Why are so many inferior vehicles considered status symbols?

highender

Guess what is the worlds fastest SUV ?

A Jeep Cherokee SRT8 ?

I just checked it out...it is a nice vehicle !!....really cool and fast from 0-60...of only 5.2 sec. This matches most reports of performance figures for the Porsche Cayenne...0-60 of between 5.0 to 5.9 secs...... Wow...it looks good too...

I meant the fastest top speed...I think the Porshce Cayenne has it on Guiness as 190 mph...( =not that it matters to most) . 4x4 , a sister publication of CAR, tested a stock Cayenne going 175 mph....

But you are right...the SRT8 is one nice machine !! for less too....

so is the Porsche Cayenne turbo more status symbol, but also more inferior to the Jeep Cherokee SRT8 ? ( lame attempt to stay on topic )

highender

Or in 40F weather in pouring rain surrounded by vacuous trophy wives in Lexus SUVs

wow...in cold weather and pouring rain...you or anyone of us surrounded by trophy wives/girls in a Lexus SUV ?

Hmmm....does not seem like torture to me....

highender

You got a point about mopeds in cold or raining weather...

But for many urbanites....having a car is the norm...when having a moped would do the same job..probably ease congestion of traffic..free up parking , less smog....and I think they get any where from 60 to 90 mpg ?

Why overkill with a Ferrari if you can do it in a moped ?

For the record,,, When I went to China in 1982...(that is not that long ago...) all...everyone...was on bicycles. There were a few government trucks...but few cars at all. We hired a black little chinese made car to get around...and the driver honked his horn to clear the bicylists on the road....

NOw...everyone is getting a car...the ultimate status symbol ( any kind) ....without even considering a moped.

So from bicycle to car in 20 years...mulitiply by 300 million people. ( the other 1 billion are also trying to buy a car).

So much for status symbols....

ownersmanual

I do not understand this topic. If you can afford a trophy wife, an ultra luxury car and a vacation home in Aspen whats the harm? Corinthian leather, gold inlays, polished glace surfaces resplendent and glorious, my God I think a luxury car is essential to the well being of all natural men and women. If you cannot afford the luxuriant things in life, I say work harder man! Affluence and abundance are requirements of modern conformity. I'm sorry, but you may have your moped tree hugging idealism, I'll continue to drive my Lamborghini Gallardo.

-old head

snakeweasel

No but it gets that cold here.

corsicachevy

BMWs convey a message to others on the road be it "I'm a car enthusiast", or "I've made it - look at me." These prestigious rides may serve to satisfy the ego, but not my day to day sensibilities.

A friend of mine lives in a part of the state that does not have a BMW dealership. Over the past two years I have had several opportunities to drive his two BMW 5 series sedans. He must leave his car in Madison for service and takes my car back to his home town. At first I thought this wold be a nice arrangement. Who wouldn't trade a 2004 Alero for a new 5 series? As it turns out, me.

Quite frankly, I miss my Oldsmobile when I'm "stuck" driving his BMW because of one little phrase - "I-Drive". Even after spending two weeks with the car I find the system inferior to the basic radio/HVAC interface found in most cars. It ruins what would otherwise be a decent, but not spectacular car. I have yet to find someone who thinks the system works better than conventional buttons and knobs. Which begs the question - why would someone buy a car with such an annoying feature especially when it controls the very functions that get fiddled around with most?

By the way, his first BMW was so unreliable that he could have (and should have) invoked Wisconsin's lemon law. The second is only marginally better. He's a glutton for punishment as I told him to get a Lexus GS 430 the second time around. Its every bit the performance car without the headaches or annoyances. He admitted to being a snob and went out and bought another BMW. At least he's honest.

I hope they put some Excederine in the glove box this time.

highender

hello ownersmanual:

I agree..! I say if one can afford a Lambo or Ferrari, so much power to them . The purchasing of luxury products also helps the people at the lower end of totem pole.... because then the people who work the leathers, inlaid wood, carbon fiber, engines that cost $25,000 to $100,000 each, are well paid to do thier job. Some may argue that an art poster will do the same as any oil painting or original....but there are many artists who rely on people to buy their originals .....instead of reproductions.

For every one person who poo poos the luxury item....there are perhaps 10 workers who rely on the luxury item for making a living.( my guess) .

ANyways...I agree with you....but I am also argueing against the Honda...as that car in and of itself is not minimalist.....and there are better values than a HOnda ? Maybe ?

Hence my introduction of the moped. I do have a biology degree...and I am for the environment....but also have no problem with Porsches, Ferraris, or Lambos or Rangers....

snakeweasel

Hmmm....does not seem like torture to me

It is when you're married.

highender

Yes.... I agree about the I-drive....

We have a porsche navigation...that also uses a very small button to perform the many functions, and it is on the right side of the nav...further aways from the driver... you gotta pull over to use it. In making the vehicles more capable...we have stumbled into a maze of buttons and controls....pretty soon, we would end up with cockpits not unlike a small plane ??

But you gotta admit, BMW cleaned up the interior from having so many buttons....

highender

it is when you are married..

ROTFL.........that was a good one.... !!!

Let me pick myself off the floor....and ask that my post be deleted so my wife doesnot see this...

snakeweasel

When I worked in the Loop I took the train in, there were many who took a moped from their homes to the train station. They are great on gas and easy to park at the station lots where parking could disappear fast. But half the time the weather would make them miserable.

I once worked at a job about three miles from home, in good weather I rode a bike to and from it.

fintail

LOL it's not like they'd give anyone on a moped a ride. Wallets do all the talking...

And on the idrive issue...I like lots of buttons, and especially toggle switches and rocker switches. I am very hesitant to get any MB with COMAND where everything is integrated with the nav...I like standalone systems. Idrive and its kin may involve a lot of tech, but it really dumbs down the driving experience. A prestige car shouldn't be dumbed down.

stevekilburn

Yes you are right we have a free society and anyone can choose to buy whatever they want according to their means.

But with great wealth there is also great responsibility. We must ask this question what is encouraging a person to buy a 200K+ car when he can pretty much get the same thing for 60-70 K.

Also, the same two yards of cloth sell for vastly different price, but here again, we must ask the same question, what is encouraging these buyers. I would say the desire to stand out from the crowd and flaunt their dollars in a most ostentatious manner. A free society must have some kind of self control and the vast majority of rich dont seem to have that. And the reason for that is the rampant and reckless consumerism.

Its not the 200K car that has become status symbol, rather it is the burning desire to satisfy the ego in the most reckless and rampant consumerism without considering the long term consequences. Communism is the greatest evil, but senseless egoistic consumerism is an evil too.

We may not be able to ignore morality in a free society just as we cannot ignore freedom to spend on whatever we may feel like.

stevekilburn

The days are coming fast and God's retribution will be less than pleasant.

God will not forgive those who spend 200K on a car. :-)) :P

shipo

Sorry, not following you at all here.

To my way of thinking, some high net worth individual who dumps 200 large on a car is helping the economy easily as much as if he were to leave it in some nebulous investment.

All I can say is, "Come on all of you high net worth folks, SPEND, SPEND, SPEND!" The more they spend, the faster the money will flow and the easier it will be for me to get my next BMW. ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

stevekilburn

You are right. Its not easy. besides you can make quite a mess in a cramped interior if you are not well-positioned. I am not sure if thats one of the reasons so many people like big SUVs. You can maneuver much more freely.

I am thinking of Escalade and Lexus LX at the moment.

andre1969

God drives a beat-up old Plymouth doesn't mean that he's going to get pissed at someone who buys a $200K car. Besides, if cars are anything like houses, $200K ain't what it used to be!

BTW, it says so right in the Bible that God drove a Plymouth. In fact, he gave Adam and Eve a ride in when they left the Garden of Eden. (He drove them out in His Fury) :shades:

ubbermotor

Now I've seen Bruce Almighty, and I'm pretty sure God was driving a Saleen S7.

dewey

The days are coming fast and God's retribution will be less than pleasant.
God will not forgive those who spend 200K on a car.

Wishing Eternal Damnation to all Ferarri drivers does sound a bit harsh, dont you think?

Let me re-phrase what you just wrote:

The days are coming fast and God's retribution will be less than pleasant.
God will not forgive those slow highway hybrid drivers whom selfishly holds up the rest of mankind from their appointments.

snakeweasel

BTW, it says so right in the Bible that God drove a Plymouth.

Nope God was a Ford man

"The Gileadites seized the Fords of the Jordan before the Ephraimites arrived" Judges 12:5

andre1969

but I always thought that one gist of it was that you should help the poor. But that doesn't mean you have to become one of them. You could drive a $200K car but still give the dude at the traffic light a quarter for washing your windshield. :P

Okay, so I was being sarcastic on that one. But still, who's to say that the guy driving the $200K car didn't give a million bucks to cancer research, AIDS research, Habitat for Humanity, land mine victims, the SPCA, or whatever?

andre1969

Maybe God was rich enough to have two cars from different companies? You know, kind of like Mr. Brady during that one season where he had both a 1972 Barracuda AND a 1972 Impala? :shades:

snakeweasel

Ok, but God only had enough money to get one Honda for all the Apostles because the Book of Acts mentions that they were all in one Accord.

Yeah He drives around two cars and makes his twelve employees fit into one.

Also didn't He make his Son use a mule?

:P

PF_Flyer

I'm not even sure I want to know why we got here :P

cluedweasel

"Wishing Eternal Damnation to all Ferarri drivers does sound a bit harsh, dont you think?"

True. I'll just settle for Michael Schumacher.

stevekilburn

Ok may be JC drove light-weight ferrari and porsche, but there will still be retribution for those who drive obese 200K+ sedans.

God will certainly chastise those who drive obese 200K+ sedans. Eternal hell is waiting for those sinners who are sitting right now in a 5500 Lbs Bentley. :P

(Including the mechanics who are servicing those in the service bay)

nvbanker

You're totally right, it's all about the SNOB appeal factor with Bimmers. Sure, there are DRIVERS who love how they drive, who wouldn't? But there are other cars that do that pretty well - they just don't have the panache and cache (could I find anymore French words to describe the jen a se qua of a Bimmer?) that the Bimmer has. Teacher friend of mine just traded her 7-Series on a Lexus, because of the horrible repair record, and horrible service department at BMW, but she is clinically depressed now because NOBODY cares about the car she drives anymore.
She will get back into the bimmer ASAP, believe me, regardless of cost, down time, or issues. It's all about the "look at me" factor with her. :mad:

highender

regarding biblical interpretations:

GOd said to " enjoy the fruits for which you are blessed..."

If God gave one health...then one should enjoy it...if he gave someone a Saleen...then they can enjoy that...but that is not to say they will not suffer in the future, right ?

I also read that GOD may prefer HONDAs, since there is a Bible verse when it says "....and then the disciples were in accord...."

Also....

rockylee

:surprise:

So the Accord is the holy car ?

Rocky

grbeck

Not to UAW members. They probably view the Accord - along with the Camry - as the Spawn of Satan.

dewey

It seems that religion and autos are a hot combo.

Here is a suggestion to our host--set up various Edmunds forums with the following topics:

What car would Buddha drive?
What car would Jesus drive?
What car would Moham..(Oops forget that we dont want to cause violent riots)
Can a rich Maybach owner drive through the eye of a needle to reach Heaven?

bigdveedubgirl

This whole discussion is pretty funny, but......

God would not be mad if you buy a 200k sedan, because he will be laughing when you get it appraised a year later and its only worth 125k.....

highender

LOLz>>>

YOu don't want them to torch the edmunds.com office, do you ? :sick:

HOmwork for all of us :

Can anyone find something in the Bible in which God preferred a GM product ?

highender

plus look at all the money that that amount of dough ($200,000) would feed...it feeds the parts people,, design people, the receptionist at the dealership, the guy who wipes the windows...etc....

and all those people pay taxes....

I think instead of feeding people for free...one should employ them...

there is a saying "" give a guy a fish...you feed him for one day...but teach him how to fish...and you feed him a lifetime ""

I say buy all that you can....( as long as you can afford to, and your retirement and bills are paid up) ....and support the economy....

rockylee

The UAW members don't look at those cars as the Spawn of Satan, but wished their management was committed to building a much better Camry and shedding the bad 80's image of GM. :sick:

Rocky

bigdveedubgirl

Yes More power to those who want to spend $85k on an A8 or $35k for their whiny little highschool brats 06 A4 Keeps me with food on the table, a new Coach bag a year, and 2 trips to Cali a year.

But it also, lets our detail people make 10 an hour instead of 7 an hour and qualify for healthcare benefits!

PF_Flyer

Let's not and say we did!

rayng

Please end this thread. Why God, Buddha, or any deity would sit in traffic is beyond my comprehension. :P

highender

Hehe...I agree....

let the auto detailer have a job too....

I do some of my own detailing...but sometimes bring it out to have it done. Don't wanna put any one out on the street, eh ?

my wife likes the Coach bag idea.......

killerbunny

Can a rich Maybach owner drive through the eye of a needle to reach Heaven?

The problem is not about the car or the wealth itself. It's about how the rich one got rich in the first place. Even your average blood-sucking lawyer cannot afford a Maybach. It probably involves drug, dirty politics and child labour to get there.

Can that huge amount of money be obtained with no guilt? Yes, check out the SuperBall winners. They can go to heaven with their Maybachs, assuming they are good in other aspects as well.

cluedweasel

"The problem is not about the car or the wealth itself. It's about how the rich one got rich in the first place. Even your average blood-sucking lawyer cannot afford a Maybach. It probably involves drug, dirty politics and child labour to get there."

Boy, what a judgemental lot some of the posters here are. There are plenty of ways to make money which are perfectly legal and a benefit to the community. Maybe it's time to call it a day on this topic.

fintail

Don't question money! Defer to it.

vchiu

>besides paying more for the same thing, sometimes as much as six or seven times (a rolls is 6 times as expensive as lexus LS) needs some re thinking.

Well, this is your valued opinion and I respect it, but why question the will for high-revenue people to do what they want with their money?
Unless the money was earn in drug/human organ/weapon trafficking, we should consider the money in their pocket as legitimate.

the extra money paid is not lost for everybody. it will fund the distribution channel and the car manufacturer, supporting jobs, directly or not.
buying expensive cars actually supports the economy much more than buying cheaper ones. it has the same effect as paying more tax.

andre1969

So the Accord is the holy car ?

I don't think they are anymore, but they sure were back in the 70's and 80's. The '80 hatchback that a buddy of mine owned had rust holes the size of some of the smaller New England states. :surprise: So yeah, it was pretty holy :P

snakeweasel

buying expensive cars actually supports the economy much more than buying cheaper ones. it has the same effect as paying more tax.

If it as the same effect as paying more tax then it hurts the economy. But to be honest buying an expensive car has a somewhat neutral effect on the economy. Say you pay an extra 100K for the luxury car, sure the dealer and their employees will make more money which is pumped into the economy. But if you didn't spend that 100K on the car you would either spend it some place else or invest it. In most cases spending the money in other areas or investing it would most likely be better for the economy.

rockylee

Now that's funny, ya hear.

Get R' Done...

Rocky

highender

LOL.....good one, andre...

andre1969

of Honda bashing or domestic hugging, I'll also admit that my '85 Silverado has been looking pretty religious lately, and my '79 New Yorker is showing signs of being "born again"...mainly around the front part of the rear wheel openings and oddly, the lip of the trunklid.

prosa

The problem is not about the car or the wealth itself. It's about how the rich one got rich in the first place. Even your average blood-sucking lawyer cannot afford a Maybach. It probably involves drug, dirty politics and child labour to get there.

I recently saw a Maybach with MD plates, so apparently a physician can earn enough to afford one.

stevekilburn

Let Jesus take care of these things. We are not to interfere with his will.

His will is to purchase luxury but shun heavy hippopotamuses like 5500 Lbs of non-sense.

Besides, Jesus wants the 200K+ to go towards education.

Buying a 200K+ car will support only a dozen people like the dealer and some of his managers who are already FAT.

Investing 200K in educational Institutions or even high schools will support "Hundred" students. These students after graduation will support the economy to a

"far greater extent" then the fat dealer.