Ladies sold on cars’ looks
Published:Sunday | January 15, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Shirley Dixon, Gleaner Writer
We continue to get the perspective of women from the driver’s seat, in the series, ‘Woman at the Wheel’.
What do women want in a car? When purchasing a car, what are some of the things they look for? While men are preoccupied with engine size, horsepower and gear ratios us women, it would seem, look at the aesthetics first and foremost.
It’s like buying a dress or a sexy pair of shoes. It looks good, it catches your eye and you claim it, mentally. The big challenge is, will it fit? Or will they have my size?
The same goes for buying a vehicle. You see it, you fall in love with it, you decide you want it. The big challenge is the cost. Can I afford to buy this vehicle I absolutely love? After crunching numbers, you may be left in a state of depression.
Seriously though, women look for different things in a car than men. Mechanics aside (that is the sole purview of a man), we not only want a vehicle that looks good and command attention, many times we want to be defined by the vehicle we drive.
I hitched a ride with a female friend one evening and before we reached her car in the parking lot, she started to apologise. “What happened to your CRV? You sold it?” she queried. “Why? You looked good in it,” she commented.
“This is just for taking me around for the time being,” she offered, pointing to her early 1990s model Suzuki Swift. Nattily attired in her pin-striped skirt suit and crisp white blouse, complemented with black sheer stockings and matching pumps, one would expect her to be driving the latest model Swift even, nice and clean.
But her car was old, dirty and dingy.
“Sorry, the AC does not work and the window can’t wind down. I intend to sell it, but haven’t gotten around to buying something else,” the attorney-at-law said. “It takes me to and from work though,” she said defensively.
Now, don’t get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with driving an old car if it is in running order, so I don’t think there was any need to apologise ... . Well yes, for the garbage and smell. Anyway, she, an attorney-at-law, did not think the Swift defined her and believed that a woman of her ‘status’ should be driving a nice car, or an SUV even.
There is this other friend who sold her nice little car which was easy on the pocketbook in terms of maintenance and bought herself an SUV because she had to keep up with not only her neighbours, but the parents at the prep school her daughter attends.
“Everybody in the complex where I live drive SUV. It’s time for me to move up,” she reasoned. She is now regretting this unwise financial move.
In another sense, a woman’s vehicle reflects her personality and lifestyle. When my car was stolen some years ago, I had no less than six pairs of shoes in it, a make-up kit with everything – from perfume, to lipstick, to nail polish, textbooks and papers in various stages of being written. This was to accommodate my busy lifestyle as a working student.
Some people actually live in their vehicle and you can see a lot of evidence – fast-food wrappers, cups, toothpaste, toothbrush, clothes, bags and the list goes on.
Then, there are the amazing few persons I know, whose cars still smell new after years of use. There is a colleague at work whose car is so clean and neat you feel uncomfortable sitting in it. This is definitely a reflection of her personality. She is never seen with a seam undone.
Just a note to our male drivers – while you are concerned about engine size, torque, rims, spoilers, and tints etc, make a special effort to keep your interior clean and fresh. One of the biggest turn-offs, women say, is a man who keeps a filthy wheel.
auto@gleanerjm.com
In another sense, a woman’s vehicle reflects her personality and lifestyle. When my car was stolen some years ago, I had no less than six pairs of shoes in it, a make-up kit with everything – from perfume, to lipstick, to nail polish, textbooks and papers in various stages of being written. This was to accommodate my busy lifestyle as a working student.
Some people actually live in their vehicle and you can see a lot of evidence – fast-food wrappers, cups, toothpaste, toothbrush, clothes, bags and the list goes on.
Then, there are the amazing few persons I know, whose cars still smell new after years of use. There is a colleague at work whose car is so clean and neat you feel uncomfortable sitting in it. This is definitely a reflection of her personality. She is never seen with a seam undone.
Just a note to our male drivers – while you are concerned about engine size, torque, rims, spoilers, and tints etc, make a special effort to keep your interior clean and fresh. One of the biggest turn-offs, women say, is a man who keeps a filthy wheel.
auto@gleanerjm.com