow, we drive whatever is available, and none of them are flimsy tin cans.

As most of you know, most of our cars are AU Falcons, however one is a BMW 328 coupe.
The Beemer is mostly her choice to drive as it's more nimble than the 'Coons, uses less fuel, and goes like the clappers.

I'm fortunate enough to have a wifey who who doesn't like to drive typical girly cars like [any little budget 4cyl car], so I (we) have the luxury of choosing a decent and safe car for both of us.

She also drives a good old distance every day (near enough to 3h).
She's also had a fairly major head on about 13 years ago, luckily it was in an ED XR6 and she walked out of it with only bruising. Everyone at the scene and afterwards could all clearly see that if she had of been in a smaller car, she would no longer be alive.
The other (drunk) driver also walked away, as he was in a VN (or similar) Commodore.

Unlike Hulk though, what anyone else does certainly doesn't make my blood boil, in fact, I couldn't give a rats behind what anyone else does, at least it leaves a greater choice of real cars for me.

My own brother flogged one of his AU Falcons for a Honda Jazz. His wifey drives 20mins for 4 days a week to work, and his reason was fuel economy.
They also tow a caravan, and it was handy to have 2 cars of choice to do so.
Go figure.

I can't work it out, but then I don't have to, it's his loss, and it definitely doesn't make my blood boil, as I don't have to drive it...

[mjrstar]

Wife has a car of similar value / age to my ute.. Peugeot 3008 Diesel it's actually a nice machine to drive and has some pretty decent features.

Although it's a lot slower and much more economical.

In saying that there are 4 additional cars in my garage.. so there is not total vehicular equality..

[phat_stak_tipa]

Some women prefer smaller cars to drive as it is easier, also i believe SOME women are not as careful with gutters, driveways, add lowering and nice rims and YOUR nice ride is looking crap.....i ONLY own an xr6 but i dont let her drive it without me, its low and has nice rims, my girl is used to driving a 323, and god knows its seen its fair share of gutters on the rims and shopping trolley/careless shoppers car doors, IMO a 2nd less expensive/nice car comes in handy for all sorts of other jobs and situations.....

[HULK_I6T]

Originally Posted by jmack

hey hulk ,i ran into one of your neighbors the other day a mr &mrs jones.what is your problem with an older car,just cause they are does not make them unsafe.most people have no need or desire to own a new car.to me a new car means starting the modification cycle again.my theory is anyone can afford to make the first payment but its being able to afford the last that counts,until then you are just a passenger in a finance companies vehicle

I have no problem with older cars.. the point is some people buy themselves a nice shiny new car but relegate the wife/family to a far inferior car.. thats poor form

[HULK_I6T]

Originally Posted by au2000

Luckily for me my wife did not want the GTE as her daily, she feels more comftable in her 2000 au Fairmont Ghia, 212,000 on the clock, full leather etc,
Are you married hulk? What does your better half drive?

Now this is a prime example..

you drive a new GT-E
you subject the wife/family to a 212000km AU falcon??

Bit of a disparity?

[SensationFG8]

How do you translate "prefers" to "you subject"?

Troll much?

[Blem]

My daily is a 1998 Econovan & my wife drives a BA Futura wagon. Her cars is a our kids taxi, a shopping trolley, & a dog transporter. Her car must have at least 10 - 15 dings from other peoples doors etc. The FGF6 sits in the garage. Wife has only driven it about 20 times in 5 years. Mainly prefers me to drive her & kids around whether it's in her car or the F6.

Also jmack.you type up a mess that is very hard to read/cope with.can you please use some capitals to break it up a bit?

[DBourne]

When you get a lady (or man) friend in your life Hulk, you may learn that it is best to give them what THEY want, not what you think they should want.

[graphicgoose]

I'm single, but would have a rather hard time letting a future girlfriend/wife drive my GT. Not because I don't trust her or see myself as superior to her...but because it will literally be MY car, not OUR car given I've owned it since before we'd be together. Many girls I know don't like driving big cars, they like smaller cars that are easier to drive and park. A lot of girls I know also aren't car enthusiasts, so they don't car about the same things as I do with respect to my cars.

When I go to the shops I park as far away from everyone else as possible to minimise potential dents, dings and doors being opened on my car...many girls I know laugh at this and don't understand or appreciate it. If they can't respect or appreciate that then why should I feel obligated to let them drive a car that deserves respect and appreciation?

[Peter B - CV8]

My wife prefers to drive her 2007 Mazda 6 - rather than my 2004 Monaro as "it's too loud & has blindspots". Suits me just fine

[Grunter]

Hulk is this suggesting that all wifes and partners don't have any say to overall family purchases? Don't let your partner see this thread! ;)

My experience is that no matter how "blokey" or in control of decisions a husband/partner is, or believes they are, the significant other will fine a way to get there way.

[Al_Zhiemer]

Hell, when me and the missus got together, she didn't have a car at all, I was driving around in the beat up old work ute that was provided for me by work... I eventually got my old Toyota Starlet (Man I miss that car, fantastic second car) on the road so that we had a tidy car to drive around in but she refused to drive it because it didn't have power steering, not that you need it in such a little thing anyway but she wouldn't have a bar of it... So I put power steering and air conditioning into it and by that time she had decided to buy her own car, she had gotten a job in the city and wanted an automatic to drive... And I have to say that I'm proud of her efforts when it came to buying a car, she worked out what she wanted, spent weeks reading reviews and comparisons, would ask my opinion occasionally and based her decision on that... I'm not overly happy with her choice of car but hey, its her car, she loves it and is very happy with it and as the age old saying goes... Happy Wife = Happy Life...

She drives a 2011 Mitsubishi ASX stock as a rock,I pushed for the diesel variant but at the time a diesel automatic wasn't available so she went with the petrol model... Me, I drive a 06 LS Focus Manual, lowered, tinted windows and just coming up for its 60,000 km service... Its a great little car and I bought it for a bargain but the missus refuses to drive it because its not an automatic...

We had both discussed buying a new Ford Ranger in the near future and getting rid of the F150 but after reading about all the little issues I refuse to buy one... The missus hates the F150 for both being to big (She is only 5ft and maybe 40 Kgs) and the fact that its a manual... But as I politely asked her, "How often do you drive anywhere when we go somewhere and the the F150 is purely weekend get away and travel rig, it'll barely get used around town as we have 2 other cars for that so you'll never drive it any way."... She's all good with it now and is beginning to come around to it but with certain conditions,

1- I have to put the electric drop down side steps on it so she can get in and out of it

and

2- I have to put height adjustable seats in it just in case she does ever have to drive it...

I can live with that :-)

Now I'm happy I get to spend money on my dream truck and she's happy because she's got her automatic and an update to the latest ASX when the diesel automatic becomes available...

Damn it... I knew it was going to cost me somewhere but the Effy is it worth and so is she... LOL

Regards

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by HULK_I6T

its car enthusiasts that buy/own a second car for their wife/partner/family that is far inferior to their own.

Yep, thats me!

She gets the Daggy ol' CLK240 I get the XG ute

[wicksy]

i bought my wife a VF SS Wagon as her car for daily duties and to cart the feral kids around, it gets trashed on the inside but once its clean you wouldnt know any different,

[FPV GTHO]

The roads I think would be alot safer if we all drove small cars compared to big cars. The bigger cars would be safer against stationary objects but the smaller cars would have less energy in a multi car crash.

But is this point really any different to the family car staying the same whilst the weekend toys keep getting sold, upgraded, traded etc - a constant money drain? Wouldn't the responsible decision there be to keep the family car the one always getting upgraded whilst the weekend toy stays and actually gets driven and maintained?

[raised by monkeys]

Its a family runabout. I personally don't see the issue. Why would you want the kids LCM's rubbed into your fresh leather? Why would you uglify your GT with trolley dents and 'my family' stickers. Im sure those in such scenarios do take their family in the pride and joy for a ride on the weekends, but to have it scratched when on a supermarket milk run on a Wednesday arvo... 'F' that. Take the comfy soft shocked 2000 ghia that's not going to get you a 1k trade in but will safely and comfortably transport the skids and squid around.

Im sure the other half doesn't want wear her top of the line makeup, best evening cocktail dress and heals and spend an hour on her hair every time she goes to the shops for milk (not to push a stereotype here, but just for arguments sake) so why would you take the pride n joy?

[Smoke Pursuit]

No. I just bought my Mrs a very safe car with all the bells and whistles. Its not my cup of tea but thats what she wanted. I would not buy myself an expensive car and have her drive around in a ****er ever, even if she did not want something flash it would still be something new with safety in mind.

When we met back in 2010 she had a 2001 Subaru Liberty with 300,000 kms on it. Within 6 months I bought her a brand new Mondeo XR5 Turbo.

In saying that however these are my beliefs, and I have found in life they are best kept to my situation, no body elses.

[F6T]

I have always had a nice/project/more expensive and reliable and safer vehicle than my wife. When we first got together she had a 3cyl Daihatsu, then and excel etc. Later on, she got her 'dream car' a Subaru Outback and we found an excellent example - low kays, garaged, over serviced, rarely driven blah blah and she absolutely loves it.

Despite the fact that I now drive the Typhoon, and both our perceptions and budgets for 'dream cars' have dramatically changed......do you think I can get her out of that Outback? No way, she loves it.

Even after a test drive in an AUDI SQ5 - all she could do was say it 'was nice' but preferred her Outback. Can't even tempt her with a BMW X5!!!!.....maybe when the kids start playing soccer she'll come around.

[crainger]

I let my gf chose her own car. I was sure she was going to get a VE SS Ute like she always wanted, then next thing I know we are in Ford buying a Fiesta.

She might have test drove without me in a lunch break, but she went really cold on the SS, that or her parents talked her out of it. Either way I just told her to get what she really wants so she doesn't regret it and she loves the little car.

[ebv8]

my wife though i was crazy buying a fiesta and she is very happy i sold it to buy my GT, she loves driving the GT and its manual however she is a holden fan so that why her car is the car she asked for which is a Black VX Commodore Wagon thats all blacked out, and its the acclaim so its got 4 airbags, TCS and ABS.
I'm happy as I have my car and she has hers and as far as cars go they are both at the lower end of the depreciation so i'm not losing any money apart from mods but i can't help that.