Er, different....

[Sol]

They're here ....(some examples)

https://drivetribe.com/t/the-rat-bastard...3sw/chrono

But it's not my scene. I like straight and shiny. Rust is a big turn off on any car, why you want it to look rusty is out of my scope of understanding. But each to their own etc etc.

RBC are a very friendly bunch and people who get stick on other car forums which are not so kind to newcomers whose cars don't "fit the profile" tend to gravitate to RBC as they are non judgemental, and anything goes there car-wise.

[Gryffindor]

I think I understand the rat look - it reminds me of my Matchbox cars when I was a kid. I loved bashing them all up yet still they 'survived' to drive another day.

I still have an old clockwork Schuco American police car which would be worth a few quid if I hadn't squashed it. Bit like my Berlingo.

[Guanock]

I still have an old clockwork Schuco American police car which would be worth a few quid if I hadn't squashed it. Bit like my Berlingo.

I think you have got it in one when you said "If I hadn't squashed it"

In my opinion, as soon as anyone does these outrageous things to their vehicles, they immediately lower the value, sometimes by thousands of pounds. Depreciation is the biggest cost of vehicle ownership without multiplying it by .....%

You may or may not be a fan of this sort of thing, but the reality is you have just reduced its value by a factor of 'How much you have changed it from standard'

Geoff

[Sol]

Value, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder....

Is anything truly worth anything? If you like it enough, then yes it is. If not, then it's worth nothing.

Even Gold only has a value, due to perception.

[Guanock]

 

Even Gold only has a value, due to perception.

Not sure that is true in the real world. Gold has a value determined by weight and quality. The gold can be any shape or size, so aesthetics do not matter. However, motor vehicles are assessed on age, condition, desirability etc.

But what do I know?

Geoff

[Sol]

Perceived value is what I mean. It has very little to distinguish it from silver, except it's a different colour.

My point is that nothing tangible really has any value except what we perceive it to be, and attach to that thing. Money is just paper, Gold is just metal. Cars are just paint, metal, plastic and rubber. Yet we place a deterministic value on them.

Try thinking of an explanation, that a 5 year old would understand, as to why Gold for instance is worth a lot more than silver. Hard to do I think.

For instance I bought a 5 year old MK2 Escort RS2000 in 1983 ish for around £2500 and today the same car would be worth around £50k. Why, because its desirable to those who like them and because it's now rare. I'm only pointing out that value is only relevant to those who like or want something and not intrinsic to the thing itself.

[Gryffindor]

Money is just paper

Actually it's plastic now, and as such it is more valuable than the old paper money because it isn't impregnated so easily with cannabis, germs and other nasties; and because it can be sanitised with hand sanitiser. That alone means that I can tip my Iceland delivery driver and he can accept it. That in turn means that he is quite happy to lug my bags of food up some stairs, which is worth its weight in gold to me.

Gold is just metal.

Ah, maybe, but it is shiny. More to the point, it remains shiny, and so anyone who has some also remains bright and shiny. It's all about association, or relative rather than inherent value.

I must admit I'd quite like to have the bare copper dip finish on my car's brightwork than the final chrome version. Chrome looks too commonplace to me.

Cars are just paint, metal, plastic and rubber. Yet we place a deterministic value on them.

I determine my car's value by what it can do for me, not least get me to work and back, which is priceless. Someone else would determine its value by what they could resell it for with a bit of tarting up. A third person would value it by its raw materials an the cost of extracting them. Because my valuation is the highest, I am the one who has my car.

I also value my Berlingo because I can fit in it. If, for argument's sake, someone was to give me a shiny new BMW, they would be aghast to learn that the first thing I'd do is trade it in for a Berlingo.

Try thinking of an explanation, that a 5 year old would understand, as to why Gold for instance is worth a lot more than silver. Hard to do I think.

Not really, just ask them which one they like more. Then give them one bar of their choice, and then offer them two bars of the other one as a swap. If you get it right, you could eventually do rather well out of the barter.

I've always thought of money as being a lot like water. If you try to keep it, it dribbles away between your fingers into someone else's eager hand waiting below. The best place to have your hand is in between two other people's hands, so you can wash your hands at both their expenses.

Same again on a global scale: rich countries inevitably 'leak' money to poor ones, until the poor ones become rich and leak some of it back again. Think of the demand for ancient Chinese antiques. So the Jet Stream is like the flow of wealth around the globe.