Learned years ago to talk car on their level, just works out better that way.
Learned years ago to talk car on their level, just works out better that way.
I just tell people I'm a freelance writer, since they'll inevitably ask me which car they should buy, then proceed to disagree with any suggestions.
Lesley wrote: I just tell people I'm a freelance writer, since they'll inevitably ask me which car they should buy, then proceed to disagree with any suggestions.
This is why I never give car recommendations to any family member. They really don't want my opinion on what to get they want me to tell them that they have made a great choice. So to get around this when asked I make recommendations but they are so completely ridiculous that they don't as again. Lets see you have 5 kids that you need to drive around? . . . . .. Sure I know get a MX5 let your husband drive the kids around. problem solved!!! They have stopped asking me.
Klayfish wrote:Mental wrote: I have been humbled too many times with my lack of experience and knowledge to call myself a car guy, I just say I am into cars.This. Most of you guys could run circles around me when it comes to mechanics and actually turning wrenches. But I really enjoy everything about cars. Frankly, I don't care if anyone thinks I'm a car guy, not a car guy, whatever. Drives me nuts when I'm talking to people about cars and they feel the need to whip their johnson out and try to put it on the table. Whatever, I don't care. I know what I know...or at least think I do and enjoy the E36 M3 out of my hobby.
I fall under this category as well. I really love everything about cars. In fact, I don't really "hate" many vehicles, just the people that drive them.
I work with a guy I used to be able to "talk cars" with, but after a year of hearing "well that's not a V8!" I kind of quit talking to him (which is a bummer, because he has a Trabant I'd like to tinker with).
The "other guy" at work falls on the "I cant talk to" list because he's:
extremely convinced that he's correct about EVERYTHING car related (and will argue endlessly)
wont modify an engine because "all your doing is ruining it" but is currently running Eibach springs on a BMW 3-series wagon with stock dampers, and M3 wheels so wide they're rubbing on his rear fenders when he goes over any sort of bump in the road (and there are a lot of them). Actually now he's worn enough rubber off the sidewalls that they don't rub that often any more...
As it is now, I put "cars" into the "religion, race, and politics" conversation category: If we can't come to an agreement, then I just wont talk about it with you. 
I live in a college town, work in healthcare at a university, and only have time to hang out the sort of fellow parents who drive the boring type of subarus and minivans. It's so rare that I come across anyone interested in cars that I never really have time to get pissed off about the clueless ones.
The only time cars come up is when I'm meeting people to buy/sell parts, someone notices the GRM sticker on my car, or the couple times a year I go to some driving event. That tends to be a pretty non-irritating selection of car guys. :)
What I probably ought to do is find some a local with grade school kids and that belongs in the advanced run group so we can trade kid duties at the track/autox.
A few years ago, the "new guy" at work and I started yacking about things and it quickly turned to cars and then to real American 66-72 muscle cars. Before I know it, He starts "calling me out" to race anything against his "muscle cars". Wow! Really? What
Come to find out he has a collection of Oldsmobile Toronados! Yea, Really. I do appreciate his enthusiasm, but its hard to put into words my frowny face disposition.
Friend of mine told me that her husband is "also into cars." He drives a new-ish Golf GTI w/ DSG. It's got an exhaust and maybe some other stuff. He goes to lots of meets and whatever. I happened to meet some of his buddies recently and they are hipster/flatbill hat/dumb tattoo VW fanbois. I heard one talking about wanting to put a rollcage in his car and that it would mostly be for looks. ::facepalm:: This is what I am used to 98% of the time I meet people that are, "into cars."
clutchsmoke wrote: Friend of mine told me that her husband is "also into cars." He drives a new-ish Golf GTI w/ DSG. It's got an exhaust and maybe some other stuff. He goes to lots of meets and whatever. I happened to meet some of his buddies recently and they are hipster/flatbill hat/dumb tattoo VW fanbois. I heard one talking about wanting to put a rollcage in his car and that it would mostly be for looks. ::facepalm:: This is what I am used to 98% of the time I meet people that are, "into cars."
A driftkid that I'm friends with on facebook posted a picture of a used "rollcage" that he was going to put in his 240sx (before he totaled it) and it was the most unsafe-looking assembly of tubing that I have ever seen. Of course this would go into a car that sees only daily driving.
stream of consciousness....
most people know I buy cars in boxes...and reassemble... I take on projects that most people send to the crusher...maybe that's why the most I ever get is "can you help me with....", and they just need advice. how to buy a car, what to do at the DMV, what a T22-b form is for...(no, that's just me)
I don't feel so hardcore that i'm distant...maybe i'm just distant.
At least I don't pretend I'm into American football like some people pretend they're into cars...
sjd
I noticed a new co-worker driving a mid-2000s Porsche 911 Convertible. I complimented him on the car, turns out that he daily drives it through the winter on snow tires (it's a 4S, and we're in CT), it has 150k on it already, and that the windshield needs replacing due to all the pitting. Sounds like my kind of car guy!
We have a few car guys here, one had an E30 M3, a '91 M5, an E30 ix, and then two convertible E30s. I find you don't tend to find the good car guys up front, but over time you'll usually figure out who the good ones are.
Basil Exposition wrote: Carp. Apologies on the multi-post. Not sure how it happened or how to fix it.
kanaric wrote: I was in the military and am still a contractor and there are a lot of "how fast have you got it up to" street racing asshat "car guys" that think putting 10k HIDs on a car and driving 140MPH in their corvette on public highways is cool in there. What's annoying is that 3/4 of them are VW (or audi) owners which is sad because before I was in the military i used to like VW quite a bit.
this. I work for the military (Navy) and I'd say at least 25% of junior sailors (mostly 3rd classes) seem to drive a GTI and use all of their sea pay pumping money in to them (usually CF hoods, 205 tires on 9" "rims," and gauges). Once it was known out in the smoking area (yeah, I smoke, so sue me...) that I raced cars, and that I drive a modded WRX, these 20-year old sailors are constantly telling me epic tales about how they smoked some WRX on the highway or how their GTIs would be really awesome at rallycross if they got a skidplate (forget the part that these GTIs are all stanced/slammed).
There is NOBODY I hate talking cars with less than sailors. And the problem is that they do know enough about cars to talk about many things correctly, but they are major exaggerators about their driving conquests and experience. One of them, with a "tuned" R32 GTI, has told me at least 20 times about "the time at VIR that he passed a GT-R in the horseshoe and then pulled 5 carlengths on him in the front straight. And every time I say "isn't the horseshoe after the front straight at VIR?" he "corrects" me, lol.
Gasoline wrote: A few years ago, the "new guy" at work and I started yacking about things and it quickly turned to cars and then to real American 66-72 muscle cars. Before I know it, He starts "calling me out" to race anything against his "muscle cars". Wow! Really? What
It would have been very amusing if you could have tricked him into entering a Toronado in an autocross, though.
Yeah, I've been in this situation before. Many times.
Usually, it also involves the dreaded Tall Tale Tellers (aka TTT's).
When I first started getting into cars, my cousin (who was a few months younger that me) was my first exposure to this. I had a '64 Skylark and after that, a 1987 Cougar XR7 in high school. When I get a car or am interested in a car, I research them thoroughly. I knew that the Buick had 155 Gross HP and that the XR7 had 150 Net HP, and I knew what they were capable of. My cousin had a 1992 Cougar XR7 with "a Cobra engine" and "450 hp" because it was "a special limited edition model that they only made 4 or 5 of". It was a regular old beat up 5.0 Cougar, and somehow slower than mine, even though it shouldn't have been. And forget trying to correct them, they can't comprehend the facts. My cousin was the first of many TTT's I encountered. I can tell some good stories about some of the customers that used to come into the parts store I worked at. 
Basil Exposition wrote: Carp. Apologies on the multi-post. Not sure how it happened or how to fix it.
all you have to do is delete them .... (not sure how they happen)
wbjones wrote:Basil Exposition wrote: Carp. Apologies on the multi-post. Not sure how it happened or how to fix it.all you have to do is delete them .... (not sure how they happen)
Oh, click on the X. Duh.
Most "car guys" don't talk, they listen.
bluej wrote:sethmeister4 wrote: I'm a mechanic, and one of the real young guys has a Mazdaspeed Miata and a Mazdaspeed6. I'm sure his parents paid for them, and he's trying to sell the MSM. I've told him before how I'd love to find a Miata in wholesale that I could drive around for a while, so we kind of have a Miata thing in common. He's one of those guys that spews random car stuff out and most of it's wrong or stuff he read on the interwebz. So after a Miata discussion the other week (I was working on one), he shows me a pic on his phone on break. It's a field of Spec Miatas on track (even says Spec Miata in the corner of the photo), and he proceeds to tell me how these cars make like 400 horsepower. I just smiled and nodded.Maybe he was just looking up to and trying to relate to you? Could have been an opportunity to gently correct him and have a real discussion about racing.
Unfortunately, this is the kind of kid (I say kid, but he's probably only 4 or 5 years younger than me) who knows all of the numbers for every car and doesn't take correction well. I wasn't going to get into an arguing match with him. I've disagreed before on other stuff, just didn't feel like it at the moment.
Driven5 wrote: Unfortunately the general public's idea of what constitutes "car guys" and how we define ourselves as "car guys" are two totally different things. I usually try to just smile and nod, since I know they won't understand anyways.
Yeah, we've hashed through that subject at length before:
what kind of car guy are you
Am I really a car guy
My conclusion after those threads was that - in comparison to you guys I am NOT a car guy.
In reply to sethmeister4:
Fair 'enough 8)
SilverFleet wrote: Usually, it also involves the dreaded Tall Tale Tellers (aka TTT's).
My favorite of these was in High school. A guy had a Ford Tempo with a big ricer wing, those stick on hood scoops, and a 5" tach (with an auto) claim it could run an 11 sec 1/4.
Looks around. Slowly walks away.
I thought I was somewhat of a car guy ... then I started taking my Integra back towards OEM ... the coil-overs came off and I started putting (trying to put) OEM struts/coil-overs back on .... the Koni's lowered the car ~ 2" ... the OEM are that much longer ...
I either don't have the skills, or I don't have the tools (I can't really use the lack of tools as an excuse) ... I finally had to call a AAA to send a roll back, and take it the shop ... and have them finish what should have been a fairly simple job ...
anyone need a box full of tools ... cheap ?
There are all kinds of car guys, you don't have to be able to build a Locost from a lump of iron ore with nothing more than a hammer and a hand drill to be a car guy. You don't even have to be particularly mechanically inclined. Anyone with a genuine love for cars, racing, hot rods whatever is a car guy (or girl) in my book. I know people who are intimate with the history or racing, or a particular manufacturer who can't even change their own oil, that doesn't mean they don't know and love cars.
I used to be mean and pick apart faux car guys, but now I just nod my head and listen. Once I figure out how much they actually know I can tailor my conversation to fit. I find that educating is way more fun than correcting, and sometimes can show them a new area of the hobby to love.
...Unless they try to be a schmuck, in which I may make them look like a little girl in front of their friends.
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