To think that the car you buy is a statement of the 'tribe' you belong to.

[BusyCee]

DH wants to buy a Discovery Sport 7 seater so we can fit 3 DCs plus others.

We live in a relatively affluent area. Discovery Sports around here are driven by perfectly pleasant women, but women who tend not to work, to spend a lot of time and energy on appearance, and who definitely don't ever drive off road.

I come from a working class family. We currently are not affluent. I have worked since I could. I like working. I like to look nice, but for me style is less important than substance.

I do NOT want to drive a Discovery Sport. We have talked about this. He has just bought a friend who works for LR home with one for us to test drive. I work in marketing. I understand very clearly why people chose the brands they chose.

AIBU to insist that we do not buy the Discovery Sport on brand/looks/target market grounds only and the fact it has a fucking tiny rear window which might be why they're always parked over two bays round these parts

We make ends meet but sometimes a struggle..but I drive a Mazda 323 Sport and husband drives a bright Red twin cab transit (aspirations for a Bowler)..what tribe are we..?? Jap cars all the way for me.

Wow, people really do find affirmation in driving cheap cars. Fair enough.

We have a new-ish X5 (a year old), so I suppose that marks us out as something.

A BMW driver?!

I've spent a silly amount on cars over the years, some I've loved and some I've shifted asap. I love VWs. Don't care what tribe that makes me. Don't care what tribe my previous cars made me. If all my neighbours have to worry about is what car I'm driving then it says me about what tribe they are in than my car ever says about me. I don valudate my ex stance wit a swany car, i drive what makes me smile. Life's to short to live looking for other people's approval.

Ha ha, typos. That should be- I don't validate my existence with a swanky car. Neither do I validate it with swanky typing! Not to say people with lovely expensive cars are doing that, just that not everyone does.

We have an X-Trail, about 10yrs old? Had a new engine put in a few years ago, has done about 170k miles...it is a great car. We need a workhorse with two kids, dog, caravan, project house and garden etc.

Dh has just put his dad's own home build car back on the road which is a little 2 seater that only comes out every few weeks.

So I guess that kind of says that we are in the 'cars are useful not pretty' tribe really.

To be fair Apple I have at least £1200 a month spends that I could spend on a car , but I choose not to whilst the car I have still does what it is supposed to do . If my mileage was largely motorway , I would probably change my mind sharpish , but 0-60 doesn't interest me when the speed limit is 30 and I am lucky to do 20

I don't 'find affirmation'...we just don't need anything more than we have. It would be unnecessary for us.

Love non conspicuous consumption and knowing I've a pile of money in the bank to spend as I please. I have found it's much harder to spend real money from your own bank account than the drip, drip into a leasing company for example.

I keep my cars for ten years. I aim for them to cost me less than £2k a year.

DH is very environmentally friendly. What's cooler. Having a congestion charge busting green car or owning a parking space in Central London .

I am pretty sure that eight out of the ten houses in my road are owned outright. Nobody has a conspicuous car.

I would never judge someone because of what they drive. I might raise an eyebrow at what comes out of some of their mouths though and perhaps about HOW they drive.

Yes, we've never leased or bought on credit. We save every month towards a replacement for when this one dies!

I don't drive and we are a one car family.
We have never wanted a new car as can't afford to lose all those thousands as you drive it from salesroom. Not something we could justify.
Some people like new cars though, each to their own.

Maybe it depends if you are salaried and work on a monthly budgeting scheme.
Some people have lots of credit and every month pay the credit or not.
We too don't lease or buy on credit.

I've been reading this thread with great interest. Then I realised that I don't actually know what car I drive.

It's a Mercedes, as evidenced by the badge, and it's definitely red. I drive it every day. I think that puts me firmly in the couldn't care less tribe. Either that or I've forgotten that I have amnesia.

I agree witsender. I have no particular interest in cars, so if it goes from A to B I don't mind what it looks like or how old it is. I would rather (and need to) spend the money on other things. "Affirmation" is surely a luxury and doesn't come into it.

Not all older cars are inefficient. The tax band A zero rating for

I drive a Skoda most days, a Volvo on the other days (Octavia and V50 for those that care) the Skoda is pleasingly efficient, the Volvo is getting old and eccentric.

The Skoda replaced a convertible BMW 320 and the Volvo replaced an Astra. The Skoda is the only car we have ever had finance on. DH is a teacher, I'm a barista that has recently returned to work after nearly five years as a SAHM. I'm fairly sure my neighbours don't give a shit about any of that as long as I don't drive my car into any of their cars (a Honda CRV, Audi A4, Muddy Landy, Skoda somethingorother and Volvo V40)

I have a 20 year old Toyota Corolla automatic, which is the car of choice of the illegal mini cabber. Which I'm not.

I have incredibly dull taste in cars. My dream car would be.... a newer Corolla or a Honda Jazz automatic. The duller, the less engaging and more reliable the better.

I drive a Y-reg Ford Focus Estate. But it's absolute Gold. Gold in colour. I love it. Just need a crown on top and everyone would bow to the greatness of my car. Unfortunately too many drivers of 'other' cars have their noses so firmly planted up their arses, the brilliance of my car is invisible to the arse-sunshine that blinds them.

OP if you need a 7 seater car but don't want a people carrier then you are quite limited for choice for a 7 seater car. We have just sold our discovery 4, having had two from new. I certainly did feel judged for driving it, often abused by men who thought a women couldn't possibly drive such a car or that we were all "kept" little women, I did hate the stereotype. The discovery sport is a cheaper more affordable version so I don't know how much space it provides for the additional seats. We have downsized and I am surprised at how much space I still have in the car for 3 kids and two dogs and it is lovely to not have to worry if my car is too tall for a multi-story car park. However I would by a discovery sport in a heartbeat again and all those judge people could go judge elsewhere, if it suits your needs and you like it that's all that matters.

Forgot - that makes me a member of the practical, reliable, cheap car BUT WE IS GOLD CAR 'tribe'. Did I mention the 'flashy' tinted windows? I luvs my car.

One of the local strip clubs has a Porsche Cayenne that their girls drive around in

I like the Evoque, when we see a nice one my DH says oh there goes your car, although if I were to go back to a 4WD I'd probably get another Jeep.

I think with you wanting 7 seats you are probably going to have to go down one of two routes , the people carrier type malarkey like a Ford S-max , VW Touran , Peugeot 5008 or go high end with the Q7 , Volvo XC90 or Disco . How often are you actually going to use 7 seats though ? will it be weekly , monthly or once in a blue moon ?

If it is for months in advance planned excursions , you could always hire a 7 seater for a few days ?

I love my SMax. We bought it because parents are getting older and thought we may often need six seats. Forgetting if course that the DC would leave home!!! Apart from that our old five seat MPV did not do the South of France comfortably with a full load and four people once DS overtook DH.

It has been worth its weight in gold as we have launched into uni runs but in three or five years I will downsize probably to a golf plus or even B series Merc. I need something high up due to back problems.

My old picasso was fab. Bought it in 2001 when it was at the forefront of MPVs and it was perfect when the DC were small. Still have it in France as a second car or for when we fly down for a week/end. DS has a 2006 KA mostly on the drive building up insurance credits which I drive to work two/three times a week.

Toria we had an old (grandad beige, metallic!!) Volvo C70 alongside our Disco 4, if anyone cares

It certainly was eccentric, the bastard thing hated me. Wouldn't start whenever I drove it. In two years every time I got in, it would only start on the third go!!! It had a turning circle of a small country. The thing had so many quirks - although I do think of it fondly

It's misguided to assume that people who own expensive cars are unable to work out basic maths, or are saddled with lease payments that they'll inevitably come to regret.

I don't particularly care about the car but my husband does, and he's a fairly shrewd character. We own the car outright, as we do our house. But where we live, X5s are everywhere - they're not considered flashy.

We drove our previous car into the ground, we probably will this one as well.