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 drove a 2cv once. Nearly caused a bad accident because I thought it would accelerate.

It didn't.

I am another one who had the oldest car on the street (a Nissan Almera) One night someone tried to break into my car and broke the lock, took one look at the torn seat covers, empty sweet packets and broken radio and decided not to bother!

These days I am the owner of a mobility scooter which had been pimped up with pretty stickers. I think I belong to the too old and decrepit to care tribe.

Your DH thinks prestige, I tend to think wanker when I see them in flat urban areas.

Oh I see, one of those sadsters.

I have always REALLY wanted a Morris Minor Traveller. Now I'm of the age where I could buy and store myself a 'hobby' car if I wanted, I realise how really uncomfortable, and cold and really unsafe they probably are.

I had a 1993 skoda that was so old the paint sheen had entirely come off. So it was matte before it was fashionable! No power steering. Won't say what colour, it will out me but it was bright. I regularly got egged but it was the best car I have ever had. No Audi driver would dare tail gate me in case they accidentally hit me and I got poverty on their car.

I am in the "gives no fucks about what people think" tribe.

We had a leased car once. Big black thing that made all the locals think we were gangsters. We weren't burgled once.

hah!

Known 2 people who have ended up with Audi A3s. One turned out to have an electrical fault which made the heaters not work properly amongst other things. Took a while to diagnose. He got rid when the gearbox developed a ridiculously expensive fault.

Dad sort of inherited one (long story - it wasn't free). It's needed stripping and fixing. Proved challenging as all the flaming bolts on the suspension were glued into place, meaning that some stressed and worn parts were ridiculously laborious to replace. He can't wait to get it roadworthy again so he can get rid.

I told him about my friend's electrics problem and he said funnily enough, the heaters....

So yeah, people who own Audis for the "build quality" are possibly as deluded as people who have VWs for the same reason.

My evoque is great

We've had 3 VW/Audis over the space of 10 years and never had a problem. Oh, well, actually I think all the turbo bits were due to implode any day which I why we sold them.

Everyone round here has a discovery and a mini or a Audi sports car thing. We do not. We have a people carrier and a teeny car for commuting. My brother and sister both also drive discoveries and my brother drives an Audi and a Porsche too.

I have never been bothered about cars at all but recently I've started to feel a bit left out that we don't have a discovery - I mean genuinely I was a bit upset about it! However then I looked at what we do have and gave my head a bloody big wobble. If you can't afford it then you can't afford it and that surely is reason enough without discussing whether you want to be that person or not?? I mean I don't get the angst - is he suggesting you put yourself in financial straits to afford it?

I have been doing a lot of motorway driving this week and I have noticed that whereas it always used to be middle managers in BMWs who were universally the worst drivers on the road, now it is sales reps in Audis. There are zillions of crappy A5s driving like aggressive twats. For some reason the estate drivers are worse than the saloon drivers. Chippier about their cars I expect.

Btw I drive a 911.
I belong to the petrolhead tribe.

OP, stick to your guns & get something nicer than the Discovery. Not sure about the rest of your OP though, unless you live in Weybridge

I am really enjoying the reverse snobbery and competitive low-balling of this thread.

I drive a forty-year-old Lancia with no floor so that we all have to propel it with our feet like the Flintstones. What tribe are we, OP?

What we had Travellers when I was a child (complete with moss windows), I fancy one too, I think they're ok for pootling around in, wouldn't want to attempt a motorway in one.

We are currently driving the world's most battered Passat, it was pristine a year ago, then...

DH's brother who is Dutch and not used to driving on the left drove it into a hedge and bashed in the wing (too insignificant to claim on insurance, cosmetic only so didn't bother repairing it).

Someone (probably from the nearby pub) keyed the side when we were visiting friends one night. Totally fucked up the paintwork on one side, again, not worth the insurance claim, totally cosmetic.

We were driving down the M1, rainy night, roadworks, the lanes were merging into one, pretty heavy traffic. The dick behind us (BMW 5 Series, just for the sake of thread stats) had his cruise on, feet off the pedals, instead of putting his foot on the brake, he put his foot ON THE FUCKING ACCELERATOR and we found ourselves being shunted down the motorway. At speed. When we both finally managed to pull off, the children were wailing, I was raging, the BM driver was however, so penitent and distraught by what he'd done we exchanged details and were on our way. Panels on the other side totally bashed, on the driver's door, passenger's door and wing. His insurance get in touch, it's a category C write-off, buuut, we had an assessment by the garage and again, it's just cosmetic, axel and all else is fine. Totally road-legal and safe.

So we take the money for the value of the car, stick in the savings account and carry on driving it.

Last FUCKING week some dick drives by and takes the wing mirror off, DH buys a new mirror and manfully repairs it with gaffer tape.

It is literally, the most beaten up car on the road, it looks like it is driven by an octogenarian dipsomaniac.

I find it quite funny, it's almost a badge of honour now. How much more fucking punishment can this car take?

I give it six months.

I recall going to look at a Quattro where the salesmen had. apparently been told ahead of time that I was a rally driver. Obsequy wasn't in it.

BMW M135i. It's like a normal 1 series, with seats and doors and stuff, but it's stupidly quick. It does 0 to 100 in 11 seconds.

Owning one means I'm also in the petrolhead tribe. If it had a Kia badge, I'd still have bought it.

I have a Discovery 4. I love it. It's massive so I can get a huge amount of children in or stuff (children's bikes/scooters/whatever/ building materials - I've had anything from breeze blocks to bricks to bags of concrete and timber in it.

It's lovely to drive and so easy to park. And great to get in and out of. Only car I can get into without bending down my head or hitting it.

I've had lots of different cars and this one is my favourite.

I do work, I'm not a gangster. I just love the Disco. I'd love to have a Defender though. Perhaps next time.

I don't understand why you're all assuming that a certain car means you "belong" somewhere/to a tribe?

The other people I know who are Disco drivers and they are nothing like me.

You work in marketing but the marketing doesn't always allow for function
Discoveries are capable vehicles- around here discovery-farmer/ country village, Audi Q7 and RR evoke- too much time set

We will be getting a Discovery next though (when the Passat the refuses to die finally does so), works for us so well on all criteria, couldn't give a shit about branding or perception. We need a working vehicle that can get DH to work from our elevated position in Winter, that fits us all in for holidays, gets the camping gear in etc.

I loved Defenders, but they are a utilitarian step too far though unless you have a genuine need for one, (Sparkly black Defender in town = wanker), upsetting that they have been discontinued after so many years though, they are a absolute classic British design (I think they'll be back).

The sport I participate in could be considered a tribe if cars are anything to go by. Lots of 4x4 utes with canopies on the back filled with dog crates. I bought a silver one so I could find it amongst the sea of white ones that fill the carpark.

Pick-up truck here.

What tribe are we?

Where I live, if you drive yourself it means you are destitute. Unless you are a man in a super car. Think car parks full of Astons, Raris, Porsches all with the most number of extras and custom paint jobs. It really is mind blowing. Families are all driven by chauffeurs in MPVs. People actually laugh and point when they see the 'white' lady driving her own shit 10 year old car. I'm not ashamed though, I'm in the 'your husband can't even afford performance car' tribe.

I get the bus. Am I part of he desperately poor tribe?