What is one thing that almost all teenagers want to have when they turn 16, something that shows their growing independence and freedom from their parents? A car with their brand-new driver’s license.
Many teens fantasize over what kind of car they could have. Some people would like to have a big truck that owns the road. Others love the speed, sleekness and danger of high horse-powered sports cars. But in reality, we all have to face the fact that some of those cars are just that. Fantasies. Really expensive fantasies.
From Jan. 28-Feb. 6, the Walter E. Washington Convention center hosted the 2011 Washington Auto Show, where 42 different automakers, both foreign and domestic, displayed their latest and greatest models. Some companies offered small test drives of their cars, while others held other gimmicks like presentations and giveaways.
The show was an experience. The show halls alone were jaw-dropping. As I walked down the main aisle, I marveled at how many people and cars were there.
Imagine a football field covered in people and automobiles, now multiply that by three, and then one could understand the size of the show’s halls. Plus, there were two of them, one for domestic and one for foreign.
One of the greatest things about each exhibit was that the automakers let the spectators sit in the cars and open the hoods. Around the luxury cars like the BMWs and the Chevrolet Corvettes, lines of 5 to 10 people waited just to sit in the driver’s seats for about a minute. And looking under the hood of a Jaguar XKR and seeing what gives it 510 horsepower was pretty cool.
I was amazed by the masses of flashy cars, but there were some lessons I learned from the auto show that did not sink in until after I left the convention show and my expectations for future cars came back down to earth.
Having plans to own a brand-new luxurious ride is a good goal, but it’s a tall order as well. Next to every car on a podium or in the side windows was a large piece of paper that had all the cars speculations, option and one other major detail: the price.
People love to look at top models of Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, Lexus, Acura and other famous brands, but it is your wallet that will be hurting if you really can not afford the car.
Also, I learned that before anyone should by a car, they should really look into it more than just test driving and reading reviews, and that starts with the actual presentation of the car. Ford Mustangs are classic sports cars and many people enjoy American muscle, but when the Mustangs in the exhibit have wires sticking out and broken appliances in the interior of the car, many people will be deterred from actually buying the car. While some of these miscues might have been for protecting the car or its appliances from being stolen, they still reflected poorly on the company.
The biggest lesson I learned from the show was that I should plan for what car I can purchase in the future, within a reasonable price range. While each exhibit had lights and TVs hanging around their prized possessions, off to the side one could find their lower class cars. Some of these cars may have lower performance than sports cars, but I found interesting things in them. Many lower class models had good specs and reasonable prices.
Take the Honda CR-Z for example. It’s not as big or as fast as a BMW Z4, but it is a sports-hybrid with a good gas mileage and a very reasonable price somewhere in the ballpark of $23,000, which is a much better deal than a car that will sell for $50,000.
As I sat in my dad’s car on the way home from the show, many of these thoughts raced through my head. In the future, I would love to be a big roller driving around in shiny sports car, but for now, it will be good to keep my expectations not so stratospheric.
Who do you think will win the Super Bowl?
Total Voters: 198
Loading ...