Americans and cars?

Question

Why is the car such a status symbol in the USA? I was watching a documentary about custom cars on the west coast and it made me think. A basketball player gave an interview, when he was asked why is he spending so much money on customizying his car when his car is already extremely expensive. His answer was "If I spent so much money on this car, I don't want to see someone else have the same car."

So my question is? Isn't the point of a car to take you from point A to point B? Of course, it can be comfortable and whatever and it makes sense to customize it so that YOU would feel better, but not so that it would show off how much money you have. I know a lot of people who have really mean cars, but don't have anything to eat. Does them having an expensive car make them someone??

Answer 1

Well I hardly think you can single out Americans on this point. I am an American, and yes I love cars. Americans rely on cars, as the distances in this country are greater than in many, and the public transportation system is nothing in comparison to that in Europe, so we tend to spend a lot of time in cars, and their selection is an integral part of our lives. There is a popular saying here that captures it--"You are what you drive." It's a bit of an overstatement, but catchy.

Still, I might point out that in Europe you have Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Mercedes, Jaguar, Citroen, Rolls Royce, Bentley, etc., etc. Those are hardly grocery getters, and hardly devoid of "image." Clearly there is a market for such cars there, just as there is a market for interesting and out of the ordinary cars here.

The difference here, if I may use your example about the basketball player's car, is that there is a strong tradition here of backyard mechanics who customize their cars. That naturally created an additional market for their services among people who have the money but not the time or skills to customize their own cars.

Now personally, I find most of those modifications a little on the tasteless side, and sometimes even injurious to the utility of the car. Those ground effects packages are a good example, as many of our roads are a bit on the rough side and those cars bottom out in potholes and destroy the ground effects. That's just silly.

However, in other instances, a hotrodder can take a chevy 350 with 375 horse and, with some tinkering (rollerbearings, a supercharger, intercooler, etc.) can jack the horsepower output to 500 plus, making an otherwise sedate vehicle suddenly able to challenge Ferraris--at least in terms of acceleration. There is something that amuses me about that--a $25,000 car able to accelerate on a par with something five times more costly. I suppose it is the egalitarian aspect of it--and that is a common trait in this country.

Answer 2

I have to agree with you but at the same time some parts of peoples lives have to be what is fun for them. And if they work hard and can afford it "Why not?" Most of us did all that when we were younger. As for me as I grew older I just want ot get from A to B (inexpensively) and not be noticed or attract attention while doing it. I did the hot rod thing, the keep up with the neighbor thing, etc. As you get older most of us learn and eventually get tired of the tickets or get married, have kids, whatever. Besides, I always hope women will notice me before the car, how shallow otherwise. And this picture of my Sterling shows its easy to go both ways. But I drive a mint 83 Buick Skylark that still gets 25 mpg.

Answer 3

DON'T BASE your ideas about "Americans" on that foreign country, the West Coast--please!! I'm an American, but I live in California now, and I must say, they are complete idiots about cars. In the actual United States--east coast, the south, midwest, etc., people aren't so ridiculous about cars. Since housing is so expensive here, most people live in housing that is not that great...they are very status conscious, so they buy CARS. (Average people here can't afford to buy houses.) The housing here SUCKS, the people are shallow---hey, I've made myself angry. I even fell into the mindless pit of STATUS CAR...I'm ashamed to admit it!

Californians are a poorly educated lot, who think the casinos in Vegas are exactly like the real New York, Paris and Egypt. They don't realize that they live in a third-world "country". Their values do not represent the rest of the United States. Californians don't have any idea what the United States is like, most of them have never been there. One person told me that this is a nice place to live, because Disneyland is here. That accurately reflects their mentality. (I'd rather have decent schools, health care, housing and culture, myself.)

The weather is FABULOUS, but I'm leaving in a couple of months, so I can have a nice apartment AND a nice car...Honda Civic sounds good to me.

Answer 4

Cars are my life, so I know what I am saying. The point of a car may be to get you from point A to point B, but does it get you from point A to point B in style? And a car is lick a reflection of your personality. If you have a junky ol oldsmobile, then you are probaly a messy lazy person, but if you ride in a mint condition Porsche Boxter, then that says, you have money, and take care of things! You see you can't drive your house around, so even if you do have a nice house, and a junky car, no one see's your house all they see is mainly your ride, so if you have a nice ride then people say, "DAMN THAT GUY MUST BE LOADED!". They do not know that you live in a junky shack for a house. Get it now? Good! And cars just RULE!

Answer 5

I prefer Japanese for quality and reliability. Nowadays Hyundai and Kia (Korean brands) are also good enough as they have German engineers, German designers, huge improvement in quality and reliability. I'm sorry but American cars is not really my thing. I personally think most American cars are spacious, but the quality isn't as good as Japanese, European, modern Korean cars. I like Chevy Cruze because it was designed and made by Koreans, and I like the recent Ford Focus and Fiesta because they are European made and I feel like the quality is really good for its class. To all patriotic Americans out there, I didnt mean to offend or anything like that. This is just my opinion.

Answer 6

The genetic imperitive makes most males want to express wealth, and resources. Vehicles are one of the easiest ways to do it. That's the short answer.

Americans have a unique love of BIG high performance vehicles. The Brits are just as in love with bare bones roadsters, and the Germans and Italians like very touchy sports cars.

Answer 7

It is cultural but also practical. If you don't live in a big city there is no access to public transit. None. If you a poor you won't be able to get to even a minimum wage job at the big blue-and-white sign store without a ride. Therefore you need a car. Your worth as a person--like it or not--in the USA is judged much on the car you drive. If you are single your date will judge you on it (it happened to me when I lived there, nuts!) Of course it is just transport...to us. To them it is a reflection of their achievements and self worth. Entirely selfish of course--look at how much pollution it is causing and their legenday traffic jams.

Answer 8

A car's basic function is to take you from A to B, just like clothing's function is to keep your temperature up & the rain off your body. They all have other functions, too. Go to the library & get a book by Thorstein Veblen, called "The Theory of the Leisure Class." Look for the term "conspicuous consumption." he explains it all.

Answer 9

it's America and it's freedom to choose how they spend their money I see people all the time whom live in little shacks that are falling apart but have really expensive cars but hey what are ya gonna do I'd rather live safely and have food on the table then have an over priced car

Answer 10

If you buy a decent car in the first place the last thing you want to do is to stick a load of tack all over it.By decent i mean European it would be sacrilege to mess with a DB 9.