For nearly thirty years I have sold cars, and during that time I have been amazed at what a car purchase can do for a person ego and personality. Some people are very pragmatic when purchasing a car and get what they "need", while other purchase what makes them feel good. Over the years I have taken pictures of many of the people that I have sold. I let customers look at the photo albums while they wait to get into the business office, or wait for their new purchase to be cleaned up. I have come to expect comments like, "He must have just gotten a divorce" or "That must be the first car she purchased" or "What were they thinking?" I am always amused that they can tell so much about the purchaser just by looking at the pictures.

I love to look back at the broad smiles and the sense of pride that you can see in the pictures. When a father purchases his child's first car a sense of pride jumps right off the picture. That first car you purchase for your child says a lot about you as a parent. Parents who are fearful of not being seen as the "cool" parent buy sports cars. I have sold many sports cars for sixteen year olds and within weeks they are back to purchase again because the car had too much power for a new driver. The parent that is really afraid of not looking "cool" buys another sports car. I personally love the parent that buys a sensible used car and makes the child pay part. That picture is worth a "thousand words". It says I care enough about you to make you a responsible person. The sixteen year old that has just gotten the sports car purchased by the "cool" parent is very happy, but you don't see the sense of pride that you do with the ones where the parent makes the child help pay for the car.

Contrary to what most people think, not all middle aged divorced men that buy sports cars do so because they are on the prowl again. Some buy them to "tune up" their hurt ego over not being able to hold their marriage together. You know what they say about barbers, beauticians and bartenders? They should add car salespeople to that list because I have listened to more personal information that I care to remember. I can tell what car they are going to buy just from listening to the story of their recent breakup. I have heard men complain about their wives making them purchase a family van even though it was a practical way to haul around their four children. That guy is going to buy either a sports car or a sporty truck.

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