Not everyone who buys the wrong (apparently here) car and i mean those who own certain perceived luxury cars has done so for anybody's benefit except themselves.
What absolute tommy rot to try and lump everyone who owns a certain make or type of car into some sort of stereotype persona who it seems is so vain they have only bought their vehicle for its status.
Thank goodness we are all different, i own an old MB, we bought it for the pleasure of it, the lovely way it drives, the comfortable and pretty interior, the (to us anyway) graceful lines and timeless beauty of it.
What anyone else thinks of it i couldn't care less, it wasn't bought to impress anyone.
I'm a working class chap, i have no interest in social status, but i like quality, this extends to the old furniture and old fashioned newer furniture that we buy, shock horror we don't have beige carpets, does this also mean that we are trying to gain status.
The posters criticising the choices people have made with their own money, i wonder if they have ever bought anything just for the beauty of it, the sheer pleasure it gives them when they gaze at it, the feel of lovely polished walnut, whether gracing their hallway or the dashboard of their chosen car.
Last time i looked, we didn't have the hammer and sickle as our national flag, and we were still allowed freedom to choose, long may that continue.
Rant over.
|
|
|
People who are actually wealthy don't feel the need to impress other people by driving an expensive car, you see it when driving through affluent areas of London. In areas that are full of million pound houses, you would not guess that it was a desirable area by the cars parked on the road.
On the flipside of this are people who buy a car they can barely afford just so other people think they are loaded.
|
. In areasthat are full of million pound houses you would not guess that it was a desirable area by the cars parked on the road.
If they're parked on the road, they are probably the servants cars, million pound houses have off road parking, and they wouldn't be daft enough to leave something nice outside so the militant socialist jealous types can vandalise it.
|
A million pounds (this is probably a conservative estimate) doesn't buy you that much in Central London, GB. Land values mean that off road parking is virtually unheard of. The areas I'm refering to are mostly full of Georgian and Victorian terraced houses. No off road parking, underground garages around there.
Nor, for that matter, are there many militant socialists in these areas either.
Edited by krs one on 11/09/2008 at 21:32
|
|
Ah a terraced street then Krs, that explains why the more unusual cars are not on display, lucky them having no vandals around either, many terraced streets further up country have quite a few to spare, we could arrange to have some sent down ...;)
|
How about by the type of forums we frequent instead ?
|
|
|
|
I'm sure we can sort out a mutually beneficial deal.
|
Stereotypes are broad brush assumptions based on little or no fact. It assumes no individualism -its a label. A rather lot of people feel the need to pigeon hole others to make sense of the world and to mentally place themselves in an advantageous self justifying superior position. Like the fascination at what peoples salaries are - When you find out a colleagues/neighbours/friends salary many people think goody! I'm doing better than them,
so I'm higher on some kind of social success ladder. Self esteem takes a boost.
Same with cars. Nice car says doing well wether or not true. People who knock nice cars with inverted snobbery are just as self serving. "I'm so so sensible"
Just buy and drive what you want. I've had a Jag/BMW/Fords/Vauxhall I really dont care. I have an Austin Allegro for fun. Judge me if you like. Your plain daft :-)))))
|
|
|
|
|
|
If they're parked on the road they are probably the servants cars million pound houses have off road parking and they wouldn't be daft enough to leave something nice outside
Au contraire.
Amongst the highest-earning richest people I know are a couple who earn over half-a-million a year each. Their house in a posh part of central London must be worth at least five million ... and their cars parked outside are dented old things with faded paint.
Edited by NowWheels on 12/09/2008 at 01:14
|
Maybe their shinier play things are parked in their garages at their second homes in the country possibly.
Bearing in mind car insurance is more expensive in Greater/Central London then in deepest wild Wiltshire ;)
|
NowWheels definitely has a point. At a place I worked a few years ago there was a car park full of BMWs, Audis etc etc.
The boss of the whole place (who was earning a LOT of money), however, drove a 14-year-old Fiat Panda with half the panels full of unpainted filler.
Running joke at work -- he didn't care.
|
|
|
<< Maybe their shinier play things are parked in their garages at their second homes in the country possibly. >>
These folks second and third homes are not in the UK, and are accessed by taxi.
|
|
I don't think I've read such nonsense in a thread in a long while.
|
I don't think I've read such nonsense in a thread in a long while.
Why's that then?
|
What Cars the Richest People in the World Drive
tinyurl.com/49ab7o
Mind that very rich people often have expensive cars but they rarely drive themselves!
|
|
|
> Stereotypes are broad brush assumptions based on little or no fact.
Nope I am afraid thats very wrong. Car makers build and advertise cars to satisfy groups of people - they stereotype them. Like it it or not - and it may not apply to readers of this forum - Most BMWs are sold to brash, loud, flashy showy indiviudulas who drive accordingly. The cars are designed thus and advertised thus.
> It assumes no individualism.
Exactly! and in my example above thats exactly what those drivers dont have. No individual thought. The car makers rely on it with this type of car.
So why sterotype people by the car they drive? because its valid (most of the time) to do so.
|
Can we have a list what each brand tells about its driver/owner?
|
Nope I am afraid thats very wrong. Car makers build and advertise cars to satisfy groups of people - they stereotype them. Like it it or not - and it may not apply to readers of this forum - Most BMWs are sold to brash loud flashy showy indiviudulas who drive accordingly. The cars are designed thus and advertised thus.
Erm, they design cars that they think people might like, fulfill a practcal purpose and evolve the design (i.e you can tell its a BMW)
Do you have to be a flashy individual to appreciate a BMW? All the BMW drivers I know arent like that.
> It assumes no individualism. Exactly! and in my example above thats exactly what those drivers dont have. No individual thought. The car makers rely on it with this type of car. So why sterotype people by the car they drive? because its valid (most of the time) to do so.
Do you really believe that??
All I can say is that I'm glad I dont have such a jaded view of my fellow man.
|
Erm they design cars that they think people might like
Nope, car design is much more marketing driven. They design a car which they think a particular sort of buyer would like, and then the marketing people go out to try to persuade these folks that the car is for them. Think of the ad slogan "the unltimate driving machine"; that's not intended to appeal to someone who wants a low-cost easy-park box for shopping trips in town.
Do you have to be a flashy individual to appreciate a BMW? All the BMW drivers I know arent like that.
All those brash BMW drivers on the motorways must be a figment of the imagination, then. And BMW's marketing people must have screwed up badly.
|
|
Well, As I carefully parked my Skoda next to an X6 in the hotel we were staying (photo will be uploaded later) I confess a slight twinge of envy, but then realized that in all the years I have owned BMWs on this particular trip I didn't worry about my car at night - the Skoda sends a particular message about its occupants - we can afford more or less what we want but choose to drive a Skoda......Mind you lease prices on BMWs are pretty attractive these days.
|
Nope car design is much more marketing driven. They design a car which they think a particular sort of buyer would like and then the marketing people go out to try to persuade these folks that the car is for them. Think of the ad slogan "the unltimate driving machine"; that's not intended to appeal to someone who wants a low-cost easy-park box for shopping trips in town.
However "the ultimate driving machine" is intended to apeal to someone who wants a driving thrill.
You could easily advertise a shopping car as the "Nimble nipper" to appeal to people.
The ultimate driving machine doesnt say "Flashy"
>> Do you have to be a flashy individual to appreciate a BMW? All the BMW >> drivers I know arent like that. All those brash BMW drivers on the motorways must be a figment of the imagination then. And BMW's marketing people must have screwed up badly.
Erm, well, if I decide to go out and buy a BMW tomorrow, do I suddenly become a different person? Do I even under go change if I borrow one?
Its this kind of broad brush attitude to other motorists based on the car they that promotes IMO road rage. And I include in road rage an internal anger based on assumptions. As soon as you do that you've lost it.
Queue in the post office and would you know if the guy in front of you drives a BMW? Or what his attitudes to life and out look are?
Drivers treat other drivers in ways that they wouldnt do socially and make assumptions based totally on the car they see in front of them. How silly.
Heres a BM - the guys obviously a flash harry out to do me over on the road.
|
|
You're right - a lot of people I know who owned BMWs are thoroughly good eggs - its other people's prejudice and bigotries that make them form uninformed opinions about the people that drive them.
|
Drivers treat other drivers in ways that they wouldnt do socially and make assumptions based totally on the car they see in front of them. How silly.
Of course we do it socially. If I see a tattooed, shaven-headed man with DocMartens and a pint of lager in his hand, I'll prepare for a different sort of encounter than I'd prepare for with a man in a suit or a hippy in flowing robes ... and I think most people make the same sort of calculations.
Where stereotypes get dangerous is when we switch off our antennae after the first impression, and close our minds to the possibility than the tattooed skinhead is a nice and friendly guy (as indeed are several such ppl I know).
This applies on the road as much as it does socially.
Heres a BM - the guys obviously a flash harry out to do me over on the road.
You're setting up a straw man here, by thinking that we are talking of a 100% correlation between BMW and Flash Harry.
Anyone making that crude calculation is silly. But anyone who sees a BMW and doesn't prepare for the possibility that the BMW driver will be more aggressive than the average driver of a Yaris Verso is either inexperienced or hasn't been paying attention to what happens on the road. Same goes for someone who spots the Verso and doesn't register that there's a fair chance of it being driven by an elderly or low-mileage driver with slow reactions.
Plenty of BMW drivers are courteous, and it's stupid to assume that BMW inevitably equals aggressive driving. But it's equally stupid to ignore the increased likelihood.
|
People do oversimplify so.
I must say I am infuriated by mimsing BMWs far more often than I am upset or alarmed by pushy arrogant ones. Surely when you encounter any other car on the road you are prepared for absolutely anything?
|
You cant change experience.
I see German (Audi and BMW) being driven with aggression (based on 20k miles a year)
I dont see Roomsters beoing driven that way.
Now you wish to argue Stereotyping or you wish to argue experience?
|
being driven with aggression I dont see Roomsters beoing driven that way.
But you haven't met PU on the road in a red mist moment, have you? Don't forget the fellow's long love affair with those famously aggressive Teutonic uberjalopies. And actually one doesn't see that many Roomsters on the road.
Your sample is not a scientific one AE, 20,000 miles a year or not.... You are just another of these stereotypers whatever you may claim.
:o/
|
You are just another of these stereotypers whatever you may claim.
Not. Sometimes I drive my car like a mimser, sometimes like a BMWer.
In 20,000 miles on britains busiests motorways there is sufficient data to come up with a conclusion that woiuld pass scrutinity. Certainly enough to form a risk assesment.
|
Not. Sometimes I drive my car like a mimser sometimes like a BMWer.
One and the same IME.
The only particularly BMW trait I notice on the roads are the lack of indication. This is a depressingly common tendency of BMW drivers.
And quite honestly this is a prime example of mimsing behaviour.
QED.
|
Me too AE, from granny to getaway driver and back in the twinkling of an eye. It's the only way to drive in urban areas, and it takes a bit of learning.
On stereotyping though, I suppose you do get a sort of instinct for who is going to be troublesome or frightening or a nuisance more or less on sight. It's just that I never draw that conclusion from the make or model of car, but from its general mode of address and behaviour, its body language as it were.
|
Tell you what lud.
I have a 150 mile Motorway drive home tonight
I shall make a voice note of all the car types i see whcih in my opinion are driving in a poor manner.
Post results here
I urge you all to do the same over the w/e
|
Go carefully AE.
That list could turn out pretty long and pretty variable, I suggest.
|
I shall make a voice note of all the car types i see whcih in my opinion are driving in a poor manner.
Only useful if describe what sort of poor driving.
e.g. In my experience the old Volvo 240 is more likely than other cars to be hogging the middle lane at 62mph, while the newish BMW is more likely than other cars to be tailgating with lights ablaze in lane 3 before performing a wild undertaking exercise with milimetres to spare. And the mum-with-an-MPV-full-of-kids is the one likely to move into lane 1 just at the point other cars are trying to merge from a sliproad.
All those examples are poor driving, but of very different sorts. IMRHO, good driving involves reading the road to be aware of these hazards while watching very carefully because most drivers don't conform to the stereotype.
|
|
>> I don't think I've read such nonsense in a thread in a long while. >> Why's that then?
Because the blinkered, arrogant and smug opinions of some on here are beyond comment, except I just have :-)
I drive a Morris Minor, that will make me one sort of person according to some. I also drive an Impreza RB320, which is driven by a totally different kind of person. I must be schizophrenic.
I'm off to gaze at my navel.
|
|
I also find this a lot of nonsense, because... every free choice an individual makes, whether it's the car he drives, the colour of his socks or his holiday destination, is perceived as meaningful. It's the way our human minds work, we can't help interpreting what we see, however erroneously or not. As we Saab-driving know-alls say, end of.
|
I drive a Morris Minor that will make me one sort of person according to some. I also drive an Impreza RB320 which is driven by a totally different kind of person. I must be schizophrenic.
Some people do change their driving style depending on what car they drive.
I once worked with a woman who was a 100% vegan (no leather shoes etc) and a complete pacifist both in principle and in practice. But put her behind the wheel of a moderately fast car * and she turned into a monster, driving with wild aggression and hurling abuse at other road users. Not so much road rage as road gestalt :(
And when in my youth I hired a Metro but got given a Rover216GTi, I was sufficiently carried away to drive it like a loon for the first hundred miles until the novelty had worn off and I came to my senses.
As to your Impreza RB320, if you drive it like you drive the Minor, then what's the point in having it? What sort of changes does it bring to your driving style?
* In those days, a new Ford Escort 1.4 on hire was blindingly fast compared with the 10-year-old small bangers people like us owned
|
>>As to your Impreza RB320, if you drive it like you drive the Minor, then what's the point in having it? What sort of changes does it bring to your driving style?
I drive it faster and am able to overtake. But I don't think my road manners change at all. I still drive defensively, let people out etc. etc. I just get from A to B much more quickly. I enoy both cars. You don't need power to enjoy a car, but many modern cars I find dire. My basic personality doesn't change. Like Lud, even in the Moggy, I can be a vicar one minute and the opposite the next. As we all do, I suspect.
Edited by nick on 12/09/2008 at 19:02
|
I quite like BMWs... if i were to upgrade my car beyond my current marque i'd seriously consider a new auto 520d SE with all the bells and whistles, to have something reasonable re performance and driver orientation, but not get hammered re emmissions and fuel economy, etc
i'd be pretty put out if people suddenly thought i'd changed from a cultured, moneyed, classy, aritocratic gent to a brassy, pushy, nouveaux riche yob.....:-)
|
<< i'd be pretty put out if people suddenly thought i'd changed from a cultured, moneyed, classy, aritocratic gent to a brassy, pushy, nouveaux riche yob.....:-) >>
But they will, Westrpig, they will. Just like they'd be looking for your shellsuit and burberry baseball cap if you bought a a tarted-up Citroen Saxo, or your green wellies if you got an old Land Rover.
|
are their sub sections to these?
can i put loud wheels on an old Landie and be a country gent chav or maybe put leather and walnut into a Saxo and be a chav country gent?
|
Does anyone actually care what others think enough to influence which car to buy?
|
|
I doubt if many here do. But I think some do. And many out there are influenced by Jasper Carrott and Whassername dahna pub to make rather boring choices of which they are inordinately proud.
|
Does anyone actually care what others think enough to influence which car to buy?
It would appear from some of the postings, that some worry a lot, as for the rest of us, we'll probably buy what we can afford and what gives us pleasure too if we can, and if it gets up the noses of a few socialists thats a bonus.
|
Come come gb... Lenin really liked his Rolls-Royces you know, and Stalin used to hand them out to people in favour and then take them away again before (in the worst-case scenario) having them shot. An eye for mechanical horseflesh is not restricted to reactionaries here either...
:o}
|
Us reactionary? Perish the thought Lud, they were leaders of the socialists, and as with more recent home grown socialist leaders are slightly above the proletariat in equality..;)
A socialist leader using the carrot and ultimate stick for getting their own way..unheard of....
|
|
Oh, the government gb. I thought you meant socialists.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
