# If you aren't against expensive cars in general, would you drive a Rolls?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [June 11, 2007, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538 "2007-06-11T06:49:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/21 "2007-06-12T23:17:08Z")
If someone decided to give me a Rolls, I wouldn’t throw it away or anything. But if I was buying, I would go for the Aston Martin Vanquish.
I saw a gray Lamborghini two days ago. Honestly, what is the point? They’re meant to be flashy, get it in yellow or red or something! Without the flash they’re just an expensive and uncomfortable car that’s difficult to drive.
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### Author:  [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/22 "2007-06-13T00:12:51Z")
A buddy of mine works in a Mercedes dealership in Bethesda. They’ve got a guy there that handles the selling of the Bentleys. Last month, he sold 14 of them. Commission on one is 20 thousand buckerinos.
Now THAT’S a good month.
Now, to answer the question…I’m not against expensive cars. Some are veritable works of art and they’re nice, but upkeep on a frickin car like that is a lot. Hell, with a Ferrari, they suggest that you bring it in multiple times a year (like once a month or something) to essentially get the engine taken apart and rebuilt. If you were a mega millionaire, I wouldn’t want to own one. I’d spring for a real classy hybrid, like a Lexus or something. I would like to have access to a Ferrari, though. Show up one day at your buddy’s house in a frickin’ Ferrari. Then he asks when you got it, and you answer “Oh, this old thing?”
Okay, or maybe I’d just happy with being a mega bajillionaire and I’ll keep my one car (monkey butler optional).
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/23 "2007-06-13T00:37:15Z")
[QUOTE=Risha]
I saw a gray Lamborghini two days ago. Honestly, what is the point? They’re meant to be flashy, get it in yellow or red or something! Without the flash they’re just an expensive and uncomfortable car that’s difficult to drive.
[/QUOTE]
Maybe it was in primer? 😃
Maybe it belonged to Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows?
“You know, gray is my favorite color. I felt so symbolic yesterday. If I knew a Picasso, I’d buy myself a gray Lamborghini.”
It does kind of make a statement: “I want to be different from all the other rich pricks with these cars!” I mean, it’s not as much of a statement as driving a restored vintage car, but it’s still kind of cool.
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### Author:  [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/24 "2007-06-13T01:03:23Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers]
It does kind of make a statement: “I want to be different from all the other rich pricks with these cars!” I mean, it’s not as much of a statement as driving a restored vintage car, but it’s still kind of cool.
[/QUOTE]
Aaaah, yes, I hadn’t considered the “originality” card. “Everyone I know has a yellow Lambo! I want mine in bondo!” 😃
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/25 "2007-06-13T01:30:45Z")
[QUOTE=T\_SQUARE]
Let’s say you’re rich, and aren’t against the idea of owning expensive cars in general would you drive a Rolls Royce?
[/QUOTE]
If I was ‘rich’, I would probably buy an additional modest house or condo or three for those places that I like to be and need to go.
A Rolls? Nope. In fact for where I live now, I wouldn’t buy a different vehicle.
I might look at an old FJ40 for fun. A Crown Vic or mini-van for when I’m visiting my in-laws (kept in PA).
If I did not move, my every day driver would stay the same. '06 Pathfinder.
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### Author:  [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/26 "2007-06-13T02:18:35Z")
a Rolls would be way down in my wish list, if I ever had the budget for it. A Rolls is not a car to drive, it is a car in which to be driven around.
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/27 "2007-06-13T04:22:38Z")
[QUOTE=enipla]
If I was ‘rich’, I would probably buy an additional modest house or condo or three for those places that I like to be and need to go.
A Rolls? Nope. In fact for where I live now, I wouldn’t buy a different vehicle.
I might look at an old FJ40 for fun. A Crown Vic or mini-van for when I’m visiting my in-laws (kept in PA).
If I did not move, my every day driver would stay the same. '06 Pathfinder.
[/QUOTE]
Since you already have a Pathfinder, consider a [Nissan Patrol.](http://www.4x4offroads.com/image-files/reykjavik-nissan-patrol.jpg)
Yes, they do exist. I’ve never seen one in America.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/28 "2007-06-13T04:52:21Z")
If I were driving myself, I’d probably get a top-of-the-line Lexus (although perhaps the hybrid version), but I’d get a big Mercedes if I were being chauffeured around.
Really, though, I’d probably join one of the fractional car clubs to have access to a variety of exotic cars without the hassles of ownership.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/29 "2007-06-13T14:28:33Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers]
Since you already have a Pathfinder, consider a [Nissan Patrol.](http://www.4x4offroads.com/image-files/reykjavik-nissan-patrol.jpg)
Yes, they do exist. I’ve never seen one in America.
[/QUOTE]
Very interesting **Argent**. I wonder how that would market in the US. I know the Escalade crowd wouldn’t be interested, but I bet it would do very well. I would have definitely considered it.
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/30 "2007-06-13T19:34:39Z")
I’d drive a Bentley before a Rolls. Of course, it helps that Bentley has an excellent Web site that lets you see the cars in great detail. I visited the Rolls Royce Web site, and while there was plenty of information about their aerospace and nautical divisions, and about their corporate identity and corporate responsibility, I couldn’t find a damn thing about their cars.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/31 "2007-06-13T19:41:42Z")
Did you go to [http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/](http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/) or [http://www.rolls-royce.com/](http://www.rolls-royce.com/)? Because they’re not the same thing.
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### Author:  [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/32 "2007-06-13T19:46:16Z")
[QUOTE=Ender\_Will]
Would I drive one? Hell, yes.
[/QUOTE]
Is your name Jeeves?
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### Author:  [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/33 "2007-06-13T19:46:36Z")
[QUOTE=Phase42]
I’d drive a Bentley before a Rolls. Of course, it helps that Bentley has an excellent Web site that lets you see the cars in great detail. I visited the Rolls Royce Web site, and while there was plenty of information about their aerospace and nautical divisions, and about their corporate identity and corporate responsibility, I couldn’t find a damn thing about their cars.
[/QUOTE]
That is because the company that makes engines etc. is no longer the company that makes the cars. In fact a little google leads me to believe that nobody really knows who the hell is allowed to make Rolls Royce cars. From Wiki
> [@](#):
>
> However Rolls-Royce plc, the aero-engine maker, decided it would license certain essential trademarks (the Rolls-Royce name and logo) not to VW, but to BMW, with whom it had recently had joint business ventures. VW had bought rights to the “Spirit of Ecstasy” mascot and the shape of the radiator grille, but it lacked rights to the Rolls-Royce name in order to build the cars. Likewise, BMW lacked rights to the grille and mascot. BMW bought an option on the trademarks, licensing the name and “RR” logo for £40m, a deal that many commentators thought was a bargain for possibly the most valuable property in the deal. VW claimed that it had only really wanted Bentley anyway, and in sales terms this was the stronger brand, with Bentley models out-selling the equivalent Rolls Royce by around two to one.
>
> BMW and VW arrived at a solution. From 1998 to 2002 BMW would continue to supply engines for the cars and would allow use of the names, but this would cease on January 1, 2003. On that date, only BMW would be able to name cars “Rolls-Royce”, and VW’s former Rolls-Royce/Bentley division would build only cars called “Bentley”. Rolls Royce’s convertible, the Corniche, ceased production in 2002.
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### Author:  [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/34 "2007-06-13T20:10:59Z")
[QUOTE=Nava]
Truly, isn’t a Rolls the car that should come with a Sebastián at the wheel? J
[/QUOTE]
I think you’ll find it should come with [Parker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAB1) at the wheel.
I’d happily buy a Rolls-Royce.
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### Author:  [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/35 "2007-06-13T20:14:25Z")
[QUOTE=FordPrefect]
Is your name Jeeves?
[/QUOTE]
And do you have references?
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### Author:  [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/36 "2007-06-13T20:26:38Z")
I wouldn’t mind expensive, but it would have to be due to technology, not ‘luxury’ or the like. Perhaps a [Tesla](http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php).
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### Author:  [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/37 "2007-06-13T20:29:37Z")
[QUOTE=FordPrefect]
Is your name Jeeves?
[/QUOTE]
I’ve heard that is a complaint of people who buy a Rolls. People assume they are the chauffeur and the real important dude is in the back.
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/38 "2007-06-13T20:45:43Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn]
Did you go to [http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/](http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/) or [http://www.rolls-royce.com/](http://www.rolls-royce.com/)? Because they’re not the same thing.
[/QUOTE]
Ah, that was my mistake. Thanks!
Still waiting to win the MegaMillions lottery, though … 😃
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### Author:  [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/39 "2007-06-13T21:21:50Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers]
No, I think they’re beautiful vehicles but they scream out “LOOK AT ME, I’M RICH!”
[/QUOTE]
Me, too. I couldn’t drive something that ostentatious, no matter how wealthy I was.
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### Author:  [@tirial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tirial)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2007, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-arent-against-expensive-cars-in-general-would-you-drive-a-rolls/407538/40 "2007-06-14T05:57:33Z")
A Rolls? Probably not, I’d want something I could drive, with good handling. Then again I’ve always had a thing for classic Lotus.
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