What is Vehicle Personality? Runde Auto Group asks the Question

We were just talking about this the other day in the lunch break room at Runde PreDriven.  What does your vehicle say about you?  Is the type or color of the vehicle you drive an extension of your personality?  Is there such a thing as vehicle personality? Most of us think we drive the vehicles we want to drive…it’s as simple as that. But what we don’t realize is there is a psychological connection to the vehicles we drive, the way they make us feel when we drive them, and the image they allow us to portray. I think most of us can relate to coming to a stop at a red light and the person next to you looks over, as if to say ‘Nice ride!’ or ‘I wouldn’t be caught dead driving that!’. The cars we drive provide us a sense of security, and they can either give us a self-esteem boost, or kill it every time we get in. The vehicles we drive can also explain a lot about our personalities.

Take, for example, a Ford truck. What traits come to mind when I mention a Ford truck?  Practical, not showy…it doesn’t scream “Look at me!” In our area of the country, it often means you are a farmer or a construction worker, a carpenter, etc. But what if we don’t think about jobs, and it is more about becoming the person you want to be, even if it isn’t exactly the truth? Maybe it goes along with the old Chevy truck campaign, “Like a Rock”. Men have a close bond with their trucks, and they gain perhaps a more macho persona from driving such a big, powerful vehicle.

Sometimes, our choice of vehicles can be influenced by our attempt to avoid a certain stereotype…ex: sports cars for middle-age men, minivans for soccer moms, trucks for construction workers, or a Mini Cooper for a family of circus clowns. For example, I’m almost in my mid-twenties, and I currently drive a car. My husband would like to get something bigger, and in order to avoid the ‘Soccer Mom’ stigma, we have decided to look at getting into an SUV. A lot of women my age have the same feelings. They want something bigger, but if they get a van when they start having children, they become a part of that stereotype.  It’s a fact that there have actually been couples who have made it a part of their marriage vows to never get a minivan.

Jeep took this into consideration with their SUV line. They wanted to combine fun and freedom, make the consumer feel special, without falling into the soccer mom category. Therefore, many of the former minivan owners turned into Jeep owners because they fell in love with the vehicle personality that Jeep Wranglers and Grand Cherokees displayed.

Also, the color of the vehicle you choose can say a lot about your personality as well. I tested these with a couple of our co-workers here, and one was right on, the other was somewhat correct, but not completely.

Silver: Elegant, loves futuristic looks, cool
White: Fastidious
Vibrant Red: Sexy, speedy, faithful, quiet
Light to Mid-Blue: Cool, calm, faithful, quiet
Dark Blue: Credible, confident, dependable
Taupe/Light Brown: Timeless, basic and simple tastes
Black: Empowered, not easily manipulated, loves elegance, appreciates classics
Neutral Gray: Sober, corporate, practical, pragmatic
Dark Green: Traditional, trustworthy, well-balanced
Bright Yellow-Green: Trendy, whimsical, lively
Yellow Gold: Intelligent, warm, loves comfort and will pay for it
Sunshine Yellow: Sunny disposition, joyful and young at heart
Deep Brown: Down-to-earth, no-nonsense
Orange: Fun loving, talkative, fickle and trendy
Deep Purple: Creative, individualistic, original

No matter what your vehicle personality type is, you can always find a vehicle to compliment it at Runde’s! We have over 1,500 new and used vehicles, and they can all be seen 24/7 on our webpage, www.RundeAutoGroup.com!