Re: Mini Petrol Powered Corvette 'Go-Kart' For Sale (7ft Long) On UK Ebay

On Fri, 24 Nov 2006 20:37:38 GMT, "PikeyVanMan"
<Peter@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>International VIN standard?  Why does any international standard matter? 
As 
>long as it's recognised by the dealer network of the manufacturer of that

>particular car, then that's all that matters.  

Well, what some little local shop does is a moot point, seeing as all
the significant car makers in the world have been using the same basic
VIN standard for quite a few years now.  It *does* matter because all
the major car makers are now global companies selling their product in
that same global marketplace.  Think about the economies of their
manufacturing scale, and the need to sell the least possible
variations of product.  That's what drives then, and is why you can
buy cheap new cars.

It also matters because national governments need a common baseline
from which to regulate and legislate.  Why would a modern car company
want, or need, to spend money adapt to a relatively small individual
market's idiosyncrasies and peculiar legal requirements?  They don't,
and they won't for any longer than they have to.  They have been
changing your laws and conventions, apparently without you noticing,
and they will continue to do it.  Resistance is futile, as the Vogon
guard said.  The common VIN format is but one example.  I could give
you others.

Here's another point to ponder.  The fact that Japan drives on the
left is likely to delay the UK's switch to driving on the right by
some small number of years.  Just think about that for a little while
before you move your mouse pointer to the 'reply' button.  There's a
good debate to be had there, but it may take someone with better than
your blinkered view to have meaningful input to the discussion.  Think
for a moment or two about the cost savings for the car companies...

>> You still need to convince me that
>> "Mk V Escort" is a more accurate descriptor than "1995 Escort." 

>Well, I'd call it a Mk6 myself - for me the Mk5 was the new model around 
>1992, that was fairly well known to be monumentally ****e.  Anyway,
calling 
>something a Mk5 as opposed to a 1995 model is a much better idea simply 
>because it actually related to previous models.  If you call something a
Mk5 
>then people know that it's the one after the Mk4 (the previous shape). 
1995 
>doesn't neccessarily mean a lot, especially if you consider each facelift
as 
>a new model.

Whatever.  You're a dinosaur.