My Big Silver Car: Coloring in the Emotional Side of Car Ownership

For those of us without trust funds, the first car we drive is usually not one we would have intentionally chosen for ourselves. How well the auto is marketed is definitely not a factor.

When I got my driver’s license, my parents owned two cars. One was a brown Ford station wagon, which my mom drove. Dad had the “sportier” of our two vehicles, a blue Mercury Monarch.

The Monarch was a fine car, except for the fact that it only had an AM radio. All summer long, my boom box and a stack of tapes took up residence in the back seat, since my teenage ears much preferred David Bowie to talk radio.

The first car that I myself owned was a red Chevette, which my parents bought for me as bribe to convince me to stay in college. (It worked.) I can’t say how much my dad was influenced by marketing in this purchasing decision. He liked it because it was reliable and inexpensive. The only say I had in the matter was the color.

I drove that car for 10 years, finally relinquishing it to a younger cousin when I moved to New York in the early 1990s. My husband and I decided that we only needed one car when living in the big city, and that we would keep his because it had more cargo space. It was my mom’s old brown station wagon, which she sold had sold to him a year earlier.

When we acquired our next “new” car a few years later, marketing still wasn’t a factor. Mom wanted to buy a new car, so she talked us into buying her Mercury (I forget the model). The choice wasn’t great on Mom’s new car lot, but she offered excellent financing terms.

We finally delved into the world of new car shopping about five years later, when the Mercury died an unceremonious death on the way home from a party late one Sunday night.

What would we buy? We had no clue. Neither my husband nor I are particularly “car people.” I nod appreciatively when someone goes into detail about their ride, but for the most part, I have no idea what they’re talking about. For me, the major concern is that the car will get me where I need to go. And if I can pick out the color myself, great.

We both liked the look of the Nissan Maxima, and that headed to the top of our list. We also considered a Toyota Corolla on the advice of friends, and decided to go out for a test drive at a nearby dealership, which was one of the largest in the area.

A salesman greeted us warmly at the door and said no problem, that we could take a test drive any minute. We waited and waited. And waited.

Because of the previous day’s snow storm, the garage where the car was stored was a bit blocked in, but the car would be ready any minute. Fine. So we waited some more.

After nearly two hours, the salesman finally took us out to the car we can test drive—and informed us that we could not take it beyond a three block radius of the dealership, nor could we take it into traffic. How, we asked, were we supposed to see it perform?

The salesman stammered, the husband and I fumed, and we left, vowing never, ever to buy anything from any of this dealers’ many businesses.

The next weekend, we went to another Toyota dealership. There, the salesmen bent over backwards to help us—I think they would have let us take the car to Mexico if it would have closed the sale. But at this point, our hearts were set on the Maxima, so we went with Nissan.

A few years later, as we awaited the birth of our second child, we knew we had to bite the bullet and buy a second car. The choice seemed obvious. We wanted safety and we wanted size, so we wanted a Volvo.

Sure, they may have a history of being boxy. But Volvo also has a history of knowing how to market to families. The dealership, for example, had a playroom where my oldest son could burn off some energy and I could sit my enormous pregnant body down for a rest.

I desperately want a red wagon, not only because I love the color but because I know my Wiggles-loving son Jacob would be amused if we owned a “Big Red Car.” Ultimately we choose a silver one — with built-in booster seats— since it was in stock.

We’re not currently in the market for a new car, but I’m sure eventually we’ll be on that road. Both Nissan and Volvo have done a bit of relationship marketing to our family, although I have to say the latter has made its efforts more personalized.

I just want the next one to be red, okay?