Toyota on the mend?

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  • buyabuya Member Posts: 74
    You people leave alone those "nonworking free spending set" you people sought and worked so hard to keep. They didn't become that way after they landed on their feet. I like to see those casual set continue what they do and leave jobs for those singles or attached who needed to work for a living. Although I can't stand some of those people I saw, but we should be thankful for the "nonworking free spending set" for their contributions to the economy.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    edited September 2012
    Yes, we should all respect and coddle those who are born or married lucky, and pretend they did something for their gold while looking down their nose at others. Thankful? Seriously? Must be a cultural difference. And maybe if we lower their tax burdens more, it will all trickle down to everyone else. I'll get to work on that after my evening appointment with the Easter Bunny ;)

    I wonder which vehicles have the highest amount of drivers (not owners) who have never held actual jobs. I bet Lexus has at least one high ranking model...
  • hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    edited September 2012
    "I bet Lexus has at least one high ranking model."

    I imagine all luxury brands do.

    Some people are born with better looks, physical abilities, IQ, personality or character traits, or longevity genes. Some are also fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. Should our society or culture try to compensate for these factors?
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    I think the RX might outrank them all, for a certain demographic. But, the competitors score highly too. Arguably Toyota's greatest highline home run - even more significant than the LS - the frilly pseudo-SUV RX.

    This society seems to worship those factors, no compensation needed.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    edited October 2012
    If anything, those born rich, i.e. old money, favor established luxury brands their parents owned, like Mercedes. You call 'em trust fund babies.

    New money would more likely go to the Lexus store. Whether they worked hard, got lucky, or a something else, who knows.

    We have a saying in Brazil:

    Poor father, bad luck.

    Poor father-in-law, stupidity.
    :D
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    I don't know. I see no less conservative (at least lifestyle, maybe not politically) older men in LS than I do in the big Germans. But, when someone hits it big and is under room temperature in age, that's seldom the type of car they rush out to buy. The Euros tend to be flashier, and that's what new money wants. Really, there's probably no significant brand preference in old vs new money, but there might be for the layabout spouses of the moderately affluent.
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    So let's say I'm a self made type with a few hundred grand in the bank - what should I buy?
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I remember reading an article about millionaires, and the most common brand mentioned as being owned was Ford.

    I think new rich may be more likely to be insecure and latch to an established brand name for validation. They're the "safe" choice to make to be accepted.

    fin doesn't like the RX so selective attention is the norm, but I don't see how or why it would have a higher number of the trophy wife demographic than an ML, XC60, RDX, X3, Evoque, etc.

    If anything I'm guessing the Evoque is the one most likely parked outside a costmetic surgery office.
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    fin doesn't like the RX so selective attention is the norm, but I don't see how or why it would have a higher number of the trophy wife demographic than an ML, XC60, RDX, X3, Evoque, etc.

    What I typically see in an RX is a mother with a couple of kids running errands or a business professional driving to work.

    Of people I know personally that own RX's, we have the following:

    A housekeeper who bought it used and whose husband drives a used Highlander

    An eye doctor with a healthy practice whose husband drives a beat up Pilot

    A self made property developer whose other car is a 15 yo BMW convertible.

    None of them are flashy or need to flaunt wealth. Maybe it's a New England thing.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    Depends on what you like, too many variables to make a recommendation for someone I don't really know.

    I will just say this - buy what you like, and you only live once. Also, thanks to suicidal economic and trade policies, these are the good old days, so live a little :shades:
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    Evoque is too new to have the numbers and around here, the layabout set loves the RR sport and the normal boat, X5 would be the X3, Volvo is too discreet...however, ML (and GL) is way up there, MDX can be too. Might be a regional thing too. People at my workplace even make jokes about the local women in their Lexus pretend SUVs.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    Errands - aesthetic maintenance appointments? :shades:

    I don't know if property development is something one can get into without some kind of help. But that's for another forum, I suppose.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I coach hoops, and my assistant coach has one. He's a lawyer and works long hours (he's often late for practice or shows up in a suit).

    Another friend owned one works for MD Public TV, he's basically John Davis's boss, from MotorWeek. Replaced it with a Highlander Hybrid.

    The latter is funny because he has access to the Motorweek fleet, so he brings all sorts of cool cars home, including the Alfa Romeo 8c. :shades:

    Stereotypes and assumptions aside, those are the RX owners I know.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    edited October 2012
    People at your workplace are making a lot of assumptions, then.

    How many households are single income nowadays? Even in Potomac most households are dual income.

    Dr. Rey from Dr. 90210 had a Porsche and his trophy wife had a Benz GL.

    All the Kardashians (sp?) drive european cars, too.

    Hef's kept women also - european cars.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    edited October 2012
    Or simply maybe seeing fire where there's smoke? Assumptions might not have a 100% accuracy rate, but they tend to be more right than wrong, and are good for saving time. If someone is offended...well, too bad for them.

    TV isn't reality (and the beltway is kind of a fantasy world too). I suspect the layabout set sees the RX as less showy than a big Euro. But then it assumes a new identity.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Selection attention is at work here. There's nothing scientific about your observations.

    At least go to the cosmetic center parking lot and survey all the cars. :P

    Or show us some solid demographic data, then at least there's something to discuss besides those assumptions.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    Nothing scientific about yours, either ;)

    There's an aesthetic fitness center adjacent to my building. It's a parking lot of RX/ML/X5 along with some Audi wagons.

    The "data" you pine for doesn't exist. It is all anecdotal. If someone doesn't like it, they are free to ignore it. They have no other recourse.
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    I don't know if property development is something one can get into without some kind of help.

    In his case started by buying a row house in one of the then less fashionable Boston neighborhoods in 1980. Renovated and sold for a profit. Bought another - same result. Continued buying row houses, multi-family, empty lots, et al and developing them. Got lucky in that the areas he develops in have gentrified. Took a break on his big projects (150 unit developments) and waited for market recovery.

    He still goes to each job everyday. Wears work boots, Dickies and isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. Now lives in a leafy Boston western suburb but only because his wife hated her commute 40 miles west of the city.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Check the Car Commercials thread, M-B actually targets the type of female you claim (trophy wife, kept women, cosmetic surgery patient) drives the RX in their GLK ads. I shared two real-world examples.

    Apparently Mercedes' consumer research showed them who is buying their cars.

    I'm not saying you'll never see an RX in the patient parking lot, just that I don't see why it's always being singled out by you and by lemko.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    So some luck, and who knows what was used to start out.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    Yes, I saw your obsession. Poor Toyolex has been ganged up on and must be defended. Looks like MB can at least be honest.

    Maybe the lack of ability to admit the truth makes the product seem pretentious.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Those M-B ads don't make you cringe?

    You don't have to answer, we already know. :P
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    Not really. I don't want a GLK or ML or GL anyway, so no skin off my back. It is what it is, and the ads show what it is.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Yeah, a car in the RX' class, targeting the customers you say only buy RXs.

    It's more than a little ironic, you gotta admit. ;)
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    Maybe it is desperation to win the sales race, and in that, they are just going directly for the demographic. It will either work perfectly, or backfire by offending that set.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I think marketing in general are way behind on women's issues, and they don't even know it.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    Or at least on perceptions. Not even the real layabouts want to be shown as such. They are real hardworking housewives, even with a maid and a nanny :shades:
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Those GLK owners have to supervise all the people who work for them. ;)
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    I think that might be highline ML and GL owners. GLK owners are still climbing the ladder :shades:
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    So some luck, and who knows what was used to start out.

    You're boiling it down to luck and insinuation?

    Why can't you accept that someone could have the cajones to put everything they own on the line to build a successful business? It's a lot easier to criticize those that have done so than it is to actually do it yourself.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited October 2012
    Polk tracks who buys what using demographic information. I mostly recall seeing brand preferences by gender. They must have model specific data though.

    Inside Line did a blurb not that long ago.

    The List: 10 Models with the Highest Proportion of Female Buyers

    Does Gender Affect What Cars We Buy? (WSJ)

    It gets more interesting when you look at luxury cars, although this link is out of date.

    Luxury Cars most preferred by Women (Gizmodiva)

    And a pdf where the C Class makes the list in Chicago for both genders. (chicagobusiness.com)
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Not one Lexus on that first list. IMHO the price alone skews them more toward male buyers.

    On a related note, Ferrari/Maserati/Porsche appear first in that 2nd article for the opposite reason.

    Wonder what that PDF is measuring? Can't be gender ownership, of course.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    edited October 2012
    Why should you care what I insinuate? It's not you, right?

    It's also pretty much takes money to make money, and it is tough to accept whine or lectures from boomers who were able to make their gold in a much less competitive environment. I can't count the amount I know of locally who have made a little money in real estate by buying in back when wages to mortgages were in a completely different relationship. And then they act like hard working financial geniuses. Family help for down payments and tuition doesn't hurt either.

    Luck luck luck.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    Buyers or drivers? That can skew things too, not to mention is virtually untrackable.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I wondered if anyone would pick up on that angle. What's the percentage? Something like 80% - 85% of new car purchases are influenced by women. And they buy 52% of them. (Forbes)
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    Would probably need to be broken down into marrieds vs singles too - as it seems when the ring is placed on, the better half takes the lead in such decisions. Even if someone else is paying.
  • hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    Mmm, not so much anymore, since all the major auto companies now have women in significant design and marketing positions.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited October 2012
    I'm so cheap I'd still be driving the '82 Tercel if I had my way (whaddya know, an almost topical post in a Toyota thread). But until she took early retirement, my wife always made more money than me anyway, so I wasn't about to argue too hard. :D
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    edited October 2012
    I had no problem whatsoever when wifey was on a roll and making more than me, in fact I can call those "the good old days". Much tougher for her to find freelance work now.

    Feast or famine.

    It's not uncommon to see women as the primary bread maker around here. When we had a toddler play group with 5 kids, 2 of the parents were male.

    Mmmm, getting back on topic, she's OK with driving the wheels off the Sienna, pretty much.
  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    The sensible man buys a Buick!
  • roho1roho1 Member Posts: 318
    The one made in Korea?
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Funny joke. :D

    Encore, Encore! (get it?)

    Avalon is the favorite Buick of many folks. Ironically it's more American than some Buicks are (Regal is German, Encore is Korean).
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    AN sent an Alert and Toyota sales are up 42%.

    They're really on a roll.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited October 2012
    Except domestically:

    "Toyota's sales fell 7% to 121,937 vehicles in September, with its upscale Lexus brand posting a drop of 34% to 3,792."

    Not to mention "The country's auto industry also faces a gloomy outlook in China as a result of anti-Japanese sentiment stemming from a territorial dispute." (WSJ)

    The stock is down ~$6 in the last couple of weeks.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Over an uninhabitable island, no less.

    Could end up being a good thing - we should less fewer cheap copy cats of Japanese cars there.
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    Over an uninhabitable island, no less

    Uninhabitable but full of natural gas and the waters around it with potential for oil.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Nowadays they can drill diagonally.

    I'm sure someone hit oil a few miles under your house just now. ;)
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    Nah - no oil in New England. Now rocks, we have.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    edited October 2012
    Those aren't copies, they are just "influenced" or even simple coincidence. Really, nothing dishonest is going on.

    That whole "dispute" is a weak ruse to cover local developmental issues in China.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,477
    Or hopefully upgrade to a Yaris, the modern day equivalent of that Tercel.
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