Todays Youth ? some of them are alright

[stuart131]

Yesterday I was in the local Renault garage having my "emergency renault " serviced . A tiresome yet necessary chore as it means a day driving a Euro shed whilst my beautiful Amazon has a day off .Necessary in that if anyone in our house has a car problem we can still get to work .
It is also embarrasing as I keep reaching for the handbrake on the right hand side!
Whilst having a coffee and reading the paper as they checked the car over I noticed a Morris minor van in red primer slither into the parking bay ...a car I have seen a couple of times out and about .
Naturally myself and the owner instantly hit it off having a dislike of modern motors and many garage rip off stories to swop.
Turned out the lad was a BMW technician ,probably in his 20s ,and CHOSE to drive his old Minor around on a daily basis not owning a modern car at all.....fair play.He uses the renault mot guy who is an old car nut also ,which I didnt know .
He informed me that the Green Amazon often seen in Northampton is owned by a student who not only parks it outside in all weathers but has been seen charging around like a bat out of hell and brutally abusing the braking system....we agreed this was very upsetting /disgraceful way to treat an Amazon....I may put a note n his windscreen "LOOK AFTER THIS CAR ..IM WATCHING YOU "I may not.
I then had a lengthy and very interesting discourse about work he had done to the Minor ,most of which he had done himself ..to his credit.
The car looked very good on it
Good to meet a like minded chap who has a similar obsession and also ,I have to say ,one of todays much maligned youth who was polite,articulate / could hold decent conversation and obviously spends alot of his free time doing something constructive . .My faith in todays youth was somewhat restored .

Bythe way the garage very kindly offered me the following on top of my £180 basic service /oil and fluid change.
Change 2 blown bulbs (£28.73 plus VAT x 2)
Replace my alternator belt for £69 plus vat
Replace my rear windscreen wiper blade for £25 plus vat .

I stared at the chap for a few stunned seconds ,politely rejected their kind offer ,paid for the service and left as soon as possible .
I knew there was a reason I avoid Dealerships ... they are excellent at what they do but ......I cant afford them!

[TomTom]

The prices ar dealerships always make my jaw drop, Volvo included. About 10 years ago I bought a 5-year old Volvo 340 (don't laugh) which had a fully-stamped up service book. Naively I decided to continue the unblemished record and took it to the dealer for the annual service. As John Shuttleworth would say, "it's a mistake you only make once". £300 for what amounted to not very much and, as you say, plenty of helpful 'suggestions'.

Now my Amazon service costs less than half of that and the suggestions are worthwhile, as in up and coming welding before or the need to replace a half-perished brake hose. Much better.

If I could just stick up for rough treatment for a minute, one of the 1960s ads for Amazons said 'Drive it like you hate it', although I would say 'Drive it like you love it', but surely either way allows a bit of spirited stopping and starting. Better to get the adrenalin out this way than other more damaging pursuits.

Do you all find that the Amazon is good at hustling around? I sometimes get back from busy commutes through back-streets, doing 3-point turns, squeezing through changing traffic lights, and realise that it was all accomplished with a minimum of stress.

Tom

[imac]

>and also ,I have to say ,one of todays much maligned youth who
>was polite,articulate / could hold decent conversation and
>obviously spends alot of his free time doing something
>constructive . .My faith in todays youth was somewhat
>restored .


Had to reply to this!

Your (previous?) views on the "youth of today" are very stereotypical, misaligned and quite concerning. The tabloid media obviously has been very influential!

I'd like to point out that we're not all that bad, you know. It's only a small percentage that let the side down. Walk into most Universities and underneath the ripped jeans and oversized t-shirts (perish the thought) you'll find young guys and gals whom are well educated, polite and friendly.

Old Volvos are now seen as 'cool' cars - plenty of students drive around in them :)

[stuart131]

I agree with you ,thats why I said "much maligned " you read the post wrong or much more likely I wrote it badly.My son and his mates are 20 and they are all good ol boys ,polite and decent.
I have had ,as we all have had,plenty of exposure to the bottom end of the scale as well ,which can affect your view ...this is why the chap I met made an impression and was a useful reminder to me not to be so quick to judge people .
As for the tabloids ,well,I read the lines and also in between them .

pleased to hear Volvos have at last ,quite rightly ,achieved coolness
The student Amazon driver mentioned has obviously good taste in cars and has also enhanced his personal coolness greatly by owning one ,I will keep my fingers crossed his brakes keep working!

best regards

Stuart (aged 39 and 9 months )

[TomTom]

Stuart,

You've reminded me how long ago it was that I was a youth of today, even though I still feel like one.

Tom
37 yrs and 9 mnths

[imac]

Hi Stuart,

I probably read the post wrong, I just get tired of the stereotype of the illiterate, lazy, rude and uneducated youth of today! :)

I quite fancy the idea of an classic Volvo to 'enhance my personal coolness' <- Great quote by the way; I just don't have the space to store one right now!


Darren (Aged 20 and 9 months!)

[222s]

As another youngster, I couldn't resist answering this thread!

My Amazon is my modern car, and I treat it as such. It's never pampered, but it is looked after - if something needs fixing it gets done properly! Great around town - loads of low down torque (and also the element of surprise at the lights ;-) ), excellent turning circle and also compared to a modern car, it's narrow enough for gaps in traffic. I just won't mention the fuel consumption.... it's so much better when driving on the motorway than it is around town. There's plenty of power and excellent (unservoed - I prefer it that way) brakes. It's also so much more reliable than the 90,000 mile L reg 850 estate that dad now has.

As for image, well I don't have the Barbour jacket and black Labrador to go with my Volvo estate (and when I bought my Sprite, I was teased about having a mid-life crisis a bit early!!) but I actually prefer the estate to the saloons; IMHO it looks longer and lower - a friend who's into hot-rods thought it had been roof chopped!

I don't care what others think about it (and it is scruffy), as it is of great sentimental value. It has and does everything I want for an everyday car and if it ever needed replacement (ie written off or stolen), I'd want another one. The only derogatory comments I've had have been from an idiot who asked me if I'd heard of 'Yes Car Credit'... he wasn't grinning when I answered that I drive it by choice i.e. because I like it (& don't like modern cars), that it's worth £1500 minimum as it is*, and that I have another classic car too.

* Amongst other things, it needs a new front bumper and new front wings, which I have but can't be bothered to fit yet.

Paul (aged 25 and 6 days & been driving my Amazon since I was 22)

http://x-files.serveftp.com/paulhark...ture.sized.jpg
1967 Amazon 122S B20 o/d Estate, 1961 A-H Sprite Mk2 948cc

[imac]

>The only derogatory comments I've had have been from an idiot
>who asked me if I'd heard of 'Yes Car Credit'...


Heh. I guess he was driving a two year old Eurobox Focus 1.6, with negative equity and a 24.9% APR hanging over his head.

I sure know which I'd be rather driving, and it 'aint the Focus.

[stuart131]

Good Morning you crazy kids,

It is good to see that despite our varying ages ,we are all pretty much of like minds .
Darren ,you are right ,it is very easy these days for us older crowd to make an instant link between baseball caps and neanderthal man which in many cases is very unfair ...in one or two cases spot on (my local shops spring to mind)

Like Tom I have searched way back in my memory. I remember the glares of disapproval from 40 somethings as they beheld my truly enormous flat top ,bleached jeans and miserable persona ...so miserable that Morrisey himself would have ended it all if he had talked to me for longer than a few seconds . Despite this ,myself and my friends NEVER did drugs,vandalised anything or caused any trouble...we were boring.
None the less I was regularly frisked by the local police ,once beaten to a pulp by a bloke outside our local pub "for being in the way" and was asked regularly by my parents "are you on something lad?" I suppose times change but peoples attitudes dont alter much .
One satisfying thing was the horror on my girlfriends (now my wife of 19 years)Mums face when I first went round to visit...for a long time I was not a person ...I was a "thing with stupid hair"
Now ,in my mid life ,I am a person ........with stupid hair

best regards

Stuart (too young to die ...too fat to live)

OK this has me thinking.... I'm 29 and rapidly approaching 30...

so, do I fit into the youngster group anymore ??

I drive a 240 torslanda for everyday, and a 1967 Morris Minor 1100.. I would not have a modern car! We had a VW New Beetle last year, and a small bracket broke in the ignition, the car would not start, unlock, ANYTHING... after battling with VW (I had to tow the Beetle to the service center MYSELF ~ they didn't have a tow truck ~ apparently VW's don't break down!!) I sold the car and the wife now drives a classic mini