Sam's most recent blog post sparked a similar idea in me. It is pretty common knowledge that cars are often thought of as
status symbols. And this got me thinking, in what way are vehicles status symbols? I drive a Jeep, what does that say about me, or what does that say about my dad who bought the car over 10 years ago? In fact my dad bought a Mercedes Benz ML 350 (pictured) recently. It is the first luxury car he owned, and I never really thought about what that told people about him, until a teammate of mine brought the subject up on today's run. We were on the subject of cars, and he asked why dad bought an MB instead of a BMW or an Audi. I didn't know what to say except, "uhh, he liked it I guess." Maybe it says my dear old dad enjoys the height of motor vehicle engineering, or maybe something else. On another note I have a friend who drives a
BMW M3, which is basically a 60 grand racecar, and its an absolutely awesome car, but its definetely a status statement. Do you have any thoughts on this subject? What do certain cars say about their drivers?
The BMW M3 is not solely a status symbol. I clearly don't know your friend, or the way he treats his car, but it is so much more than a status symbol.
ReplyDeleteIf someone wanted an M3 as a status symbol, he or she would get a 328i instead which looks very similar but is about half the price.
I drive a BMW 325i, but I don't drive it for the prestige. I love the slick gear-change, the nice bite of the clutch, the amazing road feel (really only second to the likes of lotus), the crisp engine response, the amazing balance of a rwd/front-engine layout, and responsive steering. The car I wanted my parents to get (which I would be allocated to drive) was a humble Japanese made Rx-8, certainly not a status symbol. It turned out, the BMW was cheaper to insure, and maintain and about the same price to buy used.
There are quite a few times that I wish I had a car without so much pretension involved, but there is a reason why BMWs are more expensive than Toyotas, they are better.
Bernie (the name of the car) makes every day that I get to drive better. I am saving money for a Dinan front Strut and exhaust, K/N intake, New headers and if I get crazy rich, a new racing suspension setup with stiffer anti-roll bars. Bernie isn't a status symbol, it is my favorite material possession though.