Is low fuel-economy a status symbol?

izoneiz

izoneiz

izoneiz

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I can't help but think that for certain people, having a vehicle that isn't what you'd call "fuel efficient" is a status symbol in itself. I bet there are people out there that would actually pay to have an identical, but less fuel-economical model, if it said in giant letters on the rear that "this is the expensive, in your face, i have too much cash" model, and not the "cheaper" model.

Opinions?

An example could be the 335d vs the 335i. After all, they don't differ THAT much. (let's not get into a discussion about that, Fox, I'm looking at you). Let's just agree that as models go, the 335d and the 335i are not that dissimmilar, e.g. if we we were to look at say a volvo D5 and a volvo T5, which in my opinion are totally different cars.
 
this is NOT a petrol vs diesel thread.

thhis is a thread about whether if a company, say audi, made a regular R8, and then an R8 with the same performance, but lower economy, but a massive "i have more cash" badge on the rear. would people buy it? i think so.

not a snipe at the affluent either. is just an observation that i think some people have such a mentality
 
Of course people have that mentality, more so in the Inidan community.

Dosen't mean that people would actually buy a 750i that does 5mpg compared to 15 - becauase 5 would be tedious.
 
izoneiz said:
An example could be the 335d vs the 335i. After all, they don't differ THAT much. (let's not get into a discussion about that, Fox, I'm looking at you).
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Why do you not want to get into a discussion, because you are wrong and don't wish anyone to point this out?

One is a diesel, one is a petrol. Overall performance may be similar-ish, but the driving experience will not. Ergo a pointless comparison since many people prefer petrol engines over diesels (and vice versa).
 
Dogbreath said:
Why do you not want to get into a discussion, because you are wrong and don't wish anyone to point this out?

One is a diesel, one is a petrol. Overall performance may be similar-ish, but the driving experience will not. Ergo a pointless comparison since many people prefer petrol engines over diesels (and vice versa).
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perhaps, but it';s the closest real-life example I could think of. What I'm talking about really is my R8 vs R8_low_economy_version, but I wanted to offer a real-life example to explain.

I'm aware that they are not identical cars that just use different fuels - they are similar in performance though.
 
why buy something as nice as an r8 then lose the amazing sound by putting diesel in it and then looking like a tool having black soot pouring out the back when you plant the foot
 
That isn't his point Toker, what he is trying to say (but sounding daft), is that would people pay more for a less economical version of the same car.

For example:

Audi R8 (standard, normal RS4 engined petrol version)
Audi R8 8MPG Edition (as above, but uses more fuel for no gain)

The idea itself is retarded, and I don't think ANYONE would do the above, just to get an "OMG 8MPG WHORE" badge on the back of the car.

Infact, the thread is retarded.
 
If there were two models that were otherwise identical, except one had worse fuel economy then you'd have to be a tool to buy the worse one. I'm sure such people exist, but I suspect (hope) they are in a minority.

Obviously many people buy cars as a status symbol, so tend to buy the more expensive models, but ego massaging aside the extra money will almost certainly buy tangible benefits in terms of performance, comfort etc.
 
Excellent news. With my Jeeps economy, I'm on par with middle east royal families.

Amazing but true I have had people think that by telling them the MPG, I'm showing off and I mention its MPG as a way of saying "I'm so uber rich I can afford it"

The fact that it cost me £1500 off ebay completely passes them by.

But in answer to the question, yes, some people will buy poor economy cars purely as a way to show off that they are proper rich and the fuel crisis only affects mere mortals.
 
I find the opposite is becoming increasingly true. Pretentious folk seem to get a kick out of preaching about how little fuel their car uses and how they are single handedly saving mother earth from the CO2 demons who mow down children and baby deer in their non-Prius'.
 
if you get 8mpg and do 2000 miles per annum you could be on the dole

PS CO2 is a myth, its made up by people who cant think of a better way to step VED chargind :D
 
Scuzi said:
I find the opposite is becoming increasingly true. Pretentious folk seem to get a kick out of preaching about how little fuel their car uses and how they are single handedly saving mother earth from the CO2 demons who mow down children and baby deer in their non-Prius'.
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You're dead right now I come to think of it.
I know someone who just replaced their 745i with a GS450h. He's now utterly irritating and bangs on about how many MPG he gets and tries to take the mick out of my GS430 with lines such as "How much did that trip cost you?".
 
Rilot said:
You're dead right now I come to think of it.
I know someone who just replaced their 745i with a GS450h. He's now utterly irritating and bangs on about how many MPG he gets and tries to take the mick out of my GS430 with lines such as "How much did that trip cost you?".
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and the answer is:

£10 more than you, but i saved £20k on depreciation this year compared to you. so *!"£&*"£&$^$ ;):p
 
Prius owners are a laugh though, preaching how great their enviromentally friendly cars are while hammering down the motorway at 80, doing about 32mpg on with the seriously underpowered engine screaming away. Probably complaining the bmw that just passed them (probably a 320D doing closer to 60mpg:P )
 
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