Talking Cars Tuesday - Why Do You Drive what you Drive?
Mates,
With no Jeepin' Ben in sight I figured I'd take as shot at a topic. Once in a while, ever see a car from a distance and frequently can guess the demographic driving it or perhaps how that vehicle will be driven? See a Cadillac, expect late 60's driver. See a Subaru with a coffee can for a 'trick' muffler, expect a young 20-something dude to be driving. There are many more predictions that seem to come true as you pass that car/truck.
And for that matter, why do you drive what you do? Is it a work rig? Does is send a certain signal about being sporty (MGrowOld probably takes the cake with his GTO), frugal, a family guy/gal, off-roader?
Two questions for today:
1. What cars do you see tooling down the road and from a distance think, "I bet that driver is a _________"
2. Why did you pick out and drive what you are driving? What was it that lead you to that choice?
XM
1. What cars do you see tooling down the road and from a distance think, "I bet that driver is a _________" I've got a number of preconceived notions in my head, but my career in the business has taught me to keep them to myself. You never know when a guy in muddy pants and a ripped t-shirt is going to walk in to the showroom and buy four vehicles, outright.
2. Why did you pick out and drive what you are driving? What was it that lead you to that choice? Company provided. I will be 43 next month and I have never owned a vehicle. My Huffy got me everywhere I needed to go when I was in Ann Arbor, after that I went to work for an OEM and haven't looked back. I choose the vehicle I drive based upon what is available and whether I will need a hitch in the next 12 months.
Your first comment is so true. I work in retail automotive as a consultant for a company that supplies the computers and software for dealerships. That said, from observation old people with some money drive Cadillac's, Lexus and Lincoln's and the frugal ones drive Toyota Camrys.
Do yourself a favor, never get caught behind the Camrys.
Camry's, Prius's (Priie?), or Subaru Hatchbacks... they mostly drive slow and will leave a green light REALLY slow. Pro-tip.. find a delivery vehicle or tow truck and get behind them... they're always in a hurry.
nice to 'see' you rabbit. hope you are well.
Always good to hear from you XM... it's been a whirlwind with work and family, haven't been online nearly as much, and killed all my social media (liberating, by the way). Figured you guys deserve your year of pride after the whooping' you put on us, but I can't resist a car blog post. Hope the family and your kiddos are doing well... did we ever find out what schools they're playing football at, or is that still classified?
oh, we know re: football and we are very stoked, but that's a back channel transmission.
good on you for dumping social media - something i've never had and don't intend on picking up.
no pride thumping about november in true conversation with a very good egg like yourself. besides, the tables could very easily turn this coming november and i was never one to talk smack.
I'm of the (insane in some circles) opinion that a strong UM is better for OSU, and better for the conference. Wins like 2016 and 2018 are truly gratifying, as I'm sure 2021 was for you and your fellow UM fans. Interesting to see the moves the B1G is making with USC and UCLA, we'll see what else shakes out after all of this.
I drive a 93 Range Rover. A Finisher Car. A chariot of the gods. The Golden God!
Picture or it’s not true….
I am untethered and my rage knows no bounds
You ever been in a storm, Wally?
Has more window area than a house. Probably good on safari. Is that you or a stock picture? Was looking for more gold color for your chariot.
Yes, that is me. It sure was a hot one that day.
It's Dennis from it's always sunny in Philadelphia. Great show if you prefer dark humor.
1) white jeep. A young female
2) f-150, towing snowmobiles. Been a ford guy all my life, had a ram once and went straight back to ford.
I own a car that get's me from point A to point B burning as little gas as possible.
Agreed. I drive an EV. :-)
I drive a VW Golf GTI. It's the best car if you can only have one car. B+/A- at everything.
- Stick shift fun
- 0-60 in about 5.9, sporty enough for sure
- seating for 4 six footers, 4 doors
- sizeable hatchback trunk
- Well below the cost of the average vehicle
- 37MPG highway at a cruising speed of 77mph on I-94
People who can have ANY car have one. They're not necessarily the best people but they've got enough cash, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeremy Clarkson have or had GTIs.
Didn’t mean to step in your TCT toes.
No problem. Busy work day.
I had a 1.8T Golf for a while. SO much fun to drive. But, a real pain in the ass to work on... Man... Really fun car, though.
User name doesn't check out...but, see my post below!
Fellow GTI owner here!
Yeah, we rented a Golf in Spain once. I was amazed how freaking fun--and no-nonsense--that car was.
GTI? Younger son had one, he of course "chipped" it, too. Incredibly great driver's car. Awesome, fun ride!
My son is now driving ours. He doesn't know how good he has it.
Nope. They usually don't get that "goodness" until their late 20s, early 30s. That's when they start to appreciate their prior good fortune and you start to hear a sincere "thank you".
I don't have many pre concieved notions about people and cars. I've been suprised too many times in my life.
I drive a 2018 Mazda 3 Hatch. I first and foremost wanted a car, and a hatch. I also wanted a manual transmission. That Venn diagram of what's available was pretty small. The VW Golf was too small, the Honda Civic wasn't fun enough to drive... so that's why I drive what I drive.
I bought a Ford because it is headquartered in Michigan.
I bought a Ford Escape AWD because I have a long commute and sometimes it snows in Michigan.
I drive a 2022 Hummer EV because I have a tiny dick and also care about the planet.
and you can tell everyone how your new truck crab walks lol
Does it help with the small dick problem? Asking for a friend.
You are on a roll today
^ perfect ^
:-)
XM, good to see you here again on the regular. Hope all's good on the farm.
1) BMW...I bet that driver is a "Duke alum" (a/ we still using that as a euphemism for d-bag?, b/ felt that way until I got one, but it likely just confirms I'm an honorary "Duke alum").
2) 428i. The Mrs found it for a steal and it's crazy fun to drive. The other one moves the masses (SUV), this one gets me, or the two of us (and the furry kid), around as needed, typically very quickly.
Kinda like the pizza delivery car “msu alum.”
There definitely are different "types" of BMW drivers. The M3 guy that likes to race is generally pretty different than an 8 series buyer.
M3 drivers have their own differences.. e30, e36, or e46.. probably car guys that appreciate a fantastically fun car to drive (I have never driven or owned an e30 M3). The guys that have brand new M3's... you're probably very right. Kind of like air-cooled 911's versus new 911's... One is much more expensive and faster, but the other is just so much more fun and cooler... in my opinion. (Insert your cooler pooper jokes here😁)
My son wants the 20 year old E46 330xi that I have, even though he rides around with tons of friends with relatively new cars and has driven them all.
Even if you aren't a hard core car person, a willingness to do a little work on the car yourself rewards you with a great driving experience for next to nothing. I've lost track of the number of times some random person (even a BMW master tech) has come up to me to ask if I'd be interested in selling it.
The E46 was truly a master class in how to make a proper sports sedan... Your son has good taste. Unfortunately, and I may be getting old, it seems like their are fewer and fewer of the youngsters out there that appreciate a third pedal and working the entire power band on a twisty road. Its all about power now, and electrical steering, dual clutch or sequential transmissions... Cars are video games now and really don't require very much skill to go REALLY, REALLY fast. Hang onto that 330, Its a beautiful car.
When I see a BMW on the freeway ahead of me, my first thought is "this motherfucker won't get out of the left lane". 9/10, I'm right, 10/10 if it has Canadian plates (I'm in northern Washington, a lot of Canadian drivers on my commute). I'm gonna assume you are a good driver and not one of these people.
99 Toyota Sienna. 225K miles, runs like a top. Bored with it but I only drive about 5K a year anymore. Makes a nice cargo van with all the rear seats pulled out. No payments of course. In a word, inertia is why I drive it.
Love Toyotas. Have owned many and they always run great and last forever. Currently I drive a 21 Tundra. Wife has an Audi Q5 which is a kick In the ass to drive
Electric cars won't do anything to save the environment until battery storage technology gets wayyyyyyyyyyyyy better. I mean wayyyyy better. Doesn't matter how many solar panels and wind mills you have. Electric cars are simply a way for the rich to virtue signal that they care about the environment. I hate to make everyone get their underpants in a bunch, but it's reality. There might be something that saves the planet, but it won't be today's electrical cars. Sorry.
I just recently realized there was an anti-EV contingent. I didnt know that was a thing? Buying any new car has to be about the worst thing you can do to the environment. But also if you admit that once we get wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better at storage technology it will probably be a good thing we had early adopters?
In concept I love the idea. It just won't work. Google cobalt mines in the Congo and tell me if you're pro EV right now. Concept is great and I think there could be some iteration of some type of vehicle that could help the planet whether EV or Hydrogen or some other technology. But EV vehicles in the near term are a disaster on many levels. Your better off buying a regular gas car with the best mileage possible.
Why is my car significantly a disaster right now? A disaster? I spend $300 less a month to drive a new car. Youll have to do better than cobalt mines.
What about the virtue signaling? You’ve been going around telling everyone how awesome you are, right? $300 a month more awesome, right?
/s (just in case)