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

I have a fine tradition of owning the shittest car in the street.

In my last address our neighbour asked if he could park his Aston Martin in our garage because it wasn't good to leave it out in the snow. Apparently, it would be no problem to leave my elderly Citroen out

My current neighbours have Mercs and a Tesla. My knackered Prius is missing a hub cap after I crunched it in the petrol station

I have a Range Rover Evoque and I fucking love it.

Hope that helps

While I think your choice of car might say a little bit about you (ie every time I see someone speeding/harassing someone to hurry up/cutting people up its always an Audi) I don't think the car you drive is an indicator of affluence.

It's just indicative of how willing you are to sign up for years of debt/finance!

I put snow tyres on my small plastic car Fiat 500. Snow is no problem for small cars with no 4WD if it ever did snow in last 2 winters.

Not everyone buys cars on credit/finance. What an odd assumption

My mother had this unfortunate habit of buying Citroens. Sewing machines with wheels.

I do have to say if i had a huge bank account I'd do it too. I'd have a customer interior, leather of course, merc sports. Im not into big cars due to living in london.

It's just indicative of how willing you are to sign up for years of debt/finance!

Errr... excuse me but some of us save up our hard-earned cash to buy our cars!

Indeed not. I've always bought cars for cash - at point of purchase anyway. Such better deals.

I don't get you Cozie. When else would you pay cash if not at the point of purchase?

wondering if I'm missing a joke

I live in an uppy downy part of the country which has its fair share of Weather and the only time we've wished for 4WD or AWD was the time we got suck behind 2l engined white van man on a steep uppy bit, after 2 weeks of constant snow. We did fine until he got stuck in front of us.

Most people scared of Weather would just be better of taking a coat and a shovel.

Similarly, when one of the downy bits had a flood, the following summer, it was the bloody BMW X5 which got wet inside and cut out, despite wildly swerving past anything looking remotely like a puddle.

And yes, I'm aware that some people may judge me, but it's my money, my life and though that seems to give some people permission to get a little bit prissy I don't give a shiny shit Judge away people, judge away... And I get to press a button and the boot just opens ... And I press the same button and boot just... shuts. Fucking love it.

Seriously, don't live your life for to approval of randoms. If the car, not the brand, doesn't work for you, don't buy it. If it does, then buy it, enjoy it and fuck em all.

A friend of mine will only drive Audi, she says its the best in terms of quality and build, and she also loves the way it looks. She is VERY posey about being an Aldi driver. & Ive been in the car with her and seen her and other Audi drivers give each other a smug look and a nod as they drive by. So, I do tend to think Audi drivers are poseurs based on the ones I've come across. I still want one tho. Possibly. But Im not planning to turn into an Audi Arsehole.

We belong to the "my car will sit outside work for 10h a day and my commute is 10mins each way at best" tribe - therefore I drive a 2001 Honda 7 seater with over 200k km on the clock. It's reliable, it gets me to work and back safely, it can tow stuff within reason (not up our driveway, but very few people can negotiate our drive anyway!) and it has enough room to take DH, me, both kids, both dogs and kids' friends if required. It's done us very well for the last 7 years and will continue for at least another 5 - absolutely no point in replacing it.

DH's car is the 4x4 for towing stuff up the drive and the family car we use for longer journeys - 10 years old, 50k km on the clock, will be my next car when the Stream dies and I have to replace it. We'll get another Honda CRV but a newer one for DH, he does more miles than I do.

Not sure what tribe that makes us in total! Aside from the "I also work my ass off but cannot see the point of spending more than $15k on a car" group!

Sorry, What. I meant that whatever machinations go on behind the scenes to get the money, a pile of greasy oncers/ bank draft always brings a smile to a vendor's face.

If you are buying them outright then good for you, but the majority aren't (81% says the FLA). So when I see a flash car, I don't think "WOW! They must be rich!" I think WOW! CREDIT!

I must be up too late Cozie because now you're just saying words I don't understand!

off to google machinations

I am the proud owner of the oldest car on my road, when my children were younger and I occasionally had to do school runs, I was the talk of the playground based on 'how on earth does she manage to keep that shed on the road?'
VW diesels work for me
No idea what tribe that makes me though
I am bizarrely judgemental about Audi drivers though!

The Audi drivers round here are all very polite and civilised unlike the twatish BMW drivers

I don't know why anyone would pay interest on a depreciating asset.

I'm the same as another reader way upthread whose family have one expensive car and one cheap I one, my beloved old Toyota that I don't worry about leaving in car parks.

Hi Busy,

I drive a red Citroën C1. To which tribe do I belong? I am dying to know!

Nah - it's probably me, What. If you're buying a car, the vendor doesn't need to know how you're affording it. You may have gone to some lengths to get the dosh but all they'll look at is that pile of greasy fifties. (I may have said 'oncers' but that doesn't reflect current prices. )

Loads of people don't actually buy their cars though, they lease them.

Aldi drivers

Is the OP off playing with the friend that her DH bought for her?