With all the reviews and people testing cars for you, clocking kilometres and measuring fuel consumption, you’d think buying a car is simple. It isn’t. Car shopping is a personal experience and the choice you make is often based on reasons that seem irrational to others.
I bought a car (as friends and colleagues keep reminding me) because it has a USB. In fact, the purchase was based on solid facts — at the time I was shopping, Korean cars were packing more options at a cheaper price than others. Japanese cars were still selling models that had not been tweaked in years due to an economic slowdown. American and European cars are usually more expensive anyway.
As a driver who cares about getting from point A to point B in maximum comfort within a budget, options mattered — reverse parking sensors, leather upholstery, defoggers, cruise control and the much used power driver seat that allows the tall driver-friendly seat to accommodate a normal-sized woman. Because I could not remember the list of options, I figured if it had a USB, which was not ubiquitous then, it would have everything else.
That I was shopping for a new laptop also influenced the decision. All those sleek, shiny laptops in shop windows did not have DVD drives anymore, so getting music from computer to car without more technological intervention was a factor.
We all have our reasons. A friend who owns a neat little Mini believes the car suits her tiny frame and likes the immediate attention she gets from valets in her dual-toned red and purple ride with its red leather interiors. In the years that she has expressed adoration for the car, I have never once heard her wax eloquent about the 200 km top speed that the car can achieve.
But before you dismiss this buying process as too girly, let me share some observations from watching car-savvy people shop for cars.
I would argue that buying a car for its options is no more trivial than buying a car because it looks good and then referring to it as she and naming her, as my macho friends do.
And after my auto reviewer friend is done mocking me for buying a car for such non-reasons, he proceeds to tell me he would not own a car like mine because its headlights are so weirdly shaped that only women would like it. Very sensible. Playing along, I reply that they are shaped like kohl-rimmed eyes and are perfect for the region.
Really, sensible is not the adjective used to describe those who take their cars seriously, which anyway are called chick magnets or boys’ toys.
Buying decisions can also be influenced by factors unconnected to cars. A European friend, among my many advisors, nudged me towards Peugeot or Renault because he wanted to support the European Union economy.
Another friend who really knows his cars chose a model based on the legend that it appeared to charge when the driver accelerated from a stationary position— the effect is mostly only visible in the rear view mirror of the car in front at traffic lights. So it’s true — men are visual creatures, never mind who’s doing the watching.
I’m now paying attention to what my next car could be like. The one I have is not as reliable, engine-wise, as some others, I’ve noticed. And I would probably make a sensible choice if I was not distracted by a particular shade of navy blue or a bottle green while checking them out on the road
Next on my list is shopping unsmartly for a smartphone: Does it have an FM radio?
