Has There Ever Been A Vehicle You Wanted But Didn't Buy Because Of What Others Might Have Thought?

2003 M3 - it was about $5k out of my price range at the time. I wish I would have waited and saved for an extra couple months, but I don't miss the high service costs I would be having right now. Great car though!

I have never cared what other people think about me or what vehicle I drive, As you can see I am a truck guy that drives a Honda Civic, sad,lol I like the Civic and need it for economical reasons, When I first got it my friends were in shock that I drove such a small non performing car.lol

This hasn't happened to me personally. But my father wanted a sports car about 5 years ago. He ended up settling with a yukon because it didn't give off the image of him having an ego.

My wife wanted a Pontiac Aztek and I was mortified but ready to buy her one. At the last minute, she found a VW Jetta wagon she liked better.

I remember when I was a teen in the late 80's my father did something WAY uncharacteristic and test drove a Alfa Romeo Milano, in red and with a stick shift, breaking a life-long series of Chevy sedans. But, he did contract work for a medium-sized American engineering company that was big on flag waving...and he ended up with gray Chevy Caprice instead because of this. It was a lame move, and less than 10 years later he was divorced and then died of cancer. LIVE NOW. WHO GIVES A &$#& WHAT PEOPLE THINK.

WHO GIVES A &$#& WHAT PEOPLE THINK.

I'd venture to guess a lot more people than you think.

One very successful german car salesman once told me, that everyone would be shocked to see just how far some people go, to get those badges in their driveways.

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Yes. Currently, my workers and my clients usually only see my 1998 Ford Explorer Sport or my girlfriend's 2007 Ford Fusion if I can help it. Clients especialy, cannot stomach the idea of me turning a profit. I am starting to care less and less about this as years go by, but there are some that would torture my life if they sensed that, for a moment of 2 seconds, I did not have a colossal headache. I'm not all that much into badges. I like value and low maintenance now.

I remember my friend's Dad, who was a very successful businessman before he retired, used a 90's Ford Windstar for work. One day he was complaining that he didn't have a working air conditioner in the car. I asked why he wouldnt just use his 1996 Lincoln Continental (then new and arguably relatively prestigious)for some work since things rarely got messy. He told me if the 2 or 3 guys he had working for him saw it they would demand more money. So he ended up trading for a Chrysler Town & Country which he has held on to into his retirement.

I should add (to support my theory)...in 2007 I was using a faded black 1995 Cadillac Deville Spring Edition to do my daily roundabouts for work. The car belonged to a friend of mine who kept it in great mechanical condition, if not perfect cosmetically. Suffice it to say, it didn't take long for people to start talking and playing telephone. Twice in one day at 2 seperate accounts I got comments to the effect of "I heard you got a Cadillac...must be nice, must be nice" in very sarcastic tones. I actually took the time to show both guys that it was a 12-year old car and had noticeable wear and tear...and I didn't have to put a gun to their heads to get them to go take a look at it despite the claim that they were "just joking" with me.

I ended up only keeping that car a few more months before the "Service Ride Control" nonsense started and I handed it off to a nice older gentleman who had recently had his newer Cadillac stolen. He was happy to take the car despite the existing problems.

I could imagine what hell they would give me if they saw the Lexus...even though its 4 years old now.

the thing is, if a vehicle is nicely designed (NO faddish style gimmickry that gets dated), and it's appearance is kept up, most people will not realize it may be 10 or 12 or more years old.

i have a black honda magna 750 that is now 14 years old. most people assume it is fairly NEWISH if not outright NEW. (the design was discontinued after 2005.) main reason: i keep it clean and waxed. and black takes to waxing VERY nicely.

i also have a relatively clean (but slightly neglected) deep cherry red '94 toyota pickup. people not into cars/trucks would NEVER suspect it is 15 model years old. imho, it is much more cleanly styled than the later "fishface" tacoma models.

Never. Period. That really is the problem with the masses. No one ever pays my bills or want to so why really care. When it all boils down to, when your life winds down, what did it all mean, caring and running around pretending. Not worth it.

I've always gone against the grain with my cars. When everybody was trying to get into Toyota Starlet GTs, Nissan Sunny GTS', or Honda Integras I bought a 1987 Hyundai Excel. When everybody was trying to get into Honda Civics or Toyota Camrys, I bought a Daewoo Cielo GLE. Then on a crazed whim I bought a Suzuki Swift GTI. That was followed by a VERY uncharacteristic Toyota Corolla LX. I now drive a 1999 Mitsubishi Galant Super Saloon and though it's not totally against the grain, it's unusual for somebody my age to drive one. Lovely car that tends to say more "upwardly mobile but got bills to pay" than the "boy racer that knocked up some chick" message that the Honda Accord tends to send.

Nissan GT-R.

I've thought long and hard about it. Great car, but I'm not sure I can pull the trigger on a $90K ($114K CDN) Nissan. I just can't. Maybe in the future I'll change my mind. But, if I do it's probably as a winter car, not my primary one.

heres another embarrassing thought. that "nissan" you're talking about could crush an M5 quite horribly on a track or at a drag.

People don't know as much about cars as me...people suck and only care what they ant, not what you want! Have hand...be the Master of YOUR own Domain. I went from a broken BMW 330Ci convertible to a Subaru WRX 5-door with nav. I like the 2010 VW GTI 5-door coming out too. I am done with high end cars, they cost too much and the performance is not anything spectacular unless you keep paying more creating a marginal diminishing returns in my utility over thus payments!

I don't think I could care less about what people thought. If I cared, I'd have spent all my saved money when I turned 15 and bought something much more expensive than my $300 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. And I'd have definitely never bought a Fiero GT a few years ago. I'm also 99% sure that, if I cared about what people thought, I'd be driving a Subaru WRX while I work at a Lexus dealership. :)

So no, I haven't let people dictate what I drive. In doing so I've learned from some mistakes, yes. But teaching is only so effective; learning for yourself and pissing away your own hard-earned money is much much more effective.

along with mechanical factors, i choose what appeals to MY eyes. whether it appeals to others as well is strictly secondary.

(although with my sophisticated visual sense, family and friends tend to approve my choices. i've even influenced a friend on two new car purchases he hadn't considered before, on the basis of style as well as mechanical competence-- an acura Integra, and a toyota Celica GT.)

Prius - rates a 12 on a geek scale of 1 to 10. Might as well ride a Segway.

Cadillac (any model) - the new models may not be my grandfather's Caddy but to me, they are.

Most Convertibles - no matter how hard a guy tries, you always end up looking like you're driving your girlfriend or wife's car.

One more ...

GT-R: No one will believe that you spent $80K on a Nissan (regardless of how fast you tell them it is). They will all shake their heads and say that you could/should have bought a new Corvette or a nice used Porsche for the same money.

2008 VW R32.

Had all the paperwork done up, just had to sign. If I had not been in an unpredictable time in my life, she'd be in the driveway as we speak.

2003 Hyundai Elantra GT.

I was torn between that and my current 2003 Mazda Protege5. I chose the Mazda largely because the Elantra GT wasn't as sporty, but, also because I was concerned about the comments I would get from family/friends about purchasing a Hyundai. I had done enough research to know that most of what I could expect to hear would be based off Hyundai's past and not reflective of their current progress, but I honestly didn't want to hear it or have the ignorant thinking.

Six plus years and SEVERAL major repairs later, I'm fairly confident the Hyundai would have been the better choice. My friends that drive Hyundais rave about them now, but, back just 6 years ago as they began their turnaround, Hyundai was still the brand to scorn. For the record, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't buy another Mazda build during the days of Ford ownership.