Tactful Answers

[Archrms]

How do you respond to rude people who ask how much your car cost? I'd like to know how to respond tactfully without seeming snobbish.

[B L & sons]

tell them you don't know that your wife gave it to you
Bill

[Wayne Maybury]

From my point of view this question is asked 2 ways for very different reasons. Some people are really interested in buying or building a Cobra and they will ask many questions including one about the cost. I usually answer all of those questions including what it really did cost me to build the car.

There are other people that just come along and right out of the blue ask about the price. I generally ignore them the best I can. If they persist, I will tell them that it cost a lot or I will ask them why they want to know. Some Cobra owners will say "tell me how much you earn and I will tell you if you can afford one". I guess that a lot depends on the tone of the question.

By the way, get used to it because many people are going to inquire about the price for some reason.

Wayne

[Mister]

My response depends on how I feel about the questioner.

If he, and it almost always is a he, seems sincerely interested in the car(s). I tell him what a base roller is going for and then you start adding thing$ of your choosing.....

If the question just comes off in a way, context, that irritates me, my standard response has become..... You can buy one in the low 20's and the price goes straight up from there depending on what you want.

Mike

[speed220mph]

I tell them one of three things depending on the person asking the question:

1. I don't want to think about it.
2. I decided it would be better to have fun with the Cobra rather than watching the money lose value in the stock market.
3. I'm not telling for fear my wife will find out.

[Bill Bess]

Well, you guys are right, if the person is truely interested in building or buying, and are nice about it I just say from the mid 20's to the mid 60's...or more.
Oh ya, the first question..Is it Real? I just answer "It looks real to me, what do you think".
Most folks just want to confirm what they can't afford, but wish they could.
Bill

[wtm442]

That's between me and my checkbook .... it was a lot of money.

[CJ428CJ]

I usually just give them a range. I tell them they can get into one for as low as about $25k up to about $150k for a replica.

[Rich A]

How do you respond to rude people who ask how much your car cost? I'd like to know how to respond tactfully without seeming snobbish.

If the person is asking you "how much does your car cost" you are not being snobbish telling them.
It is when you tell them and they didn't ask is when your being a SNOB!!!
I usually just give them a range of $25k up to about $140k to own a replica and then tell them what I have in mine.
It is really no big deal telling them the price, I also tell them about the forum so they can look for themselves.

Sometimes I ask other Cobra owners what they have spent on theirs just to see how much they Inflated the cost and their egos.
That how I tell what kind of person they are.

[bret a ewing]

Smile........

[Cobrabill]

Since finding out what a SPF costs is easy,by NOT telling the guy,you're just breaking his balls-what's the point?

[Power Surge]

Are they asking rudely, or do you just think it's rude of them to ask?

If they are asking rudely, then answer rudely.

If they are asking because they are interested in building, then I would give a general statement like "you can build an entry level car for about 25k, and go up from there to close to 100k, with many options in between. Decide what you have to spend, and then do some research on which brand fits your budget".

[Tony Ripepi]

Hmmmmm

Over the years I have come up with the one liner to answer the question.

" This is a replica of the original cobra and they range from mid $20k to Mid $150k anybody that owns one of these finds their own comfort level for what they want to spend"

As for the cost of my car....I never share that, none of their business. If they persisit I tell them to look on the web.

TR

[Got the Bug]

I usually just give a range and mention the starting price of a roller. If someone is really interested, I'll point them to CC or Cobra Country for more info. I think the question is normally prompted by true curiosity vs. rudeness.

[Archrms]

You are correct in that most people can be classified as either truly interested, or just nosy. I was just looking for a polite standard response to give when I get asked. All of your posts have good suggestions, and I should be able to piece together something from all of that material. It is interesting to see how others handle this type of question, which I am sure is asked quite often (right behind the "is it real").

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Tony Ripepi

Over the years I have come up with the one liner to answer the question.

" This is a replica of the original cobra and they range from mid $20k to Mid $150k anybody that owns one of these finds their own comfort level for what they want to spend"

As for the cost of my car....I never share that...

That is exactly what I say. It works very well, every time.

[Tony Ripepi]

Archrms,

You are right...it is why I start my response with ---All of these cars are replicas ----and go on from there, unless one of the original CSX cars are in attendance.

TR

[jhv48]

I usually just say that the PARTS ALONE cost me about $40,000.

And it took a year of my time to assemble it.

[Jamo]

If they ask how much right off the bat, I respond with a question (professional habit): "Are you interested in getting one?" That either leads to an enjoyable discussion of the various alternatives with a person who is truly interested, or to an early end of having to use up some of my limited human lifespan with someone who needs to get off the planet.

I am usually extremely nice until the person gives me a reason not to be. If they come up assplaining to their posse everything they think they know about my car, I let them dig an extremely deep hole, and then go back and educate their ass in a mannerly way leaving no doubt amongst the speaker and his throng what a phuking moron the speaker is.

Easy to figure them out...they usually start off by assplaining how my stainless steel body makes it an original.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Jamo

Easy to figure them out...they usually start off by assplaining how my stainless steel body makes it an original.

Or they bang on the fenders with their knuckles to make sure it's not glass....