# When is a car more than a car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 27, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650 "2014-10-27T15:12:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/1 "2014-10-27T15:12:30Z")
There are cars, then there are brands that are a “thing” above and beyond just being a car. I don’t know if I can explain it any better than just with examples. If a guy arrives in a Toyota Corolla, he just “drove his car to pick her up.” But if it’s a Cadillac “he pulled up in a Cadillac.” He owns a Porsche. He doesn’t own a Hyundai… that’s “a car”. A Honda Civic or Mazda 626 isn’t involved in an accident. Those are car accidents. But that “car” may have been hit by a Hummer, a Mustang or a Mercedes. I guess you could argue it’s rarity and price that make a brand more than just _a car_. But does that always hold up? A Ford F150 isn’t any more rare or expensive than “a pickup truck”. But a Ford F150 is a Ford F150, and a pickup is a pickup. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/2 "2014-10-27T15:39:07Z")
When it’s distinguished from others by some unique characteristic, even if that distinction is largely driven by marketing. A sedan is a sedan is a coupe is a truck is a car - if the average person can’t discern anything special about it, it hardly matters whether it’s a Buick or a Nissan or a Corolla or even a Lexus. If it’s striking-looking, or has a a storied model badge or make, it’s different… even when it ain’t. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/3 "2014-10-27T15:46:45Z")
If you live in your car, then it’s more than a car, it’s your home. Seriously, brand value perceptions only hold true to those that believe in them. There are plenty of people that drive a Lexus or a Mercedes, and it is only a car. But for others the brand is worth much more. The same holds true of other products as well, especially in fashion. One could argue the same for home values in certain neighborhoods, cities, etc. This phenomena is not exclusive to automobiles. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/4 "2014-10-27T16:03:52Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > If you live in your car, then it’s more than a car, it’s your home. > > Seriously, brand value perceptions only hold true to those that believe in them. There are plenty of people that drive a Lexus or a Mercedes, and it is only a car. But for others the brand is worth much more. The same holds true of other products as well, especially in fashion. One could argue the same for home values in certain neighborhoods, cities, etc. This phenomena is not exclusive to automobiles. I would argue that it is the drivers/owners of those prestige brands that make up the majority of the group that believes their brand is more than just a car. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/5 "2014-10-27T17:02:45Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > If you live in your car, then it’s more than a car, it’s your home. > > Seriously, brand value perceptions only hold true to those that believe in them. There are plenty of people that drive a Lexus or a Mercedes, and it is only a car. But for others the brand is worth much more. The same holds true of other products as well, especially in fashion. One could argue the same for home values in certain neighborhoods, cities, etc. This phenomena is not exclusive to automobiles. But the VW Beetle wasn’t “a car”. The VW Golf was. Distinctiveness does have to play some part in it. Distinctiveness in body. The Chrysler PT Cruisers didn’t have especially good reputations, but they had a unique look. And if you had a PT Cruiser you had a PT Cruiser. But a Chrysler Concorde was a car. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/6 "2014-10-27T17:24:36Z")
A car is more than just a car when the specifics of the vehicle are incongruous with an anticipated “average”–when the specifics of the car somehow add something relevant to the situation. Rowan Atkinson could “pull up” to a red carpet event in my 1987 Subaru Hatchback and probably make headlines (even if he didn’t run it into anything) because it’s an unusual car for that sort of event, and especially that person. There would be buzz: why was he driving _that_? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/7 "2014-10-27T18:23:51Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > A car is more than just a car when the specifics of the vehicle are incongruous with an anticipated “average”–when the specifics of the car somehow add something relevant to the situation. Rowan Atkinson could “pull up” to a red carpet event in my 1987 Subaru Hatchback and probably make headlines (even if he didn’t run it into anything) because it’s an unusual car for that sort of event, and especially that person. There would be buzz: why was he driving _that_? Yeah, but only if you already know what kind of car enthusiast Rowan Atkinson is, IRL. Otherwise, it’s that funny little Mr. Bean pulling up to a red carpet in a shitbox - How quaint! ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/8 "2014-10-27T19:03:26Z")
When the back hatch blows open and your stuff goes flying down the Interstate and you’re hanging on and screaming at your dad to stop and he nearly causes a wreck trying to stop—oh, that’s not what you meant. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/9 "2014-10-27T19:44:53Z")
It’s mostly just marketing. Companies like Honda and Toyota and Hyundai have to spend just as much convincing people that their offerings are “just cars” (and thus what sensible people who only want to get from point A to B and could care less drive) as Mercedes or Cadillac spend convincing other people that their cars are something special. Heck, Honda even had a campaign for the Fit with the tagline “it’s a car!” ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/10 "2014-10-27T21:52:25Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Otherwise, it’s that funny little Mr. Bean pulling up to a red carpet in a shitbox - How quaint! Hey, Edmund Blackadder was a total badass! > [@GreasyJack](#): > > Honda even had a campaign for the Fit with the tagline “it’s a car!” I seem to recall when Hyundai first got to America that was pretty much their marketing strategy. “You want options? Ok, the more expensive trim package comes with a painted bumper. Now pick a color, gimme $5,000 and get off my lot.” But even pulling up in one of those would make a statement. As it would if you could get a Yugo to pull up anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/11 "2014-10-27T22:08:22Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > I would argue that it is the drivers/owners of those prestige brands that make up the majority of the group that believes their brand is more than just a car. For someone who is into cars, there is a big difference. For instance, Toyota Camrys and Hyundai Sonatas lack personalities. They are very good basic transportation, albeit uninspiring to drive. Mom’s love them, dad’s love their economy, but a real car person would rather not take one on a road trip. If you were to drive an Infiniti G37 for instance, you’d feel a car with a personality. Same with a BMW and many more I could name. The car speaks to you in the form of feedback while driving. It’s honestly not imagined, it’s real, and the better driver you are the more you appreciate the feedback. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/12 "2014-10-28T15:29:12Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Hey, Edmund Blackadder was a total badass! > I seem to recall when Hyundai first got to America that was pretty much their marketing strategy. “You want options? Ok, the more expensive trim package comes with a painted bumper. Now pick a color, gimme $5,000 and get off my lot.” But even pulling up in one of those would make a statement. As it would if you could get a Yugo to pull up anywhere. At least a Yugo was a Yugo. For that matter, a Gremlin was a Gremlin. But a Chevy Caprice or Cavalier is a car. I wonder if this is more pronounced in North America? An Escalade doesn’t seem like a London site (do they even have them?) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/13 "2014-10-28T15:52:42Z")
I think the auto industry in India are still making things that are “just a car”. But “just a car” means something very different to someone who wants to drive at Interstate speeds all day, and someone who wants to go to the salon to get her hair done, and someone who wants to drive five neighborhood kids to an out of town soccer game. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/14 "2014-10-28T15:58:36Z")
Very few “cars” from Italy. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/15 "2014-10-28T16:01:37Z")
Its more than just a car when the two of you together have more fun than either of you with another would. When a car can become an extension of your hand and you can become an integral control mechanism for it… then to you… its more than just a car. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/16 "2014-10-28T16:52:03Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > At least a Yugo was a Yugo. For that matter, a Gremlin was a Gremlin. But a Chevy Caprice or Cavalier is a car. > [@](#): > > Well, Art is Art, isn’t it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know. – Groucho Marx All cars are just cars to most people. Most folks couldn’t tell the difference between any of the cars you mentioned except the one they own. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-car-more-than-a-car/702650/17 "2014-10-30T01:28:39Z")
When my dad got a Rolls, his friend called it “the Cadillac of cars.”