Here in sunny Belfast there’s a car wash “franchise” for want of a better word that has a few sites which seem to mainly be staffed by Romanians. Now I don’t know what they earn (I presume it’s not fantastic money) but it’s obviously a fairly lucrative business.

Occasionally when I drive past I notice that the owner parks his Bentley, or his A8 4.2 out the front. Both cars have vanity plates with the business name. Is it just me or is this a bit tasteless?

It reminds me of a printers I went to a few years ago when I was doing graphic design. I popped in to get some prints, was quoted a hugely extortionate price, but due to dead lines I had to pay it. On my way out I noticed a embarrassment of super cars, 911 turbos, an M6, an Aston….I promptly vowed never to use them again (and never to work to such tight deadlines).

I certainly don’t begrudge people a nice toy or two, but sometimes flaunting it mightn’t be a great idea.

Count your blessings, they could’ve been VWs. 😆

where else are they meant to park if on site?

I would avoid any business that flaunt their wealth through materialist tat….

Even if I was minted I wouldn’t spend the money on flash cars or tasteless chavvy number plates

Count your blessings, they could’ve been VWs.

A Bentley and an Audi? They are!

dirtyrider

where else are they meant to park if on site?

There’s plenty of room on the lot, the car wash guy parks his cars on the footpath in full display mode out front of the business.

so what?

flaunt their wealth through materialist tat….

Yeah, have you seen the bikes the STW staff ride? Flashy gits. 😉

Presumably if they drive to work in a fiesta but live in a gated mansion then thats OK?

Although I do understand the point, we give all our sales reps a company golf (oh the irony) rather than have the more successful ones turn up in exotica that they have purchased themselves.

Its a strange world though, where if you have a genuine interest in cars, and choose to spend a certain percentage of your money on that you are judged in this way.

Final point – you can pick up the a Bentley Continental for just over £20K, so thats less than a new mid spec golf. Once its got a private plate on then most people cant tell.

I sometimes park my 52 plate Mondeo right outside reception.
If it had wheel trims I’d remove one, just one, for added effect. 😀

“Flaunt it if you’ve got it” is my mantra; it’s why I can usually be found doing my shopping in the CO-OP without a shirt on. What’s the point of tattoos and a six pack if you’re not gonna show it off?

A relative is a large animal vet, he always buys 2nd hand cars and never washes them because the farmers hate to see that he is making money.

dirtyrider

so what?

Well, when I see twenty Romanians swarming round a car in the freezing cold, and the owners £250,000 Bentley parked out front it makes me think I’ll get my car washed somewhere else as it seems like a pretty tasteless juxtaposition.

Now there might be all sorts of logic fails going on there, but that’s my gut reaction, and it reminded me of the printers from years ago. I thought their prices were extortionate and their fleet of luxury cars confirmed that they were doing extremely well out of it.

In a similar vein – how much do you care about builder’s vans? I used to do a bit of labouring for a guy who had a run of the mill couple of year old transit and then some gas fitters turned up in their brand new top of the line T5 with all the bells and whistles and a personalised plate. The guy I worked for was pretty condescending say that he wouldn’t trust a builder who turned up in such a flash van.

Well, when I see twenty Romanians swarming round a car in the freezing cold, and a £250,000 parked out front it makes me think I’ll get my car washed somewhere else as it seems like a pretty tasteless juxtaposition.

so, as long as the explotation isn’t highlighted, your happy with it.

how do you feel about the CEO’s of most stores you shop in?

A relative is a large animal vet,

?

How very judgemental STW 🙄

Djglover has a point though. With the vanity plates masking they age, they could be 10 years old as there’s been very few visual changes on both a continental or an A8 over the years. Both of which decprieciate like they’ve been thrown out of a plane.

Plus, a continental is nowhere near £250k. Half that new…

jam bo

so, as long as the explotation isn’t highlighted, your happy with it.

how do you feel about the CEO’s of most stores you shop in?

I’m not trying to make a statement, rather just bring it up for discussion. Y’know, like on a discussion forum. I’m sure it’s a fairly paradox ridden attitude to take, but I’m curious to hear other peoples opinion.

so how do you feel about the CEO’s of tesco’s and the like?

Happy to shop there as long as they don’t park outside?

Perhaps he’s manufacturing huge quantities of crystal meth and doesn’t really care how his car affects the car wash business?

In a similar vein – how much do you care about builder’s vans? I used to do a bit of labouring for a guy who had a run of the mill couple of year old transit and then some gas fitters turned up in their brand new top of the line T5 with all the bells and whistles and a personalised plate. The guy I worked for was pretty condescending say that he wouldn’t trust a builder who turned up in such a flash van.

Don’t care about “flash” per se, but I’d expect it to be clean, well maintained and undamaged. If the owner looks after, and takes pride in their tools & posessions, hopefully he’ll have the same attitude to mine!

jam bo
so how do you feel about the CEO’s of tesco’s and the like?

Happy to shop there as long as they don’t park outside?

Well if the CEO of Tescos parked his helicopter in the middle of the car park of my local branch and the shop was staffed entirely by rain soaked Romanians running around frantically, only stopping briefly for a drag on some chinese fags and a swig of Redbull, yeah I’d probably find it displeasing and go to Lidl across the road 🙂

I turned a builder away who turned up in a brand new merc van without a quote as his prices would be to high for me as I know how much they cost.

Prejudice for sure but that money has to come from their customers

Our local Bookie has a Ferrari 458 which he parks outside occasionally.

I wouldn’t bet with him – although I don’t bet anyway 😆

I would instinctively (and quite possibly subconsciously) avoid such businesses; my probably erroneous assumption would be that they are either a) making too much money from their customers and therefor there will be cheaper suppliers elsewhere, or b) that they’ve been making money in a dodgy fashion and therefor not particularly trustworthy.

As additional supporting (anecdotal) evidence for this, the only bloke that I know that drives round in a Bentley is a chap that breaks 4x4s of a certain brand, and is (allegedly) as dodgy as all hell. I wouldn’t trust him with making a cup of tea.

Given their tax arrangements, one wonders what the head of Facebook in the UK drives, and where he/she parks it….!

Don’t see the problem myself. He’s got a business, he’s employing people and he’s making himself some money.

However I do wonder whether other people don’t see it the same way as I do – especially as I am a business owner and have nice cars (just Audis, nothing in the supercar league) and often go to clients offices.

Generally I think it’s a bit “in your face” as the owner is flouting the size of the profits he/she is making. Its a car wash not a huge multi-national FTSE listed business like Tescos

the owner is flouting the size of the profits he/she is making

He could have won the lottery, come into an inheritance or made the money by some other means…

also a great way to wash money….apparently.

johndoh

He could have won the lottery, come into an inheritance or made the money by some other means…

He sure could have, but the prominent placement of the car and the plates with the business name on them is making a very conscious and deliberate association between the car wash business and the fancy car.

You think those cars were bough with money earned only by washing cars?
Washing cars is not the only thing the do with cash.

Perhaps not paying any tax?

Just like Facebook, Google and Amazon in that respect.

He sure could have, but the prominent placement of the car and the plates with the business name on them is making a tight association between the car wash and the fancy car.

He could have won the money, invested in the business and is proud of building it up to what it is now…

yes and he could have bought the cars for the workers and he could spend his days feeding the poor but its very very unlikely your generous guess is correct.
As no one can prove anything its also pointless
They could have been given it all bya Russian oligarch to launder money from children trafficked into sex slavery for all we know.

That is my entry for the pointless guessing game debate.

Both cars have vanity plates with the business name

Yup there are some hell-pit units on our industrial estate business park with cars that have plates that only make sense when you see them outside the units

Saw one of them the other day Merc SLK with paddle shifters and auto-blip going to and from Greggs it must’ve been at least 400 m

All part of life’s rich tapestry

Why on earth is it unlikely?

Really?