Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2017 12:29:48 GMT
I used to be the one turning up on customer site initially for an interview then I'd usually be there for several months to a year at a time developing systems.
In my mid-20s I drove a SAAB 900 v6, before that a Golf GTi, after the SAAB an Audi 80 Quattro. The only car which drew the 'we're paying him too much' comment was my FIAT Coupe which was probably the cheapest of the bunch. Funny how some cars just draw out those comments for no known reason.
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Post by Humph on Nov 21, 2017 19:12:59 GMT
I'm sure a psychologist could explain it. But, if we accept for a moment that some people really do buy cars because they think they look "good" in them, it's worth pondering for a moment whether you've ever randomly seen a complete stranger in any "normal" car and thought, blimey, he looks good in that...
🤔
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2017 19:13:16 GMT
In about 1999 I bought an 18 month old Mercedes C200 for £14,000. I got a lot of stick outside the school gate for driving a 'fancy' car, depsite the fact I paid less for it than most of the complainants for their Zafiras.
Humph asked (paraphrasing) who cared. I do in that I want to give the impression of being successful, professional, competant, expert even, but not profligate. It's to give confidence to the client. I wonder if turning up in a well cared for but six year old E350 estate does this better than a fairly new 520d, or top of the range new Mondeo? My previous Subarus and my S-Max were fairly anonymous which was good. Few people knew what the Subarus were and the S-Max clearly had me down as a family man with responsibilities - which also helps...
I suspect there is a perception difference between me as a qualified professional and a 'high powered, driving god' salesman. No disrespect to Humph, but we do different jobs and I wonder if we visited the same company on the same day for our respective purposes, and the MD glanced out of the window to see what we had arrived in, he would view us differently? No idea. It may be Humph is expected to be in the fancier car?
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Post by tyrednexited on Nov 21, 2017 19:14:41 GMT
...........whether you've ever randomly seen a complete stranger in any "normal" car and thought, blimey, he looks good in that... 🤔 ...if you'd care to change the gender.......... |
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Post by Humph on Nov 21, 2017 19:16:33 GMT
Aye true, but the sort of individual fitting that brief would usually also look good in anything.
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Post by tyrednexited on Nov 21, 2017 19:18:54 GMT
Aye true, but the sort of individual fitting that brief would usually also look good in anything. ....or nothing? |
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Post by Humph on Nov 21, 2017 19:20:51 GMT
In about 1999 I bought an 18 month old Mercedes C200 for £14,000. I got a lot of stick outside the school gate for driving a 'fancy' car, depsite the fact I paid less for it than most of the complainants for their Zafiras. Humph asked (paraphrasing) who cared. I do in that I want to give the impression of being successful, professional, competant, expert even, but not profligate. It's to give confidence to the client. I wonder if turning up in a well cared for but six year old E350 estate does this better than a fairly new 520d, or top of the range new Mondeo? My previous Subarus and my S-Max were fairly anonymous which was good. Few people knew what the Subarus were and the S-Max clearly had me down as a family man with responsibilities - which also helps... I suspect there is a perception difference between me as a qualified professional and a 'high powered, driving god' salesman. No disrespect to Humph, but we do different jobs and I wonder if we visited the same company on the same day for our respective purposes, and the MD glanced out of the window to see what we had arrived in, he would view us differently? No idea. It may be Humph is expected to be in the fancier car? Fashion business is a funny one really, far more likely to be noticed for having the "wrong" jeans than the "wrong" car. I genuinely think I could turn up in a Porsche or a Proton and get no particular attention paid to either. |
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Avant
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Post by Avant on Nov 22, 2017 0:22:26 GMT
I think that nowadays a Mercedes (or BMW or Audi) isn't seen as a posemobile as it was by Vauxhall drivers in 1999 (has the Zafira really been going that long? Zzzzz....). People buy Mercedes to do a job well, and to go on doing it over many years and/or high mileages. That sounds as good an image as any for a professional to project: I suppose, Espada, as a surveyor turning up to a meeting on site you're more likely than most to have your car noticed by the client.
The poseur - or poseuse - is more likely to drive their one or two children to school in a Range Rover - the sort of person who perceives a gap, unknown to us lesser mortals, between full-size Range Rover and Evoque which the Velar is needed to fill.
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Post by commerdriver on Nov 22, 2017 8:26:50 GMT
I think that nowadays a Mercedes (or BMW or Audi) isn't seen as a posemobile as it was by Vauxhall drivers in 1999 (has the Zafira really been going that long? Zzzzz....). People buy Mercedes to do a job well, and to go on doing it over many years and/or high mileages. That sounds as good an image as any for a professional to project: I suppose, Espada, as a surveyor turning up to a meeting on site you're more likely than most to have your car noticed by the client. The poseur - or poseuse - is more likely to drive their one or two children to school in a Range Rover - the sort of person who perceives a gap, unknown to us lesser mortals, between full-size Range Rover and Evoque which the Velar is needed to fill. I think part of that is the change in the whole car market since the 1990s, with the demise of the indigenous UK manufacturers the variety of cars on the road is much greater than it was when I had my first car in 1977, also cars last much longer than they used to and with registration changes every 6 months nobody is worried about having the latest registration any more. Our office car park, a wide mix of company cars and non company cars has a range of cars from Range Rovers, couple of Jaguars and various BMW / Mercedes models to pretty well any make you want to name of various ages, much bigger varieties than the car park in the first office I worked in with its Allegros, Avengers and Cavaliers (we had temporarily fallen out with Ford so it was Cortina / Capri free for a few years). The school run in those days was done mainly on foot or on the bus. |
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