At the risk of sounding like a male chauvinist - which I am not............
Is it just me?! Every time I read a classified car advert and I come across the phrase 'lady owner' I just immediately lose interest and skip along to the next ad.
My mind fills with things such as the school run, kids with their mucky feet all over the seats, doors getting flung open against other cars/fences/walls etc by careless brats, spilt drinks and food, scuffed wheels and other damage from parking attempts, under bonnet fluid levels that have never seen the light of day etc, etc.
Don't get me wrong, my other half keeps her car nice and is very careful parking it and keeping it maintained etc, (no kids to worry about) but I feel that she is in the minority.
Would the words 'lady owner' reassure you if you were in the market to buy???
PP
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"Would the words 'lady owner' reassure you if you were in the market to buy???"
Depends on what was offered for sale!!!
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Would the words 'lady owner' reassure you if you were in the market to buy???
In a word: NO!
I know a girl who has a 53 plate Citröen C2 which has had new hub caps and has needed repairs to the rear quarter twice due to parking incident. Oh and that poor engine!
Now I'm not saying all women are bad drivers, just that some women like some men don't have any mechanical sympathy, and we shouldn't buy cars therefore on the grounds that a woman drove it.
PP, you missed out the fact that most of these cars double as shopping trolleys, so are more likely to be dinged often too!
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*Adds to list*...........shopping expeditions......
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A friend bought a car on the grounds of a "lady Owener" only to fin it was Laura Ashley (in the PLC sense !)
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About as attractive as 'previously owned by vicar' - perished weatherseal & font in the boot!
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Careful owner? I wonder if any dealers still leaving a bible on back seat any more ...
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Yeah, I agree with you, to an extent.
Owning a car which has been owned by:
1) The selling garage/ dealership
2) Then an old lady (judging by the handwriting on the docs, but i may be wrong)
3) A young lady student (my sister)
4) Me
The car was in all-round good condition, with no kerbed trims (I did that!) or dented panels, which seemed to suggest that these two ladies could park well. However, at some point, the car has been in a bit of a prang I think, as large areas of the car seems to have been re-sprayed. Then, the service history showed an 'engine rebuild' somewhere near the 50000 mile mark. The 'rebuild' amounted to no more than a new set of bearings and an oil pick up strainer? Ok OK, that may not have been her fault.
Then, after getting the car for my sister, we noticed both front disks were 'blue' and were cracked suggesting the previous owner must have driven everywhere with her foot on the brake pedal.
Also, this older lady did have the car serviced but not always to the schedule (maybe 1 month 1000 miles too far)
My sister wasn't that sympathetic either, and the car only really got washed or checked by me.
I also seem to see (and hear) more 'tired' cars in the hands of women. My auntie, for example, was bemused as to why the oil light flickered every time she went round corners (but didn't stop to investigate). Pulling out the dipstick revealed an empty sump.
In all fairness, I think women can be more sympathetic than men. Almost every time I see a car driven unsympathetically, its usually a bloke. Also, if would say most women get their hubbies to look after their cars anyway, so 'one lady owner' may mean 'one lady driver'.
Whether it was owned by a man, or a woman, doesn?t make much difference.
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I was sat at home once and heard an almighty thumping noise coming down my road. The hairs on my neck stood up as the 'thumping' turned onto my driveway and stipped. Wife came in and said 'my car feels funny'. Went outside and found front offside missing a tyre and with a nearly square rim. In response to my amazement, I got the reply "how am I meant to know, that kind of things your job". Needless to say, she never gets behind the wheel of my car. (And I've typed this in secret!!)
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what about "owned by company director"? What effect would that have on your purchasing decision?
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Carpet in boot floor scuffed by his golf clubs?
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Yep I love that one too:
'our own Managing Directors car'
So what? Is he some sort of superior being who can use a car without inflicting wear on it?
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A number of years ago my wife drove 10 miles home from work in my car and stormed in the house fuming and protesting that the power steering had failed. When I went out to look I noticed that the nearside alloy was minus its tyre and was a smoking mangled mess. God knows how she managed to drive like this!
She doesn't drive my car anymore! Bye the way, she is on her third rear bumper on her new car in 18 months.
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\"Nothing less than 8 cylinders will do\"
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Ever heard of the old tale of the 30 something lady & the MK1 fiesta anyone?
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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No, well maybe this was it, but anyway, this is what I heard happened many years ago at the Ford garage in Leamington Spa:
A lady bought a brand new car a few months earlier. Complaining about funny noises and poor running from the engine and smoke, she takes it back to the dealership. Their diagnostic: nackered engine. Not sure how this happened and still under warranty, Ford put a new engine in and send the lady on her way.
A few months later the lady comes back with another knackered engine (worn bores). After looking somewhat harder this time for a more serious problem with the fuelling/ignition, they replace more bits including the engine and send the lady on her way again.
A few months later, and guess what! Yup, knackered engine. So being a bit suspicious this time, the chaps at Ford decide to take the car out with the lady driving it, to see if her driving style has any effect. She hops in, pulls the choke out, hooks her handbag on it and drives off! Choke never goes in!
Apparantly she didn't think it had a choke and thought the pull-out hook was a handy place to hang her handbag! Ohhh dear!
Mike Farrow
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You've got it mike!!!! ;-)
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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My ex bought her first car-a Talbot Samba driven by a elderly gent with few miles on the clock, but the car was getting on in years. Of course he never took it over 40mph and further than a few miles, so the first serious motoring and problems started. The thing probably wasn't even run in!
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>>The thing probably wasn't even runin!
Probably not. The most serious problem with cars like these that have only been run at low rpm is that a step is created at the top of the bore between worn and unworn cylinder. When you rev the engine above what it's used to, the pistons stretch more and start hitting this step.
When I first got my Escort off my gran it would bearly reach 60mph and would create a cloud of blue/black smoke when revved (much to the annoyance of my mate following in his white Xsara).
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