And other women see a car as a means of getting from point A to point B, and putting more investment in it than that as a silly waste of time.
Someone who thinks that a choice of car makes a man more interesting is … not a good match for me. Stuff that would be “a novelty to ride in” by my standards is, y’know “breaks down in heavy traffic on the highway”; that would be novel to someone whose standards for carness mostly are “Does it go?”
Again, most women could really care less what you drive, as long as it is clean and well-maintained. I’ve known a few notable exceptions, but frankly most women can’t distinguish between a Jeep Wrangler (which in my mind is implicit false advertising) and an actually off-road jeep. And they don’t care; it’s not high on the list of “What Interests Me In A Man”. Just sayin’
Stranger
I don’t understand those who care about clothes, the interior design of a house, accessories, etc, but not cars.
Cars are everywhere. We see more cars outside every day than we do people. Your car is basically the suit of clothes that you wear when you go outside driving. I know all these indie rock guys with carefully calculated outfits, who put so much thought into how they look, but don’t know anything about cars. But the way I see it, if you want to make your personal “character” complete, it needs to have the right car to go with it. If you’re an indie rock guy and you wear faded earth-tone type outfits, a shiny new car just doesn’t fit you, aesthetically - you should be stepping out of a faded, earth-tone car. A used Saab 900, for instance.
That’s just one example. I love it when I come across “characters” in my life whose vehicle fits them. I’ll give you a few examples of people I know who just wouldn’t be the same without their unique vehicles:
A Serbian ex-punk-rocker turned physics teacher who has a collection of BMW motorcycles.
Another fully-tattooed punk rocker who drives a vintage 70s Mercedes 200D, in immaculate condition.
A Dwight Yokoam-esque Christmas tree farm owner with a vintage Chevy Bel Air.
A classical music radio show host and amateur bluegrass musician with a wood-paneled station wagon.
A hot indie rocker chick with a 20s bob haircut who drives a battered, faded BMW 5-series sedan.
A long-haired rock guitarist who looks like a Tiger Beat teen idol from 1990 - he drives a white 1994 Mustang with black racing stripes, which is one of the lamer Mustang years but fits him perfectly because he’s not rough enough around the edges for a real muscle car.
A hipster rocker guy across the street from me who has a beat up white Volvo 240 with a Ghostbusters sticker on the side. Classic.
None of these people would be the same with any other kind of vehicle. Their rides just fit them perfectly. It’s no different than trying to pick the right kind of hat or coat to go with the rest of your outfit - it’s just a bigger investment (which is why I think people should care more about it.)
People see cars in movies and think “I could never have a car like that.” But you could. Why do the people who make movies give the characters certain kinds of cars? Think about it - there’s a reason. In the original Sideways novel, Paul Giamatti’s character drove a 4Runner. But in Alexander Payne’s movie, he drives a worn Saab 900. Obviously, that vehicle fits the character of a quirky, bohemian intellectual who has been around the block in his life better than a 4Runner would. The movie people know this, because they care about design, but others don’t think about it. When you’re a “character,” you ought to have a fitting vehicle. And I think everyone should try to be their own “character.”
I guess I just care more about design than most people. For some, a car is “to get from point A to point B.” For me, that’s like saying “my shirt is just to keep me from being naked.” If you don’t care about your clothes AND don’t care about your car, that’s fine - you’re just not one of the people that cares about aesthetics, and puts form over function, which is a perfectly fine mind-set to be in. But don’t be inconsistent about it. If you’re going to care about your clothes, and care about your aesthetics, why block out the subject of your vehicle? Why not try to make it all fit together?
Because coordinating a car is like coordinating a hammer, or a computer, or a kitchen knife? Really, I don’t spend a lot of brainspace on figuring out whether my tools fit my style. They’re there to use and then put away.
Hmmm. I guess my beat up ‘86 Chevy Cavalier sedan just ain’t doin’ it.
I am, however, considering painting it red and turning it into a lowrider 
Well, some people are strictly about function and efficiency. Some people are about wealth and power. There are even some people who will decorate everything they own. Each will attract different people to them.
If you portray an image of being a total bastard, you will soon find yourself surrounded by people who are attracted to total bastards.
Do you use a hammer every single day? Do you go outside of your house and see ten hammers driving down the road, then see a hundred more hammers in a parking lot, then get into a hammer and drive to work?
I just don’t get how people can not care about such a huge part of life. Cars are everywhere and if you’re like most people you will use one every day (there are exceptions of course - plenty of people bike or walk, which is cool, though cyclists typically care about their bike a great deal.)
A hammer, for most people, gets hauled out of a drawer maybe once a month, and put back after 10 minutes. It’s not comparable to a car. As for a computer, if I wore a computer on my person every day, I would certainly care how it looked.
Sorry about carjacking this thread, by the way.
I know a couple of people who care a huge amount about their shoes, the coordination of their shoes, the state of their shoes, how many shoes they have, and so on. They notice other people’s shoes, go OMG how could someone wear shoes like that with that, those shoes just don’t suit you dear, whatever. Going shoe shopping is something that they find appealing. They have multiple pairs of similar shoes so they can alternate them on various days to preserve the state of the shoe. Shoes are a whole big deal to them, and they notice them, and they think this is a big deal interaction.
Most everyone else I know figures shoes are for putting on so one doesn’t get stabby things stuck in the bottoms of one’s feet, and ‘Range of shoes available’ is mostly “I have my work boots”, “I have my normal shoes”, and “I have my nice shoes”. (Sometimes also “I have my gym shoes”.)
It’s the same sort of thing. Some things are going to be intensely important to some people, and other people will go “Whatever” about those same things. It’s no use expecting people to invest their time and energy in stuff they don’t consider important to prove that they’re interesting people. If one wants to make that a statement-about-self, one can take it as “I don’t find cars interesting” or “I don’t find shoes interesting” or whatever else, and decide whether there’s enough shared interest there to make a difference.
Self proclaimed Nice Guys who can’t “get women” (when what they really mean is that they “can’t” get all of the hot girls), and put all the blame on the women for not giving them what they want.
Nice, in the dictionary sense of the meaning is rather “boring”. It’s not a character trait or personality trait that one has, it’s merely something one does. Anyone can behave nicely. Even bastards, how do you think they trick the young’ns among us?
None of the attributes of “nice” have anything to do with what a person is. That is, what his character, traits, skills, morals, lifestyle, chemistry etc are.
When many Self Proclaimed Nice Guys whine and say "but I’m NIIIICE…why don’t I “get” the girls (as if we’re a prize to be handed out, rather than human beings with our own ideas of what we want), what they often mean by “nice” is how they ACT (little presents, poems, romantic gestures), rather than who they are.
And those actions, as someone else above mentioned, are often the whole “doormat, following you around with puppy dog eyes no matter what you do” thing. Or they consider that because they don’t beat women, or smoke, drink or swear, that they’re nice guys, and “deserve” to get the girl (again, as if we’ve no minds of our own and are awarded to the most “deserving” man).
I think many of the self proclaimed nice guys themselves mistake doormat for nice. And even someone acting in a truly “nice” way isn’t necessarily ONLY what most women want. We want a GOOD man, not merely someone who’s “nice” (see the definition above).
I read the Craigslist personals for entertainment sometimes, and I thought of this thread when I read this
It is titled “Nice Guys Finish Last” and ends with this:
That is truly a NiceGuyTM
oh, and I second what CanvasShoes said. waves Hi CanvasShoes, fancy meeting you in a thread on NiceGuysTM!
Argent_Towers, I’m with you whole-heartedly as far as the issue of cars augmenting the image that a person wishes to portray. All of the cars I have owned have not been more expensive than what my friends/peers were driving, just significantly more interesting.
My current vehicle? Scion xB with a license plate that means “Art is Life” in latin. It’s memorable, it’s a conversation starter, and it fits my needs perfectly. Aesthetically, there are many women that think my car is hideous, but that’s not what matters; the fact that I chose a vehicle that’s so far, aesthetically, from the norm, makes me a much more intriguing person.
But as I mentioned before, it helps that I’m a total bastard. 
Truth
Hitler had a girlfriend.
The meme MUST go back at least that far.
That is not what she said.
Nava offered an example of a workplace, where the management used the ability to give as good as you took in the verbal abuse department as a measuring stick for whether you were ballsy enough to handle their business; this because they were looking for someone who would take no shit when aimed at him/her personally, because that person would also take none on behalf of the company.
PERIOD, PARAGRAPH BREAK, NEW PARAGRAPH
THEN she said she wants a man in her life who can take care of and stand up for himself, for that would mean he will do so for her and their pets/children.
Nowhere in the post does she indicate that her standard of measurement of a mate’s ballsitude is going to be the same as the one used by the company.
Here’'s the original:
What measurement criterion/score she DOES use to gage if the man in her life is no doormat, she does not tell us. But she is NOT telling us it’s the ability to counter-insult.
… and BTW as the driver of a 1999 4-cylinder Automatic Toyota Camry, one of which I believe is kept under glass at the International Weights and Measures Institute as the “zero” rererence point for “automobile as mere appliance”, the sidetrack discussion is amusing to no end. I just look at my low insurance rates and smile 
. In my case, it’s a matter of having learned that in matters of style I should avoid attempts at “pizzaz” because I don’t do “pizzaz” well.
Besides, who needs style when once they have a glimpse of my intellectual brilliance, the chicks attack in a quest to secure my genes for their descendants
I can’t imagine anyone wanting to go out with someone who portrays themself in such a pathetic manner. A better ad would read:
“27, 6’2” and 280, just a big laid back spontaneous guy who’s honest, trustworthy, and respectful towards all. I enjoy all sorts of stuff: camping, fishing, crabbing, playing pool, movies, music, etc…occassional social drinker.
Looking for a woman age 24-35 [or be vague…women don’t like to think you’ve set an age cutoff] who’s intelligent, honest, trustworthy, respectful, sense of humor but no drama please. Also must love dogs."
No one cares about your sob story. Women want to date a busy, with-it, together guy who’s looking to bring that special someone into their life. The guy should be portraying himself like a big lovable bear of a guy, not some fat loner.
Well, dammit, I wish I’d heard this 15 years ago.