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Over here in the States as I've mentioned before my wife picked a Lexus ES300 purely because of the name. I've also hired an Oldsmobile Intrigue which is by far a better drive, roomier, more comfy, and a lot quicker, not to mention I could have leased one new for about 1/3rd of the cost of the Lexus. But she "wouldn't want an Oldsmobile!". The best car I ever had was a 1,500quid Cavalier V6.
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It all boils down to sex and advertising. When it comes to parting with vast sums of money when a few quid will do, it?s another notch in the bedpost for the ad agency.
If it?s any consolation, some of the most vulnerable are admen themselves. Always bragging that they?re immune to the hard-sell, but have you been in an ad agency car park recently? Suckers.
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I've said it before and I'll say it again...
Image is important - to an extent. If I turned up at larger clients in a 15-yr old banger they would ask themselves what sort of two bit surveyor had they instructed. Many of jobs I do, my car is not seen, but on others it is, and just like wearing clean and smart clothing to a meeting, rather than a pair of comfortable but tatty jeans, I need to project a professional image.
That means a clean, smart and modern vehicle, and as the partner in a hopefully successful firm, I need to ensure that the client has confidence in his professional advisors. The way to boost confidence, apart from giving good advice! is to give the impression that you are so godo that your other clients pay you well so that you can afford a decent car.
So, if you have £20,000 to spend on a car, do you buy a new Mondeo (an excelent car I might add) or a Subary Forester XT. No contest! I want to be seen to be an individual, giving individual advice rather than a grey suited pen pusher.
So yes, I would love to have a Skoda Superb, or even a Fiat Panda (my taste is eclectic), but I can't. Both my clients and my wife, who is a badeg snob, would object and i don't want to get on the wrong side of either of them.
To give a true axample which happened to a surveyor friend who drove a Nissan Almera. He did a multi million pound deal and the fee to him was about £100,000. The client said to him that if my friend wanted to retain the client's business, he would change his car to something more fitting the client's business strategy - so yes, in the real world image does matter and that's why we pay £60,000 for a badly handling, air cooled dinosaur called a 911.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Espada's spot on, sometimes you have to have a car to suit other peoples' perceptions, same as sometimes you have to wear collar and tie.
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Spoken like a true surveyor mare....
Where are you based? oh and what do you drive?!
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Spoken like a true surveyor mare.... Where are you based? oh and what do you drive?!
Bath, i'm a QS by trade, but also a developer. I drive a leggy Octavia diesel, but for site visits or meeting agents we use one of colleagues' A6's. Thereby proving the perception point I guess.
An Octavia suits a QS - careful with money. The Audi's suit the other role much better.
I do wear jeans to site meetings though.
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I was the biggest badge snob ever, until just for a laugh i tried out a Hyundai Santa fe 4x4, even then when i liked it i still couldn't have it because of the badge, the wife said i was stupid, the kids said my saab was too small in the back, my father said i was a fool and the people at work laughed at me and took the perverbial. I bought one and now i'm the one thats laughing, its great, far better than i ever expected, i sit at the traffic lights next to a lexus 4x4 and think should i have spent another 25K ?? no ha ha ha, mines great and what a bargain!!
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I drive a Xantia TD that cost £1200. My wife drives a ZX TD that cost £800 (mind you that replaced one that only cost £450, but was as rough as ....). Image? Er, no. Cost? Definitley? Being a bit different and not suckered by the ad men? Yes. Smug? Yes. Driving a Citrone because I like the weird suspenion? 'Fraid so.... It gets from A to B with minimum fuss and expense.
Although this is partly driven by a lack of the readies, but also a desire not to pay £150 for an oil change I can do myself in 20 minutes for £15.
If I had the money? Hmm. Citroen D convertible, and a Xantia Activa - that has the weirdest suspension going! I'd probably be on the look out for an SM as well...
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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RichardW }}If I had the money? Hmm. Citroen D convertible, and a Xantia Activa - that has the weirdest suspension going! I'd probably be on the look out for an SM as well...
Pretty much my list too, especially the decapotable.
Did the image thing (MINI), didn't add up to its cost so jumped the other direction with the Skoda - and haven't looked back at all.
Makes me smile when I pass an Audi dealership with the inflated price tags for a set of parts out of the same parts bin as a VW, Seat or Skoda. Amuses me too that the TT & Cabrio have the same indicator/wiper/lights/illumination switches as our Fabia. Bet there's a lot more in common that I can't see.
-- Lee Having a Fabialous time.
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Image is everything. And what better way to achieve that executive, high roller look than with a saloon.....possibly a Ford of some sort.
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Adam
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Met a guy via the kids. All the trappings - great house, wife with Saab convertible, pool, etc.
See him driving an old, tatty Mondeo - thought odd - loads of money, why drive a knackered car.
Turns out he's BA 747 Captain - so he's away 3-10 days at a time. Car spends 75% of its time in the staff car-park at LHR getting covered in muck, but starts up every time.
He's got no "image" to project to a "client" - why bother!
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Precisely
Badge snob wife drives a Hyundai Trajet. But doesn't want her 'executive' husband in a Hyundai Tucson!!
When I had a desk job and didn't visit clients I had no car at all and used the bus.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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I understand that the OP's £500 & £30,000 were examples, but surely the days of running £500 cars are coming to an end, as electronic everything/ABS/air bags etc, work there way through into older cars, so repairs (even for keen DIYers) become uneconomic?
I went through recently when my daughter left University and needed a car - she wanted to spend around £2000. But finding a decent one, and then looking after it, would, of course, all fall to me. I had several years of looking after 2 older cars when I first got married - neither of them ever actually broke down on the road, but there was always something that needed doing.
So I helped my daughter buy a new Seat Ibiza, and paid £20/mth for the servicing package. It's got all the latest safety equip etc (I wouldn't want her to have a crash in an 8 year old Fiesta) and I'm hoping that all I'll ever have to do is wash it - so I'm buying peace of mind. How much is that worth?
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>>I understand that the OP's £500 & £30,000 were examples, but surely the days of running £500 cars are coming to an end, as electronic everything/ABS/air bags etc, work there way through into older cars, so repairs (even for keen DIYers) become uneconomic?<<
This is why I keep my carburetted Sierra estate going,cost me £30 four years ago,it even had T&T.I hasten to add it is no banger,by now only the bodyshell and rear seats are original,even has a new windscreen,and it is always well maintained.Can't get rid of all the rattles though,it is a Ford after all.
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My daughter, formerly a student, wanted cheap wheels so nearly 3 years ago we found a Fiat Cinquecento which still provides daily transport and costs peanuts to run.
Now, she lives in a fairly dodgy part of Leicester, though is about to move, and a new or upmarket car would probably have been seriously vandalised or stolen by now. I think the "not attracting attention" feature of cheap wheels is important for some.
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I bought my car as i get cash from work for it.
i earn enough to pay for 2 holidays a year, cant take any more as dont get enough days. got 2 kids who love having the roof off, in the summer.
When i was a kid i worked before and after school, and always dreaming of different cars. i worked my nads off when i left school, and before and after college.
now i have everything i could possible want, 2 great kids, excellent wife.
so I thought i want a cabriolet again, what havent i had?
i was after a bmw 3coupe, but the wife mentioned i could get a hardtop for winter use, so I thought stuff it.
looked at renault meg cab, astra cab, saab (but had one of those) volvo, nice but not for me, audi ( have "issues with audi") audi TT ( too small) so settled for 320 bmw se cab, silver, black leather, did want cloth, as not as hot when roof off, and silver trim inside. its 3years old, and i love it.
the wife wanted to get rid of her £1000 rover 214, things were starting to go wrong. and i dont have time/energy/willingness to start messing around with cars. did it enough for 9 years (16 to 25)
so when she wanted a clio, i took her for a test drive in a 1.2 clio and a black 182.
she liked the 182 better, as you dont need to really work the car as hard as a 1.2, she also likes the half alcantera seats, and other "niceities" (dunno how you spell that) so we ordered the burnt orange one.
now she works hard too, part time job, but is usually working full time, so we have enough cash to buy presents bdays/xmas/annies/ take trips to parks, bikes for kids/ hot chocs in winter, go places/walks/ day trips to beach/ all stuff that i did when i was a kid for my kids. as long as i look after them, everything else is ok.
i didnt buy a bmw cab for image, i bought it because i wanted one. if i couldnt have afforded it, i would have had another escort cab.
I understand there are issues for some people/companys for image/cost. but just do what you can afford/want/need, long time dead and all that IMHO.
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I guess I'm lucky, my patients don't care what vehicle I turn up in as long as I get them better. Don't business clients realise that at the end of the day they are paying for your fancy motor in their fees?
I value my individuality and would not drive a repmobile or a grey or silver German slugmobile. Give me bright coloured cheerful little cars any day.
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Try telling that to Philip Green!!
This guy spends in one day what we will earn in a lifetime and he wants the best and prepared to pay for it.
That's where it all trickles down from.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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I guess I'm lucky, my patients don't care what vehicle I turn up in as long as I get them better. Don't business clients realise that at the end of the day they are paying for your fancy motor in their fees? I value my individuality and would not drive a repmobile or a grey or silver German slugmobile. Give me bright coloured cheerful little cars any day.
I agree! Until recently I was a student, so couldn't afford much, but I'm very pround of my car. Next year I might be getting new (brand new) car, but I'll get one that does what I want it to, not one that is cheap, or one that looks good. However, I am tempted to stick with my current car purely because it does the job, and is dirt cheap to run. It's a V reg 899cc Fiat Seicento SX (electric windows, central locking, sun roof, metalic paint).
Looks, and price will effect my choice, but not much. I want a car that doesn't drink too much fuel, is quick, and handles well. If a £5k car was good enough then I'd buy it, and be proud to drive it! The more expensive cars (ie. over £10k) are genereally too big (for my driveway), too heavy, and drink too much fuel.
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