Cars that get you from A to B with no character, why?
Discussion
I have a Peugeot 308 courtesy car right now and it is a typical A to B dullard car.
But why? Ok as a courtesy car I can put up with it for a week but I would never buy one.
I just don't understand why anyone would want a car that just got them from A to B in a boring manner.
Surely you want some speed? Or maybe some acceleration? Or maybe the ability to go sideways? Or a nice exhaust note?
But just A to B with none of the above, ehy? The people that buy these must be boring.
The last time I had a car like this, I was 17 and didn't have any money, grown ups can afford stuff, so why not make your life more interesting?
But why? Ok as a courtesy car I can put up with it for a week but I would never buy one.
I just don't understand why anyone would want a car that just got them from A to B in a boring manner.
Surely you want some speed? Or maybe some acceleration? Or maybe the ability to go sideways? Or a nice exhaust note?
But just A to B with none of the above, ehy? The people that buy these must be boring.
The last time I had a car like this, I was 17 and didn't have any money, grown ups can afford stuff, so why not make your life more interesting?
Clearly you don't do business miles....
I'm a petrol head of the highest order...
But to get me to work and the 30k + miles I do a year I need something that doesn't cost a fortune to run and that I can just throw away when I finish with it. I wouldn't treat a nice car like that therefore boring cars are perfect because you don't care about them you just use it as a tool.
You just make sure you've got something nice in the garage
I'm a petrol head of the highest order...
But to get me to work and the 30k + miles I do a year I need something that doesn't cost a fortune to run and that I can just throw away when I finish with it. I wouldn't treat a nice car like that therefore boring cars are perfect because you don't care about them you just use it as a tool.
You just make sure you've got something nice in the garage
Seen as consumer goods, most of the features enthusiastic drivers value in a car would be unwelcome irritations to the majority of people who see cars as a means of transport.
They don't want steering that communicates distracting messages, they don't want a gearchange that conveys the impression the lever is manipulating a box of cogs. Nor do they want a high powered engine that creates huge fuel bills. They certainly aren't going to pay additional money to suffer such things.
Most people just want something with enough room to transport their family that isn't particularly expensive to run. Throw in a few gadgets and they're happy. Fair play to them really, most of today's mundane cars do a pretty good job of conveying people and goods.
The same arguments can be made of all manner of things - watches, hi-fi equipment, etc, etc. There's always some arcane technology on offer that superficially offers little but costs a lot. That's not an attractive proposition to most people.
They don't want steering that communicates distracting messages, they don't want a gearchange that conveys the impression the lever is manipulating a box of cogs. Nor do they want a high powered engine that creates huge fuel bills. They certainly aren't going to pay additional money to suffer such things.
Most people just want something with enough room to transport their family that isn't particularly expensive to run. Throw in a few gadgets and they're happy. Fair play to them really, most of today's mundane cars do a pretty good job of conveying people and goods.
The same arguments can be made of all manner of things - watches, hi-fi equipment, etc, etc. There's always some arcane technology on offer that superficially offers little but costs a lot. That's not an attractive proposition to most people.
Edited by Risotto on Monday 6th February 15:26
But it doesn't need to be boring, that's the point.....
Re:business miles, yes you are right, these days I don't do many (circa 15k per year), but I used to and ok, some might take the piss now, but when I was commuting, I had cars like my MGB - from Wiltshire to Bracknell daily (110 mile round trip), roof down even when raining, my ZXR750 as sole vehicle from Tewkesbury to Bristol daily (very interesting when snowing), even my X1/9 - hardly the pinnicle of motoring but I'd have one tommorrow over a Pug 308
Re:business miles, yes you are right, these days I don't do many (circa 15k per year), but I used to and ok, some might take the piss now, but when I was commuting, I had cars like my MGB - from Wiltshire to Bracknell daily (110 mile round trip), roof down even when raining, my ZXR750 as sole vehicle from Tewkesbury to Bristol daily (very interesting when snowing), even my X1/9 - hardly the pinnicle of motoring but I'd have one tommorrow over a Pug 308
I agree with the fact not everyone is interested in cars or driving for that matter. But i agree with the OP, the Peugeot is hardly a reliable A-B car....actually, let's list the attributes of the 308 ;
Dull to look at
yet also ugly
Boring to drive
Not particulary cheap to buy, or run (relatively)
Not particulary well made & hardly reliable...it's French.
So why are people buying them?
Dull to look at
yet also ugly
Boring to drive
Not particulary cheap to buy, or run (relatively)
Not particulary well made & hardly reliable...it's French.
So why are people buying them?
As has already been said, to a lot of people a car is just white goods to get you from A to B, so why would they care about 'character'? To them it would probably be just as silly as proposing they should buy a laptop with character, or a dishwasher with character.
flyingjase said:
Surely you want some speed? Or maybe some acceleration?
And sacrifice fuel economy and reliability with the addition of increased maintenance costs that come with performance cars? flyingjase said:
Or maybe the ability to go sideways?
Right, because that's definitely what Joe Bloggs is interested in when he's driving to work...flyingjase said:
Or a nice exhaust note?
I presume by 'nice exhaust note' you mean a louder exhaust note? A 'nice' exhaust note is subjective. I bet the majority of people who see an average 4 cylinder car with a louder exhaust just think it's unecessary extra noise. Edited by BriC175 on Monday 6th February 15:30
I understand the boring, dullard, wash machine car idea. Is great for those who aren't into cars because for the most part it gives someone who wants to go to and from work, shopping centre and the odd day or night out a tool to do it that doesn't smell like a vomit stained minicab or one of those big long things that are always full, over priced and run on rails - bus replacement services I think they're called.
I do personally wonder why so many of these products have really low specs though. I mean for the past 15 almost 20 years or so we've had white good type cars with leccy windows, stereos, trip meters and often a/c etc and still in 2012 these are advertised as great new things to have. Granted you don't expect a boggo Corsa or something to feel like an S Class inside but it seems the best little add on we've added to dull motors is an ipod plug. Surely people want a little more inside on the commute than these age old standards? In some cases we've gone backwards, being quite tall it amazes me how little movement or adjustment is in the seats and steering - I had more play in my mk1 mondeo than my 06 astra.
I do personally wonder why so many of these products have really low specs though. I mean for the past 15 almost 20 years or so we've had white good type cars with leccy windows, stereos, trip meters and often a/c etc and still in 2012 these are advertised as great new things to have. Granted you don't expect a boggo Corsa or something to feel like an S Class inside but it seems the best little add on we've added to dull motors is an ipod plug. Surely people want a little more inside on the commute than these age old standards? In some cases we've gone backwards, being quite tall it amazes me how little movement or adjustment is in the seats and steering - I had more play in my mk1 mondeo than my 06 astra.
Poprin said:
Clearly you don't do business miles....
I'm a petrol head of the highest order...
But to get me to work and the 30k + miles I do a year I need something that doesn't cost a fortune to run and that I can just throw away when I finish with it. I wouldn't treat a nice car like that therefore boring cars are perfect because you don't care about them you just use it as a tool.
You just make sure you've got something nice in the garage
Nail. Head.I'm a petrol head of the highest order...
But to get me to work and the 30k + miles I do a year I need something that doesn't cost a fortune to run and that I can just throw away when I finish with it. I wouldn't treat a nice car like that therefore boring cars are perfect because you don't care about them you just use it as a tool.
You just make sure you've got something nice in the garage
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