political commentator * author * publisher * bookseller * radio presenter * blogger * Conservative candidate * former lobbyist * Jack Russell owner * West Ham United fanatic * Email iain AT iaindale DOT com
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
You Know You are Middle Aged When...
... you're a LibDem blogger and you admit to buying one of these...
(it's Skoda Fabia, for the uninitiated). Not that I am a car snob. No way. Never.
47 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Correct me if I'm wrong BUT isn't a Skoda made by the same company that just happens to be producing your new Audi Coupe?
I understand that many of the parts for your new car appear in Skodas. In fact, one may call the new Audi A5 a Skoda A5.......
I keep errors on you blog ,its ok elsewhere,only started tonight using IE6,and whats wrong with a skoda it's got 4 wheels ,you still can only go as fast as the idiot in front of you.
It's my first new car for 4 years! I only wish I could afford one every year.
Audis are so superior to BMWs. Look at how they hold their second hand prices much better. BMWs are very poky inside and don't have the elegant look of an Audi. Can;t stand them.
Anonymous. yes I know there are loading problems. Other sites are experiencing the same. I think it is aproblem with Google Ads or technorati.
Kerron you were born middleaged. I wonder who are the worst drivers . I saw the statistical evidence that women couldn`t drive the other day , quelle suprise. I would guess its Liberal Democrats , they hate cars , and cigarettes and ...well they`re women really aren`t they.
Can I just express my amazement that Norfolk Blogger is a teacher. Who`d have thought it eh , fancy ...cooo. " Sir sir can we sit in circle and express our oursleves with face paint sir" " Why of course young hoodie , learn in your own way..."
Three weeks of discussion on education and not one politician has said what evryone knows which is that the main problem is the bloody useless teachers.
Iain Try and get a copy of the VW internal Quality Audit next time you take a poop at Skoda. They top the quality league, the least warranty claims and the highest customer satisfaction rates. The latter is confirmed by JD Powell, Which,AutoExpress et al. The Audi brand does not do so well. How fortunate you are to be able to purchase such a lovely and expensive car whilst middle aged plebs have to make do with the most reliable brand in the UK.
I would have thought that the nice people at Skoda would have paid Norfolk Blogger to go away.
Knowing that he will be driving round in one of their cars will be giving the marketing department sleepless nights....years of building up a respectable image (based on improved build quality) cruelly dashed by becoming the chosen transport of an utter idiot...
Under the skin they are in many ways. Audi engines come from Hungary, I suppose the wire harnesses come from Czech republic or somewhere.....the tyres are probably from Continental in Romania
Skoda Fabia is a real hot-rod in some of the latest versions....and it is a far better car than the VW Polo which is why it is cannibalising the Polo segment
The Skoda Superb was designed for Chinese Government officials as a sort of stretch Passat......and the Octavia is a hot seller even to the German Police
If VW can put Japanese tyres on a Bentley made in the Phaeton factory in Dresden it can certainly return Skoda to its pre-war glory as top-quality cars.........after all I recall the BMW Isetta Bubble Car with its 13hp engine....produced under licence in Britain.....BMW built 136,367 Bubble Cars
It is hard to know what you are buying nowadays when cars share floorpans and components - even a Mini has a Chrysler or Toyota engine. Still if you can get Audi prices for a Skoda...why give a sucker an even break ?
Who`d have thought it eh , fancy ...cooo. " Sir sir can we sit in circle and express our oursleves with face paint sir" " Why of course young hoodie , learn in your own way..."
Buying a NEW car is frightfully middle-class, rather like purchasing one's own furniture. If one must drive oneself, one should drive an old runabout that's been in the family for absolutely yonks, don't you know.
VW and Audi is the same company which also owns Seat, it also has links to Porsche. It's policy is to build cars on "platforms" meaning a range of cars share many common features, from the chassis to engines to parts.
It's a little known fact that the Audi TT, the Audi A3, the Volkwagen Golf, the Seat Ibiza and the Skoda Fabia are all very similar cars. Just as the Porsche Cayenne, the Audi QS7 and the VW Toureg are very similar and share many parts.
The essential difference is styling, like the bodywork and interior obviously, although there are tweaks with the engines and suspension but a range of parts are identical and the premium paid for one model over another reflects higher production costs and a margin for branding.
Image-conscious 30/40-something buyers might like Audi's advertising. They're the sort of people who'd buy a £50 t-shirt because of the design on the front, who'd buy a branded Aussie or American wine even if the same wine is modeled on a Bordeaux and tastes worse than a French or Italian wine, it's just they're easily impressed by branding and image.
So you might slag off your Lib Dem blogger, but he's driving a very similar car to you and he's saved more money. If less MPs (and potential MPs) were dazzled by shiny things, just think of the money that could be saved, no over-expensive Portcullis House or Strasbourg Parliaments, no glass temple hospitals that have to remove half the lightbulbs, no Dome, no gold-plated Olympic stadium...
Absolutely, well said. Marketing and branding are damn Yankee ideas that are utterly corrosive. The new 2012 logo shows exactly where this type of thinking leads, ie national humiliation. The UK motor industry led the world for many years. Look at where we are now. Why? Because we stopped engineering and started messing around with the badges. No doubt they thought it was all very clever at the time. Rant over. Back to work now.
I seem to remember seeing a car that a chap knocked together in a barn somewhere that had a 27 litre Rolls-Royce Merlin engine up front. Now that would be a car worthy of a true blue supporter of The Conservative and Unionist Party wouldn't you say?
The whole thing about cars gets back to women though doesn`t it . The better the car the more tantilising totty you can expect to see squirming against its exquisitely tooled leather seats . This is why Liberals aren`t interested . They are either gay and treat scattered cushions with the reverence more properly associated with a Bugatti or they want to impress some sack wearing harridan who lives on bean curds and recycled cardboard. Cars are obviously out of the question either way…: “ When you could have spent the money on .a well in Africa !!! Ruben , never touch me again!” “ Martha I haven`t touched you at all ! We just did some weird yoga “ “How could you Ruben , that was tantric sex….. and you told me you were a Liberal Boo hoo hoo…” God I feel sorry for them
I knew a chap once who used to make his own cars. He made one for his wife that had half a boat at the back and a big engine at the front. No roof either. I don't think he was a Liberal as I never saw him in a velvet jacket or suedes.
...The latter is confirmed by JD Powell, Which,AutoExpress et al...
I would expect "Auto Express" and its German cousin "Auto Bild" to put all VW brands at the top of the tree as I understand they own a fair slice of the publishers. I'm shopping for a wifey car currently and the "Skoda Roomster" is at the top of the list followed by the "Nissan Qashqai", which incidentally is extremely good value.
Volkswagon worked wonders with the SKODA brand turning it from a socialist wrecked joke into one of the best cars around! VW could have done the same with ROVER but for some strange reason BMW won out with an inferior bid (they refused to share platforms Etc) The full story of the ROVER buyout was never told but I think the unions and bosses went with the bid that promised the fewest redundancies. I hear there were 600 people doing nothing in the sales and marketing division alone! If only common sense and not selfish motives had won out! Oh well, If ifs & ands were pots & pans thered be no need for tinkers!
lehrer, I can recommend the Roomster without reservation. If you can get beyond the slightly quirky "Popemobile" side-view, it provides a massive amount of space internally along with good driving dynamics. I've had my Roomster 3 1.9TDi for a month now and it consistently returns in excess of 50mpg from mixed A road and motorway driving across the Pennines without leaving me knackered. Sure it isn't as fast as my old Fabia VRs or Octavia VRs, but as a married 40-something with kids, I'm not bothered with looking cool or pulling lasses (I can spell CSA and am skint enough thanks to GB without adding a divorce to the equation).
Iain, leave the poor maligned skoda alone. I am married to an unreconstructed Thatcherite and yes middle aged tory and they love their skoda so much that the new sporty one is next on their list! They are in effect driving a VW golf for half the price and that makes it easy to admit they drive a "skip with handles". PS, thanks to that "advert" our kids are not embarrassed to admit we own one any more, in fact they are deemed "cool". The new one looks a lot more like the mini that was out gunned by a skoda on Topgear. Just replaced the other car with a new French "minibus" because we are apparently not allowed to stick the kids+dog on the roof of a sports car.
47 comments:
Correct me if I'm wrong BUT isn't a Skoda made by the same company that just happens to be producing your new Audi Coupe?
I understand that many of the parts for your new car appear in Skodas. In fact, one may call the new Audi A5 a Skoda A5.......
I have never been so insulted.
Well, actually, that;s not true...
Oh I am sorry Iain. I just couldn't resist.....
Vorsprung durch Technik, Audis are the best cars that Germany produces and I can only dream of owning one one day myself - sigh.....
I'm only 36 Iain.
The thing is that the kids in my class (okay, they are twelve) think the fabia is the coolest car out at the moment as they love the advert.
Of course, both Audi and Skoda are just different versions of a VW anyway.
I keep errors on you blog ,its ok elsewhere,only started tonight using IE6,and whats wrong with a skoda it's got 4 wheels ,you still can only go as fast as the idiot in front of you.
When I start collecting sticks that could be handy for stirring paint I'll buy a Skoda.
Maybe we cant all afford new Audi's every year! How the hell can you afford such extravagance?
Anyway you chose an Audi over a BMW 335i/335d. Sucker
And another thing, why don't you update your blog banner? You obviously have gone grey!
It's my first new car for 4 years! I only wish I could afford one every year.
Audis are so superior to BMWs. Look at how they hold their second hand prices much better. BMWs are very poky inside and don't have the elegant look of an Audi. Can;t stand them.
Anonymous. yes I know there are loading problems. Other sites are experiencing the same. I think it is aproblem with Google Ads or technorati.
Anonymous, kind of you to point that out. Everything will be updated when Iain Dale's Fiary 2.0 is launched later in the year!
What could possibly be cooler than a car made of cake?
Audi, sm-audi. Go Skoda!
If I had the money, I'd buy a Fabia (I've never had enough to buy a brand new car). In the meantime I drive a Skoda Felicia!
http://kerroncross.blogspot.com/2005/06/i-slow-down-for-badgers.html
And I'm not middle aged, just yet. (Well I hope not!)
Iain's headline is: You Know You are Middle Aged When...
So charming, given that Iain has been "44" for two years now. And his hair just keeps getting younger.
To those that think Audis are Skodas.
Presumably you think Bugattis are Skodas too.
How much would you give me for a Picasso I'm painting?
It's a Golf.
That is to say the whole thing is structurally identical to the Golf except for the arse end.
Skoda have gone down hill since the heady days where the Skoda Estelle was joked about school children whilst simultaneously winning the RAC Rally.
Frankly I prefer my 4X4
OH, yes it's still German!
Kerron you were born middleaged.
I wonder who are the worst drivers . I saw the statistical evidence that women couldn`t drive the other day , quelle suprise. I would guess its Liberal Democrats , they hate cars , and cigarettes and ...well they`re women really aren`t they.
Can I just express my amazement that Norfolk Blogger is a teacher. Who`d have thought it eh , fancy ...cooo.
" Sir sir can we sit in circle and express our oursleves with face paint sir"
" Why of course young hoodie , learn in your own way..."
Three weeks of discussion on education and not one politician has said what evryone knows which is that the main problem is the bloody useless teachers.
Iain
Try and get a copy of the VW internal Quality Audit next time you take a poop at Skoda. They top the quality league, the least warranty claims and the highest customer satisfaction rates. The latter is confirmed by JD Powell, Which,AutoExpress et al. The Audi brand does not do so well. How fortunate you are to be able to purchase such a lovely and expensive car whilst middle aged plebs have to make do with the most reliable brand in the UK.
How very Tory Toff
I would have thought that the nice people at Skoda would have paid Norfolk Blogger to go away.
Knowing that he will be driving round in one of their cars will be giving the marketing department sleepless nights....years of building up a respectable image (based on improved build quality) cruelly dashed by becoming the chosen transport of an utter idiot...
To those that think Audis are Skodas.
Under the skin they are in many ways. Audi engines come from Hungary, I suppose the wire harnesses come from Czech republic or somewhere.....the tyres are probably from Continental in Romania
Skoda Fabia is a real hot-rod in some of the latest versions....and it is a far better car than the VW Polo which is why it is cannibalising the Polo segment
The Skoda Superb was designed for Chinese Government officials as a sort of stretch Passat......and the Octavia is a hot seller even to the German Police
If VW can put Japanese tyres on a Bentley made in the Phaeton factory in Dresden it can certainly return Skoda to its pre-war glory as top-quality cars.........after all I recall the BMW Isetta Bubble Car with its 13hp engine....produced under licence in Britain.....BMW built 136,367 Bubble Cars
It is hard to know what you are buying nowadays when cars share floorpans and components - even a Mini has a Chrysler or Toyota engine. Still if you can get Audi prices for a Skoda...why give a sucker an even break ?
Who`d have thought it eh , fancy ...cooo.
" Sir sir can we sit in circle and express our oursleves with face paint sir"
" Why of course young hoodie , learn in your own way..."
You've been watching WebCameron again !
Buying a NEW car is frightfully middle-class, rather like purchasing one's own furniture. If one must drive oneself, one should drive an old runabout that's been in the family for absolutely yonks, don't you know.
VW and Audi is the same company which also owns Seat, it also has links to Porsche. It's policy is to build cars on "platforms" meaning a range of cars share many common features, from the chassis to engines to parts.
It's a little known fact that the Audi TT, the Audi A3, the Volkwagen Golf, the Seat Ibiza and the Skoda Fabia are all very similar cars. Just as the Porsche Cayenne, the Audi QS7 and the VW Toureg are very similar and share many parts.
The essential difference is styling, like the bodywork and interior obviously, although there are tweaks with the engines and suspension but a range of parts are identical and the premium paid for one model over another reflects higher production costs and a margin for branding.
Image-conscious 30/40-something buyers might like Audi's advertising. They're the sort of people who'd buy a £50 t-shirt because of the design on the front, who'd buy a branded Aussie or American wine even if the same wine is modeled on a Bordeaux and tastes worse than a French or Italian wine, it's just they're easily impressed by branding and image.
So you might slag off your Lib Dem blogger, but he's driving a very similar car to you and he's saved more money. If less MPs (and potential MPs) were dazzled by shiny things, just think of the money that could be saved, no over-expensive Portcullis House or Strasbourg Parliaments, no glass temple hospitals that have to remove half the lightbulbs, no Dome, no gold-plated Olympic stadium...
Absolutely, well said. Marketing and branding are damn Yankee ideas that are utterly corrosive. The new 2012 logo shows exactly where this type of thinking leads, ie national humiliation. The UK motor industry led the world for many years. Look at where we are now. Why? Because we stopped engineering and started messing around with the badges. No doubt they thought it was all very clever at the time. Rant over. Back to work now.
It becomes a vanity blog when the main discussion is who has the biggest whatsit.
If you were a true NewCon you would be riding a bike.
Victor
I used to drive an Isetta as a student. It managed 363 miles, 7 of them backwards and 119 towed. My contempt for German designs is complete.
Now I drive a Jaguar MBF (made before Ford) and support Grammar Schools. I am the true heart of the Conservative Party. (My second car is a Rover).
Your choice of car is like Tory policies, all presentation and image with no understanding of the basic facts.
Just like Cameron
I seem to remember seeing a car that a chap knocked together in a barn somewhere that had a 27 litre Rolls-Royce Merlin engine up front. Now that would be a car worthy of a true blue supporter of The Conservative and Unionist Party wouldn't you say?
Blogger is still stuttering a bit and has yet to pick up my link which is here. (Driving a battered 7 year old Volvo V40).
The whole thing about cars gets back to women though doesn`t it . The better the car the more tantilising totty you can expect to see squirming against its exquisitely tooled leather seats . This is why Liberals aren`t interested . They are either gay and treat scattered cushions with the reverence more properly associated with a Bugatti or they want to impress some sack wearing harridan who lives on bean curds and recycled cardboard.
Cars are obviously out of the question either way…:
“ When you could have spent the money on .a well in Africa !!! Ruben , never touch me again!”
“ Martha I haven`t touched you at all ! We just did some weird yoga “
“How could you Ruben , that was tantric sex….. and you told me you were a Liberal Boo hoo hoo…”
God I feel sorry for them
I knew a chap once who used to make his own cars. He made one for his wife that had half a boat at the back and a big engine at the front. No roof either. I don't think he was a Liberal as I never saw him in a velvet jacket or suedes.
Newmania, you seem to be engaged in an activity that we psychologists call 'projecting'.
Grief, I didn't know psychologists were allowed in. I'm off for a round of golf.
Buying a German car, you will be planning to invade Poland next...
:-)
All small cars are ultimately depressing.
Anonymous wrote,
...The latter is confirmed by JD Powell, Which,AutoExpress et al...
I would expect "Auto Express" and its German cousin "Auto Bild" to put all VW brands at the top of the tree as I understand they own a fair slice of the publishers.
I'm shopping for a wifey car currently and the "Skoda Roomster" is at the top of the list followed by the "Nissan Qashqai", which incidentally is extremely good value.
Iain - I'm surprised that you don't drive a 'green' Lexus hybrid... Do you like them?
No!
Tell us why. I'm interested. I gave up driving a car years ago. It's liberating. I don't know what car I would buy if I decided to drive again!
Do you only like German cars?
Canvas if you are chatting Ian up in the " Oh I wish I understood the offside rule ..." ,way , you are casting your seed on stony ground
NewMania LoL !
I'm genuinely interested in knowing what's wrong with a Lexus? He brought the subject of cars up anyway! :)
PS> I do know the offside rule!
Newmainia,
I am a Lib Dem member, I smoke and I drive a Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet.Please drop the sterotyping!
Given Iain is a full time media 'luvvie' now, should not he be driving a Porsche too though?
I have driven a hired Skoda by the way- another piece of good German engineering.
Now I am off to continue polluting the planet ....
Volkswagon worked wonders with the SKODA brand turning it from a socialist wrecked joke into one of the best cars around! VW could have done the same with ROVER but for some strange reason BMW won out with an inferior bid (they refused to share platforms Etc) The full story of the ROVER buyout was never told but I think the unions and bosses went with the bid that promised the fewest redundancies. I hear there were 600
people doing nothing in the sales and marketing division alone! If only common sense and not selfish motives had won out!
Oh well, If ifs & ands were pots & pans thered be no need for tinkers!
lehrer, I can recommend the Roomster without reservation. If you can get beyond the slightly quirky "Popemobile" side-view, it provides a massive amount of space internally along with good driving dynamics. I've had my Roomster 3 1.9TDi for a month now and it consistently returns in excess of 50mpg from mixed A road and motorway driving across the Pennines without leaving me knackered. Sure it isn't as fast as my old Fabia VRs or Octavia VRs, but as a married 40-something with kids, I'm not bothered with looking cool or pulling lasses (I can spell CSA and am skint enough thanks to GB without adding a divorce to the equation).
Iain, leave the poor maligned skoda alone.
I am married to an unreconstructed Thatcherite and yes middle aged tory and they love their skoda so much that the new sporty one is next on their list!
They are in effect driving a VW golf for half the price and that makes it easy to admit they drive a "skip with handles".
PS, thanks to that "advert" our kids are not embarrassed to admit we own one any more, in fact they are deemed "cool". The new one looks a lot more like the mini that was out gunned by a skoda on Topgear.
Just replaced the other car with a new French "minibus" because we are apparently not allowed to stick the kids+dog on the roof of a sports car.
I guess one has to be European to get the joke.
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