Annual Rant: Cars are NOT Gifts
Every year I rant about this. (See the evidence from last year here and here.) And I will probably keep ranting about it.
I HATE the car commercials that indicate you should buy a car as a gift. HATE THEM. Now, these commercials are almost always Lexus (this year’s biggest offender so far), Acura, Mercedes commercials- you know, luxury cars, though last year there was the Buick commercial. But still, even if you’re “rich” why does buying someone else a car seem like a good idea to anyone?
I know what C’s dream car is. Even if I had the money to pay for it in cash, I still wouldn’t buy it for him as a surprise. I would want him to be involved in the decision. I would want to make sure every option was exactly what he wanted. And there’s always the chance he would say “Thank you for the thought, but there are better things we can do with our money.”
We watch the current Lexus commercials and he currently adds a line of dialog to the end “I finally got access to my trust fund.”
Maybe I’m just jealous that the commercial always depict people “younger” than me, and there’s no way we could afford a Lexus/Acura/Mercedes. I don’t think so, though, because unless they’re driving daddy’s car, I don’t know anyone under mid-40s who drives a new luxury car, and I’m able to separate out the myth of advertising from reality.
The worst part is that a lot of these commercials then go on to tout the financing or lease options. So is this your only gift for the next 2-5 years, since the giver will be paying on it every month for the terms of the lease/loan? Hopefully you’re in a very committed long term relationship (I don’t say married because that’s not the only long term committed relationship there is. And for some, it’s not that long term or committed.) And if you are, are you one of those couples who manages to keep all finances separate?
You see, if I bought C a car on a loan or leased a car, it wouldn’t be a gift from me. Our finances are not separate, so WE would be paying for it for the length of the agreement. That’s not a gift, that’s a mutual decision, and should be made that way, you know, mutually.
I do have to say that I am amused by the current Honda commercial with Patrick Warburton (who, IMHO, was the only good thing about Seinfeld) in which he’s standing next to a car with a bow and says “Unless you’re a millionaire, you probably don’t give cars as gifts,” pulls the bow off, and then goes on to talk about the current good deals on Hondas. At the end, he picks up the bow and puts it back on the car saying “except this one, this one is a gift for my niece.” I like the poking fun at the luxury car commercials, but also the admission from him that he is a millionaire (in a very subtle way).
Will this make me buy a Honda? No. They make good cars, but we’re pretty set on diesel engines, which Honda doesn’t do. Still, it doesn’t make me hate them. I would consider a Honda if they made a car I wanted. I will not ever buy a Lexus or an Acura, and even Mercedes is pretty iffy (except for maybe a late 70s/early 80s diesel that’s already had a bio-d conversion). But even that would be from a private seller, never a dealer.
So that’s my “don’t buy a car as a gift” rant for this year. I am certain I will have other holiday commercial rants as December wears on. Next year, I’m going to have to figure out a way to put this rant on my pet blog…
There are so many commercials that just do it for me. Wouldn't you like to see a commecial with the bow on a $1,000 clunker? Shine up the dings and rusty spots and push the all paid for aspect? Just sayin'
I would like to see that commercial. Acura’s commercials are starting to get to me, too. They don’t show cars as gifts, but they suggest that I don’t spend excessively, instead, I save excessively by buying an Acura! How is that reality? I suggest I save excessively by resisting the urge to throw a shoe at my television, and therefore not have to buy a new television.
My dad did that for me – when the clunker I was driving died, I called to ask for some advice, and he showed up in a $1,000 Ford Taurus with a bow on it a week later. Now *that* was a true gift!!
I think there's a huge difference between a $1k clunker and a luxury vehicle. And again, parents buying for teens/college students is different than buying for someone you're supposed to be an equal partner with.
I have never gotten a car as a gift "per se". My freshman year of college my parents did surprise me with a gently used ford explorer however. I came home from college one weekend (after I rode home with a friend b/c my current vehicle would not make the 2 hour drive), and a new car (used car with 65,000 miles on it) was sitting in the driveway.
My parents were super excited and said that it was my new car. Then they went on to explain that they had bought it, they took the loan out, but I had to make the monthly payments on the car. They did pay the monthly insurance for me, but I made every single payment. So they sort of gave me a car as a gift, but in reality, I paid for the car myself. I have long paid the car off, and I still drive it today.
I think parents buying for teenage/college age kids is a little different. At the same time, I while I would have been appreciative of the gift, I also would have been annoyed. Surprise, you have a 5 year loan! And what if I didn’t want an SUV, o the parking spaces at school were all small, making it really difficult to park?
I just don’t think it’s something that should be presented as a done deal. Offer to help buy me a car, but let me go along. Offer to co-sign the loan so that I can get a good interest rate, but put me on the loan so I can start building my credit,,,
(Please feel free to read these as the jealous ramblings of someone whose parents never bought her a car :-P)
I knew we were meant to be friends. I just wrote a post for one of my staff writing sites on my hatred of this commercial as well. It is so infuriating. Almost as infuriating as the jewerly at Valentine's Day commericals. I'm looking forward to ranting about that one!
I am so with you. Before Jared's opened up here, my BFF was complaining to me about their commercials. Within months, we had a Jared's and those awful commercials. I believe BFF and I have had the same reaction to them- our husbands have been told that if the box says Jared's, we're not even opening it.
I agree that a Christmas gift of a car is silly. I've never really hated those commercials, but I definitely never respond to them in a positive way.
I would agree that a gift of a used car to a young driver could be OK. Getting surprised by your 'first car' could be a pretty cool thing. Except for how things worked out on Breaking Bad this year, where dad bought him a Challenger, mom made dad return it, and then mom 'surprised' him with a used PT Cruiser. The kid was underwhelmed to say the least 🙂
See, these commercials make me so annoyed that I don't think clearly. I definitely agree that it's perfectly appropriate for parents to buy a teenager their first car (or even their second), if the parents are paying for the whole thing. And what the parents want should certainly trump what the teen wants. But if the kid is being expected to help pay for the cost of the vehicle, then I think they have a right to have a say.
And maybe that's my biggest gripe about this. An adult buying a car for another adult doesn't seem like an equal relationship to me. It seems like one is treating the other like a child.
Seeing one of the Lexus commercials last night, the one where the woman has the Lexus music play in the elevator, I determined that she looked a little older than him and maybe he was her boy toy, a kept man, so to speak.
I don't know. I just know that it pushes my buttons in all the wrong ways.
I'll tell you what… you buy me a car and give it to me for Christmas… I promise not to complain! No bow required!
If a stranger (or Oprah) bought me a car, I wouldn't complain, either.
I totally see where you're coming from. A gift like that would need to be talked about first. You're basically sacrificing money for the next 4 or so years for 1 christmas gift, and that's not even including repairs!
I just think that when you are in a relationship of equals, a car is one of those expenses that will always be over the "we have to discuss this first" expenditure threshold. It should be a joint decision- especially if there is a loan involved.
Haha, love your rant.
That is one nice thing about not having cable! No commercials. We were at our family's house last weekend and watching TV was weird to see commercials. I really dislike them now, where before it seemed like I ignored them.
[…] from Dog ate my wallet thinks cars are NOT gifts. I happen to agree, usually a gift is something you can get lasting value out of, not something […]
depends on how you do it … i pulled into a car lot with my wife on valentines one day and said "pick a car" … she LOVED it!
as for commercials in general, i skip them and cannot recall a single time i ever saw one and then went out and purchased what they were selling …
Yes, but you took her to a car lot. She got to pick her car. She was involved. You did not pick a car for her and put it in the driveway.
I love that Honda commercial. I hate the idea of cars as gifts (at least from my spouse- anyone who doesn't share my bank account is more than welcome to give me a -paid off- car as a gift.)
They must play a shorter cut of the commercial here, i've never seen the part about gift for his niece.
It may be a shortened version, or it might be that he says the last part kind of under his breath at the very end, as he tries to put the bow back on the car. It's cute.
This just sounds like sour grapes from someone who will never know the joy of seeing that silver luxury yacht that parks itself sitting in the driveway with a ginormous red bow on top. And it really is the gift that keeps on giving, because every month an envelope will arrive in the mail like a cool breeze washing over you just to reminder you of the loving thought that went in to this remarkable gift (unless the loan has a coupon book instead). What is love, if not a commitment to another person – and how best to ensure that commitment endures than a multi-year payment plan tied to an extravagant gift?!? People who don't buy cars for loved ones as gifts are worst than Hitler!
You are so right. Sour grapes for certain. :-p
"I would not ever buy a Lexus." Wow. I feel sorry for you. I'm 26 and I have owned and driven a number of different cars (european, american, japanese). Bottom line: there is nothing smoother or more comfortable. Driving my Lexus is literally THERAPY. I will ONLY drive Lexus for the rest of my life. I just bought one for my fiance and she loves it. Don't disregard something awesome just to make a point. Get off the soapbox and behind the wheel for a month…then say you'll never own a lexus….puh leeease.
The point of advertising is to help me decide whether or not to buy something. When someone's advertising turns me off, it helps me make that decision, in the negative. I also don't go to Quiznos because their commercials disgusted me. Advertising works- just sometimes not in the way people want it to.
I doubt I will ever own any luxury car (not just a Lexus). I can not imaging paying more than 30k for a car, and even that seems like more than I'd want to spend. But if you can afford a Lexus and love it, great for you.
[…] The Dog Ate My Budget and I share a holiday pet peeve. Read why cars are not gifts. […]
Love your rant. The 2011 Holiday Lexus commercials were more annoying than ever. Who the hell hacks into Guitar Hero and adds some dopey jingle to the list of songs? Or re-works the electronics on a public elevator so it plays a jingle every time you press a button. Seriously? Ugghhh….
C and I actually had that conversation. We thought maybe the Lexus website might have the Rock Band download, or that it could be found in the free marketplace. Afterall, we've gotten Flogging Molly songs for Rock Band there.
But yeah, only people with more money than sense. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.