[avryhof]

I just drive an old beater. Sure-fire deterrent to theft, and even having things stolen out of it.

It runs great, and I can fix it myself.

A vehicle is a way for me and my family to get from point A to point B.... I don't use it as a status symbol.

[larkeith]

Heck, in most of the US just driving a manual will stop 95% of thieves.

[jhpankow]

anecdata: years ago i lived in a shady neighborhood for 5 years to save money, never washed my car. girlfriend moves in and washes my car making it look almost new. stolen within 3 months.

[closeparen]

Not true. Old and popular cars with healthy demand for parts, like 90s Civics, are the most frequently stolen. (The model years just before electronic immobilizers are most at risk).

[sbinthree]

In these parts, doing things for practical reasons is itself a status symbol. It would be more contrarian to say you own the most expensive car you can lease to get attention.

[chrisper]

So you just claim that everyone who prefers a nice ride and newer technological assistants etc is using their car for status symbol.

I bet you also use only sandals to get from A to B? Because proper shoes would be a status symbol and no one wants to steal sandals.

I am sorry but newer cars beat old ones in many points. Sure there is a point after your car becomes a status symbol, but being an old beater is not that point.

[m0nty]

> So you just claim that everyone who prefers a nice ride and newer technological assistants etc is using their car for status symbol

Where does avryhof make that claim?

[chrisper]

This pretty much implies that anyone that doesn't "just" use their car to get from A to B is using it as a status symbol (in his view at least):

> A vehicle is a way for me and my family to get from point A to point B.... I don't use it as a status symbol.

[m0nty]

> This pretty much implies

Well, according to you. I didn't read it that way at all.

avryhof drives a beater car, but the loss of status that might imply doesn't mean much to them because it's just a way of getting from A to B. That doesn't remotely say that everyone else uses their car as a status symbol, just that driving a beater often implies low status or poverty.

I drive a beater car -> I don't mind that it's not very prestigious -> It's just transport.