Makes it a lot easier to buy a new car.
Are you a VW fanboy? Buy a GTI or a Golf R, whatever you can afford.
Are you a Subaru fanboy? Buy a WRX, STI, or BR-Z
Are you a Chevy fanboy? Buy a Sonic RS, Camaro, or Corvette.
With some exceptions, the performance offerings of most brands don't overlap a lot in price, or if they do, its usually the top model of a cheaper car and the bottom model of a more expensive car, or they are a significantly different type of car (FWD turbo vs RWD V6/V8 for example).
I have no such attitude, and (as you may have guessed from some of my other threads), am looking for the "ideal" daily driver for myself in the $20-30K price range. If I was a brand fanboy, this would be so much easier. I have one car that is sort of in the lead right now, and am a bit afraid to actually do any more test driving, since that could muddy the waters further.
First world problems, I know.
Makes it a lot easier buying any car. I love many, many different brands/types of cars, and that makes it very difficult when it comes time to buy. I especially have this problem with classics. I'm starting to think I may be the kind of guy that should buy a car, keep it a little while, sell it, and buy something else, just so I can get a taste of all of them! But that's a lot of work.
I have done more buying and selling than I want, not so much due to a specific car not being right, but it not being right at the time. I think I've fixed that, by purchasing a minivan to do the utility work, my wife drives a midsize sedan that can be taken on long trips, and we have a dedicated rallycross car.
At this point, my DD just needs to be something to get me back and forth to work, that is fun to drive, and has the features I want. Hopefully whatever this is will end the automotive ADD for a while. This is why I'm agonizing over the decision, I'll be trying to keep this car 10 years, instead of 2.
The only thing I've let myself become a fanboi of is my wife. The rest, I'm playing the field, baby. Playing the field. Life is too short for salad every freaking night of the week.
Trouble is finding a family car that is interesting, fun, and pushes buttons. Latest desire is this though, paired with an Abarth or GTI for 'round town.
In reply to eastsidemav:
Thing you'll find if you haven't already, is not only do your needs change over time, but your idea of what is the best vehicle for a specific purpose probably will as well. So you're basically screwed, dude.
In reply to bravenrace:
Yeah, needs do change, I'm hoping the cars I have will match most of those changes, so I'm not after another car.
In reply to wae:
Well, I've been lucky (or just made the poor decision) to spend under $20K on any of my new cars in the past, which has limited my options (basic F150 w/tow, Miata w/no cruise control), etc. Now that my budget is higher, I am going more for what I want, not what the best deal is.
Which reminds me, the local Ford dealer has two 2013 Mustang GT Deluxes in Gotta Have It Green for under $27K right now. Scared to go test drive one...
Let me make this simple for you.
You probably have a large collection of wheels. What car would they fit?
In reply to Knurled:
A FWD Mopar, a small fwd GM car, or a Suby with small brakes... Yeah, pretty much 5X100 14" and 15" wheels. Not much new on the market that those would fit that I'd actually want...
