What I hate about Boards.ie/Motors

rowanh

Gerry wrote:

What pisses me off is that everyone needs a personalized answer to their generic problem, eg: "I've got 30k to spend on an executive car to bore me on the way to work" - really, well you could have looked at the other similar threads first.

I'm interested in discussions about working on your own car, but theres very few threads about that, any that do happen are lost in the chaos. There are more "DIY" threads in the classics subforum, but I don't feel like clogging that up with musings/questions, and far less people read it anyway. I hereby volunteer to mod the "diy mechanic" subforum

Id like a car - diy subforum, can this be made?

PauloMN

ds20prefecture wrote:

The thing that drives me insane in the brain about this forum is the herd mentality. BMWs are great. Toyotas are great. Alfas are crap. Renaults are crap. VWs are great. Skodas are crap. and so on.

That this reflects the prevailing "wisdom" of the typical Irish car buyer is beyond doubt, but you'd hope for slightly more educated/informed opinions from some of the people here.

On an unrelated note, what passes for a "classic" in the classics subforum sometimes sticks in the throat. e.g. 1986 Mazda 9 estate. Very possibly the most uninspiring car ever made.

DS, I'd say every second message you post on this forum is just giving out about this forum. For example, you were on a few weeks back giving out about how a guy advertising his own motoring website was treated, yet I've seen exactly the same treatment of such people on your other regular forum and nobody complained there. Why post here if it annoys you so much?

Every forum has a herd mentality, it's just that the values/opinions/beliefs of the herd is different on each one. There is as much of a herd mentality on your favourite forum as there is here - it just different. More like Alfas are great, Skodas are grand as a tool, old Toyotas that can go sideways are cool, you can't possibly be a car nut if you don't have 17 x Peugeot 205s in various states of repair out back etc..

Just take or leave the threads as you desire. Some of the threads may bore you, and indeed bore me, but may be of interest to others. It's a forum, you can just move onto the next one.

Maybe the Motoring forum does need to be split up more, although you have to be careful doing that so as not to lose readers and contributers. I like the idea of a DIY section though as suggested above. Maybe also a "what car" section where people can add reviews of their own car for people to reduce the "has anyone got a '96 Corolla, what are they like?" type of threads etc..

r3nu4l

My take is this:

The Motors forum is excellent and most posters will provide you with decent answers to a well put question.

What really pisses me off is the type of thread where a user asks about...say...low fuel efficiency in his new car (brand X). What follows then is usually a brand war, where the usual regulars come in to moan about how brand X is crap because the head gasket always blows and then other posters come along saying brand X is great, I never saw a head gasket go in my life.

These type of BS debates spoil the thread and leave the OP searching through perhaps 3 pages of replies to find the one or two answers that may be of use.

I think that the Motor Mods should step in in these cases and ask people to stay on topic, although on the other hand the Motors forum might then become as sterile as some other fora around here...

Overall feeling? Great forum with some slight issues. One of the best on boards.ie

crosstownk

Gerry wrote:

I hereby volunteer to mod the "diy mechanic" subforum

I'd be in favour of this too - but it has been suggested recently and was, in general, shot down to some extent.

I've been watching this thread since it started and I have to say, I'd agree with a lot of comments posted so far. There is a lot of duplication in threads. If folks just searched back a wee bit they would probably find the answers to their questions. I'm not one to recommend cars - each to their own and all that, but I will give my opinion when I feel like it. I've plenty of experience with certain categories of cars and I simply pass it on - if it isn't liked then so be it.

The main reason I visit this forum is for the technical/mechanical problems threads but sometimes I get sucked into the other ones. In general it's a good forum and one of the busiest on boards. I just ignore the threads that I've no interest in and leave it at that.

It is the internet, and everyone is entitled to their opinion - but I hate see arguments arise - they serve no purpose most of the time and usually end up in a thread getting locked because the argument goes round in circles. Those sort of threads p1ss me off the most.

So basically, I'll post when I feel I've something constructive to offer - otherwise I'll just shut my trap.

I'm a motor industry professional and on a few occasions I have started threads looking for solutions to my problems and the other pros here have offered sound advice - in some instances they have lead to the solution to the problem.

Take what you want out of the forum - there are people here who can answer your question from a professional perspective, others from a personal perspective. If you want a solution to a specific problem then 'opinions' can be a nuisance, but if you want an opinion then start a thread - every opinion has some value, irrespective of whether it is positive or negative. Just don't get into an argument - remember > opinions are like ar$eholes, everybody has one:D

ds20prefecture

PauloMN wrote:

DS, I'd say every second message you post on this forum is just giving out about this forum

Actually, I would say that in the last year pretty much EVERY message I post is giving out about the forum. That is because I used to find Motors to be a reasonably entertaining and educational place to hang out, but now it isn't. I think that's a shame.

The thread title is "What I hate about Boards.ie/Motors", not "What I hate about the other forums I frequent". The DS discussion group on Yahoo (my "favourite forum") would be somewhat pointless without a herd mentality. If you were referring to Octane.ie you will see that I have also tried to speak out when I thought people were being treated unfairly. I completely disagree with you when you say all sites have a herd mentality. Octane is an excellent example of one that doesn't - e.g. A meet involving (among many others) a Morgan Aero 8, a Mk II Golf, A BMW 316 and a TR6.

I suppose the difference is that Octane is a site for enthusiasts whereas boards.ie/motors is a site for motorists.

Gerry

crosstownk wrote:

I'd be in favour of this too - but it has been suggested recently and was, in general, shot down to some extent.

Hmm, thats a pity. I missed that thread, don't really know why it would be shot down. Look at the amount of boards that boards.ie have created with very little justification, and now are predictably lifeless, I don't think car-diy would have that problem. I don't think it would detract from the main motors forum either, theres plenty of different topics on it, and its worth pointing out that its one of the most entertaining and active boards on boards.ie

crosstownk

Gerry wrote:

Hmm, thats a pity. I missed that thread, don't really know why it would be shot down. Look at the amount of boards that boards.ie have created with very little justification, and now are predictably lifeless, I don't think car-diy would have that problem. I don't think it would detract from the main motors forum either, theres plenty of different topics on it, and its worth pointing out that its one of the most entertaining and active boards on boards.ie

I think this is the thread in question. It was a 'mechanical' forum that was suggested - but essentially it's the same thing.

Seth Brundle

the previous thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055030613
edit: not quick enough!

PauloMN

ds20prefecture wrote:

Octane is an excellent example of one that doesn't - e.g. A meet involving (among many others) a Morgan Aero 8, a Mk II Golf, A BMW 316 and a TR6.

No herd mentality? It would be interesting to search the threads there for "BMW 316" for example and see what the herd have to say about them. Like I say, just a different herd.

There's definitely non-enthusiasts on here, but there's also plenty of enthusiasts, which creates an interesting mix. Sure, there's the odd "all Alfas are sh1te" threads, but there's also a lot less of the "you can't be a car enthusiast if you drive such and such" mentality, and the "it's not a classic unless it's a such and such" mentality.

Some (not all) members on other sites tend to look down their noses at forums like this one. If there's one thing I can't stand it's site snobbery - that's one thing you don't get here.

Glanza V

Sorry to rant, but here is the best place to do it. Why is it that when someone posts up an engine problem that suddenly a minority post back that it is probably that the head gasket is gone. I am sure that in a few cases this could be the problem but in most cases if you know about cars it is obvious what the problems are or the possibilities. I think that most people who post up the usless comment are trying to be helpful but not being helpful if you know what i mean. They are also bringing extra worry to the OP's and there is also a possibility of them getting ripped off by acting on stupid useless advice. The one that springs to mind is the "electrical problem" Where it is clear that is not the headgasket. Why do i know this?? Well, the temp gauge gets warm immediatly. Where as with a headgasket problem, the car will warm as usual and the the gauge will suddenly go up. This also happens briefly when you change a thermostat etc. So please, i ask and beg you, if you have no experience please dont post because it is worthless info and adds more worry to the OP.

Thanks

Alfasudcrazy

cormie wrote:

I've started 144 threads in motors,

How did you get on the time you were afraid of being nicked for that missing hubcap. I thought at the time you were some hell's angel type. Imagine taking a car on the road without a hubcap!

colm_mcm

Glanza V wrote:

Sorry to rant, but here is the best place to do it. Why is it that when someone posts up an engine problem that suddenly a minority post back that it is probably that the head gasket is gone. I am sure that in a few cases this could be the problem but in most cases if you know about cars it is obvious what the problems are or the possibilities. I think that most people who post up the usless comment are trying to be helpful but not being helpful if you know what i mean. They are also bringing extra worry to the OP's and there is also a possibility of them getting ripped off by acting on stupid useless advice. The one that springs to mind is the "electrical problem" Where it is clear that is not the headgasket. Why do i know this?? Well, the temp gauge gets warm immediatly. Where as with a headgasket problem, the car will warm as usual and the the gauge will suddenly go up. This also happens briefly when you change a thermostat etc. So please, i ask and beg you, if you have no experience please dont post because it is worthless info and adds more worry to the OP.

Thanks

people who know nothing about cars diagnosing their motor's electrical faults via the internet is always going to be tricky!

Darragh29

What pisses me off most about this forum is people who start a thread with:

"I just bought a car second hand from a car dealer and now I've found out that there is X, Y and Z wrong with it, can someone tell me what to do???"...

THIS DOES MY HEAD IN!!!!

The time to do something about it is before you part with your cash. Why do people not get these cars checked out by a mechanic before they buy them!?!?!?!?! I can't get my head around this at all.

Darragh29

Darragh29 wrote:

What pisses me off most about this forum is people who start a thread with:

"I just bought a car second hand from a car dealer and now I've found out that there is X, Y and Z wrong with it, can someone tell me what to do???"...

THIS DOES MY HEAD IN!!!!

The time to do something about it is before you part with your cash. Why do people not get these cars checked out by a mechanic before they buy them!?!?!?!?! I can't get my head around this at all.

Even worse again is, "My car is missing a body panel, the dealer said he would order in the part and fit it for me when it comes in but now he is putting me off"... You don't even need to be a mechanic to spot these problems, they are staring you in the face and you shouldn't take a car off the forecourt unless it is in the right condition...

Gary ITR

What I hate is when somebody asks for advice about buying a car, nearly everytime they are told the car they are looking at is underpowered and to step up an engine size or two.

I had a choice between a 1.4 golf and a 1.4 focus so i asked for opinions here and was promptly told that they were 'dangerously underpowered'

colm_mcm

Onkle wrote:

I had a choice between a 1.4 golf and a 1.4 focus so i asked for opinions here and was promptly told that they were 'dangerously underpowered'

Have you considered a Skoda Octavia?

ds20prefecture

Your signature is interesting, colm_mcm. You do know that the czechs are widely regarded as best brewers of beer in the world?

colm_mcm

ds20prefecture wrote:

Your signature is interesting, colm_mcm. You do know that the czechs are widely regarded as best brewers of beer in the world?

Yes, I'm aware of it, and had the hangovers as proof!