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Anonymous wrote:Well they mean they don't drive super interesting cars, which is true. And?

It generally means they buy lower-key but still new and pricey cars. They avoid tacky flashy cars but still wouldn't be caught dead in anything cheap or used.

We have lots of money and bought a used car. I'm not a car person and neither is my DH while we have young kids. We got a 2yo Mercedes GLC for a great deal and it works for our family. Why would we deliberately pay more than necessary?

Well, you bought a GLC, so you already paid more than necessary.

I know! Lol. And being only two years old there’s a good chance there wasn’t much discount.

It cost the same as our new Outback (which was a 2018; the Mercedes is a 2017).

You got screwed on at least one of those, if not both.

I also wanted something reliable (hence the Subaru)

uhhh... what?

DH wanted something that was more fun to drive (hence the Mercedes).

So he ended up in a GLC? What the actual heck?

I think it just means that I’m not going to pay more for a car with better performance or “luxuries” I don’t want. It’s just a people mover to me. As long as it accelerates enough to get me onto the highway and is the right size and comfortable, I don’t care. I don’t care what color it is. I don’t care about its Vs or whatever. I care about gas mileage.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Well they mean they don't drive super interesting cars, which is true. And?

It generally means they buy lower-key but still new and pricey cars. They avoid tacky flashy cars but still wouldn't be caught dead in anything cheap or used.

We have lots of money and bought a used car. I'm not a car person and neither is my DH while we have young kids. We got a 2yo Mercedes GLC for a great deal and it works for our family. Why would we deliberately pay more than necessary?

Well, you bought a GLC, so you already paid more than necessary.

I know! Lol. And being only two years old there’s a good chance there wasn’t much discount.

It cost the same as our new Outback (which was a 2018; the Mercedes is a 2017). But the broader point is that people seem to have very different definitions for "car person." To me, a "car person" is someone who is interested in cars and knowledgeable about them. I am neither interested nor knowledgeable. That does not mean I don't care what kind of car I buy. I wanted cars with good safety ratings that fit 2-3 car seats and which came with heated seats. I also wanted something reliable (hence the Subaru), and DH wanted something that was more fun to drive (hence the Mercedes). The cars we have fit the bill and were affordable. insisting that everyone who drives anything other than a Toyota must secretly be obsessed with what their car says about them to other people is super weird. Most cars look the same anyway unless you're driving, like, a yellow Ferrari. I am curious about what your definition of "car person" is.

Tesla, Volvo and Audi buyers are mostly the "we're carefree and don't care (but actually, we obsess over what others think of us)." And Subaru to an extent. If they really didn't care they'd go buy some cheap Chevy, Ford or KIA. But they'd never be caught dead driving something like that.

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Anonymous wrote:I live in Takoma Park/Silver Spring and my midwestern parents often comment on how people in my neighborhood live in $1M+ houses but they mostly see minivans and Priuses in driveways. Where they live - they see fancier cars in the driveways of lower middle class neighborhoods than they do here. They seem to mention it every.single.visit.

Same. My million dollar neighborhood here has mostly Hondas, Toyotas and Jeeps. My parent's 400k neighborhood (which is pricey where they live) has Lamborghinis, Range Rovers, Mercedes, etc.

Let me guess, Florida?

Or Calfornia. Californians are very into cars as social markers.

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Anonymous wrote:OP you literally posted two cars that for me are the definition of "not being a car person." Those cars are garbage

DP, but I think that's the point. They're boring SUVs with terrible driving dynamics that the nouveau riche think are inconspicuous, but are very strong signals of their socioeconomic status. Just because they're not Bentleys or bright yellow Lamborghinis doesn't mean that they can claim that they're above conspicuous consumption.

Correct. "Car people" in this context isn't like muscle car or sports cars, it means they're trying to act above dedicating any and all mind share to the automobile, whether sports cars or gaudy luxury cars. But end of the day they STILL have nice new cars in their driveway, just cars they think are inconspicuous and tasteful.

DP. Right. Not sure what you are implying by "trying to act above dedicating any and all mind share to the automobile." How much time do you want to spend thinking about your dishwasher or vacuum? A car is just another piece of household equipment that I need but don't want to spend time focusing on.

DP. Wow, this sailed right over your heads. The point is that these people described in the OP claims not to be car people, but have obviously made careful choices in their selection for cars. They didn't just go pick a car like they would a dish washer. They selected cars to maintain a carefully cultivated image. They are aloof about cars, but they do care very much about the image that a car gives them.

As a "not a car person" with a Subaru and a Mercedes, I can tell you it has nothing to do with image and everything to do with car seats and ease of parking. Also, we spent a long time researching dishwashers. I want to do enough research on the front end to get what I need, but that's it - I'm not emotionally invested in these purchases and they have nothing to do with my self identity. A car for me is exactly like a dishwasher in this regard. For that matter, my DH spent like 2 hours recently researching irons because he is particular about his shirts. Do you consider our choice of iron to be about image too?

This is a meaningless statement that does not disprove that your Subaru and Mercedes were not about buying in to a brand identity or projecting an image.
Literally every car manufacturer offers a car that easily accommodates car seats.
Literally every car manufacturer offers a car that is easy to park.

I sold my perfectly good Honda Accord because the backseat could not fit two car seats with room for an adult in between.

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Anonymous wrote:We're not car people and we drive a Toyota.

+1 all the “not car people” I know drive Hondas or Toyotas. Almost regardless of wealth/income.

or Subaru

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Anonymous wrote:Well they mean they don't drive super interesting cars, which is true. And?

It generally means they buy lower-key but still new and pricey cars. They avoid tacky flashy cars but still wouldn't be caught dead in anything cheap or used.

We have lots of money and bought a used car. I'm not a car person and neither is my DH while we have young kids. We got a 2yo Mercedes GLC for a great deal and it works for our family. Why would we deliberately pay more than necessary?

Well, you bought a GLC, so you already paid more than necessary.

I know! Lol. And being only two years old there’s a good chance there wasn’t much discount.

Anonymous wrote:I guess I'm really not a car person because I don't know what kind of cars these are.

Haha! I was going to say the same thing!

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Anonymous wrote:We're not car people and we drive a Toyota.

+1

+2

Anonymous wrote:We're not car people and we drive a Toyota.

+1

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Anonymous wrote:I am not a car person. I don’t know anything about the specs. I drive a on X5. So fairly expensive. I picked it because I liked the color a lot and I really liked that the trunk had a little door thing at the bottom so my groceries don’t fall out when I open the big trunk door.

Same. I bought a beautiful Mercedes SUV in a gorgeous color ten years ago and I still love it. Very comfortable seats throughout, fit and finish impeccable, holds five people plus a trunk full of groceries, powerful enough to zoom up steep hills, and even ultra low emission.

How often do you go grocery shopping with 4 other people?

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Anonymous wrote:Where do people buy and get serviced the likes of lamborghinis in areas where $400k is the top home value? I’d love to know which Lamborghini and Land Rover dealerships or private auto service stations are investing capital and in technicians to serve these car owners in lower home value areas.

You're thinking of this all wrong. When you can get everything you need, like 4500 sf and a nice yard, for $400k, you have a lot of money left over for exotic cars. When you're scraping by to pay a seven figure mortgage on some shit shack in Bethesda "because of the schools!!!" you have a 10-year-old Subaru and say you're not a car person.

There's a fair amount of truth to this. We make ~$500k, and have two Hondas. We aren't car people in the sense that we don't really care too much about cars, and don't know a lot about them. But if our mortgage was (and had always been about 1/3 what it is in this area, we'd probably have nicer cars. Could we afford nicer cars now? Sure, but there's not an unlimited supply of money, and there are trade-offs that have to be made. We chose to trade off cars.

I am not a car person. I drive a 12 year old F150. It has rust, a broken muffler, and my DH dented it backing into a tree like 8 years ago. Never got it fixed. But it pulls my horse around and has plenty of space for my kids, as it is a crew cab.

I paid $50k for it in 2009, and its replacement will be at least that when it eventually goes (hope to get another 5-8 years out of it, it "only" has 90k miles).

I don't think $50k is a luxury price necessarily. I run a horse farm, I absolutely have to have a truck that haul things. I'd like a 250 next time so I can get a bigger trailer (I just have a 2 horse now and often could use a 3 or 4 horse). It's also a business expense, which helps a little.

Anonymous wrote:My neighbor just bought a brand name luxury car (50K). He explained that the car was below invoice and a hybrid.

He lied. Nobody is paying under INVOICE for lux hybrids (or virtually anything with four wheels and an engine) right now unless it is some rare scenario like his uncle owns the dealership. He either fibbed to make it sound like he made an intelligent purchase or meant to say that he paid under MSRP, not under invoice (which is what the dealer paid).

Many people under-state how much they paid for their cars, and often fail to tell you the true "out the door" number they paid which includes dealer doc fees, state charges, and taxes (which are real costs that add thousands to any new car purchase). It's similar to how people consistently under-state their commute times.