why can't men wear skirts ?

[Usquanigo]

In the end, I sold the old girl for a Passat. Much classier, and it will hold its value. The problem is, that Vectra's are lowly fleet cars, so they flood the forecourt and residuals are very low. Just look at www.autotrader.co.uk, there's tons of them out there...

Never buy a car - ANY car, for percieved "value" or retention of value. Unless you are buying a McClaren F1 and plan to sit on it for 20 years, you WILL lose money over the life of the car. So just do yourself a favor and get a car that you WANT, a car that you plan to keep indefinitely. Value is irrelevant if you never sell it.

And if you can't afford to run such a beast or toy every day (or if you're like me and simply don't want to run it every day), then get a throw-away beater for daily driving duties, something that's cheap and efficient, and drive it into the ground, then replace it. Even in a beater resale value is irrelevent.

[Alf Huckham]

So, back to business then.

Any of you lads gonna be out and about in Skirts this weekend then?

[Usquanigo]

The Vectra VXR is 280 bhp Turbo V6, and drives really smooth and quiet. It is great fun to drive. I am sorry that some of you have had disappointment with Vectras.

Aussie made V6s - out of the GM_Holden plant in Melbourne, also sold to Saab and Alfa Romeo for use in their high end V6 models..

(..and then finished off to each companies own spec's in their own factories ).

Saab is GM also. Could be nice cars if they weren't wrong wheel drive (FWD).

[Guest]

Alf, I noticed how Colin deftly avoided your question of if he'd be out in skirts this weekend...

Perhaps we've all found common ground in our hatred of the Vectra... Esp. the early diesels

I guess this gives some of the Skirt-Cafe members to 'normalize' and do things like us....

Colin, I'm going out in trousers tonight - wanna join me?!

As for the Holden, we know it as the Monaro over here, but fuel prices at the moment don't make it a wise purchase. £1.30 for diesel and rising, petrol is pushing £1.20 already per litre. I don't think we'll be driving about for much longer if Gordon Brown keeps this nonsense going. The closest I'll get to a Volvo or Mercedes is an Arriva bus at the moment...

[Usquanigo]

Alf, I noticed how Colin deftly avoided your question of if he'd be out in skirts this weekend...

Perhaps we've all found common ground in our hatred of the Vectra... Esp. the early diesels

I guess this gives some of the Skirt-Cafe members to 'normalize' and do things like us....

Colin, I'm going out in trousers tonight - wanna join me?!

As for the Holden, we know it as the Monaro over here, but fuel prices at the moment don't make it a wise purchase. £1.30 for diesel and rising, petrol is pushing £1.20 already per litre. I don't think we'll be driving about for much longer if Gordon Brown keeps this nonsense going. The closest I'll get to a Volvo or Mercedes is an Arriva bus at the moment...

I'm splitting the difference and going out in shorts tonight. :p (once I get done working tonight)

As for gas, it's not cheap here either, but as I said, that's the point of a beater. You are lucky in that you can snag a VW Lupo diesel and get kick-ass mpg. We can't. I save the firebreathing stuff for the nice summer weekends.

[Alf Huckham]

Alf, I noticed how Colin deftly avoided your question of if he'd be out in skirts this weekend...
Perhaps we've all found common ground in our hatred of the Vectra... Esp. the early diesels

I guess this gives some of the Skirt-Cafe members to 'normalize' and do things like us....

Colin, I'm going out in trousers tonight - wanna join me?!

As for the Holden, we know it as the Monaro over here, but fuel prices at the moment don't make it a wise purchase. £1.30 for diesel and rising, petrol is pushing £1.20 already per litre. I don't think we'll be driving about for much longer if Gordon Brown keeps this nonsense going. The closest I'll get to a Volvo or Mercedes is an Arriva bus at the moment...

Yeah, he's a spoil sport.

He'll lose his place on the Skirt Cafe committee if he aint careful.

[KiltyCol]

Sorry Alf, I wasn't evading your question. I have just been too busy to log on since mid-yesterday.
I will be wearing a variety to suit the occasion this weekend. Kilt, shorts, sarong. I don't wear the sarong out of doors though.
I have just been enquiring by 'phone with a view to buying yet another kilt - in addition to the Scottish National Tartan one already on order.

It is worth a note that clothes don't make a person different. I am the same husband, dad, brother, friend, employee, neighbour etc. whatever I wear.

Ref the Passat - I have owned several VWs and like them, but the Passat Estate boot wasn't big enough or the right shape for all my gear. The Vectra Estate fits everything perfectly to the mm. I have owned several Vauxhalls, and have always been reasonably happy with them. The bigger engines are definitely much quieter than the smaller engines for the same car.

Have a good weekend all.

[Alf Huckham]

Thanks for the response Col.

[KiltyCol]

Thanks for the response Col.

That's O.K.
Have a good day.

[Alf Huckham]

yeah, will do

[Guest]

KiltyCol, You must carry alot of equipment in your spare time...

My Passat is a 2003 model (Mk5), it has plenty of space. I was thinking of a Vectra Estate (a 1.9CDTi) it had the better engine than the old DTi's, but it's an ugly beast .

It's something about the quality of a German car that makes me feel reassured. I'll be able to sell it on for almost as much as I bought it. Saying that, the Vectra handles like it runs on rails but it was never a pleasant time down at the Dealer's. Incompetence and rudeness seems to be the order of the day. I had one guy ruin the beige interior of my new DualFuel company car, just 2 weeks old (power steering packed up ) as he never covered the seats. No apology, either.

When you go in a VW dealership, people call you 'sir' rather than the 'what the f*** do you want?' kinda responses when you go to the Parts desk @ Vauxhall... As for PNG Waltham Cross, don't get me started on them people...

Good to hear you're ordering a kilt Colin, it's better than skirts IMHO. Ever tried Guilty Kilts www.guiltykilts.com ? Their stuff looks top of the range, a far cry from the traditional Scottish stuff. They just need to come down in price, and more guys would buy them

[KiltyCol]

.....
.........It's something about the quality of a German car that makes me feel reassured. .......
...kilt..... They just need to come down in price, and more guys would buy them

The Vectra VXR Estate is German, it even says Opel on the door pillar, although they re-badge them as Vauxhall. My previous Vectra Estates have been German too, although many of the Vectra hatchbacks and saloons are English, being made at Ellesmere Port. Vauxhall dealers vary, but I have been pleased with the service from Cresser of Redditch and Bridge of Evesham. I would avoid Lookers at all costs. The front desk is all smart and polite, but the Feral Troll lurks behind the staff only door and bites through the toughest of wallets.

I agree about the price of kilts, although it's a chicken and egg situation. I agree with your point that more people would buy them if the price was lower. The price would also come down if more people bought them due to the economics of mass production. UnionKilts have made this point. I currently have a UnionKilt dark blue denim kilt which I wear quite a lot at weekends. It is well accepted by people at our Church and by many of my relatives. I am looking forward to having more kilts in the future. Thanks for the link.

[Alf Huckham]

phew

[Mac]

............
I do agree with your comment about the office though - in principle. I mean, let's not forget that women have to wear suits, and often "pant suits" because they have to conform to the dress code. But that aside, what has bugged me for a long time is sandals. Women can wear sandals on the beach, at the mall, around the house, in the office, even to formal occasions. Not only that, they have a range of options to choose from to suit those varied locations.

We don't.

We can get dress sandals, and in some cases, you can sneak them into the office on a casual day, but it's still pushing the envelope. And while I pride myself in making sandals and short sin the summer look GOOD (not lazy overly-casual, in other words, like I want to be seen and checked out, not like I'm ready for yard work), it's still not office attire, nor formal-wear. And to be honest, even I think true formal wear like tuxes are pushing it too far, even suits might be over the top (for sandals). But polos and khakis (aka, buisness casual) whould DEFINITELY allow it.

We need more style levels and choices, we need more of a dress shoe angle to our sandals, down to the (men's!!!) heels - with nice cushion, arch support, quality materials and construction, and showing various amounts of skin. We have some, we need more. And we need them to be more accepted. ............

I agree it doesn't sound fair. You guys just have to be bold and go for it. It wasn't easy for the first women who wore pant suits to the office. Look what that led to.

[Alf Huckham]

Can't see the similarities though Mac.