I Just Cannot Work Some People Out.....No Matter How Hard I Try

**FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0** · 15-09-2010, 05:07 PM

Howdy all,

Popped down to the local Supercheap to get an exchange on an item I had purchased a few weeks ago, and when I came out I noticed a local in a black BA GTP had rocked up right next to me. As I was loading my daughter into the back of the Territory, I noticed that the front wheels of the GTP were turned so that I could see the tread on the tyre closest to me.

Well, I was gobsmacked to see that at least a quarter to a third of the tyre was BALD

Ok, I get that some people don't take as much pride in their car or as much care of their car as they should, but I just cannot fathom why someone would shell out the money to buy a GTP only to cruise around in what was clearly an unroadworthy car. If they were that tight on money, surely they could have just spent less on the car in the first place and then used the leftover to make sure the car was maintained properly. Mind you, the car didn't appear to be in a great condition in general, so perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised after all.

I was even muttering about it so much that the daughter piped up and satrted saying that people shoudl look after their cars, etc, etc.......and she's only 5...!!!!

, just had to get that off my chest.

, feels much better now.

\m/

Craig H

fiery · 15-09-2010, 05:15 PM

Unfortunately not only car enthusiasts (or lovers for better wording) buy decent cars and I know that the GT-P I have now was previously owned by a pet supply company and they most certainly didn't look after it.

I think sometimes people buy whatever appeals to them for the value of money (maybe but maybe not) or tax right off etc and then forget the fact they need to look after them.

Grippy · 15-09-2010, 05:25 PM

Some people just aren't car people, even some owners of nice and expensive cars like a GT-P, it takes all types I guess.

flappist · 15-09-2010, 05:24 PM

He may not realise they are stuffed.

Not everyone spends half their weekend washing, polishing and tinkering with their pride and joy.

I have had several occasions in recent years where the tyres on my cars have been illegal and once down to the steel. I drive a LOT and get all my servicing done at a dealer so I can go for weeks without looking at the tyres and months without washing the car.

Fordman · 15-09-2010, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

He may not realise they are stuffed.

Not everyone spends half their weekend washing, polishing and tinkering with their pride and joy.

I have had several occasions in recent years where the tyres on my cars have been illegal and once down to the steel. I drive a LOT and get all my servicing done at a dealer so I can go for weeks without looking at the tyres and months without washing the car.

QFT.

A lot of people with fulltime jobs will buy the fancy car, but are busy people and dont get the time.

sarrge2001 · 15-09-2010, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

He may not realise they are stuffed.

Not everyone spends half their weekend washing, polishing and tinkering with their pride and joy.

I have had several occasions in recent years where the tyres on my cars have been illegal and once down to the steel. I drive a LOT and get all my servicing done at a dealer so I can go for weeks without looking at the tyres and months without washing the car.

I had the diff bush replaced on my BA XR6T. They neglected to do a wheel alignment and in 2000km i wore out the inside of the rear tyres down to the canvas.

I only noticed because as I came out of the shops walking towards the rear of the car, i noticed light coloured marks on the inside of the tread. It wasn't until I got down on hands and knees and looked that I realised what it was.

So it can happen.

Allowing it deliberately is a different matter though. If you can afford to buy it you need to be able to afford to maintain it (and insure it - at least 3rd party property, but that's a whole other can of worms!!)

ED Classic · 15-09-2010, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarrge2001

I had the diff bush replaced on my BA XR6T. They neglected to do a wheel alignment and in 2000km i wore out the inside of the rear tyres down to the canvas.

I only noticed because as I came out of the shops walking towards the rear of the car, i noticed light coloured marks on the inside of the tread. It wasn't until I got down on hands and knees and looked that I realised what it was.

So it can happen.

Allowing it deliberately is a different matter though. If you can afford to buy it you need to be able to afford to maintain it (and insure it - at least 3rd party property, but that's a whole other can of worms!!)

Same thing happened to mine

**DJM83** · 15-09-2010, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

He may not realise they are stuffed.

Not everyone spends half their weekend washing, polishing and tinkering with their pride and joy.

I have had several occasions in recent years where the tyres on my cars have been illegal and once down to the steel. I drive a LOT and get all my servicing done at a dealer so I can go for weeks without looking at the tyres and months without washing the car.

Happened to me rear tyres, the belt had shifted and i hadnt noticed till it was on a hoist

darkside · 15-09-2010, 08:30 PM

a couple of weeks ago they had some program on the idiot box about some road worthy inspectors at shopping centres letting people know about their death trap that they were driving about in was far from being road worthy and the abuse these guys were getting was unbelievable

,i would love to see the coppers doing this instead of bloody speed cameras ,some of these cars should not have been on the road and the care factor from the owners was unbelievable

....doc

Mad_Aussie · 15-09-2010, 05:28 PM

A lot of people wouldn't notice if their car was missing its doors. I once pulled up next to a woman in a brand new alfa that was making lifter noise louder than my old 180B after I knocked its sump off on a rock. I've seen disks worn down to the point you can see into the cross-drilling, and cars getting around with camber so wild it would put those bozuko boys in japan to shame. Not to mention the amount of kia rio's and hyundai excels on the road... People who have no idea about cars have no idea about problems with cars, so until the mechanic tells them about it, nothing gets done.

NET351 · 15-09-2010, 05:49 PM

I don't care how busy you are, being a road user demands certain responsibilites and it only takes a few minutes every week to check over your car. I'm busy too and often don't wash my car for ages, but I always keep an eye on the tyres for pressure and wear, and all fluid levels. This is so I am not inconvenienced one day when something major goes wrong 'all of a sudden'. Regularly maintenance checks are easy and ensure the car is safe to drive for all road users. How would you feel if someone rear ended your car just because their tyres were bald?

Yellow_Festiva · 15-09-2010, 05:30 PM

Nothing beats watching a wealthy 1st world tourist on a 6 digit income twisting the arm of a market seller in a 3rd world Asian country over a few cents.....

For peats sake... if you are happy to pay $80-$100 back home for a decent meal with your partner then give the bloody guy selling you those dodgy DVD's the extra 50c he wants to finalise the sale.....

Seen this over and over again and it makes my blood boil.... And the DVD will satisfy you more than once! ;)

Brazen · 15-09-2010, 05:48 PM

On low cars such as a GTP its especially hard to see the tread, and you wont really notice it until the the car is parked with wheels turned. The owner simply may have not realised, especially if it racks up the kms on sticky sports tyres.

Jim Goose · 15-09-2010, 06:04 PM

The old being busy excuse get used too often.... its an excuse for being something else.... lazy.

Watch those police shows and see how people a lot of the times say... gee sorry officer i been too busy to get a licence, i know its been two yrs but im just too busy.. or i was too busy to get new tyres... or im too busy to replace that globe....

**Revolver** · 15-09-2010, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Goose

The old being busy excuse get used too often.... its an excuse for being something else.... lazy.

Watch those police shows and see how people a lot of the times say... gee sorry officer i been too busy to get a licence, i know its been two yrs but im just too busy.. or i was too busy to get new tyres... or im too busy to replace that globe....

I love this quote!!

Try working working 80+ hrs a week, 2/3 jobs plus an hour drive each way to each job, & then say that. Oh, try doing that for 5 years. I quite literally dont have time to do my washing. I pay my younger brogther to do that. I havent had a home cooked meal in over 6 months. The only time I get is about half an hour a day. I spend on that FF.I leave at 5/6 in the morning dont get home until 10/11/12pm. Try it then say that! I do 1000kms a week, each week. I go through tyres like no mans business.

Its easy to say that someone is lazy until you actually experience the reason as to why that person is "lazy"

Its not that I dont care for my car, its just that to do work on it, I need to take it off the road. (Day, 2, week etc) But I dont & cant afford a second car. & If I were able to do that, I still have to try & take time off to do the work to it. or earn extra money to pay someone to do it. (therefore must work more, but how?). Dont be easy to criticise until you've experienced it. That goes for everybody that thinks the same....

302 XC · 15-09-2010, 06:12 PM

Not every body inspect their cars an a near daily occurance
Thats why the dash guages have "Idiot lights"
They didnt get that name for the daily car check people

JimNiki · 15-09-2010, 06:16 PM

My mate and his wife always say "WHY US?"
They believe it's some sort of curse or something ... that alot of bad luck comes their way... eg: they had to spend $1,500 to repair their ageing EL wagon...

why, because they haven't touched it in years... tyres were bald, exhaust was hanging down, motor needed TLC ...

I say to the Mrs on the way home from their place, if they don't get it by now , they never will...

Ibrox90 · 15-09-2010, 06:19 PM

HANG ON,

There is a term used in psychology the name of completely escapes me.

For example,

An employee rocks up late to work and says nothing. this employee is regularly slack so you think hes just slack and couldnt be arsed getting out of bed on time. WHEN ACTUALLY his cousin just died and he was at the hospital and he busted his **** just to make it in.

so applied to this situation

You think hes not looking after his car and hes clearly not worthy of owning a BA GT.

When in actual fact.

1. Its not his car?
2. The guys just got divorced and is only just managing to hang onto the car
3. lost family members car, for example might be his late fathers car that hes only just managing to drive for financial reasons.
4. Or as Brazen Said might not have even known.
5. (a situation i have been in myself) financial struggle due to the death of a family member and just barely hanging on to the car and hoping the Tyres make it to tax time.

So in closing,

Sometimes its not your job to work people out and when your not aware of the whole situation maybe not judge.

Sure he could have been some idiot who didnt give a rats, but just think of the other side of the coin.

and as an old mate used to say to be when i pointed to his tyres, "hey man , people pay alot of money for slicks"

Mad Maxine · 15-09-2010, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ibrox90

HANG ON,

There is a term used in psychology the name of completely escapes me.

For example,

I think the term you are after is "paradigm shift" when you see something from your perspective only, and have no real idea of the circumstances affecting the behaviour of the other person.

/Yep, I'm an educated nerd

auxr · 15-09-2010, 06:47 PM

Ibrox90 - I think you may have over pscho analysed the matter a bit IMO.

Sorry, but if I saw tyres as bald as this GT-P has on it, the first thought to mind would be - the car is unroadworthy and is a danger to other road users.

I wouldn't for a second have any thoughts about the owners financial situation or family problems - bald tyres are bald tyres, end of story.

**TUF_302** · 15-09-2010, 06:55 PM

Some people buy there cars and just use them as well cars, i seen a blue BA GT being driven up a dirt road in the wet during targa this year, it was more like mud than dirt really i was very shocked!

duaned · 15-09-2010, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by auxr

Ibrox90 - I think you may have over pscho analysed the matter a bit IMO.

Sorry, but if I saw tyres as bald as this GT-P has on it, the first thought to mind would be - the car is unroadworthy and is a danger to other road users.

I wouldn't for a second have any thoughts about the owners financial situation or family problems - bald tyres are bald tyres, end of story.

Agreed, it's people like this that would most likely go to work and not even realise that they are wearing two different coloured socks! I simply don't understand why people look at tyres lightly when they are the only thing between your car and the road!

321Go · 15-09-2010, 06:58 PM

Last week I spotted a '09 BMW X5 with bald, and I mean BOLD tyres. You could see the steel belts on the inside edges. Outside edges worn down to hardly any thread. It was all polished up and looked a million dollars, sidewall of tyes were clean and shiny so must've just been fully detailed.

AussieAV · 15-09-2010, 07:00 PM

Some people just don't look at the consumables on their car that often. I myself have gone extended periods of time where I'm not as vigilant about my car/s as normal, because life can sometimes get in the way of your normal routine.

If it had been me, I would have appreciated being told that I'd overlooked a problem with my car, but I can certainly understand people hesitating in telling anyone, because nowadays it seems being a good samaritan can just as easily end in a trip to the emergency ward as a thankyou.

Just last week pulled up to a guy at the lights and told him his right rear was flat (I mean completely flat - can't see how he didn't notice). Got a thankyou, but was just as prepared to get a *^?@ off.

pottery beige · 15-09-2010, 07:06 PM

geeze i'd hate to see the sookin if someone dropped a little oil in your driveways.....

Ibrox90 · 15-09-2010, 08:27 PM

And thats the kind of narrow minded idiocy that makes this country the way it is

Franco Cozzo · 15-09-2010, 08:31 PM

Also some people just dont give a rats ***, Dad's car went a few years without anything but oil topups and tyres, it got up to the 40,000km service, then the next one it went in for was 190,000km. He only took it in for a service when it would just barely accelerate through 3rd, 4th and 5th gears and it was making a very loud buzzing/vibrating sound, the oil pump was on its way out and the sump was sludged up. It cost $3000 to get it back to normal, lol and now it eats oil, the oil light starts coming on every 10,000km, it needs to be topped up a fair bit.

The best one was before he took it in for the 190,000km service, he'd wait for the oil light to come on, then put in anything on the shelf, the best one I saw was generic brand 20W-50 mineral oil, when the car is supposed to take 5W-30 fully synthetic, then the next time it was 5W-40 fully synthetic.

Dad usually just drives his cars until they stop driving. He passed the period when he actually cared about cars, now its beer, food, cricket and AFL.

He promised he'd service it again from now on after the big one, he did one service between 190,000km and 230,000km, its now on 253,000km and well past its last due service haha.

4Vman · 15-09-2010, 08:46 PM

Just look at the amount of GT, F6 and XR6T owners that put $110 Elcheapo rubbish tyres on their cars....
People will spend a fortune buying and modifying their cars to have 1000 rwkw but when it comes to tyres and brake replacement its "OMG" why so dear, give me cheap!
The same people are also probably complaining about FPV not fitting wider tyres and bigger brakes too....

Franco Cozzo · 15-09-2010, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Just look at the amount of GT, F6 and XR6T owners that put $110 Elcheapo rubbish tyres on their cars....
People will spend a fortune buying and modifying their cars to have 1000 rwkw but when it comes to tyres and brake replacement its "OMG" why so dear, give me cheap!
The same people are also probably complaining about FPV not fitting wider tyres and bigger brakes too....

When I was working at Honda, we had LOTS of S2000s come in with very cheap tyres on, or very old ones and wouldn't buy anything better than cheap crap, but they come in and spend $1000s on their servicing and own this high maintenence, track orientated car which main selling point is its good handling, then they go and chuck chinese tyres on the damn thing.

AussieAV · 15-09-2010, 09:23 PM

Maybe some people out there are oblivious to the differences in rubber compounds and tyre quality between different brands.

Considering stopping distance could be more affected by tyre quality than being a couple of k over the speed limit, you'd think road safety advocates would push for some form of standard testing (maybe like an ANCAP rating system for tyres). That way Joe Public has some way of comparing the performance of different tyres and making an informed decision.

How many threads do we get about tyre choices (I used one to choose mine)?

If we as enthusiasts struggle for consensus on what is a good tyre, what hope do the rest on the drivers out there have?