Weekend Head Scratcher: You're My Number 1
When assessing things to buy (especially with your own money) people have different priorities. For instance, when buying a TV, some choose a bigger screen over feature (“I’m never going to use ALL 4 HDMI sockets!”). Likewise, when choosing a holiday, most people think destination is the most important criterion. But some people think the destination isn’t important as long as it’s family friendly, or the food is good, etc. Can you guess what this weekend’s “Weekend Head Scratcher” is going to be…?
That’s right. What is your number one priority when choosing a car? Is driving performance important to you? Maybe you couldn’t give a flying NFSW about driving dynamics and care only about fuel economy? Maybe build quality is what you consider important? Or maybe it’s value for money? So come on, let us know and give your reasons.
More by Cammy Corrigan
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My current priorities are reliability, prestige, and design. We're a recent Lexus family, only because I can't count on European or American luxury brands to provide dependable service over the 10-15 years I plan on keeping one. My ego depends on social comparison, so prestige is my second criteria. This conflicts with my cheapskate tendency to keep cars for a long time, so I prefer full size flagship luxury sedans. My theory is that I outrank 99% of other cars on the road, and the 0.5% of the ones I don't, I beat them on reliability anyway. And I like attractive cars. There isn't an ugly flagship on the market IMO, so that makes it easier for me to stay in this market.
1. rwd 2. easy to work on (4 cyl turbo fox mustang fits that bill quite nicely) 3. non-european (just for maintenance & parts costs) don't really care about amenities, my current car's AC doesn't work (in california), and i drive a 5-speed as my commuter. radio sucks, so i just always have the windows down.
I always ask myself "how easy is it to wash blood off the hood?", ever since the incident.
For me styling/design is number one. As an Architect, I need to be seen as putting my money where my mouth is. How can I convince a client to spend the extra bucks on design niceties if I am not willing to do so myself. The interior as well as exterior must be attractive. That being said, practicality is also important, so that I do not appear to have my head in the clouds [and of course so that I can make good use of the car myself]. Of course, everyone's definition of this differs. I need a seat for myself, and one for my wife, and a hatchback to take home those occasional buys from Loews or Best Buy. Third is fun to drive. Life is too short to do otherwise. Into this category falls reasonable horsepower, manual transmission, good brakes, good handling etc. All wheel drive; I have had more than one rear driver, and more than one front driver, and AWD is just better - but, it is less fun, which does go against the item listed above. Driving a high powered rear wheel drive in the wet or snow takes a certain amount of skill. An AWD car, not so much, but it will get you there. Reasonable cost, as measured over a ten year ownership period. I tend to buy a one to three year old car to miss the biggest drop in depreciation, and then keep it for about ten years, and hopefully sell it before the big repair bills come in. Size matters, but for me, smaller is better, so that I can grab that inner city parking space. Fuel economy, as the most common car in my neighborhood seems to be the Prius, and what the neighbors' think does matter at least a bit. But mostly, I need to feel that I am not hurting the ecology more so than need be given the ownership of any car. On most days, I take public transportation to work. This led me to an Audi TT ten years ago, which is still meeting my needs. For my wife, practicality is higher on the list, and styling and design is much lower, so we chose a WRX wagon.