I read an article by Dianne Hales in Sunday's Parade magazine regarding what the type of car you drive says about you. I must tell you, I’m a bottom feeder. I’m never gonna get up there at the upper level, the echelon of the haves or the Jones who have it all.
Your car tells others who you are and how well you are doing. Yes, those wheels of yours are sending a message about you. Whether you want it to or not.
My husband and I own three cars. We don’t owe any money on them, thank God! They are not brand new either. They are, old, bought used and we love them. One is a Mazda, one a Toyota Cressida and the other a Chrysler Fifth Avenue.
We have the Fifth Avenue parked in NY and it is in good running condition. We spent a lot of money on it and refuse to let it go. I love that car. It drives very smoothly and we’re just sentimentally attached to it. We have the other two with us. We’re thinking of parting with the Mazda because it has really seen better days and we’re unable and reluctant to do anything else to it. What we would spend on repairs we might as well go buy another one. But if we could without thinking about it, we would fix that car up in a heartbeat. Why? Because we’re sentimentally attached to it too. That’s why we still have it. So they are both registered and insured and road worthy and one is in a lot better condition than the other. We’ve even had offers to buy the Toyota but naw, we’re attached to it too.
According to Ms. Hales’ article, “…cars are extension of what we want to be, successful, cool or just different.” A survey that was done in the US states that a lot of Americans feel their cars match their personality. Experts she talked to also said that people uses the right side of their brain, the emotional, irrational part, when buying a car. That’s why when people go to buy a specific car they come away with something else.
This is what the type of vehicle you drive says about you:
“SUV – you have a heady feeling of being independent and above it all.
Convertibles – fits the wind-in-the-air freedom; or signifies for a man or women who are in a midlife crisis will drive a convertible to signify that they are not old.
Rugged off-roaders – outdoor adventurer, even if the only adventure you experience is going over a speed bump!
White minivan – (most times with a GPS) they worry about getting lost; those with a roof racks are skiers (or they love to go camping or hiking I say!)
Sports car – there’s an inner James Bond
Woman with a pick up truck – she can do anything he can
Chrysler PT Cruiser or Mini Cooper – trying to recapture the exuberance that comes so easily when young and carefree."
Guess what too, the type of vehicle you drive says a lot about where you live. "Import car buyers are more likely to live in blue states, American made auto buyers tend to be from union families and red states.”
So the type of car you drive is a status symbol and it reflects how we want other people to see us. People who drive a Bentley or Maserati states that they are really, really wealthy, they drive the one of a kind more expensive cars. Some activists try to do what’s environmentally correct and drive a hybrid like the Toyota Prius; some buy the total opposite of what their parents would own, i.e., a Scion xB or a Dodge Magnum and it more than likely will be tricked (or pimped) out too!
I guess I’m gonna have to get in line to be featured on Pimp My Ride or one of those car shows! But you know what? I love our old cars. They might not be fancy smanchy or even have horse power engines, but they get us where we want to go and suit our family very well. So if our car says that we’re a working class family and not on the wealthy side, so be it. I’m proud that we are hard working, law abiding parents who can provide for ourselves and our children. We’ll leave the status symbols to those who really need it!