There’s no denying it – the things we own are a big part of projecting our identity onwards and outwards to the world at large. It is also true that a lot of us conform to stereotypes without even realising it by choosing particular belongings. The biggest showpiece of all for many is the car. I have been involved in and witnessed quite a lot of car shopping lately, so what does someone’s choice of car tell us about their personality, life stage or penny pinching ability? I’m going to make some uninformed guesses here, extrapolating from a relatively small sample size, purely for your entertainment at home. Using this as a guide may produce unexpected results.
When my buddies were all students there was uniformity in the vehicles we drove. They were mostly small hatchbacks or sedans and they were old and cheap. Some were covered in stickers professing the political causes we were into at the time, or just a well placed Triple J, RTRFM or Groove 101.7fm sticker. Most of us couldn’t afford fully comprehensive car insurance, so we had third party or third party fire & theft. We drove these cars until they died – that was, until the impending repair costs exceeded the market value of the vehicle. The modifications we made amounted to adding kitsch furry seat covers with leopard or cow prints, a fluffy toy on the dash, and maybe a good luck talisman hanging from the rear view. People who are out of Uni/apprenticeships and have full time professional jobs and still have these cars either have a lot of mechanical know how, but aren’t worried about what they drive, or they are prioritising something else (like the mortgage or overseas holiday). I was certainly in this group for quite a few years after University, but it was more the other priorities – my mechanical knowledge is there, but has only been passed to me by osmosis from hanging out in my dad’s workshop as a young’un and with rev-heads later on in life.
As we grow older, we have more choice in cars (there has to be some benefits – there is a lot of down side to getting older). We can buy fully comprehensive insurance and not pay insanely large excesses if we have at-fault accidents. Maybe we have a better sense of who we are as people. Maybe we focus more on buying vehicles that are ‘fit-for-purpose’ – that is not using a Mazda 121 Bubble to negotiate treacherous gravel tracks in state forest. As a lot of my friends are expanding their incomes I’ve started to notice trends in the types of cars that they buy – the cars represent aspirations as well as image, and in my humble opinion they are not always a wise decision.
The sensible girl purchases are overwhelmingly Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas – fuel efficient, reliable and relatively economical. Hatchbacks have gone out of fashion though – they are now nanna-cars. Sensible audiophiles may install large stereos into these innocuous, innocent looking machines. Mag wheels and low profile tyres only seem to happen with the Civics – maybe these people are more image-conscious than the driver of the white Corolla, which could easily be a government fleet vehicle. These cars, and their many variations, point to someone who is more fiscally responsible than rev-head.
The Aussie-rev-head girl gets either a Holden or Ford high performance ute. If they have fuel efficiency concerns they get a gas conversion. These cars always have nice mags, low profile tyres, and are kept lovingly polished by their owners. Sometimes they are lowered and you know that a heavy load will never be put into the tray. A life as a show pony is an easy one for a ute! An often-installed accessory is the radar detector, giving some inkling of the power underneath the bonnet. In a car like that you can speed without even noticing it. These cars are advantageous if you have a bunch of unruly mates always wanting a lift in to Northbridge – they simply won’t fit! They are also useful for hauling stuff around, and earning some beers in return for helping friends move house, but if you want space for the girlfriend and the dog, and it’s raining outside – some tough decisions have to be made. Girls who have these cars are fun to go cruising with. They love their cars and they know they have some pulling power, but sometimes it’s a bit touch and go parking them on a dark street behind the pub!
Then there are the aspirational adventurers. There are lots of people who think this way in Australia – hence the ever-increasing number of road-bound 4-wheel-drive SUVs in Perth. A favourite is the Nissan X-Trail, though I’m not sure what its appeal is over, say, a Toyota Hilux Surf or a Nissan Pathfinder. They are smaller four wheel drives – but the X-Trail, with a drum exhaust hanging down the back which I think Nissan put there for a joke, isn’t really for hard core four wheel driving unless it’s modified. It might be handy on the gravel when going down south for a camping trip – so a car like this might be a ‘fit for purpose’ choice. Other favorites are the Suzuki Vitara and Jeep Wrangler. In general though, as cool as a lot of these little four wheel drives look, unless you’re actually planning on doing any four wheel driving in them they can be a colossal waste of money. They cost more to fix, they use more fuel, and they don’t handle that great on the road. People who own these are dreaming of escape, and if you can just encourage them to actually go (and take you with them) a great road trip might be in the making.
Then there’s the sensible and image conscious, aspirational adventurer. This is someone who knows that they might be driving on gravel once in every 6 weekends and want a bit of traction, but also want a good looking car which can have the same ‘wow’ factor as a well turned out HSV, FPV or Honda Civic. This is the girl who owns a Subaru WRX or Impreza. They are good cars until something breaks, but again they cost more to run, fix and insure than a Civic.
So there you have it – Jet’s just-for-fun guide to cars.
