Why are people snobby about cars?

[Meetmeattheapt1]

If you have an interest in cars and genuinely prefer premium, luxury ones that's absolutely fine, but it's when people assume anything else is a piece of crap.

My car cost under 4k, I didn't have the money for anything else and I only wanted a smaller, older car for my first. Also didn't want years of expensive finance payments.

A friend in the group recently passed their test and was looking for a car, someone asked what their budget was and they said, 5k? The friend scoffed "Ha!" you'll get nothing but bangers for that."

Someone didn't know what car I drove and made a loud joke across the table about 'No way i'd drive that car'.

i've also had people surprised that the car is capable of doing long distances? Don't people realise that not everyone can afford something brand new? I know used car prices have gone up, there probably are cars ready to fall apart but under 5k gets you plenty of reliable and durable cars that do what you need them to.

It is not insecurity. The people in my life who have large suv type brand new vehicles can afford to drive them. It is affordability.
They’d be new money middle class if you like, so they aren’t interested in driving an old car. The car represents their wallets.

Why are British people snobby about cars?
Fixed it for you.
Go live in France where a car is just a means of getting from A to B.

It's a thing from an earlier age as a previous poster said. In the 90s a 10 year old car would have rust and probably would need expensive repairs.

These days cars are usually written off because they are too expensive to repair rather than rust. A lot of insurance write offs are due to cosmetic issues. The underlying mechanical elements are fine. Older cars (10 years) are often cheaper to repair than more modern cars too because they are more mechanical. Complex hybrid drivetrains have more to go wrong.

The cost of second hand cars has gone up because of this (and the cost of new cars being so high).

I've got a 14 year old petrol car I've had since new. It was written off last year due to a dented bumper. Luckily I could buy it back for £600 because I was looking around and cars are expensive

Some people are snobby about everything-houses, locations, jobs, holidays, clothes, schools. It’s not just specific to cars.

You must know some snobby people, and perhaps fashions have changed with car leasing etc. We have a now 13 year old car which is still reliable and before that never spent more than 4K on a car.

When webought our main car 8 years ago it was nice.
Its now an 8yo car. It has foibles. It has 100k on it. Last couple of MOTs have been expensive due to wear and tear.

Is it still a "nice car"? When will it stop being nice and become a "banger".

Our second car is a lot smaller, older but less on the clock, bought last year for a about 5k. The previous "banger" it replaced had been bought for £500 in 2021!

Agree. My little kia Picanto is 10 years old now. Bought it outright for £6k when it was 3 years old. Had 4 years of manufacturer warranty left and so.even £6k for those four years was a bargain compared to what people pay monthly

All it has cost me so far is annual service and some new.tyres (which arent expensive for a Kia)

I pay £25 a year tax and £200 a year insurance

I earn £95k a year (plus bonuses) but don't see any reason to change my car

I love my 11 year old Kia picanto. I paid under £5k when I bought it. I do over 200 miles a week on my commute and it's so reliable.

I was looking at some car finance deals this past weekend just out of curiosity but can't justify spending almost mortgage amounts every month on a car. I prefer owning it outright and not thinking about it again tbh.

I know some people value cars. It's not my interest. I also know that some of my friends think I am mad for spending money on holidays.

Just like with other forms of branding we seem to have fallen for the marketing as a society.
Not sure if it’s true but saw that Audi originally marketed their A3 as a cheap runabout. Nobody bought it. So the following year they upped the price and marketed it as ‘luxury’ and it became a one of the best selling cars.
I do love cars, motorsport etc. And I drive a 10yr old A3, which is plenty big enough for 2 kids and dogs. But the race people seem to be in to get bigger and bigger cars with more and more automation makes me despair.

The other thing I love about my kia picanto is it's unexpectedly roomy. I once managed to fit two toddlers, a golden retriever and 3 5 foot high conifers plus myself in it.

I do 20,000 miles a year, live semi rurally and need minimum 2.5 tonne towing capacity, so I couldn’t be snobby even if I wanted to! If it meets the spec and is within my price range I’ll drive it, regardless of the badge.

I'll be sure to tell my 25-year-old Fiesta that's still passing every MOT with flying colours next time I drive it.

@jighygg your post gave me a good laugh as we have a 14 year old Passat with a good many miles. DH refuses to change it as it has £20 a year road tax and £160 insurance.

This thing just won’t die and he likes tinkering with it.

Some people are really insecure and think they can buy respect by getting a posh car which they cannot really afford. These people are idiots. Other owners get a posh car because they’re into cars, they can easily afford it and the price is worth it for the joy they get from the car. Other people - like me - couldn’t care less what car I drive so I bought a car second hand based purely on the boot size.

If I had to guess, I'd say OP drives an old car, could very easily afford a new car, earns six figures blah blah blah but just chooses not to.

Its just yet another thread to mock those who have cars on PCP, finance or whatever.

I can’t drive so I’ve never owned a car and that makes me a bottom-feeder in the view of mumsnet.

Came here to say this. You just have to look at the private school spats to see this in action. Private school parents always drive old bangers tho it’s not what I’ve observed at the school gates 🙄

I think it’s that most people now don’t own their cars. They lease them. So they constantly have swanky cars. You should pull them up when they are rude though.

I agree. it goes beyond people who are 'petrolheads' or take the views about motoring that are held by those I would call the friends of Jeremy Clarkson.

Worst of all is the growth of SUVs which many of those who use them cannot drive adequately.

Ha - yeah, and Italy; I always notice how most people seem to dive small (quite shabby) cars.

That was seven or eight years ago. Second hand car prices have changed dramatically since then.

A 3 or 4 year old second hand Kia with warranty intact costs a hell of a lot more today than it did 8 years ago. Please dont judge people for having to spend more than you did to get what you got m, at today's prices.

People buy cars for different reasons.

Some people buy new(er) more expensive cars because they like the status. Some people do it because they know nothing about cars and so this seems like an easy way to make a 'good / safe' decision. Some people are genuinely care enthusiasts and pay for what they like and enjoy.

I wouldn't worry about the comments OP.

4k means a car with have extremely limited use left, it’s hardly going to be a reliable good quality car
Total nonsense!

My DS bought his car for £2k 2 years ago. Commutes 45 minutes morning and evening. The car is doing great. He's only had to change the break pads, the exhaust pipe and 2 tires. It's driving brilliantly.

The only issue is that you take a risk but saying that the car would have extremely limited used is ridiculous.

All those young people going for new cars paying £250 and more a month and then crying how hard they have it and they can't move out of mum and dad's...with this mindset, it's not surprising!

Tripe. It depends entirely on condition and whether it's been maintained. Too many people think that an MOT is the same as a service, never check or top up the oil and then and wonder why the engine shits itself at 70k miles

TBH at our private school most of the cars are fairly modest. Like I said I have an 11 year old kia picanto and that is not unusual. There are exceptions though- but we are fairly rural so there might be landrovers etc. I really notice when people have fancy cars, mainly because it IS not that common- there are two sets of parents in my younger DC's class who as far as I can see seem to be in active competition with each other. As soon as one upgrades their car the other upgrades to the same model usually within the week. The latest they each got were aston martins as a run about for the dads and those really ugly jeep-style mercedes for the school run. DS1 amuses himself by googling how much they cost. I assume they are very very rich though- can you even get an aston martin on finance? [wanders off to google]