The importance of the status symbol aspect of vehicle ownership.

[12,000 RPM]

A lot of the insecure Chinese folks I know care about how their parents perceive how they are perceived by others. It's like this neverending cycle of cross-generation nagging.

Wow that is inception level insecurity. That has to suck

[ChrisV]

I don't agree with that at all.  I personally couldn't care less what others think of what I buy and drive.   

I'll bet you won't buy certain cars or modify certain ways due to negative stereotypes. And I'll bet you care how you look/dress/or care how your hair is cut. And I'd bet you're damn well aware of other people's perceptions of you if you go out on a date or go on a business interview.

[93JC]

Is the status symbol aspect of vehicle ownership more important than the function or cost/performance ratio to you?

Nope.

Are the luxury brand vehicles actually worth the added cost?

To me, no.

Is a Lexus better than a Toyota? Lincoln better than a Ford? Is a Mercedes really a better vehicle than a Buick? Or even a Dodge?

Yeah, they are objectively better in some respects. They tend to be quieter, tend to have more power, tend to have more luxury doodads. I don't really care about the luxury doodads and in the other respects it's just not worth the extra cost to me.

I have become an unthusiast. I just don't care.

[Byteme]

I'll bet you won't buy certain cars or modify certain ways due to negative stereotypes.

If I act in that way it's because I have no interest in doing it to suit myself, not because I'm concerned about what others might think.

And I'd bet you're damn well aware of other people's perceptions of you if you go out on a date or go on a business interview.

I don't date now and when I did I worried about only what one other person felt.  It would be pretty shallow to go on a date and worry what the guy at the next table thinks.  Please tell me that's not something that concerns you.   Of course one is concerned about the interviewer's perceptions in a business interview setting.  Again, that has zip to do with what one drives.

And I'll bet you care how you look/dress/or care how your hair is cut.

Which matters not at all when talking about what one drives.

[Soup DeVille]

My car pleases me both when some people seem to be delighted by it and when other people are disgusted by it.

A person I work with drives a relatively new Evoque, and asked me the other day why I drive "that beaten up old wagon." I answered because I like it, and because it's paid for. She rolled her eyes.

I found that as amusing as any other reaction.

[Laconian]

Wow, she sounds annoying.

[Byteme]

My car pleases me both when some people seem to be delighted by it and when other people are disgusted by it.

A person I work with drives a relatively new Evoque, and asked me the other day why I drive "that beaten up old wagon." I answered because I like it, and because it's paid for. She rolled her eyes.

I found that as amusing as any other reaction.

Sounds like she needs some sensitivity training.   

[Eye of the Tiger]

This lady's Evoque... perhaps it would look better with faux wood siding.

[12,000 RPM]

My car pleases me both when some people seem to be delighted by it and when other people are disgusted by it.

A person I work with drives a relatively new Evoque, and asked me the other day why I drive "that beaten up old wagon." I answered because I like it, and because it's paid for. She rolled her eyes.

I found that as amusing as any other reaction.

Wow what a biggidy bitch

[Soup DeVille]

Like I said, I just found it amusing. I make substantially more than she does, and I bet she is wondering how I can be so bad with money as to have to drive an old beaten up car. That's cool; think what you want.

Most of the time, people think it's cool, or tell me about the one they had "just like it"mthey were kids and used to flip off truckers from the back seat. I like that as well.

I don't know if that counts as "status" in the typical sense, but it is one way where other people's opinion has an effect on my satisfaction with that particular car.

[Soup DeVille]

This lady's Evoque... perhaps it would look better with faux wood siding.

I have ordered a replacement wood kit. I will have some extra left over...

[MX793]

When are you going to drop in a 351-based 427 crate engine?

[Eye of the Tiger]

When are you going to drop in a 351-based 427 crate engine?

Ermm... or a GT350 motor. Do they sell those, yet?

[MX793]

Ermm... or a GT350 motor. Do they sell those, yet?

Probably a harder conversion than swapping one member of the Windsor motor family for another.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Probably a harder conversion than swapping one member of the Windsor motor family for another.

Yeah, but a flat plane V8 wagon would be so practical.

[BimmerM3]

They tend to be quieter, tend to have more power, tend to have more luxury doodads.

Fun fact: the difference between a Lexus V8 block and a Toyota truck V8 block is the tolerances allowed in the manufacturing process (at least as of 2007).

Source: I've seen the spec drawings.

My car pleases me both when some people seem to be delighted by it and when other people are disgusted by it.

A person I work with drives a relatively new Evoque, and asked me the other day why I drive "that beaten up old wagon." I answered because I like it, and because it's paid for. She rolled her eyes.

I found that as amusing as any other reaction.

I don't actually know what you drive.

[Soup DeVille]

Fun fact: the difference between a Lexus V8 block and a Toyota truck V8 block is the tolerances allowed in the manufacturing process (at least as of 2007).

Source: I've seen the spec drawings.

I don't actually know what you drive.

Sorry.

It's a Grand Marquis Colony Park wagon.

[Soup DeVille]

When are you going to drop in a 351-based 427 crate engine?

When this one blows up and I'm done making it pretty.

[BimmerM3]

Sorry.

It's a Grand Marquis Colony Park wagon.

Haha sweet.

[68_427]

Car as a status symbol is why millennials are buying less cars.  It's not that they don't like cars or driving as much, they just want their car purchase to be a luxury purchase of sorts so they are waiting longer.

[Rupert]

I don't agree with that at all.  I personally couldn't care less what others think of what I buy and drive.

Well, you are working pretty hard to convince us that you're the kind of guy who doesn't care what others think of what you buy and drive...

[GoCougs]

Fun fact: the difference between a Lexus V8 block and a Toyota truck V8 block is the tolerances allowed in the manufacturing process (at least as of 2007).

Source: I've seen the spec drawings.

Do you have a source for those drawings? I have a very hard time believing that is true, for a number of reasons.

[Raza]

I don't agree with that at all.  I personally couldn't care less what others think of what I buy and drive.

I mean this to be a compliment, so please take it that way. There is a certain I-don't-give-a-fuckness that comes with being a man of your age. I mean, you're clearly a successful fellow, you've done a lot, and you've earned that right to not give a fuck. Maybe you didn't when you were younger either, I don't know, but at your stage in life, you've certainly mastered it by now.

[Raza]

It goes both ways with me. I like when people compliment my cars (I mean, who doesn't?), but I'm sure that I also get judged negatively by some people. I don't think much about it when I'm shopping though. I pretty much get what I want.

Definitely. I love getting compliments on the car. They totally make my day. But I also saw the dark side of luxury marque sports car ownership with all the vandalism I faced this summer.

[BimmerM3]

Do you have a source for those drawings? I have a very hard time believing that is true, for a number of reasons.

I saw them during an internship at Toyota Manufacturing when I was still in school, so I don't still have copies. But I actually got spec drawings from a Japanese engine plant and had to verify the measurements when compared to the American engine plant. The Japanese plant made Lexus engines, our plant made Tundra/Tacoma/4Runner engines. The only difference was that the Japanese engines had stricter tolerances.

This is just the machining of the block though. I'm sure other parts of the engine were different in other ways.

[Lebowski]

Definitely. I love getting compliments on the car. They totally make my day. But I also saw the dark side of luxury marque sports car ownership with all the vandalism I faced this summer.

What happened?

[12,000 RPM]

What happened?

+1, WTF

[AutobahnSHO]

People messed with his car parked on the street.

[Byteme]

Well, you are working pretty hard to convince us that you're the kind of guy who doesn't care what others think of what you buy and drive...

Yeah, like the dozen or so regular carspin posters I offered my opinion and responded when challenged about it.  Real hard?   

[Byteme]

I mean this to be a compliment, so please take it that way. There is a certain I-don't-give-a-fuckness that comes with being a man of your age. I mean, you're clearly a successful fellow, you've done a lot, and you've earned that right to not give a fuck. Maybe you didn't when you were younger either, I don't know, but at your stage in life, you've certainly mastered it by now.

Pretty much spot on, IMO.  What a lot of people don't seem to understand is the difference between doing something to please yourself and doing something to impress others.

For example, I'm disassembling the Jaguar and cleaning, repainting and replating what doesn't get replaced with new.  Not to impress others or hoping they think it's cool, but because I want to do it and enjoy doing it.  If others are impressed, OK; if not, OK.