Auto ego: What your car says about your personality
By Dan Vierria - dvierria@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Monday, November 5, 2007
Honk if Corvettes arouse visions of puka shells and baby boomers. Flash the brights if Firebirds and mullets are your idea of automotive soul mates, or if MBAs and BMWs seem to fuse like gin and tonic.
Buying a car embodies more than kicking tires and new-car smell. Our cars, according to psychologists, automotive industry experts and research, are extensions of our personalities, plastic and metal vehicles of self-expression.
It's the "we are what we drive" theory.
So, just who the heck are we?
"The Hummer screams the need for power and control and domination over all others," says consumer psychologist Charles Kenny of the research firm The Right Brain People in Cordova, Tenn.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger loves the Hummer. It's Kenny's opinion, based on Democratic presidential hopeful and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's personality, that Clinton would "love to drive" one.
"If there is a boss car on the road, the best one to fulfill the need for power is the Hummer," Kenny says. "It fits her to a T."
Doug Brauner, of ESPN's "Autotrader.com DRIVE" and owner of Car Czar auto-repair centers in Citrus Heights and Sacramento, differs in his assessment of Hummer owners.
"Overcompensating, you lack a certain amount of self-esteem in certain areas," he says of those who buy Hummers. "I don't want to begrudge our governor, but there's an empty card in your soul if you drive these things."
Earl Sinclair, a sales associate at Roseville Toyota, has a more "average Joe" take on who buys what.
• Hummer: "Safety, and it says someone has the money to afford one. But safety is a major factor."
• Chevrolet Corvette: "It says, 'I'm 52 and an appearance buyer.' They want to be seen and heard."
• Toyota Prius: "Younger people, between 20 and 40. It seems to be a combination of saving the environment and saving money."
Whether it's a stripped-down model like what Fred Flintstone "drove" or a fire-breather from "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," Americans are prone to have close, personal relationships with their cars.
An AP-AOL Autos poll conducted earlier this year indicated four of five people felt they could tell "a little" to "a lot" about a driver's personality from the car he or she drove.
The same study also revealed that 37 percent believe their car has a unique personality. Ask yourself, "Is my Honda Civic more homeless advocate or ax murderer?"
And, 21 percent name their cars. No, not Borat, Oprah or Britney, but Betsy, Blue and Baby. Old Blue is also popular.
Kenny and his company, The Right Brain People, include automotive makes Mercury, Nissan, Jeep, Chrysler, Buick, Pontiac and Lincoln among clients. He's also done extensive research on the Corvette brand.
According to Kenny, the right side of the brain commands emotion and creativity, which influence what we buy. His company's specialty is helping company's understand the "emotional factors that drive consumer decisions."
People express their identity through their cars, just like they do with jewelry purchases, he says.
Kenny's findings indicate that liberal Democrats are drawn to Volvos and Saabs, while conservative Republicans prefer Buicks and Cadillacs.
Green types tend to buy hybrids, like the Prius, and macho men are partial to Chevy Camaros, Pontiac Firebirds and "certain (Ford) Mustangs."
Nerds, loosely defined as those with college degrees and who collect Star Wars action figures, also are partial to modern hybrids but have difficulty passing up classics like AMC Gremlins, Ford Pintos and Yugos on eBay.
Yugos are among Kenny's all-time "nerdmobiles." Nerds and thrifty types find them endearing. The Yugo's image of being perhaps the worst car ever sold on U.S. soil has inspired jokes like "How do you make a Yugo go faster downhill? Turn off the engine." And, "What do you call a Yugo at the top of a hill? A miracle."
Of course, all personality traits associated with car purchases are open to interpretation. Sam Walton, the late founder of Wal-Mart, drove an old Ford F-150 pickup to work, and billionaire investor Warren Buffet has a 2001 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series with the license plate "THRIFTY." Who can figure the super rich?
Sinclair, the Roseville Toyota sales associate, drives a Toyota Avalon, which says his personality exudes "practicality and nurturance," according to The Right Brain People.
Kenny drives a Dodge Grand Caravan minivan, which he says signifies "nurturance and escape." He adds that it suits his life
"If money were no object, I'd have the big BMW 750," he concedes. "I test-drove one a few years ago and, from the standpoint of driving experience, it was the most exciting vehicle."
Owners of luxury BMW models are into to "status and control," according to Kenny's company research.
Now, let's say you're interested in dating somebody at the office, but would prefer knowing more about their personality. Check out the color of their BMW. Yup, we also subconsciously reveal much about ourselves by our car's color.
Leatrice Eiseman, color expert and author of several books on the matter, including "Color Answer Book" (Capital Books, $20, 176 pages), used DuPont Automotive's rankings of the most popular car colors in North America to interpret personality traits.
For instance, vibrant red says "sexy" and "dynamic" and black screams "empowered" and "not easily manipulated." Choose yellow-gold and you're "intelligent, warm, love comfort and will pay for it." Another shade of yellow, like sunshine yellow, discloses a person who has a "sunny disposition" and is "joyful and young at heart."
Even our auto housekeeping habits are tip-offs. Trash the interior of your car or wash it once a year? Kenny says you're "a disorganized slob who procrastinates." You'll let the "battery and tires wear out completely before replacing them."
Adds Brauner, "I've always said cars look like the person driving them."
Honk if you agree.
