Mike_TX

i think you're right. As are Holographique and fsmith. LOL.

What I'm saying is that there are several kinds of buyers out there. Indeed there are the "engineering/technology" buyers who admire the sheer engineering aspects of a design or process. I know a guy who has bought two Priuses because he thinks the whole engineering integration of gasoline and electric power is cool. He doesn't need to save the money on gas - he could buy a gas station tomorrow if he wanted to. But I think these kinds of buyers are the minority.

But I also think Holographic is correct in that the majority of people like a car because it "looks good", or "drives well", or "gets good gas mileage", or "is a good buy", etc., and they couldn't really care less about how it got to be that way (i. e., the underlying technology and engineering).

I'm completely convinced that the Average Joe (as opposed to car nuts, aficionados, and enthusiasts) buys a car because he can get good financing on it, it looks good, it drives okay, his buddy/uncle/dad always bought that same brand, he likes the color, his wife likes the shape of the tail lights, and all the family including the dog fits in it.

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Malibu Flyer

I want to add a slightly different perspective. First I want to bring up the Apple reference from a different angle. More than the look and feel of Apple products, for me it is the way they just work. Yes they have a great look but it is the way they make the technology just work.

While I agree that some people are swayed to purchase on the aesthetics, there are many people to whom the way the car drives is more important. I'm one of those people and I don't think I am alone. While I also want to know about the technology that produces the "feel" of the drive, that is not everyone. However, even if someone doesn't know or care why the car drives like it does, they decide which car to buy from how it drives. It doesn't have to drive like a sports car, some people like a cushy drive but they know what they like to drive and that is one of the biggest movitating factors for a purchase.

Just an ancodotel example was what happened today when I took my wife car shopping today. We tests drove the Lexus CT and an Audi A-3. While she thought the Lexus was cute and has wanted to drive it for some time, she thought the ride was "OK". When she drove the Audi she had the opposite opinion-- she thought the appearance was plain but really loved the way the car drove. She has no interest in what produces the ride but had a smile on her face the whole test ride. We are still looking but I'll be surprised if she give the Lexus another thought, even though she really likes the idea of the saving the environment by having a hybrid. When the local dealer gets their ILXs in she will drive it but I doubt she will enjoy it as much as the Audi.

KeithL

The newer Audi standard Quattro does better than the old, they use the ABS to emulate torque vectoring by braking the slipping wheels allowing traction to the others. In the end I would love full time torque vectoring AWD.

KeithL

Have to agree. I have a love hate relationship with Apple. Their focus is on the user experience not the tech. That is what hurt Android for long time, their focus was on the tech not the user experience. The average person does not care about the nuts and bolts, bits and bytes, they care about does the device (car) do what they want it to do and do it easily with a good user experience. It is use technophiles and auto enthusiasts that have most of the complaints because we are more deeply involved.

wstr75

I agree and think you are onto to something here with your comments. My take is our 100,000 year old brains are in overload and the overload is getting worse as technology and social networking takes increasingly more of our mental capacity. I have used Apple products since 1986 when my original purchase of a Mac Plus was made because I could do engineering 2D drawings using MacDraw and also make literature, Excel documents, etc. and could not do the same at that time (for the same money) on a MS-DOS system. I and many others like me, increasingly chose products that elegantly simplify my interactions with the world and communications with other persons. The same applies to my view of automobiles. My RLX's adaptive cruise control is an example of a neat means to reduce my driving experience stress.