"Frosted" (frostedbuns)
04/07/2014 at 23:03 • Filed to: None
3
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"Frosted" (frostedbuns)
04/07/2014 at 23:03 • Filed to: None | 3
| 17 |
I'd like to preface this by saying that being a car enthusiast is actually great. No matter what.
In my time I've owned 6 cars, 2 American pickups, a japanese midsized sedan, a japanese eco-wagon and 2 swedish wagons. Every one of them has had its benefits and its drawbacks. Everyone had things I liked and things I hated. I've met some truly awesome people and gotten to ride in some very fun, fast cars.
I love experiencing different cars and seeing what every company has to offer. There are some companies that I don't care for enough to own but would still test drive their cars given the opportunity (looking at you Hyundai). I currently have an XC70 and am looking at (mostly a Mazda 2) subcompacts for my next car. That's a huge change but it'd be exciting to see what a subcompact drove like as the smallest car I've ever driven was an 04 xB.
I began searching for a new car a couple of weeks ago. Most of my facebook friends are car people so I posted a few good looking car ads to get some thoughts from people who knew better than I might.
Now here's the problem I'm having with some "car enthusiasts" now, and an issue I've noticed a lot of people have - Owners of one type of car are just too good to even think about owning anything else.
And that's a bit of a problem. How can one say they're a car enthusiast and go on to say any car not made by brand X is just junk. I don't get it.
Cars are cool, and I am all for driving anything you can get your hands on.
Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
> Frosted
04/07/2014 at 23:06 |
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Owners of one type of car are just too good to even think about owning anything else.
That's just a brand snob, I don't think they count.
pdthedeuce
> Frosted
04/07/2014 at 23:08 |
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Testify , my brother !
AthomSfere
> Frosted
04/07/2014 at 23:09 |
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I have owned 10 cars. 2 Fords, 1 Hyundai, and the rest Honda/ Acura.
I have driven just about anything... No exotics.
I will say, of all the cars: Toyotas and Fords... I tend to hate them. Although Ford is starting to ween me back to trusting them. The Fusion and 2015 Mustang being prime examples.
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Frosted
> Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
04/07/2014 at 23:10 |
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They're incredibly annoying and come off as being arrogant/ignorant more than anything else. One of my FB friends claims she's a lover of cars, owns 2 NA Volvo wagons (which is fine and no biggie) except she makes fun of one of her coworkers who owns a modded EG civic. While the Civic is not everyones cup of tea, I'd give her coworker props for owning and modifying her own car.
pfftballer
> Frosted
04/07/2014 at 23:10 |
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Fuck those people. Try something. If you like it buy it. The Mazda deuce is a sweet ride.
6cyl
> Frosted
04/07/2014 at 23:11 |
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The other reason being a car enthusiast is terrible...
I 100% agree that it is silly that some people are closed minded about cars outside of their preference brand or some other category (American, Euro, Japenese, Turbo, RWD, Manual).
I should be clear that this in only in regards to cars. Trucks and SUV's are fucking dumb ;)
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Frosted
> 6cyl
04/07/2014 at 23:13 |
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Hey I love pickup trucks! RWD with no weight in the rear and can often be had with big engines and manual transmissions!
My first truck was a 07 Chevy Colorado Z71 2x4 with the Atlas 5 cylinder engine. It was a blast to drive.
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Frosted
> 6cyl
04/07/2014 at 23:13 |
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Agreed about the money part though. Bein' broke stinks.
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Frosted
> pfftballer
04/07/2014 at 23:16 |
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It's quite enticing but I wouldn't settle until I knew 100% that I liked it more than the Yaris, Mirage, Fiesta, Sonic, Fit.
I won't put Versa on that list as I've been around a Versa and did not like it one bit.
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Frosted
> AthomSfere
04/07/2014 at 23:20 |
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Funny, my family has been fairly Toyota and Ford oriented, we currently have a 2010 Scion xB, a 2007 F150, and a Gen 1 MKZ in the stable. Recent Toyotas have been putting my parents off from getting another one after the xB goes (won't be anytime soon though).
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pfftballer
> Frosted
04/07/2014 at 23:21 |
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It's pretty fucking nimble, also has some big time SCCA trophies. If buying new I'd compare to the Sonic and Fiesta first.
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Frosted
> pfftballer
04/07/2014 at 23:23 |
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Yea that's the plan, I'm not big on the Fiesta base hatch styling but the extra 20 horsepower might make up for it. The Sonic seems very cheaply built but I can't really complain about that too much with the low low prices of these subcompacts.
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AthomSfere
> Frosted
04/07/2014 at 23:27 |
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I had a 79 Granada and a 00 Taurus (Inherited from the wife) the Granada was fun (I dropped a built 5.0 into it) but both were horribly unreliable and stupid stuff was too much of a PITA to fix.
The Toyotas are just a numb nightmare to drive. Although I drove a friends Scion Tc and it isn't too bad. It reminds me of an Integra, just a little too late to be interesting in that market though.
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Frosted
> AthomSfere
04/07/2014 at 23:29 |
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As bland as modern Toyotas may be, they did make the best minivan in the world -
That Granada sounds like it was a blast though.
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AthomSfere
> Frosted
04/07/2014 at 23:38 |
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Oh yes, that Granada was. The 5.0 came from a friend of friend's stock car, they competed in the same league. When I blew that engine though it was the 3rd engine and two transmissions in about two years... So I moved on, and I miss it.
HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
> Frosted
04/07/2014 at 23:43 |
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I love Hondas. I've owned 5, and I will probly always own at least one. Mostly likely being my DD, but I love, desire, lust after, need other types of cars. Yes my garage could be complete with a 91 Civic Hatch, a VIP style 2013 Accord, and an S2000, but I'd rather have more variety than that.
I have really only owned 4 cylinder FF ecoboxes, but that has been mainly due to budget and my own fear/since of practicality. Buying an old RWD sports car is scary compared to buying, well a Honda Civic. But I've owned 8 cars, now, and aside from one glorious 96 Tocoma they've all been to much of the same. Front wheel drive, not enough power, absolutely no since of occasion. I do plan on doing many upgrades to my current Civic, but I know I will still hunger for some thing more special.
Again I love Honda and when someone asks me what used car they should buy my answer is always a 4 cylinder Honda, it will always be; cheap, fun, and reliable, unless the previous owner abused it. I think we all have one brand or even one model/body style of car the we hold near, and dear to our hearts. I think that's normal. Especially if you own/have owned said car. For me it's a 91 Civic Hatchback. Yeah there are better cars and lots of other cars I want to own, but if I had to only have one car for the rest of my life that's what I'd choose.
I also agree with you. I lots of cars. If I was a rich man I wouldn't have a garage full of one brand, or style of car. No I have 30 cars from 18 different manufacturers lol. The love of cars like the love of music should never be limited to one genre(people have made fun of me for saying "genre" of cars but it makes since to me.
for reference the cars I've owned in order
92 camry(my only auto), 99 civic sedan EX, 91 Civic Hatch STD 5 spd, 96 Tacoma LE 4x4 3.4V6, 93 Maxda MX-6, 97 Integra sedan GSR, 97 Accord sedan EX, current 2001 Civic coupe EX.
Five cars I've enjoyed driving most. 2004 Corvette, Manual 2005 Ram 2500 5.9 Cummins, 91 Civic hatchback, 2008 Caliber SRT4(horrible I know, but that turbo), 2014 Dodge Durango R/T(Hemi sound, and ZF 8 speed flappy paddles). I worked sales at a Ford/Chrylser Dealer, and that's how I had the chance to drive 90% of the vehicles I've driven.
I do hope to expand the list of cars I've had the privilege of driving.
Lets Just Drive
> Frosted
04/07/2014 at 23:46 |
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In many cases, it's not their fault.
Advertisers and marketers understand consumers better than many of us understand ourselves - they know what makes our want organs throb and our desire centers wet. Many consumers are so conditioned that they buy in to the whole concept of a product or a brand, whole hog, to the exclusion of all else often because they simply cannot consider the possibility that there might be a better product and that's how they approach the argument - my product is better than your product.
I have a very good friend who, for all the strength of our friendship, tests me daily with this sort of attitude. A worse product cannot be desirable in his mind while simultaneously there is not better product (relative value included) than the one he's bought or invested in. We often come to a point of impasse when discussing motoring and a perfect example of that is this: He cannot consider the possibility that a manual transmission may be more fun, if not better, than a DCT. Why? Because it's all numbers and facts for him and, to my mind, he takes it to the point of excluding that X factor.
Why would anyone buy a Mustang, he'd ask, when there's so much better value for dollar out there? Because that person might like the Mustang? Nope. Impossible to his mind. The numbers don't support your like, he'd say, and it's thus irrational.
Of course, there's another camp and it's so much worse. It's the camp that knows they've chosen an inferior product but rather than embrace it's inferiority chose to champion their product in the face of obvious fact. I love my Mustang, but you'll never catch me bad mouthing a Civic fan in anything other than jest. But, there are a lot of Mustang and Civic guys out there who honestly believe their shit don't stink.
Either way, it's generally a result of culture and conditioning and I contend that a great many of those folks who cannot get their mind around the idea that another car might be cool would quickly change their mind in a different environment with different stimuli. Consider the guy who swore up and down that American Muscle was the be all and end all of motoring achievement who, once put behind the wheel of a small Italian sports coupe quickly recanted saying, "I still love big V8's and American steel but this thing is amazing and I want one!"