Why are people judged by their cars/value of cars?

EssexExile

People judge each other by their cars, their houses, their clothes, their accent and just about anything else. Personally I only drive the Rolls from the mansion while wearing a Saville Row suit, I don't speak in case someone gets the wrong impression.

daveyjp

Give me reliability of Japanese manufacturers over a 'posh' German badge any day of the week.

Mr.Generous

tifo said:

Herzlos said:

Personally, whilst some of the premium branded stuff is nice, I just couldn't justify the money to buy the fancy badged one over the uncool one.

They are nice but expensive to repair when things go wrong and they regularly do, esp electronics on german cars. Mechanically they're very good, solid cars and very driveable but need to get them over 2.0 litres otherwise they're underpowered. I'm talking from experience.

Isn't the new Merc C43 2.0 over 400 bhp?

MalMonroe

I always put it down to basic insecurity. My friend's daughter will only ever buy and drive a Mazda, which she thinks makes her look good, changes it every three years and she's happy enough with them. She's always trying to get her Dad's approval though and I just think that's sad. (He has a 2008 VW Golf and isn't all that interested in cars.) 

Most people who want people to admire them/think they are wealthy/etc. are just suffering from that basic insecurity of wanting to be liked/loved. Like most things, it starts in childhood. (Why, yes, I DID study psychology when I was at Uni!) 

I just want my car to be roadworthy - hence the annual service - and clean and go from A to B without letting me down. I mostly drive Toyota with the Aygo being my current choice. It's small and nippy and I can park places the bigger and more expensive cars can't. Plus the model I have has free road tax and is not detrimental to the environment. All in all I'm really pleased with it. 

My new neighbours had a BMW and were always moaning about it, something dropped off here and something was knocking there. A total money pit. Nobody thought any better of them for having it. They traded it in for a Nissan and are at last enjoying trouble-free motoring. Nobody thinks any less of them.

At the end of the day cars are only things. And I just think that people are more important than things. If my car works, I'm very happy and that's the make I'll be sticking with.

BiturboV12

When you have a nice car, You’ll find other drivers are fickle as you try to pull out of junctions. I drive a Mercedes and find most other drivers, speed to stop me pulling into traffic. It seldom happens when I drive my sons Fiesta. Green eyed monsters everywhere lm afraid!

Belenus

daveyjp said:

Give me reliability of Japanese manufacturers over a 'posh' German badge any day of the week.

In our experience, most modern cars are pretty reliable. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) as the yanks say.

Over the last 35 years we have owned two VW Golf GT1s, one Nissan 200SX and two BMWs.

The Golfs and the Nissan were flawless over many thousands of miles.

A BMW 325i bought at 18 months old and 6,000 miles in 1996. We sold it in 2011 with about 120,000 miles on it. In that time we had to replace a water pump at about 90,000 miles. Nothing else failed on it.

Our current car is a 2015 BMW Series1 bought at 3 months old with 230 miles on the clock. It has now done about 33,000 miles. Apart from an occasional software glitch in the TPMS it hasn't given us any problems. (Yet)

Belenus

Why are people judged by their cars/value of cars?

PunkRoquefort said:

I have always bought new Hondas/Toyotas and although they have served me very well and never let me down, considering buying an entry level/maybe next model up Audi or BMW? 

Someone has just mentioned that Series 1 BMWs are for BMW drivers who can't really afford one.

Who cares what other people think or say? I don't.

We could easily afford an expensive car but we don't want or need one so we choose to drive a second hand 2015 BMW Series1 bought at 3 months old with 230 miles on the clock. It has now done about 33,000 miles. We plan to keep it indefinitely.

In 2015 we test drove Ford Focus, Audi and Mercedes equivalents. We preferred the BMW and the Audi. We bought the BMW in the end as it was a bargain. Very low mileage, perfect condition and about £10,000 less than the new price a few months previous. We would have bought an Audi if we had found a similar bargain first.

We would have happily bought a Ford, a Skoda or anything decent if we liked it.

motorguy

Belenus said:

We would have happily bought a Ford, a Skoda or anything decent if we liked it.

Same with us.  

motorguy

MalMonroe said:

I always put it down to basic insecurity. My friend's daughter will only ever buy and drive a Mazda, which she thinks makes her look good, changes it every three years and she's happy enough with them. She's always trying to get her Dad's approval though and I just think that's sad. (He has a 2008 VW Golf and isn't all that interested in cars.) 

Most people who want people to admire them/think they are wealthy/etc. are just suffering from that basic insecurity of wanting to be liked/loved. Like most things, it starts in childhood. (Why, yes, I DID study psychology when I was at Uni!) 

I just want my car to be roadworthy - hence the annual service - and clean and go from A to B without letting me down. I mostly drive Toyota with the Aygo being my current choice. It's small and nippy and I can park places the bigger and more expensive cars can't. Plus the model I have has free road tax and is not detrimental to the environment. All in all I'm really pleased with it. 

My new neighbours had a BMW and were always moaning about it, something dropped off here and something was knocking there. A total money pit. Nobody thought any better of them for having it. They traded it in for a Nissan and are at last enjoying trouble-free motoring. Nobody thinks any less of them.

At the end of the day cars are only things. And I just think that people are more important than things. If my car works, I'm very happy and that's the make I'll be sticking with.

I dont see an awful lot wrong with someone sticking to the brand they like / have had a good experience with and many people do like to get a second opinion on a deal / purchase before they buy.  I dont think any of that shows insecurities / childhood issues.  

I'm sure as someone who has studied psychology at Uni, you'll be aware of confirmation bias.  Your BMW owning neighbour reference is a prime example of it.  

I like a nice car.  I like a car that impresses me.  I dont care if it impresses other people and I dont want people to admire me / think i am wealthy or whatever.

zagfles

IME these days people are judged more on how "green" they are (or think they are) than on the value of their car! Instead of boasting about their Porsche (look at how rich I am) they boast about their Nissan Leaf (look at how green I am). Same underlying insecurities, seeking approval, wanting people to admire them, wanting to feel superior to others etc.