What to do about work colleagues who slag off your car?

mooney · Post by **mooney** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 15:49

My new work colleague keeps telling me that my car is a hairdressers car...

A: I am not a hairdresser

and

B: He drives a P reg old Ford Fiesta...

I have nothing to come back with, but for some reason it annoys me more than it usually would.

I probably wouldn't get as annoyed if maybe he had a reason to back it up with, or if it didn't just come accross as plain jealousy on his part...

What would you do?

billz · Post by **billz** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 16:01

tell him you will take him for a proper spin then see what he has to say
bill

markrnorton · Post by **markrnorton** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 16:02

Give him a haircut

Mike Fishwick · Post by **Mike Fishwick** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 16:07

The Brits have always had a problem about small sports cars - it's probably a sign of jealousy, as their wives will not let them have such a car.

I remember back in the 'sixties, when a Ford Zodiac owner pulled alongside my friend's MG TC at the lights, and informed us that it was 'Full of wind and piss!' Later I found the same prejudice about my Austin-Healey Sprite.

Just ask them to tell you exactly what is wrong with a Z3 - as distinct from the 'everyone knows' type of rubbish.

If it had a Morgan, MG, or TVR badge on its nose they would probably tell you how wonderful it was - BMW badges seem to excite a lot of people.

GazHyde · Post by **GazHyde** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 16:15

I would suggest no need to argue with him. He clearly has a much better car than you, so you will only humiliate yourself further.

With my current 2 cars several people have questioned both my sexuality and abilities with a pair of scissors. You will also get the BMW driver jokes as well.

As said before, drop the roof and take him out for a 'spirited' drive. Then watch his face when he has to get back in his own car.

Wolverine_1999 · Post by **Wolverine_1999** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 16:18

Same mentality in Ireland... and funny enough most girls I've asked see it more of a man's car

Jealousy and the like...

Titan · Post by **Titan** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 16:24

mooney wrote:My new work colleague keeps telling me that my car is a hairdressers car...
What would you do?

Ignore him
Change jobs
Take up hair dressing as a side-line
Threaten him with a blue rinse
Pretend it's your partner's car really
Ask him if he would like to swap
Show him the replies on this forum..........

clacedogg · Post by **clacedogg** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 16:32

I get the same from our football team, but it doesn't bother me at all. If he/she drives a P reg fiesta, it shows he/she knows nothing about cars, it's only a jealousy thing

The Sorceror · Post by **The Sorceror** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 17:36

clacedogg wrote: If he/she drives a P reg fiesta, it shows he/she knows nothing about cars, it's only a jealousy thing

but mooney wrote:B: He drives a P reg old Ford Fiesta...

That will be a he/he then

Post by **Robert T** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 17:49

Just hum a little ditty to yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luKmSLXukaw

Cheers R.

Sorcerors Apprentice · Post by **Sorcerors Apprentice** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 17:57

He should get himself a Mitsubishi Pajero.

http://blog.buenoentonces.com/2010/12/m ... er-mobile/

swamper · Post by **swamper** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 17:57

walk calmly up to them and bitch slap the f****r............your only doing them a favor in the long run..

Midsomer Mikey · Post by **Midsomer Mikey** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 18:24

I would let their tyres down tell them youve got an air compressor but
you cant stay to help because youve got to go topless

jimmy boy · Post by **jimmy boy** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 19:13

Dont do what i did, after relentless piss taking i just went up and twated him one but lost my job, wife wasnt best please when i went home early and told her what had happened, luckily i now have a new job but still get the same piss taking, might start looking for a new job lol

mooney · Post by **mooney** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 19:15

Thanks for all the great suggestions.

I think I might give them all a try!

It's just a bit weird - He's the new guy, the same age as me, with a car like a old fiesta!
(Not only is it an awful old Fiesta it has St George flags all over it!)

Another point which shows this guys taste in cars is that he wants a new car, and the car he wants is a new shape ford fiesta!

I wish I had remembered that peice of info when he was slagging mine off today.

All the rest of the guys in the office drive company BMW's & Mercedes and are very into their cars, and there are car calenders all over the office, and a regular topic of conversation between me and those guys is the 'dream garage'.

They all have respect for a girl like me who wants a decent motor and buys a car which they all see as a bit fun and crazy.
It's also been a car which I have wanted ever since they were released.

What my main gripe is - I would never insult anyones choice in car. Each to their own. And some people aren't car people. Some people are, and everyone has their own opinion on what they love and what they hate.
I personally hate fiestas. But would I ever say that to someone who seems to be in love with them with all their heart? No!

TaffZee · Post by **TaffZee** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 19:18

swamper wrote:walk calmly up to them and bitch slap the f****r............your only doing them a favor in the long run..

Get in before him and start taking the piss out of his car, keep it up, dont relent, Get your other work mates to take up the piss take, he will stop.

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 19:29

#1. get hold of the keys to the fiesta.
#2. park it around the corner then sneak keys back.
#3. get the biggest pile of animal (or human) sh1t you can find.
#4. put the sh1t where the car was parked.
#5. put a ford badge on the sh1t.
#6. take a picture and email it to everyone in the office (and post it here).

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 19:38

Just smile at him knowingly, as if to say ' yeah you're obviously right' and ignore him. Later offer to take him out in your car and if you can show him what it can do.
I took a friend out in my car a few years back - not because he was being particularly nasty but because he thought it was a hairdressers car. Took him for a spirited drive and he threw up.
A few months later he showed me his new car - a silver Z3 - he still has it and loves it to bits.

Midsomer Mikey · Post by **Midsomer Mikey** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 19:54

i meant

the car topless

now then now i know you are a proud z3 lady owner driver is his name wayne kerr

321bhp · Post by **321bhp** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 19:55

offer to take him for a ride in it one night,say it all nice and preteend your a best mate of his,he is bound to say yes,say about 30 minutes before you pick him up,drink 10 pints of lager,smoke a crack cocaine pipe,jack up some heroine,that should give him the ride of his life,ill doubt after that he wont mention the z3 again

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 20:09

All fine fantasy answers above but in reality I would just sack them for gross misconduct

In all seriousness it's hard to advise properly as so much of this type of thing is dependent on other factors in the workplace but my guess as a new guy is he is trying to find common ground with the other guys and you and your car he sees as an easy target. The real issue is he doing this consciously or not. I would ask to speak with him privately and tell him how you feel. If he is a decent guy he will respect that and stop. If not he is just a **** and you can treat him accordingly without feeling guilty about it. The others will suss him out in their own time. Good luck but this type of thing is pretty common in office "politics" typical when new staff try to establish themselves and more often than not act out of insecurity

TitanTim · Post by **TitanTim** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 20:13

Running a red hot poker up their rear usually does the trick

Funnily enough I tend to get the opposite, most of my work colleagues love the Zed and gets all sorts of compliments, bird puller etc etc

Tim.

wonderloaf · Post by **wonderloaf** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 20:13

the pee taking i get over my z3 is nothing compared to my last car....a Pug 206cc. There, i've said it now, i'll get my coat and quietly leave. Just rembember theres always someone worse off than yourself!

Greeny · Post by **Greeny** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 20:14

I have the same all the time,just tell him the following....

All the litres of Blue Rinse in the boot weighs the rear end down for even better grip OR

Your insurance cost more than his car and at his age his Mom would worry if he was out late in a decent car.

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 20:33

Don't take it to heart, it usually stems from jealousy so try and embrace the fact they are that pissed they feel the need to say it. One guy i'd never spoken to actually ran across the courtyard to shout 'thats a womans car', i couldnt believe he went to so much effort, i was gobsmacked!! - that night he happened to bump into me on a dual carriageway and sit up my ass in his 20+ year old dog of a golf (I think he hoped his k&n air filter stickers on the side evened the performance up), he soon saw who was driving a more girly car!!

Laugh it off and don't let it ruin your experience or the love for your car and maybe give him some **** about driving a glorified ford KA

snoops · Post by **snoops** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 20:35

I have always failed to see why saying a car is a hairdressers car is somehow a put down or am I missing something

I know a hairdresser, she has 2 shops, an apartment in Nice and drives a top end Mercedes.... and my hairdresser has about 6 holidays a year so it can't be a "money thing".

I'd be more inclined to ask them to explain the context of their remark as you fail to see the point they are making.

The Sorceror · Post by **The Sorceror** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 20:36

Although it may be tempting, the use of physical violence in the work place cannot be condoned

You could point out that he clearly knows nothing about cars - REAL hairdressers drive SLKs

Radlitt · Post by **Radlitt** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 20:43

Rise above it and ignore them.

Be thankful for the fools, they make you and me look good !

Jeremy

Vic-Z3 · Post by **Vic-Z3** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 20:44

Kill Him ................................... Kill Him Now.......

swamper · Post by **swamper** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 20:45

[[[STONE HIM]]]... !

tcrichton · Post by **tcrichton** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 20:51

I'd just say "uh huh, yeah" and walk away. You know as well as I do that our cars are not hairdresser's cars...

My brother can testify that, with the top down our cars completely screw up your hair so you'd look like a prize idiot turning up to a your salon after driving a Z with the roof down.

Also who in their right mind would put 300BHP+ in a hairdresser's car with no traction control.

It's probably "I'm trying to get to know you" banter from a keen football supporter (judging by the flags) as he's not sure the "Chelsea are ****" rhyme would work with you. You could join in but personally I'd take the high road and laugh it off, who cares what anyone else thinks, you're the one driving it!

I wouldn't offer to take him out to prove a point, he could still be an arse about it, but if the opportunity presented itself I'd probably show him some proper german engineering, not some tappety, smoking sack of american drivel.

Tris.

TitanTim · Post by **TitanTim** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 21:04

Radlitt wrote:Rinse above it and ignore them.

Be thankful for the fools, they make you and me look good !

Jeremy

Rinse??

Tim.

jontymo · Post by **jontymo** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 21:19

Do what i did

Buy an Audi TT as well!!! LOL and yes i'm 6ft with a shaved head(well thats my excuse)

Thinking about it nobody takes the piss out of me but myself

jontymo

Radlitt · Post by **Radlitt** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 21:34

Thanks Tim, Freudian Slip, I wasn't really thinking about Hairdressing.

Do you think anyone else noticed?

Jeremy

Hard Top · Post by **Hard Top** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 21:59

snoops wrote:I know a hairdresser, she has 2 shops, an apartment in Nice and drives a top end Mercedes.... and my hairdresser has about 6 holidays a year so it can't be a "money thing".

Snoops, you are obviously paying to much for your blue rinse

Mike Fishwick wrote:The Brits have always had a problem about small sports cars - it's probably a sign of jealousy, as their wives will not let them have such a car.

I remember back in the 'sixties, when a Ford Zodiac owner pulled alongside my friend's MG TC at the lights, and informed us that it was 'Full of wind and piss!' Later I found the same prejudice about my Austin-Healey Sprite.

Just ask them to tell you exactly what is wrong with a Z3 - as distinct from the 'everyone knows' type of rubbish.

If it had a Morgan, MG, or TVR badge on its nose they would probably tell you how wonderful it was - BMW badges seem to excite a lot of people.

Yes, very strange, seems to be a UK thing.
We don't get those comments over here, except for one bloke shouting at us when we were on a cruise, that we were not driving proper sports cars.
So I shouted back, show us your Ferrari then.
He walked off fairly smartly.

HT

mooney · Post by **mooney** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 22:17

So far I have risen above it. But today wasnt the first time. He's not getting a ride in it either.

Today when he said it, my response was- 'so you think your brother drives a hairdressers car too?!'

He has previously told me that his brother drives one too.

He said he told his brother when he 1st got it when they first cane out that it was a hairdressers car. He still has it and has had it from new. His brother is a car mechanic, so far from a hairdresser.

Not only does he slag me off for my current car, he always reminds me how bad he thinks mini's are too.
He built them for two years and he says that that gives him the knowledge tonight how bad they are.

I don't think they can be be that bad though. We have had quite a few over the years, and I have a feeling that a fiesta wouldn't have been much better

snoops · Post by **snoops** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 22:58

Sounds awfully like a little bit of envy really, best to ignore

whiteminks · Post by **whiteminks** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 23:04

Tell him his bonnet is too small..............
Small bonnet = small ......................
Tell him you have got one of the longest on any forecourt!

GazHyde · Post by **GazHyde** » Tue 01 Feb, 2011 23:21

mooney wrote:Not only does he slag me off for my current car, he always reminds me how bad he thinks mini's are too.

My other car is a....

Right, thats it!

I'm on my way over...

Jamezee · Post by **Jamezee** » Wed 02 Feb, 2011 00:18

shantybeater wrote:Don't take it to heart, it usually stems from jealousy so try and embrace the fact they are that pissed they feel the need to say it. One guy i'd never spoken to actually ran across the courtyard to shout 'thats a womans car', i couldnt believe he went to so much effort, i was gobsmacked!! - that night he happened to bump into me on a dual carriageway and sit up my ass in his 20+ year old dog of a golf (I think he hoped his k&n air filter stickers on the side evened the performance up), he soon saw who was driving a more girly car!!

Laugh it off and don't let it ruin your experience or the love for your car and maybe give him some **** about driving a glorified ford KA

Spot on........jealousy.

Midsomer Mikey · Post by **Midsomer Mikey** » Wed 02 Feb, 2011 07:42

How about getting zroadster members in your area to start a cruise from your work place i think that would shut him up

spanwah · Post by **spanwah** » Wed 02 Feb, 2011 08:17

sounds like a jealous pr#ck!to be blunt !!!!!!

Ferdinand · Post by **Ferdinand** » Wed 02 Feb, 2011 08:34

Lets not get over excited.... the poor fellar drives a Fiesta - He's got more than enough to deal with - little self esteem - little car - probably has a fat ugly wife (sorry) and horrible kids, crummy little apartment or house... I could go on and on....

Give the guy a pad on the shoulder and tell him to get a life in stead of expressing his own sorrows through rotten comments.

And if that does'nt help: punch him in the belly - key his "car" and start spreadin' rumours about him - or drug his bear and shave his head and ask hin whether he likes his new hair cut??

Naaah - Just kiddin' - IGNORE HIM!

Mike Fishwick · Post by **Mike Fishwick** » Wed 02 Feb, 2011 10:23

It's certainly a Brit thing, and is just as illogical as the 'enthusiasts' who decry any diesel car.

I bet a lot of those who complain about anti-Z3 jibes are guilty of silly jibes against diesel cars, even though they will easily outdrag most petrol cars of similar capacity - and a lot of larger ones too!

Z3cade · Post by **Z3cade** » Wed 02 Feb, 2011 13:49

Well you can tell him this from me. My 22 year old cousin is a hair dresser and she drives a new ford fiesta!!!!!!!!!!! Ha! Ha! Ha!!!!!!!!!!!!
Its nothing but pure jelousy my friend......

Lazzzydog · Post by **Lazzzydog** » Wed 02 Feb, 2011 16:23

I think he fancies you. Maybe he never grew up and this is his childish way of chatting you up. After his next bout of ribbing you casually mention how people who keep cracking the same tired "joke" bore you to tears then turn away and carry on with something less tedious. He'll get the message.

Geoff H · Post by **Geoff H** » Wed 02 Feb, 2011 16:42

Very strange reading this thread, in all the years I've owned the Z I've never had this remark made about my car. It is a 2.8, but anybody who makes stupid remarks wouldn't know much about cars anyway.

Mouldy · Post by **Mouldy** » Thu 03 Feb, 2011 07:23

Why worry what others think about your ride? The only person who should be interested is you and as long as you like your Zed, why stress about what others say?

There are those who will bait you to check your reaction and do it more if they see it upsets or concerns you. We are all entitled to an opinion and if his is different to yours, so what! There are more important things in life to worry about.

My daily driver is a Skoda. There are people (and probably quite a few Forum members) who would laugh at that, but it's a damned good car. A friend of mine, who owns a new Scirocco R, says that a Skoda is a thinking man's Volkswagen and having owned it for the best part of three years, I have to agree.

Skoda, as a brand, are winning awards in various publications and even Jeremy Clarkson promoted one on Top Gear a couple of weeks ago, so they can't be all that bad!

A 2 litre diesel with 170 bhp and 350 nM of torque, returning over 40mpg suits me fine.

Antoninus · Post by **Antoninus** » Thu 03 Feb, 2011 14:05

Kick him, then again, then again, then again, then wash your shoes in the police cell toilet to hide the evidence.

trigg35 · Post by **trigg35** » Thu 03 Feb, 2011 21:15

wouldnt worry.a z3 or any other soft top is a bit showy and dare i say pretentious.it will get a reaction and it wont always be the one you want but often it will.i accept the image the car can project and laugh along with it.im 38 so mid life crisis is a popular joke (probably true!).my mate who is a jealous type isnt keen.his mother on the other hand acts like a donny osmond fan when she sees it outside and cant help sitting in it.
on a dull day last year while putting diesel in my old van a bloke looking pleased with himself pulled up in his saab with the roof down.i thought to myself what a cock and then realised the irony in this.had a similar thought when i saw a woman the colour of a lobster in her focus convertible with shades on looking far too happy! anyway it turns heads and i hope it is in a good way most of the time.if you see a grumpy looking bloke in a z3 that will be me.i dont want to look like im having too much fun!

zroadster.net

What to do about work colleagues who slag off your car?

What to do about work colleagues who slag off your car?

Brits

Re: What to do about work colleagues who slag off your car?

what to do about work colleagues who slag off your car

what to do about work colleagues who slag off your car

what to do about work colleagues who slag off your car

Brits