Saying that TTAC readers have opinions about cars is like stating that water is wet. We'll therefore make the assumption that your friends, families and loved ones know what you think about cars. Assuming that, we will also bet that you get hit up for car advice more often than not. Us too. But do those who ask listen? A year ago my own sister was in the market for a new car; her '01 Sentra was just about dead. Her next car had to be good on gas and reliable while not looking dorktastic. I recommended the Mazda3, Subaru Impreza and MINI Cooper. She drove them all and reported back. They were "too sporty." She then bought a two-door Honda Civic. And loves it. On the other end of the spectrum, a friend of mine had a pair of Datsun 280Zs that were done playing parts car for each other. He wanted something reliable, fun to drive and cheap. I told him to try a Honda Fit. He not only bought it, he's decided to trade his current Fit for the 2009 model as soon as they hit our shores. That's 50/50, not too bad. Do I have to talk about my brother-in-law's RAV4? I do? Man… Anyhow, you?
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No.
I’m about 50/50 as well. I coached a friend through buying a used Bronco a few years back and he was very happy. On the other hand, my family is not apt to listen to me much on buying advice, but when something goes wrong, I’m the first person my twin sister turns to. Yesterday she called and asked me whether her Chevy truck she’s trying to sell has a 5.7 or a 5.0 liter engine.
I refuse to give anyone advice about cars for 2 reasons:
1. A car is the second biggest purchase anyone can make. A responsibility like should be borne by the person, not someone else. When they say “Don’t worry, I just want some advice.”, they don’t! They want someone to shoulder part of the blame! If they really cared about this purchase, they’d do the research, like any other human being!
2. I spend ages reading, driving and learning about cars so I can make an informed choice about something I love. Not for someone else to turn to when they need advice!
Mind you, what really annoys me is when people give advice about cars, when actually they know jack about it.
True story: Someone I know’s dad wanted to buy a second car. It had to be fairly reliable and, above all, cheap. Her frigging fiance told her dad to buy a Skoda Octavia 2001 model for £4000. She told me this story and was so pleased with her fiance…..until I told her that her dad could have bought a Renault Laguna 2003 for £3000! She was a stupid bitch……
KatiePuckrik:
2. I spend ages reading, driving and learning about cars so I can make an informed choice about something I love. Not for someone else to turn to when they need it!
That raises a good point. Perhaps many of us have developed such a specialized knowledge, creating such peculiar tastes in vehicles, that our advice is useless to the average joe.
Sort of. My father-in-law bought a 3rd-gen. Miata not long after I gave up my ’97 Miata. He consulted me a bunch about which trim-level was worth the money, and whether or not he’d need snow tires for winter driving. So, clearly he was listening.
My father, a long-time shade-tree mechanic and car guy totally freaks me out from time to time by calling me for mechanical advice. At 70, he’s (literally) forgotten more about cars than I’ve learned so far in my 33 years.
On the other hand, he did replace his Accord with a CRV, despite my frequent lunatic raving against SUVs.
No. If they did you would see more Porsche’s on the road.
I don’t give advice in the form of recommending a certain model or something. When someone asks for some advise about something car related, being the crazy technical person I am, I just bore them to death (not intentionally) with all the facts and then let them make the decision based on their preferences. It’s gotten so bad that I have my traditional 4wd vs awd (including all the subtle differences like Honda’s “real time 4wd”) text saved and I just copy and paste it into the email.
foolish
I’m sure you gave your father good advise. I will bet he went from an Accord to the CRV because he has 70 yr. old knees. SUVs will live a long time with the boomers (I’m one of them so no geezer jokes) aging. Then the next generation is going to age etc. etc. something to keep in mind when you see older people buying taller vehicles.
No one asks me “what car should I buy?” just what I know about certain cars. Then I usually start boring people with info on that specific market (minivans, mid-size sedans, or whatever). That normally leads into a lecture about Honda or Ford or global warming or, well, you get the idea.
Those who ask for it get advice but I don’t feel any need otherwose to get involved in other folks’ shopping preferences.
As already mentioned by others, my criteria and preferences are probably very different from someone who doesn’t obsess about cars like I do.
Rarely. My brother and sister-in-law recently bought a Mazda5 (which I also drive) for their family, which replaced a 9 year old CR-V which was also my suggestion.
Of course they listen, when it suits what they’ve already concluded :) I’m usually get the B-Rad line of questioning “What do you think about x” rather than more general questions.
Also, I found this odd:
“I recommended the Mazda3, Subaru Impreza and MINI Cooper. She drove them all and reported back. They were “too sporty.” She then bought a two-door Honda Civic.”
Great recommendations, and while I haven’t driven the latest Impreza, I find the Civic Coupe (I, too, own one) just as sporty (I’d need her definition, but using mine…) as the 3, not quite so much as the Cooper and last-gen WRX. Where I think it absolutely slays the 3 is in refinement, but as far as the performance of the chassis, it’s right there with the 3. I didn’t think it was that different it until I rode in a friend’s 3 after I had the Civic for about 6 months, but the suspension tuning on the Civic is quite beyond what I’d ever expect for a sub-$17k car.
Typically, when someone asks me about what car they should get, I point them towards sources of info rather than name a particular car. If they ask me what kind of car I like or would buy, I will tell them and tell them why. I don’t expect them to or tell them to buy the car I like; I always finish by once again pointing them towards some sources (including the pricing function of TTAC) and tell them to do their research and test drive as many cars that might fit their needs as they can before making a decision.
It’s gotten so bad that I have my traditional 4wd vs awd (including all the subtle differences like Honda’s “real time 4wd”) text saved and I just copy and paste it into the email.
That’s hilarious. I don’t have a text file, but I have given that “speech” many times; 4WD vs. AWD; full-time vs. part-time.
I usually just tell them what I would buy if it were me and leave it at that.
Joshvar:
by “sporty” I think she meant hard riding.
Juniper,
You’re half-right, I suspect. Dad’s other car is a Miata, his third and a manual! His old knees must not be that bad yet!
My mom on the other hand, really enjoys the CRV and drives/rides in it far more happily than any other car they’ve owned in my memory! She loves the seats, and if that’s what it’s taken for them to repeatedly drive the 600 miles to my house to visit their grandson, I love the seats (for her) too! :D
Some seek me out for advice and usually the ones who like clutch pedals will take it. Others will ask just to argue that some silly intangible will prevent them from driving the appropriate car. It’s very irritating when the questioner doesn’t know a thing about cars but will turn down one car after another over 20 year old preconceived prejudices.
I have had a few converts though. It is immensely satisfying when you help someone find they’re ‘perfect’ car that they otherwise would’ve never known about. I’ve had luck convincing some that life’s too short to drive shitty cars. Buy something you can get passionate about otherwise buy a bus pass.
I live in a GM town and drive Japanese cars. No one asks for my advice, but they are very quick to hassle me for not “supporting the cause”.
Rarely give advice on what to buy, because of the Universal Truth about Cars–no matter what car you buy, no matter how cool you think it is or how well it fits your needs, someone out there will think you’re a twit for buying it. If there’s an exception and someone still wants my advice, I ask questions that let them decide for themselves based on their own priorities/needs–and the ever intangible matter of Taste.
It’s much more likely I’ll get asked about service issues for cars people already own, or what oil, tires etc. are best for them.
Most people don’t listen to me. They do ask though. They fail to see that SOMETIMES paying a little more for a “nicer” car is a GOOD idea. I don’t care if you can get a new Cobalt for cheap. Just because it’s cheap doesn’t make it a good deal.
I find that because I know so much about cars in general terms that I find that I can hardly decide for myself what I want.
I tend to have modes like: Sporty/impracticle/cheap: Miata
Family/Luxury/moderately fun: G35
Family/Roomy/Fun(ish): Odyssey
Cheap/Cheap/Commuter: Fit
I would pretty much be happy with a 6 car garage. I could probably whittle my moods down to six. (chuckle)
A co worker asked about which compacts to look at and I suggested the impreza, a civic or a mazda 3, if he was going bargain hunting to look at the focus – the moron turns up with a Saturn Ion.(?!?!?)
An Ion?
How’s it go again?
Idiots are smarter than morons, morons are smarter than imbeciles…
and what’s worse he thinks its the best car he has ever had. Didn’t want to ask what the others were
Talk about an enterprise fraught with peril. I was advising someone on used car buying. There were some good deals on Acura ELs (an Acurized Honda Civic). Nice little cars, and the premium disappears in the used car market. So I sent them a link to one basically saying ‘look at these Acuras’. They went out and bought the one in the link that very evening. God I hope it lasts.
Yes
My dad worked his way through new bug eye sprite, then 15 years of detroit including a 64 mustang and 69 camaro, a late model 2002, an E400, then 25 years of solid axle explorers and double solid axle grand wagoneers, forcing dealer to take back the SUVs under lemon approach every so many months on half of them.
He finally asked my opinion, told him known design flaws are tolerated based on detailed cost benefit analysis. There are few accidentally bad things on jeeps and fords and suchlike.
Said Ford will forecast warranty costs of leaving out a seal on a shaft, compared to the $0.10 seal. If its less than $0.10 per car for warranty cost, leave out the seal.
Told him he can buy a Honda, all dressed up with Acura badge, and formatted as a SUV. He now says the MDX is the best vehicle he ever drove. Wife is buying an RDX after about 5 explorers.
In the early-mid ’60s, when I was a prepubescent ardent GM fan, I can’t remember whether my father’s friend Barney Schwalberg consulted me, or I heard he was buying a car and just volunteered the advice. He wanted an inexpensive compact. Chevy II, I said. He bought a Valiant, much to my chagrin. I hated Chrysler Corp. with a passion, because they kind of played the spunky underdog in the advertising wars. Barney liked the Valiant so much that he bought Chrysler Corp after that. In 2000, he was finally ready to trade in his 1983 K-car. He asked me what to get. And then didn’t take my advice (Subaru, Honda, Toyota), but bought–after all these years!–a Chevy.
These days, when I advise people, I ask them what they want out of a car, and taylor my advice accordingly. Most want reliability and safety above all, and economy close behind. I’m not sure what my batting average is. Both my siblings took my advice in the early ’90s (and bought Toyotas–they wanted reliability) but then my sister and her husband, well, he, unilaterally, got a Jeep Cherokee, and then she got a Volvo XC90, neither of which I would have recommended. Then he got an Audi TT. I had told him to look at Miatas and Boxsters.
Several people have recently refrained from buying certain cars on my advice, mainly due to the reliability problems I informed them about.
I usually ask people to narrow it down to what _kind_ of car they want – convertible, coupe, sedan, suv, minivan… a lot of people are still trying to decide what they fundamentally want, so it is a waste of time to get into specifics until they make up their mind a little.
Then I give them my opinion on one or two choices that are good in that segment. About 50 to 60 % buy close to what I recommend.
If it is an SUV, I abstain, since I have no idea how to give advice on something that has no fundamental basis in logic. :-)
Nope.
My sister asked about a compact hatch that was good value. I recommended the Versa, she got an SX4. My consolation is that now she can’t get rid of it fast enough.
Then a friend wanted a reliable used car, something larger than her crashed Echo. I found a mint Elantra for her, she bought an Ion.
People.
Yes. I once convinced my friends not to buy another Taurus Wagon. They were going through them in under five years, and then were selling them for next to nothing because they could not handle the sudden repair costs (they were debt addicts), and of course, they were worthless.
After hearing all about how no minivans were comfortable for her, I got her to try an Odyssey. They kept that car for over ten years. They rarely put any repair money into it, and when she got it in the divorce, it had over 160k miles (twice what they ever kept a Taurus for).
There are some other successes as well. I find the key to giving advice is to not give it to people who you think won’t use it.
Like most car nuts I get asked about such things regularly. In some cases I’ve gone car shopping with friends and relatives and in other cases I just give opinions.
If asked, I try really hard to help someone find what is right for them, not what I would buy. At times I’ve also been the go-to guy for using the ‘net to scare up good deals and competitive quotes.
It is pretty well established that enthusiasts in any area are the unpaid consultants to many people in their circle come buying time.
I get the question sometimes from people, but usually as a hypothetical. I always tell them to test drive the car and go with what they like.
One night I got a call asking for a good solid SUV that had a GVWR of over 5000lbs, for that tax break. Cayenne (“too flashy), Touraeg (“Don’t like VWs.”), Suburban/Tahoe (“Had four of those, don’t want another”), QX45 (“Don’t like how it looks”) and finally, the Land Cruiser, despite it’s relatively weak engine. He ended up with the Land Cruiser and was so happy with it, he replaced it with an LX470.
Another time, I recommended a Cayenne, Range Rover, etc. to a friend’s father looking for a capable luxury SUV. He ended up with a G500 and couldn’t be happier. Even takes it off-road in the Sierras.
When giving car advice I have try to remember that most people are not driving enthusiasts like me. My recommendations typically will include cars such as a 335, A4, Boxster, Mini, etc… But then there is always that other person sitting at the table that says, yeah but they are expensive to repair. Oh I forgot you want an appliance, Camry it is then.
Knowing a lot about cars is frustrating sometimes b/c it is one of those subjects that everyone thinks they are smart on. You have to put up with phrases like “Fords is good cers, cause that’s what my daddy always drove”. Whenever I am trying to give advice there is always some other idiot around who thinks they know more and then it turns into an arguement, typically in my part of the country it is some Buy-American die hard that has never set food in a Toyota or BMW.
None of that can compare to my sister-in-law who always comes to me for advice and then goes out and buys what her boyfriend tells her to. Results from that are a 4-cyl Eclipse that depreciated like a rock, a grand cherokee whose transfer case took a $1,500 dump, and now we are on to an 4-cyl Escape to meet her “active lifestyle” needs. Oh well, can’t win them all.
Johnny,
Why was her ’01 Sentra “just about dead”? That’s just 7 years. I’ve had domestic cars last longer than that.
My mother in law was in the market for a entry-luxury car.
She had it narrowed down to a new Passat or a TL.
She really liked the Passat, but her previous two cars, a 92 accord coupe and a 01 accord coupe had 500k and 320k on them when she stopped driving them.
I told her that she was not guranteed that type of reliability with the VW.
She’s had the TL for 2 years now and couldn’t be happier.
Everyone asks for my opinion but they never follow my advice so I stopped giving any advice.
She was a stupid bitch……
Ouch! as bad as that eh?
Due to a long and negative experience owning GM cars and vans and working in the said corporation or for it’s suppliers, the only advice I offer (and only when pressed) is, don’t go next or near a GM dealer for a new car and under no circumstances buy a used one (even from a Toyota dealer). Nothing I have seen lately gives me any cause to modify that stance. As I live in the middle of Canada’s GMville, I am viewed as one who let’s say; ‘does not support the home side’, whatever that means. I do drive an excellent Canadian built car so I don’t care what they say. I am partial to Fords and any Chrysler vehicle I ever owned was nearly as bad as GM for reliability so I tend to recommend anything from Mazda, Honda, Toyota some Ford models and I don’t recommend European cars only because I have no personal experience with them to have a valid opinion.
I am often asked for my opinion, and my opinion is allegedly respected. (I know this because people will preface their questions to me by telling me, “I respect your opinion!”)
And yet, my advice is often not followed. Why that is, I’m not sure. But I suppose that a lot of the time, people asking for advice are really looking for validation of their existing opinions, rather than objective information that might change their minds. So if the opinion doesn’t hit the validation button, it goes into the circular file.
Because it is the ones who hold questionable opinions who are most likely to need validation, the ratio of advice dispensed to advice taken is inherently low. Guess it must go with the territory.
First off, I’m proud of all these people who bought Saturn Ions despite all of your best efforts.
Heathroi- chances are the relaxed nature of the Saturn dealership is what led your co-worker to purchase his car.
i6- what’s wrong with the SX4? It seems like a pretty neat car.
Nobody seems to listen to my advice. My sister- and brother-in-law wanted a Toyota Matrix. I suggested they also drive a Pontiac Vibe since they are so similar, but they wanted a Toyota. Go drive the Vibe, at least, and play the dealers off each other, even if you really wanted the Matrix.
Interestingly, I tend not to follow my own advice. The car I always think I’m going to buy at the beginning of the shopping experience is different from what I end up buying. I chalk that up to research and refined opinions after test-driving the cars. The decisions have always ended up being good ones, and I guess I will (naively? :) ) take it as evidence of my open mind.
davey49;
Nothing wrong with the SX4, my sister just over-spec’d it for her needs with AWD and auto and is paying the price now with poor fuel economy.