Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.
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badhuis
Joined: 20 Aug 2008 Posts: 1391 Location: Netherlands
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 1:50 pm Post subject: Amusing useless ad talk |
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Sometimes you read something in the ad that make you wondering why it was added. I has no use at all. Examples I saw today:
When properly completed, this vehicle promises to be a unique and reliable classic touring car.
Sure. When properly completed. You can put that comment to every other car ad.
I can not personally vouch for the condition of the engine and drivetrain in that I have not been physically able to try and start or drive it. However, the person I purchased the car from in 1998 did assure me that with a little bit of necessary work and maintenance, the engine will run strong and the transmission is good.
Er - that was 18 years ago mate! _________________ a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment |
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PAUL BEAUMONT
Joined: 27 Nov 2007 Posts: 1281 Location: Barnsley S. Yorks
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 1:59 pm Post subject: Re: Amusing useless ad talk |
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badhuis wrote: | Sometimes you read something in the ad that make you wondering why it was added. I has no use at all. Examples I saw today:
When properly completed, this vehicle promises to be a unique and reliable classic touring car.
Sure. When properly completed. You can put that comment to every other car ad.
I can not personally vouch for the condition of the engine and drivetrain in that I have not been physically able to try and start or drive it. However, the person I purchased the car from in 1998 did assure me that with a little bit of necessary work and maintenance, the engine will run strong and the transmission is good.
Er - that was 18 years ago mate! |
AND it meant nothing then!!!! |
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Ronniej
Joined: 02 Dec 2008 Posts: 239 Location: Blackwood, by Lanark, Scotland
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 2:33 pm Post subject: |
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Adverts often use very tired descriptions.
Those in E-bay regularly refer to "barn finds" There must be a great many barns out there or does sitting in a shed for a few weeks qualify for this description?
I am also astonished by the frequency of "bare metal, nut and bolt" rebuilds that feature in E-bay.
Like many other members of the forum I subscribe to The Automobile magazine. I enjoy the articles as well as browsing the cars for sale even if I am only window shopping.
One particular dealer has a full page advert every month with some highly desirable cars. I am always amused by the regular use of the word "stunning" in the descriptions.
While on the subject, why do newspaper articles about restorations almost always refer to a car being "lovingly restored to its former glory".
Surely other phrases could be used? Possibly even "carelessly bodged to a shadow of its original condition".
That's it! I have had my rant and I will now go and lie down in a darkened room. |
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Peter_L
Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 2680 Location: New Brunswick. Canada.
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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I have found the best approach is to read everything and believe nothing.
Advertising hooks are there to get one's attention. I would be interested to know what the response would be to an advert for "A 1930's load of crap, also known as a Morris 8,asking a lot more than I should"
My guess is that folk would go look see. |
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Rootes75
Joined: 30 Apr 2013 Posts: 3829 Location: The Somerset Levels
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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There are a lot of unscrupulous sellers on ebay who will say anything in an advert. One of my hobbies is collecting WW2 military bits and bobs, one advert I saw recently for a Naval Uniform said 'WW2 Royal Navy uniform - Authentic'. I wasn't sure about the use of the word 'Authentic' so I read the description only to find it was a modern version fitted out with old buttons and insignia to make it 'Authentic'! _________________ Various Rootes Vehicles. |
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Ashley
Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 1426 Location: Near Stroud, Glos
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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If you want utter nonsense personified hi end hi Fi is where to look.
My first question to Knut Skogrand, owner of the company, was on how he succeeded at that kind of fidelity for his Beethoven range: "I am originally—and at the core of my being—a musician. Working as a musician for decades, I have performed within many settings live, in studios and at rehearsals, always feeling a kind of urgent lack of silence. Growing up in the peaceful countryside and living in the serene mountain hills of Norway, I have grown accustomed to filtering sound through a mesh of tranquility and sonorous peace – having sounds around me standing out as meticulously shaped entities from a perfectly silent background. What I have experienced both as a performing musician and as a conscious listener is that the various cabling I have encountered often has a tendency to constrict and distort the signal being put through it – often to an extent that it has to be artificially corrected by applying studio/live effects. It has always seemed a rather backwards procedure to me."
He sells cables. |
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goneps
Joined: 18 Jun 2013 Posts: 601 Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 3:45 am Post subject: |
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Long before the war P. G. Wodehouse wrote a short story parodying advertisers' dishonesty, and the problem then wasn't a patch on what it's since become.
Richard |
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baconsdozen
Joined: 03 Dec 2007 Posts: 1119 Location: Under the car.
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MikeEdwards
Joined: 25 May 2011 Posts: 2478 Location: South Cheshire
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:23 am Post subject: |
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I recall an advert in the old Auto Trader for a lime green BMW 3-series which had been fitted with a Ferrari Testarossa "lookalike" body kit. It said "no idiots", as if anyone else was likely to buy it. |
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Bitumen Boy
Joined: 26 Jan 2012 Posts: 1737 Location: Above the snow line in old Monmouthshire
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 12:50 pm Post subject: |
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Back in the days of the "free ads" papers it seemed that every car for sale had a new battery, exhaust and so on. We were having a bit of a transport crisis when, one Sunday afternoon, I bought an old Fiesta to tide us over which had, allegedly, the inevitable "new battery". Monday morning the "new battery" was dead as the proverbial dodo, and the car had to be jump started. I set off for Gloucester, but of course as the car was a new purchase there was naff all petrol in the tank, so a couple of miles up the road I had to stop for fuel... luckily it was a proper garage and one of the workshop lads assisted with a booster pack when once again the car refused to even try starting. First place I stopped upon reaching Gloucester was a fast fit place, who really fitted a new battery, after which it gave no further trouble - at least no further battery related trouble, but the rest comes to several more stories about the worst car I have owned to date |
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welder
Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 265 Location: North Warwickshire
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:01 pm Post subject: |
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There used to be a used car pitch in Digbeth, Birmingham which bore a banner...."Up to £300 minimum Part Exchange".
"Up to" includes zero, as I pointed out to the proprietor. He was unimpressed. And surly..........
Ian |
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goneps
Joined: 18 Jun 2013 Posts: 601 Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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welder wrote: | There used to be a used car pitch in Digbeth, Birmingham which bore a banner...."Up to £300 minimum Part Exchange".
"Up to" includes zero, as I pointed out to the proprietor. He was unimpressed. And surly..........
Ian |
Here's another classic oxymoron (from Pinetown, South Africa):
"10% off on all used vehicles"
Since I couldn't be bothered to enquire which it was, 10% off or 10% on the price, I still don't know.
Richard |
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Keith D
Joined: 16 Oct 2008 Posts: 1130 Location: Upper Swan, Western Australia
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 7:29 am Post subject: |
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Way back in the mid-sixties when Australia was changing from pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents, (One pound became two dollars) a dealer in Melbourne had rather a crafty advert.
Kevin Dennis Motors, one of the biggest used car yards in Melbourne at that time, would advertise all his used cars in pounds as it sounded less but would then offer at the end of his ad, "we'll pay at least $250 for your licenced trade-in." Your mind was already thinking in pounds so you thought your trade in was worth 250 pounds, but they were only actually offering 125 pounds!
Keith |
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ukdave2002
Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4115 Location: South Cheshire
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:55 am Post subject: |
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It's suprising how many adds for cars still quote something along the lines of "Tax & tested until October 2016"
Dave |
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peter scott
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 7124 Location: Edinburgh
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:22 am Post subject: |
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I guess the tested aspect still has meaning. I would be happier driving away a car with a valid MOT.
Peter _________________ http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon |
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