There is a lot of feelings involved when buying a car, what brand it should be, what type and engine, and sometimes it can even lead to arguments with friends and families.

This is exactly what happened to me and my wife when we bought our present car. We have a Vauxhall Astra station wagon 1999, it's a cheap car with is excellent for our use. But there was a lot of arguing from my parents-in-law when we talked about getting a new car. The whole family drive expensive Volvo's (I mean literally all of them, My father in law has a V70 station wagon, my mother in law a 850 station wagon and my brother in law a 850 saloon), and they have always driven Volvo's. My father in law argued strongly for us buying a Volvo, even tho it would mean us buying a 5 year older car with much higher millage than the car we eventually got. His arguments where that Volvo's never had to go to the workshop because they where so well built. In retro perspective it is quite funny that all three of my in-laws cars have broken down several times, and been to the workshop for thousands of dollars, while our car has just needed regular services .

A good friend of mine is on the lookout for a new car at the moment, and he has some special demands. It can not be a car that has a reputation for being cheap, it has to have at least 140 horsepowers so he can take of really fast, and preferably it has to be a Audi. We are trying to tell him that he don't need a car like that. He needs a station wagon for the baby carriage, and that i anyhow cant drive fast when the baby arrives. We know it's a lost case, but we just have to try and argue reason with him.

I have learned that choosing a car involves a lot of feelings for many people, and the preferences is often transfered from fathers to sons. Arguing about cars is quite similar to arguing about politics or religion, everybody has their own opinion, and everybody believes what they think is the only correct thing to believe. Luckily neither me or my wife has such prejudice, but we cant help feeling that we are missing something compared to our friends and family..

Learn more about this author, Fredric Arlendi.
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