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Just recently, my wife and I were taking our Daughter to a friend’s house. My Wife said to me, “We can’t take your car, people will think the pikeys are turning up”.
So we went in her little car, I feel so vulnerable in that!
I’d planned, and still do plan, on keeping my car for a number of years now. Yes, it’s a bit noisy, a bit tatty, smokes a bit, and aged now, (you could say that about a number of people), but I like it.
It can carry 0.7 ton in the back, it pulls trees out, (without too much of a problem), seats seven, and can be driven almost anywhere, even in the snow, (not that it likes starting in winter though), and that suits me.
I started to suspect the wife wanted me to get rid of it, at the time of the last MOT, she told me we would need to get another car if too much was wrong with it, well, there wasn’t.
I do get attached to my cars, and think we are judged far too much for what we drive.
So, what statement, does the model of car you drive, make about you?
Do you judge people by what they drive?
You can even add other assumptions that are made, if you like.
Just recently, my wife and I were taking our Daughter to a friend’s house. My Wife said to me, “We can’t take your car, people will think the pikeys are turning up”.
So we went in her little car, I feel so vulnerable in that!
I’d planned, and still do plan, on keeping my car for a number of years now. Yes, it’s a bit noisy, a bit tatty, smokes a bit, and aged now, (you could say that about a number of people), but I like it.
It can carry 0.7 ton in the back, it pulls trees out, (without too much of a problem), seats seven, and can be driven almost anywhere, even in the snow, (not that it likes starting in winter though), and that suits me.
I started to suspect the wife wanted me to get rid of it, at the time of the last MOT, she told me we would need to get another car if too much was wrong with it, well, there wasn’t.
I do get attached to my cars, and think we are judged far too much for what we drive.
So, what statement, does the model of car you drive, make about you?
Do you judge people by what they drive?
You can even add other assumptions that are made, if you like.
Some people certainly do judge other by what they drive, but its up to you to not feed into that. I'm 33yrs old and have owned around 25 cars in my life. Throughout my 20's I bought cars and sold them for something else whenever I got bored of driving them. I've had everything from 2 seater sports cars, to 4 door luxury vehicles, to a conversion van equipped with a bed, fridge, and mini blinds! LOL. Just last week I went shopping for a new car due to tranny failure on my 06 Mazda. At this stage in my life I just wanted something practical, reliable, and economical. Back then I bought flashy cars just for the sake of being flashy. Guess it was a faze. Now I can care less what others may think or say about what I drive.
But the problem is not what other people think about your car - it's what your wife thinks about it and the reaction it may or may not get.
I think there is a middle ground where it really doesn't matter much what you drive. That middle ground is where you drive something people expect you to drive. If you a contractor and drive a pickup - that's normal. If you are 30 something yuppie and drive a 3 series - that's normal. If you are a tree hugger with a wife that doesn't shave her legs and you drive a Prius - that's normal.
It is the mismatches that draw attention. If you are sloppy and drive a beautiful S-class Mercedes people might wonder "what's up with him?"
And the reaction from strangers is understandably less meaningful than from those that know you.
I don't really care much though what people think of what I drive. I drive what I like and I try to keep my vehicles reasonably clean and well kept.
I would say that I am addicted to automobiles. I cant settle for a car no matter how much sense it would make to drive that particular car. I think that the car you drive says a lot for the type of person you are. I have definitely calmed down since my early years of driving with buying cars but even though im calming down doesnt mean I will buy a car that doesnt fit my personality. With that being said it really wouldnt be judging me by the car I drive because that is the image that I want to portray.
I have a friend who is very successfull, he own a Mercedes, Charger SRT8 and a 1990 something dodge diesel pickup with 300K miles. He drives the old Dodge as a daily driver, and with his personality it it so much more fitting that he drives that instead.
I have another friend that had bought a brand new Mercedes and his look is very hippy. He had a very flashy brand new benz with Grateful Dead stickers on it, etc. It was funny to see peoples reaction when he got out of it such as hoffdano said.
For many people cars are like clothes, and they do make a first impression, just like a nice suit or a ratty old sweatshirt and pair of jeans. They tend to show who you are just like your haircut or how clean you keep yourself. And like it or not, MOST people form impressions of others based on those superficial outward characteristics (A person with messy, unkempt unwashed hair and dirty clothes is considered to be a different kind of person at first glance than someone in a perfectly tailored Armani suit and well groomed hair and the like).
And you will definitely think differently of a person who pulls up in a Hummer than one who pulls up in a Camry, and both of them would be thought of differently than someone who pulls up in a vintage hot rod. Even if you say you don't judge people on what they drive, I'll bet that you would make first impressions about what that person is like in those three scenarios.
I know I was treated differently depending on if I pulled up in a Ferrari, a pink VW Bug, a Pinto, or a Jaguar sedan. It's just a fact of life.
I bought my G8 GT for the same reasons I bought my GTO, it was beautifully understated low key, unassuming, didn't look flashy or omg boy racer but it is still faster then 99% of cars on the road. The high build quality and sexy subtleness played into that too.
My next car will be a Corvette C6 Z06, I don't care about the stereotypes or flashiness of it, I want it for me and I want it for its unrivaled performance at the price point.
My favorite are clean-cut successful-looking people who drive beaters or fully working but very old cars.
I am a systems administrator for a big multinational bank and the fiancee is more successful then I, overall we do pretty well. I drive my beater 95 Saturn SL1 to the Park N Ride and ride the bus an hour to work. The G8 sleeps in the garage for weeknight/weekend fun.
Couldn't care less what people think. lol.
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