Middle class chap car of choice in your manor
Discussion
WonkeyDonkey said:
My parents and most people on their road are firmly middle class. 90% of them have very non descript cars. Hardly anything German, maybe a Golf but a lot of the cars are 10 years old or more.
It's the new build estates near them that are awash with Land Rovers and German stuff.
Same here, and same on my parents' road. It's the new build estates near them that are awash with Land Rovers and German stuff.
To be honest, middle-class is a very, very broad brush and does nothing to describe the financial situation of people or where there interests lie (some won't give a toss about cars, some will be petrolheads). However, braggartism isn't a trait I'd associate with the middling-sort so anything that you would see as "thrusting" is not going to be a stereotypical middle-class car.
BMW X5 - middle class, BMW X6 - not middle class
Nissan Juke - middle class, Nissan Juke R-Nismo-turbo - not middle class
Ford Focus non-descript model - middle class, Ford Focus RS - not middle class
That's not to say you can't be middle class if you have one of those blingy cars, we're all petrolheads here so are going to be interested in different cars to the majority.
It's probably all a load of rubbish anyway, like trying to define class on beverage choices. Some would say "Aha, beer is the drink of the masses!" but in my rowing days I remember seeing a diet plan for some of the Cambridge crews back in the inter-war years that prescribed plenty of beer for the oarsmen. You can't get much posher than a 1920s Cambridge rower.
MightyBadger said:
These threads always make me chuckle, amazes me how everyone can tell the class of somebody as they drive past in their car. Its an amazing talent.
So if someone drives past in an S3 at 50 in a 30 with a pop pop remap, stinking of weed and 'sat' horizontal I guess you assume it's the vicar?Like someone else said, there’s a noticeable difference between the new-build estate in which I live (houses are £400k-£650k) and the rest of the village (mostly decent sized houses and cottages, in the £500k - £1.2m bracket). I suspect we are in a tiny minority on our estate who own outright - a 2015 Mazda 3 and a 2017 S3 convertible.
On our estate most driveways have cars that are less than 3 years old, with a lot of Audi Q7s, BMW 440i, M4, M140i, RS3, F-Pace, Range Rover sport etc. There are also a lot of almost-new Kia SUVs and Quashqais. Rest of the village, average age of cars seems much older, with a lot more stuff like Golfs, Focuses, RAV4, Volvos etc. A few of them have a dull daily with a fun weekend car that sits under a cover or in a garage most of the time (Aston Martin, 911, Range Rover Sport SVR etc).
On our estate most driveways have cars that are less than 3 years old, with a lot of Audi Q7s, BMW 440i, M4, M140i, RS3, F-Pace, Range Rover sport etc. There are also a lot of almost-new Kia SUVs and Quashqais. Rest of the village, average age of cars seems much older, with a lot more stuff like Golfs, Focuses, RAV4, Volvos etc. A few of them have a dull daily with a fun weekend car that sits under a cover or in a garage most of the time (Aston Martin, 911, Range Rover Sport SVR etc).
My OH’s street in a Surrey suburb is pretty solidly middle class. Elderly neighbours have a newish diesel Jag epace. There’s a 2012 C class Mercedes, a 2016 420i (for sale), an IPACE, a Model S, a small Hummer, a Mustang, an RS6, someone who collects identical Audi A4s for reasons I don’t understand, and then a ragbag of < 3 year old hatchbacks and small SUVs.
I live in an absolutely archetypal southern middle class neighbourhood and the most common brand appears to be Kia.
Looking a bit further afield I can't see any meaningful trend at all, there's all sorts of things from old battered Skodas to S65 AMGs. Quite a lot of EVs though; on our street of 20ish houses, there's at least 6, again mostly Korean.
ETA: Very few leased cars, judging by how long people seem to keep them for.
Looking a bit further afield I can't see any meaningful trend at all, there's all sorts of things from old battered Skodas to S65 AMGs. Quite a lot of EVs though; on our street of 20ish houses, there's at least 6, again mostly Korean.
ETA: Very few leased cars, judging by how long people seem to keep them for.
Edited by kambites on Monday 21st June 07:19
Out here in deepest darkest Cheshire where we have been staying for months it’s mostly;
Estate cars, Volvo & MB mainly, took the dog out on Thursday and there were another two P2 V70 in the woods car park
Pickups, Rangers seem the most common
L322 RR & XC90
Small hatchbacks, Polo, Fiesta
What seems noticeable until you get into a bigger village/town is the lack of everyday SUV things or indeed anything exotic/interesting
Although there’s a guy in next little village who has a Portofino, Bentley GTC and MB GT on the drive, only ever seen the Bentley in motion
Estate cars, Volvo & MB mainly, took the dog out on Thursday and there were another two P2 V70 in the woods car park
Pickups, Rangers seem the most common
L322 RR & XC90
Small hatchbacks, Polo, Fiesta
What seems noticeable until you get into a bigger village/town is the lack of everyday SUV things or indeed anything exotic/interesting
Although there’s a guy in next little village who has a Portofino, Bentley GTC and MB GT on the drive, only ever seen the Bentley in motion
Surrey / Sussex boarder here
The detached new build side of town is new BMW central, with a scattering of Audi's and jags
The older, middle class areas and new build townhouses are quashquais or other anonymous suvs and vag products.
It's such a broad spectrum though because unless that middle class person is "into" cars, the choice one family car runabout to another is down to what the dealer had when you went in.
The detached new build side of town is new BMW central, with a scattering of Audi's and jags
The older, middle class areas and new build townhouses are quashquais or other anonymous suvs and vag products.
It's such a broad spectrum though because unless that middle class person is "into" cars, the choice one family car runabout to another is down to what the dealer had when you went in.
I guess it's logical that the people who prefer to buy new-build houses would (typically) prefer newer cars, whereas the people who are in older dwellings are a broader range (they might want new cars, or not care, or be petrolheads etc).
Not something I had thought about but it's interesting to see those observations about new-builds here.
Not something I had thought about but it's interesting to see those observations about new-builds here.
braddo said:
I guess it's logical that the people who prefer to buy new-build houses would (typically) prefer newer cars, whereas the people who are in older dwellings are a broader range (they might want new cars, or not care, or be petrolheads etc).
Not something I had thought about but it's interesting to see those observations about new-builds here.
Thats interesting. I’d never really thought about the correlation between people liking new build houses and new leases cars.Not something I had thought about but it's interesting to see those observations about new-builds here.
To me its cringeworthy, all rather consumerist, shallow and unimaginative.
I can see the benefits of new build houses ie new design ideas, warranty, hassle free purchase and similar with new leased cars, although, personally, I prefer the character of older(ish) houses and used cars.
Hey ho, each to their own
braddo said:
I guess it's logical that the people who prefer to buy new-build houses would (typically) prefer newer cars, whereas the people who are in older dwellings are a broader range (they might want new cars, or not care, or be petrolheads etc).
Not something I had thought about but it's interesting to see those observations about new-builds here.
In a thread making lots of generalisations, I agree with you. All houses round me are older stock, around 500k to 2m, and lots of variety as I walk up the street depending on age. New VW Up (very old pensioners); older Land Cruiser (old money types retired); new BMW 3 and 911 (just retired); newish XC90 and VW Passat (young family); older Q5 (single lady mid 50s); new Evoque and mini (working)....gives you the idea. Hampshire.Not something I had thought about but it's interesting to see those observations about new-builds here.
Ice_blue_tvr said:
Monkeylegend said:
One thing is for sure, they will all be leased 
From what I can tell we have two types here.. The lease type, with cars of around the £30k-70k mark on their driveways.. And the purchased outright types typically owning cars of a value between £5k-20k.Differentiated from the chavs who usually have brand new white 1 series'/audi a1s.
Middle class chaps are generally pretty financially savvy.
braddo said:
I guess it's logical that the people who prefer to buy new-build houses would (typically) prefer newer cars, whereas the people who are in older dwellings are a broader range (they might want new cars, or not care, or be petrolheads etc).
Not something I had thought about but it's interesting to see those observations about new-builds here.
I dunno, I live in an old converted university building and drive bought-with-cash cars. Although to be fair, I might be the odd one out as leasing is very common here in Holland too. Not something I had thought about but it's interesting to see those observations about new-builds here.
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