Young people and sensible boring saloons

[AshBurrows]

What's the deal?

I'm not old really, but all of my friends about a decade ago wanted civic type Rs/Golf GTIs/Astra VXRs/etc and then Evos/Skylines/etc. Now it seems as though a huger percentage of youngish people aspire to own something insanely dull and slow?

Is it because of insurance on anything remotely fun/quick?
Is it to give the illusion of success? (Being a rep is aspirational if so?!)
Perceived reliability?

My wife's little brother is spending a fortune to finance a 4 year old base spec C220D and I just cannot see the appeal. This is what got me thinking.

I could understand it if it was a brutal, showy C63 or something, but not this.

It's quite funny to see something my dad would have bought getting ragged through a town and sounding like it's running on ballbearings.

I'm sure there's a fair few people on here who have kids that age or are that age themselves that can shed some light on it.

[Blanchimont]

Badge, that's it.

Being youngish myself (22) I broke the mould and went for a RS Megane. I know plenty of people who have Diesel A1's, Diesel C class Mercs and the odd BMW. Someone I know just bought an XFR though, so that makes it better

[Johnnytheboy]

Probably looks better to the ladies.

(pure guess!)

[xjay1337]

It's badge snobbery.

Also most of your friends are incredibly boring.
Then again I know a few people who have gone from nice cars to A4 type cars...yawn.

[rsbmw]

Once you're over about 25 and in a professional type of job, you look a bit of a tool showing up in your chav'd up type-R!

[AshBurrows]

rsbmw said:

Once you're over about 25 and in a professional type of job, you look a bit of a tool showing up in your chav'd up type-R!

I'm talking 18-25ish people I reckon.
Also I'll still rock up to jobs in a caged up aero'd track car well into my 30s.

[AH33]

Because anyone born after 1990 is a safe space snowflake and cars that make noise and go fast trigger them?

[rsbmw]

AshBurrows said:

I'm talking 18-25ish people I reckon.
Also I'll still rock up to jobs in a caged up aero'd track car well into my 30s.

Track car is a bit different! I'm talking stuff that you would typically see outside the local shops at 1am "impressing" the, er, "girls"

[rsbmw]

I wouldn't say that a young professional trying to make the right impression with their (generally older, more sensible) superiors is sad, however I don't disagree that people can care too much what others think.

I expect there were people at your workplace who thought you looked a bit of a tool in some of those cars too, if you don't care more power to you, not everyone can think like that.

[Bluehawk]

I'm 22 and drive an incredibly dull car!! SAAB 95 Estate!!

Why? Cheap to insure, 275bhp so not exactly slow (even if it does handle like a bus), and most importantly it munches miles with great ease, and my mountain bike fits in the boot with almost no effort.

Functionality over form for my car.

Edit: I do have to admit there is a small element of enjoying the surprise on my friends faces when i overtake them in their Hatchbacks with no effort!

[xjay1337]

rsbmw said:

Once you're over about 25 and in a professional type of job, you look a bit of a tool showing up in your chav'd up type-R!

I have no issues rocking up to customer sites in my half stripped out car with harnesses and a carbon bonnet.
If anything, most people like cars - so it's a good ice breaker. Infact my last meeting, my contact said "oh, you have a Scirocco, jack has a Scirocco" and instantly I had gotten a good conversational topic with Jack which being a key user of our system which is a good thing.

A couple of prospective companies I have interviewed for have been funny about cars - It has to be under 5 years old, blah blah blah - Where as the companies I actually work at, don't really care what you drive - Because your work does the talking, not the 64 plate Passat (that's obviously not yours) that you turned up in.

[Hoofy]

I know someone in his mid-20s who has a brand new mid-range C class. When chatting about cars, he said he only got it because he couldn't afford his dream car. When I asked what that was (expecting it to be something like a C63), he said, a Range Rover. I looked at him blankly.

[HTP99]

Image pure and simple; the badge.

My eldest daughter; 23, is a bit materialistic and loves a name, whether it is clothing, shoes, sunglasses, baby buggy etc, it has to have a name and the correct name, it is a bit shallow.

She doesn't drive but the friends that do and have a Mercedes or BMW; according to her, are going places, she aspires to have a 3 series in white, it doesn't matter the age or spec, it just has to be a 3 series in white. They all still live at home!!

I remember a while ago a friend of hers was round, she had a crappy Merc coupe', it was old, it always went wrong, but all my daughter went on about was "she has a Mercedes, isn't it wonderful".

My youngest; 17, is completely different, she wants a Citroen C1, because they look cute.

[CraigyMc]

HTP99 said:

She doesn't drive but the friends that do and have a Mercedes or BMW; according to her, are going places, she aspires to have a 3 series in white, it doesn't matter the age or spec, it just has to be a 3 series in white. They all still live at home!!

I remember a while ago a friend of hers was round, she had a crappy Merc coupe', it was old, it always went wrong, but all my daughter went on about was "she has a Mercedes, isn't it wonderful".

It's depressing what we've done to this generation.

[AshBurrows]

I guess since I like cars quite a bit it makes it impossible to imagine that mindset.
So any base spec BMW/Merc outranks say a Phaeton or a Legend or something? Even though objectively they offer far far far superior levels of "luxury." World's gone mad.

[AshBurrows]

CraigyMc said:

It's depressing what we've done to this generation.

Yeah, it raises a far more profound and philosophical question. What made people become so obsessed with image and brands?

[Triumph Man]

AH33 said:

Because anyone born after 1990 is a safe space snowflake and cars that make noise and go fast trigger them?

I had a Triumph 2000 (boring saloon), 2 diesel Passats (boring saloons), and now a BMW 520i (boring saloon), all before the age of 23. (I was born in 1991)

I am not however one of this generation's wussy bds, I drive/drove them hard as I like the challenge of driving something swiftly that really shouldn't be.



Now if you excuse me I have to buy an ethnically sourced flat white whilst discussing left wing politics with my gender fluid non identity conforming black friends.

[ayman82]

at 19 I had an E34 525i Saloon
at 21 I had a Renaultsport Clio 182
I sold the Clio and was looking for a Saab 9-5 Aero HOT. Ended up with an E39 530i Touring.
I now have a Golf R Estate. - I'm 24.

Not boring rep-mobile choices, but not the normal small car for my age.

[Thorburn]

rsbmw said:

Once you're over about 25 and in a professional type of job, you look a bit of a tool showing up in your chav'd up type-R!

This is true to an extent - I work for myself doing computer support and when I was changing cars a couple years back my parents asked if I wanted their Impreza WRX PPP Estate. I declined because (along with general running costs) the Prodrive exhaust on it was incredibly loud and I didn't feel like signalling my arrival at customers by vibrating their windows from their frames.

Instead I have a 9 year-old Fiesta Zetec S. It just looks like a regular Fiesta to most people so doesn't carry any real kind of image, costs buttons to run and is good fun and compact on the country lanes I regularly use it on, whilst not looking too posh or expensive in front of clients.

[HTP99]

CraigyMc said:

HTP99 said:

She doesn't drive but the friends that do and have a Mercedes or BMW; according to her, are going places, she aspires to have a 3 series in white, it doesn't matter the age or spec, it just has to be a 3 series in white. They all still live at home!!

I remember a while ago a friend of hers was round, she had a crappy Merc coupe', it was old, it always went wrong, but all my daughter went on about was "she has a Mercedes, isn't it wonderful".

It's depressing what we've done to this generation.

You know what, my youngest is the exact opposite, we have brought them up in the same way, we are by no means monied in anyway, small house, hardly go on holiday, I have always had company cars and the wife drives something until it dies.

The only thing that I can think my daughter is like that, is the people she hung around with when younger; very well off people who were spoilt.

My youngest is the complete opposite.