Are You Judged by What You Drive?

Doctors often drive fancy cars, don’t they? Are we judged by the type of vehicle we drive? Our family recently purchased a Honda Pilot SUV and we love it! It’s a great vehicle that has an excellent reliability rating, superb gas mileage, and a roomy interior (compared to other full-size SUVs). I particularly like the nice 3rd row that folds down completely. You can actually seat 3 people back there and their knees won’t be up against their chest (unless they’re over 6 feet tall). I was also looking at the Toyota Highlander. For us, the critical factors were to have a vehicle that is safe, reliable, roomy, and relatively fuel-efficient. The all-wheel-drive feature found on our Pilot is great for winter and off-roading (we did a bit of that over the weekend when we went camping and hiking). I still love the outdoors and that’s probably why our other car is a Subaru.

When it comes to cars, I tend to be a very practical guy. I could drive a Honda Civic if I didn't need the cargo space of an SUV. I used to drive an Infiniti, but that’s because the car was handed down to me from family members. Maybe someday I’ll want to drive a Mercedes, a BMW M5, or a Lexus. I hope I never have a mid-life crisis that causes me to go out there and purchase a Corvette or Ferarri. I think my wife would kill me if I did that. At this point in my life (as a family guy), I’d rather save my money and use it towards gadgets and vacations. I love gadgets and my wife loves vacations. Neither one of us love luxury cars, so we can save there and budget accordingly.

So what type of car do you drive? If you currently drive a luxury car, could you go back and drive a non-luxury car? Are you trying to keep up with the Jones family or do you make practical decisions when it comes to cars? If you’re a physician, do you feel like you have to drive a “luxury” car to show others that you’re a successful doctor?