Car Vs Salary Vs Personality

[eddiethehead]

Quick Question - This has bugged me for Ages!.

Is there a connection between how much money you get paid as to what car you drive and therefore the type of personality you have ( or a are perceived to have!)??.

Reason I'm asking is because I work in a firm of solicitors - They all get paid £30 - 40K and mostly drive bloody Audis and Golfs ( A3/A4 and GTI TeDIouses- Not company cars I might add but private choice)and they are all so far up themselves that they can look out their own mouths!

Now, the Golf/Audi/BMW crowd all seem to be the professional 30 something got their career poo together types.

You then come to the normal family man - Works in a typical office job drives a Vectra/Mondeo and pulls £20K. Seems to be relatively stable and friendly but never quite seems happy with his lot.

The Old Guy - Probably retired, drives a Merc, Grumpy as hell and can't drive worth a feck.

The Old Woman - Either on a pension or living of Grumpy old mans money (above), Honda Civic, totally clueless on the road but always got time for a smile.

The young driver - Saxo/Clio/Corsa, works in a call centre, dangerous as hell but doesn't realise it

See where i've gone with this - Are we all conditioned to get this much money, drive this car, act in this way, or am I wrong, blinkered,jealous,financially inept, etc etc.

Obviously I'm Mr Family Man but surely i'm not the only one that thinks that people are generally acting in this stereotypical manner?.

Answers on a postcard!

[loddrik]

I hardly earn a bean at the moment, so cannot justify the car I drive. However, I don't really drink or do much else, so my car is my vice, and I should be on the verge of earning decent money soon enough, so no longet feel too guilty about it.

[Blingpanzer]

I'm doing alright - I'm in the engineering side of the motor industry but I have a good employer - but my car choices have nothing to do with salary. Both are 20 years old and were bought for their respective characters. The "conditioning" failed - if I'd responded to it I'd be driving a new Volkswagen Group product right now. Tried it, didn't like it, went back to character cars. All it's cost me is a few hours each week on the spanners, which I enjoy anyway.

As for attitude/outlook on life, there aren't many of us (in percentage terms) who take enough pride in our driving to want to make each journey one to be proud of. Having a 'quick' car, or a well-regarded car, does not automatically make one a good driver. Equally, there may be owners of Korean cars who take pride in their driving. Certain cars seem to attract a certain style of driver (TT, BMW 3-series, Saxo), but there'll always be subscribers to the herd mentality.

[loddrik]

Not so sure about a 'herd' mentality, I buy a car strictly because I like it, I am not interested that the brand image may carry possible percieved negative conotations (as 'pensioner' Merc or BMW), it's a shame that too many people are influenced by other peoples perceptions about what they drive, move on I say.

[Sinfield]

For a car 'fan' I guess I have a collection that would probably take psychotherapy to work out, and as for it relating to earnings, I don't know about that as last month I earned just over £300..

For general sodding about I have a Saab 900 Carlsson. For the school run (in the dry) I have a '57 Moggy and when it's wet, another Saab, this time a 93 Aero. When its hot and I am devoid of children, ie: hardly ever, I have a Boxter. Quite why I chose any of those is anybodies guess..

[Drew666]

I suppose I may fall into the mid life crisis category. Mid 40's, divorced, professionally successful, E-Type in the garage, company 3 series etc.

Sounds sad I know, but a constant stream of thirtysomething totty does go some way to making up for it.

[mikespence]

I think there may be a herd mentality in certain industries/jobs.

Sales will always go for the BMW/Audi option over the Ford/Vauxhall even though the car will be less well equipped and have a smaller engine as, IMO, the whole sales industry is driven by image.

IT will always be perceived to buy the smaller 2 door, completely impractical cars as they have too much money and no family/girlfriends (smilies don't appear to be working)

It's mainly down to peer pressure and what you know. If you are not surrounded by people who know about cars or are not really interested yourself then you will tend to rely and reccommendations from friends and colleagues, so if all of your colleagues drive Golfs and say they are great then you will tend to go with the safe option rather than take a chance on something out of the mainstream.

The other deciding factor is what you can afford and whether you want to buy or lease. I'm doing allright for my self but I didn't want to lease a car so I was constrained by what I could actually buy outright and that can play a major part in what manufacturers you look at.

I'm in my early 30's but after the sucession of company cars I have had, when it came to buying a car I wanted similar performance but could do without A/C, satnav, DVD player, cocktail bar etc so with the budget I had set I immediately discouted looking at Audi, VW, BMW etc. In the end went to the Civic Type R with no toys but it still brings a smile to my face every time I do the cross coutry blast to work.

[blackjack]

[ QUOTE ]

I think there may be a herd mentality in certain industries/jobs.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you're right about the sales/marketing guys being brand driven to extremes. I've got a couple of friends in those industries, both have recently shelled out lots for used BMW 318's, because 'it's a Beemer'.

Me, I work in IT and am in my late 20s but definatley don't fit in to the techie serial killer stereotype. Moreover, I need a big boot for my mountain bikes and something that can do lots of motorway mileage. My Saab 93 hatch back suits me down to the ground.

[saab]

I recently was selling a flat in London and the four estate agents I called round to do the valuations were all late 20s/early 30s and all four drove 3-series coupes. Very stereotypical estate agent car, and they must have known that when they chose their cars and obviously didn't care or more likely actually wanted to conform to the stereotype because they liked it.

Your typical family man with a couple of kids on £20k buys a Mondeo because he wants something modern that will be cheap and easy to fix and he probably doesn't have time to care about his car, so long as it carries the wife to Tesco to spend his wages that's all that matters. Stereotypical yes, but entirely practical.

Both cases demonstrate a complete lack of imagination, and thats probably true with everyone who drives a car conforming to a particular stereotype.

I'm 28, work in project management in London and I have a reasonable salary. However I'm happy with my ancient Saab 900. There are lots of things about it that I like but one of the main things is that people don't look at me driving it and immediately label me as a chav, or a rep or anything really, and I quite like that.

Unfortunately the Saab is approaching its 190,000 mile service and is realistically nearing the end of its life and perhaps more importantly my girlfriend refuses to drive it due to some mad logic about it being hard to park. So I'm looking for something more up to date. 3-series isn't on the list. Latest choice is Audi A4 or Saab 9-3 as they seem to me to be a little bit unusual than some more obvious choices.

[Chav]

Congratulations guys!

A serious thread in the sniff section...there's a first.

Most new cars are on finance nowadays, so the car people drive doesn't match their income as much now.

I see lots of nice cars in tiny driveways, and know young people with their 3-series who still live at their parents house etc.

Personality can be attached to a certain car more though.

Plenty of completely bonkers loonies in Vectras/Astras. Amazes me how these people stay alive.

...come to think of it, they probably dont. I just see different ones all the time.

[Blingpanzer]

Totally agree. The company I work for has an Associate Loan Car scheme with very favourable rates; for example, a TT 225 roadster can be had for much less than £200 per month, and cars are replaced every 9 months. Hence a large number of employees drive top-model Audis, despite VW, Skoda and Seat products also being available, and hence put up with Audi's harsh ride and dead steering for the privilege of following four rings about. I had a VW Polo and a Seat Ibiza on the Scheme; neither were much cop and both completely failed to stir the imagination.

I now drive a 1984 ex-MoD Series III long-wheelbase petrol Land Rover (which I've restored from the ground up), and a 1985 Golf GTI 8v. Both were bought because I've always wanted one of each for as long as I can remember. Both are utterly devoid of toys (well, the Golf has a sunroof and a trip computer but that's about it), and I love them both to bits. They couldn't be more polar in character but they both create a warm feeling.

The image thing is quite sad really. The number of mid-life crisis types driving TT Roadsters always raises a rueful smile. I don't mind turning up anywhere in my battlefield taxi... who cares what anyone else thinks? I'll be enjoying the drive.

[cruiser647]

I have always bought my cars after what I want. None of this peer pressure, colleauge pressure, family pressure stuff.

My choice of car is down to me only. Not what the g/f, ex wife, kids, brothers like.

My friends know this and now respect it, but they have taken the pi55 often. They always had fast(ish) pocket rockets, while I have gone for big luxo cruisers.

eg - Renault 25, Lancia Thema, Vx Senator 3.0 CD, Audi 100/V8/A8. Nothing small since my first car (Alfasud 1.3). (since I was 17). As you can tell, nothing common for me, and NOTHING that my peers would drive/want to drive.

So, as you can see, not one to go with the age bracket!

[Webbo]

I wanted a Mondeo Estate for the family but the wife preferred a Freelander 'cos she seems to think it suits her image better.

Fashion victim?

Yup.

But it also depreciates less than anything else in it's price bracket (at least here in Germany).

My car is an Escort Cosworth which also depreciates less than anything else in it's price bracket here. Ok, so it also makes me look like a chav but I'd rather be 1 of those than look like a mid-life crises man in an Audi/BMW.

However I have a midlife crises car too I am forced to admit & yes it's German (Mk 1 VW Golf GTI) although you could argue that the Escort was part of a similar disease & I might be tempted to admit that quietly after a couple of beers.

[steffiraf]

For years i have had the car that everyone thought i should have. Something small and practical but bored me to death. I earn a reasonable salary so i thought sod it and went out and bought my scoob, something i have wanted for ages. I suppose some peoples perception of me is, 'she has no idea whats under that bonnet!' but i do and often use it, much to the disgust/amazement of some the chavs and reps round Leeds. Ok, so not every girl wants a car of this type, but it makes me very happy,it suits my personality and i love it.

Going back to the audi/golf thing, why dont these people go for a decent model, then they might not get the stereo-type they do. If i earnt 40k - 50k then it would be an RS4 or RS6 for me.

But then maybe i'm a speed freak!

[Chav]

[ QUOTE ]

I suppose some peoples perception of me is, 'she has no idea whats under that bonnet!' but i do and often use it,

[/ QUOTE ]

a free vanity set, with lipgloss and eyeliner?

he, he, i'm just kidding of course... enjoy the scoob

[Webbo]

Thinking about it, there's something very sad about having an A3 TDI as your midlfe crises car.

I'm saving up for an acid green Lamborghini for my midlife crises.

Should have enough by the time I'm about 70.

[Chav]

I've got a cab for mine. (Seriously!)

Hopefully my mid-life crisis will continue for another 10 years or so yet

[Blingpanzer]

I suppose my Mk2 Golf GTI could be classed as a midlife crisis car...but only if my MLC's arrived ten years early. I bought it as an antidote to the boring new metal I'd been piloting previously, on the way sampling a 1272cc squareback Mk2 Polo (bought as a cheap parts-chaser while I was restoring the Land Rover; great little beast, well underrated, heaps of practical fun but lacking in the brakes department!) and a 2.8 Mk2 Granada auto, which was a hoot to drive but single-handedly kept BP and Finnigans' in business. I guess I just got tired of following the herd, and sick of nanny-state driving experiences. I only have to drive my other half's 52-plate Corsa for a few miles to assure myself that I made the right decision...