Car and career question

So does the quality of the car you drive daily effect the improvement of your career?

I read an article a few years ago about the worlds richest people and their cars. Theses are the ones that I remember; Bill Gates: owns a 959 but daily drives a plain old early 90s 911 cabriolet. Paul Allen: daily drives a mazda pick-up. Warren Buffet: daily drives a lincoln town car. The guy who owns IKEA: owns an 80s volvo wagon, but frequently uses the train/bus. Also I've read at some point that the vehicle owned most frequently by millionares are F-series pick-ups.

Depends on what you do. When I work out in the field on sites I drove a nice pickup. It fit the environment an went with the flow. My current office is Bentlys, 750's, S500's all brand new for the top 10%. I picked up a 3 series to be at least in the brand. People like to be around people who are like them, dress sharp, drive a clean car (doesn't need to be new).

I have worked in other environments where it was different, but I know I am not a genius, but have a good track record of moving up fast. Remember, as much as you want it too, high school BS never goes completely away and birds of a feather as so forth and so forth. Pick your feather and adjust accordingly.

I wonder how many of those millionaires drive company-owned vehicles, though.

Depends on your career.

My career will be in mechanical engineering.

93EXCivic wrote: My career will be in mechanical engineering.

so a maserati Bi-Turbo is out then

I just know that prospective engineers (read: students) really have a thing for sport bikes. Through extrapolation they must get superbikes once they land the job.

MitchellC wrote: I just know that prospective engineers (read: students) really have a thing for sport bikes. Through extrapolation they must get superbikes once they land the job.

An old two stroke is close to a superbike right?

Drive whatever the heck you want and make up for it with brains, personality and hard work.

Engineers always get a free pass from me,anyway. You guys are born odd. Someday I'll post up some pics of the mid engined turbo diesel A4 I have caged for an engineer.

It depends. At one time, my grandfather went on sales calls and owned his own company. He drove Buicks: American, quality, it shows that you like a nice car, but it isn't a Cadillac (even though he could have had one). After a while, he got the Cadillac because he was in his 50's-60's and could pull it off. Always American though.

My dad was always in company cars (problem solved) for the first few years of his career. After that he was in respectable cars: Caprice, T-Bird, Mercedes, Crown Vic, SAAB, BMW... But now he too has gotten to the point that he just doesn't care. His next car will probably be the Toybaru.

When I come into my career, I think that the Miata will be nice enough to play the part (10 AE with tasteful mods), but I will probably get something rather bland (or at least more practical in case I have to take people to lunch) as well.

There is also something to be said for uniqueness. I drove the Miata to an interview once. I was 15 minutes early, and a guy stopped me in the parking lot to talk about it. Turns out he was the boss of the guy interviewing me. Turned out to be a lousy opportunity, but the interview went beyond my expectations, probably because of that.

Streetwiseguy wrote: Drive whatever the heck you want and make up for it with brains, personality and hard work. Engineers always get a free pass from me,anyway. You guys are born odd. Someday I'll post up some pics of the mid engined turbo diesel A4 I have caged for an engineer.

I am so odd I am on this board.

Speaking of odd, I'm aiming at being an archaeologist/professor. I got this one prof who is a vegetarian and drives a Prius, and another who eats as much meat as possible and drives an old volvo with its fair share of junkyard parts (and he loves my old van.) Also back in college a prof owned a Jensen Healey and a WRX in full WRC livery, so i'm guessing my options are wide open. OTOH, archaeologists almost seem required to have a beard and act a bit odd or high on crack at all times, so that'll be fun.

Make sure it is clean and somewhat respectable. People you work with will judge you based on the car you drive. How much that affects you depends on the company culture. Needless to say, I have no plans of returning to my old job when I get home. When I went from my clean 85 RX7 to an RX8, everyone in general started being nicer and more respectful towards me. Clerks at gas stations, drive-thru's, and people at work. I was kind of disappointed, but I guess people are shallow.

rotard wrote: Make sure it is clean and somewhat respectable. People you work with will judge you based on the car you drive. How much that affects you depends on the company culture. Needless to say, I have no plans of returning to my old job when I get home. When I went from my clean 85 RX7 to an RX8, everyone in general started being nicer and more respectful towards me. Clerks at gas stations, drive-thru's, and people at work. I was kind of disappointed, but I guess people are shallow.

It is funny how certain cars have aged. A wonderfully clean E30 convertible gets nothing but respect from everyone; while the RX7 did not.

Don't get me wrong, the FB got a lot of respect from "car" people. I also had a lot of people talk about how they had one when they were younger, etc. The RX8 just looks a lot more expensive and faster than it really is.

rotard wrote: Don't get me wrong, the FB got a lot of respect from "car" people. I also had a lot of people talk about how they had one when they were younger, etc. The RX8 just looks a lot more expensive and faster than it really is.

I know what you're saying. My point is that the E30 vert and the RX7 are about equally as nice, the RX7 probably moreso. But the E30 has two roundels on it, and immediately people are swooning.

I'm a mechanical engineer, and I know a bunch of them. We are all practical cheap skates that drive the cheapest cars we can find. Cheapest meaning not only that they cost little, but cost little to own and maintain. And we all have never moved up to management....

I showed up to my last job interview driving this.

I got the job, got offered more pay than what I was asking, and am still employed over 5 years later. I dont think they cared what car I was/am driving.

Im a surveyor in training. Drafting all day. I have the luxury of being borderline blue-collar on a daily basis, jeans and a hat every day. A nice shirt every now and then. Hasnt effected my advancement in the least (yet), busting my ass and getting E36 M3 done and learning more is what they want out of me.

bravenrace wrote: I'm a mechanical engineer, and I know a bunch of them. We are all practical cheap skates that drive the cheapest cars we can find. Cheapest meaning not only that they cost little, but cost little to own and maintain. And we all have never moved up to management....

+1.

Knowing you, civic, if you buy what you LIKE, and drive it to work, you'll be ahead of most other fellow engineers.

I'm constantly shocked the quality of garbage that is out in our lots. And I work for a car company.

don't get me wrong, there are nice cars out there, but I knew of a few supervisors who had horrific cars. And the guy with the 1981 Escort diesel???

Don't worry about it. Being that you are here, one of your first significant purchases will be a car that you personally like a lot. And you will take care of it. You'll be perfectly fine.

As long as your car isn't in such bad shape that it breaks down/prevents you from getting to work, no one will really care. (At least in my 3 jobs since college, State Farm, Mercury Marine and now L3)

Except if you drive a stinky '84 Corolla, then no one will want to ride to lunch with you.

But you'll bring your lunch to work and save the money anyway, right?

I'm a Mechanical Engineer. Just do what I am doing: get a different used car every two years that is nothing like the last vehicle you owned. That way they can't peg you as a 'bmw snob' or 'cheap skate in the metro'; and its fun getting a different vehicle every other day!

Me: '98 Cherokee -> '00 Audi A6 Bi-turbo->'77 Capri (never left the garage)->'06 F150->'91 Miata

I still have the last two and the capri was a second or third vehicle before it was sold. Also everyone in the office knows about my love affair with the Lotus Seven and my screen saver and desktop photos reinforces that idea.

Just like someone else here has said, engineers are weird people. It's like a free pass...

93EXCivic wrote: So does the quality of the car you drive daily effect the improvement of your career?

If the car has reliability issues yes.

If you can't get to work on time on a regular basis because the car has chronic morning sickness, it won't do your career any favors.

I think jobs in general notice cars more than you think.... case in point-

I used to DD my ms3 to work. It's clean, couple stickers supporting my club and GRM, nothing to flashy on the wheels (though they are wide for the car) appropriate rubber, nothing that really sticks out. I bought el dirtbago Taurus and people thought I had sold the ms3 because I had hit the skids or something. Nope- just figure if I'm gonna slave away in traffic, might as well put the wear and tear on a throwaway car.

The reason I ask is I don't really want to sell my Civic especially because it is the only reliable car I really want.