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.

See i don't need any of that stuff. Just bumps up insurance costs and more bits to go wrong

Yeah Fords are especially bad for that. Prone to problematic belts but you can't see the bloody things without taking half the damn front of the car off. There's a couple of mechanics round here who've built their entire businesses - and in the process bought houses, provided for their families etc - around wet belt replacement, there's such a steady stream of work from that one part alone.

Omg anyone who last bought a car before Brexit+covid needs to accept that they don't know what they're talking about on this subject. There is no longer any such thing as a modest reliable runaround for £5k or less
You don't know what you're talking about! Maybe you're a rubbish shopper and believe everything the dealers are telling you to sell you a more expensive car, but you are definitely very wrong!

Agree. It's like still being on a 0.2% mortgage rate insiting that people are wrong when they say mortgages have gone up.....

You hust havent been hit with your renewal (replace car) yet

True. I was mentally including it in covid but you're right there were other aspects to it.

The thing is with all these reliable 2K cars that never break down you'd think there would be a ton of mechanics out there with massive amounts of time on their hands waiting to do car repairs.

In reality nearly all the ones I've talked to recently are up to their necks in work and won't do anything more complicated than stuff like brake changes because it won't earn them enough money and will be too hard.

So some disconnect in my experience.

Nothing wrong with an old, solid, reliable car!

When my circumstances changed 8 years ago, I needed a replacement car in a hurry, to last me a while. I bought an old model Nissan Micra that was 17 years old with low mileage for £800.
It was a sturdy little car and it never let me down. It didn't have any modern gadgets or upgrades. I kept it for another 3 years before I sold it, still in excellent condition and I was sad to see it go!. I upgraded because I needed a slightly bigger car for growing kids - to another sturdy but modest second hand car.

I really dont give two hoots what anyone thinks of my car. I do care that I've never needed to take out a car loan, and my cars have been reliable and rarely needed any major repairs.
If you choose wisely, there are definitely reliable sturdy cars at £5K or less!

My nephew trained as a mechanic nearly 20 years ago and gave it up recently because he said cars are really boring to work on now.

Anyway, my little £5k eighteen year old car was certainly a lot more reliable than the 26 plate Porsche Macan we passed broken down at the side of the road on Saturday. And saw being loaded onto the breakdown truck an hour later.

We buy 3yo cars and drive for 10 ish years (except when a careless driver writes one off - still raging as that was a perfect car for my dc to learn in).

We have a big car and a small car. Big car has heated steering wheel and seats which I do love as I feel the cold. We save and pay cash. Little car is more basic but I love it - little fiat 500. I’ve had comments about not being able to speed… sure, but I can also park it basically anywhere as it’ll get into the tiny spaces left by all the 4x4 drivers.

I aim to buy a car I like the shape and colour of. I can sit in a VW or a Bentley and I can’t tell the difference inside. I also hate leather seats on the back of my legs. Luxury clearly isn’t for me - totally lost on me. I am scared to buy a £5k older car though due to cost of repairs. It’s a massive game of luck on the second hand market.

People are weird about cars and phones. I'm very happy with my car which only costs twenty quid to tax and is ULEZ compliant. Also happy with my android phone as Apple suck

True, however, I fail to see how selling my car would make it less reliable; therefore, ime, some sub-£5k cars are reliable. I know this because mine is one of them.

My car was bought before Brexit. I have no plan to replace it.

A genius solution to the issue, with potentially near-universal application.

Why are they snobby about anything?

I must say I only come across this kind of car snobbery - the inverted kind!

I was quite embarrassed of having a relatively newish car with fairly modern features when I replaced mine recently- I quite liked my old small car!

I think you are confusing "never breaking down" with "never being serviced". Mechanics are probably busy servicing old cars in order that they remain reliable.

Your friends sound like arseholes.