Do people actually buy cars as Xmas gifts?

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These commercials make me sick.

Joy to the world, and enjoy a special finance rate for qualified first time Lexus buyers! I can see buying a car for some kid's sweet 16, but buying a car or diamonds just seems wrong and a gross misinterpretation of the Xmas message.

― andy --, Monday, 19 December 2005 17:37 (twenty years ago)

My parents got my sister a silver VW Bug a few years back. It happens.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 19 December 2005 17:39 (twenty years ago)

this year's lexus commercials don't seem as obnoxious as past years', but yeah, they're still terrible.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 19 December 2005 17:40 (twenty years ago)

A new beetle?! Your sister's spoiled.

I'm sure there's some kind of spike in big ticket sales around Xmas, but I always end up with dancing Coors Light cans and crap like that.

― andy --, Monday, 19 December 2005 19:02 (twenty years ago)

Ned's father is Daddy Warbucks.

― Lars and Jagger (Ex Leon), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:03 (twenty years ago)

Does that make Ned Sandy?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:04 (twenty years ago)

Of course.

― Lars and Jagger (Ex Leon), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:04 (twenty years ago)

I can never figure that out either. Tom told me it was because of big bonus NYC motherfuckers but I worked with those people and never once did I hear of anyone buying anyone else a damn car with their Christmas bonus so I'm not really sure about that.

Re: diamonds, that makes sense to me, people buying engagement rings or something being all romantic with the holiday? Cars though, no excuse for that.

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:07 (twenty years ago)

Woof.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:07 (twenty years ago)

my friend's baby daddy got her a car last xmas, but i'm pretty sure it was selfishly motivated as the only way she would have gotten by without one any longer would have involved him actually being involved in the kids' day-to-day life.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:10 (twenty years ago)

i've received matchbox cars and hot wheels cars for x-mas

― latebloomer: Deutsch Bag (latebloomer), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:10 (twenty years ago)

I vote for "over-optimistic construct of advertising agencies" and I want to vom every time I see one of those ads. But see as long as we all refuse to believe that auto-as-stocking stuffer is some kind of norm we should aspire to, we're still uh...winning. I'm not sure what, exactly, but you know what I mean.

― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:11 (twenty years ago)

cars are crazy cheap in the US. i dont think its a big deal at all. if someone wants to buy me a car, i dont even need to wait for christmas, and if for some reason i had the money to spare i wouldnt think twice about getting my mom the mercedes sports convertible shes wanted since she was 20. you all sound bitter.

― sunny successor (katharine), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:13 (twenty years ago)

Maybe I have a somewhat naive sense of committed relationships and joint accounts, but if you tried to spend upwards of $20K without yr S.O.'s knowledge, wouldn't there be a major shitstorm?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:15 (twenty years ago)

how much do those ginormous red bows cost?

― kingfish holiday travesty (kingfish 2.0), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:16 (twenty years ago)

I think they're included in the undercoating.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:17 (twenty years ago)

"cars are crazy cheap"??

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:19 (twenty years ago)

Have you guys not seen these ads or something? We aren't talking buying your aging, retired parent the little sports car they always wanted with your massive wealth.

And yeah also Huk OTM!

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:20 (twenty years ago)

lexuses are pretty far on the "upwards" side of that $20k btw!

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:20 (twenty years ago)

I dunno exactly who these things are aimed at (as in: which spouse is supposed to be doing the earning/purchasing, are they targeting young couples or middle-aged ones who are more likely to have discretionary income?, etc etc although I see they're hitting more bases this year at least inasmuch there are a variety of actors in the ads) , and I don't know anything about those kinds of finances, either. To add to the muddle, I seem to recall that the brands most advertised are the LUXURY brands (Lexus & Jaguar come to mind), so we're not even talking about 20K, more like 50-70 and up.

I hate these ads for some of the same reasons I hate the ones by DeBeers.

― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:24 (twenty years ago)

I just picked it $20K as a minimum for any new car, and I don't even know how accurate that is.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:24 (twenty years ago)

Is Paul at the Diamond Center a west coast phenom, or is he universal? That dude's a kook: "Don't worry about the money, you can afford it!! WE GIVE CREDIT TO ANY LOSER THAT WALKS IN!!"

― andy --, Monday, 19 December 2005 19:32 (twenty years ago)

I think they're trying to convince 28-35 yo childless couples to waste their money on ugly nonsense like Lexus SUVs. Isn't Diane Lane in one of those ads???

I hate the Kay Jeweler ads.

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:44 (twenty years ago)

What about the newer parfum ads with bonafide STARS in them... like Paltrow?

Also: Which Walmart ad features the biggest bootlicking corporate lackey?

1) Garth Brooks (ugh)
2) Beyonce
3) Queen Latifah

etc. etc.

― andy ---, Monday, 19 December 2005 19:48 (twenty years ago)

I haven't seen a walmart ad in ages.

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:49 (twenty years ago)

What about the newer parfum ads with bonafide STARS in them... like Paltrow?

Unlike those old ones with worthless unknowns like Liz Taylor?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:51 (twenty years ago)

I like the ads for Oracle servers and UPS e-commerce shipping solutions. A FULLY INTEGRATED WEB PORTAL WITH COLOCATED LOAD BALANCING AND REALTIME QOS TRACKING. THE PERFECT GIFT FOR YOUR VERTICAL B2B PARTNERS. THE HOLIDAYS RUN ON IBM.

― TOMBOT, Monday, 19 December 2005 19:51 (twenty years ago)

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/12/18/business-bizmen-12-18.html

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)

But that was Liz's scent, it's understandable. They just PAID Paltrow and Kidman to hock their odors.

― andy --, Monday, 19 December 2005 19:53 (twenty years ago)

Tom, I wish ALL ads were for such specialized products and at that level of detail -- think of how much you could learn just by watching them!!

― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:54 (twenty years ago)

DeBeers! xpost

― andy --, Monday, 19 December 2005 19:54 (twenty years ago)

Hate them. Hate. Never ever buy a diamond.

― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:56 (twenty years ago)

(Uhh, Ally & Tom: how about you just forget I said anything right there. Whoops!)

― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:58 (twenty years ago)

xpost to ally

Yeah, they are cheap here. Here are a few comparisons with australia and the UK. All of these are MSRP:

2005 Mercedes SL500 Roadster

US price: $90,620
AUS price: $299,900 ($222,048 USD)
UK price: £68,995 ($121,000 USD)

My dream car - 2005 Mazda RX8 (manual):

US price: $25935
AUS price: $54,565 ($40,389 USD)
UK price: £20,500 ($36,095 USD)

2006 Lexus SC430

US price: $65355
AUS price: $160900 ($118,649 USD)
i cant find a UK price for this car. maybe they dont get lexus

im not even going to get into how those currency conversions to USD are completely irrelevant but I put them in there anyway because i figured someone would complain.

i really dont understand why everyones getting so upset about someone they dont know buying a car for someone else they dont know.

Ally, do you really consider a mercedes to be a 'little' car? even with my 'massive wealth' i cant say that. oh, and my mom isnt retired fyi.

― sunny successor (katharine), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:00 (twenty years ago)

Compared to a Lexus SUV?!

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:01 (twenty years ago)

but go ahead, buy everyone you know a damn car, that's what the world needs! God forbid people on ILX bitch about stupid commercials, what is this universe coming to.

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:02 (twenty years ago)

Anyway, I think that the ads for Christmas Cars are not necessarily to (right now) sell some cars (the lot's open until 9) for Christmas (our sales associates are ready to help you), as they are (no better way to show you care) attempts to "normalize" (come on fuckface, buy a goddamned car) the idea of (wouldn't she look great in a Lexus?) big-big-ticket shopping.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:03 (twenty years ago)

this thread got really weird.

what i really fucking hate are the glut of cute-kid discovering santa left them an "X" commercials. it's like the ad agency responsible for welch's grape juice took over the world.

― remy (x Jeremy), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:04 (twenty years ago)

...which is exactly why people are kind of skeezed by them, I think.

xpost remy OTM!

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:05 (twenty years ago)

the "near-luxury" or "entry-level luxury" Lexus ES330 lists, I believe, for about as much as a Camry or Accord

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:07 (twenty years ago)

Those prices are strange because it's REALLY hard to get the OK to release a car in the US, with emissions and safety and all that. That's why we don't really see Opels or Renaults anymore, they've just given up here. There's tons of cool motorbikes and scooters that will never be released here due to emissions, esp. California.

The US gets understandably bashed for opting out of Kyoto, but in truth we have some of the toughest emissions standards out there.

― andy --, Monday, 19 December 2005 20:07 (twenty years ago)

The US gets understandably bashed for opting out of Kyoto, but in truth we have some of the toughest emissions standards out there.

But aren't a lot of those State-based standards?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:10 (twenty years ago)

(btw, yes, the US is doing better than Kyoto-Flag-Wavers Canada in many regards)

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:10 (twenty years ago)

Emissions standards vary from state to state, while fuel economy is mandated by the CAFE Standards of 1975.

― andy --, Monday, 19 December 2005 20:13 (twenty years ago)

How have I missed these commercials? Oh right, Tivo. The funny thing about cars it that you can "buy" them without any money down (though it's certainly not advisable). Or lease luxury cars for around 300 per mo. and up. I always thought when someone recevied a car for their 16th birthday their parents bought the car outright. (My parents didn't believe in giving high school kids cards; they thought it was too dangerous.) But what these kids really received was someone making a monthy payment on their car for around 3 or more years. Remember that Lou Reed line from "New York"--"Does anyone really need . . . another 60, 000 dollar car?" I thought that was a pay-in-full type purchase.

― Mary (Mary), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 01:00 (twenty years ago)

i would guess that santa sometimes only brings body parts. such as rims, wings, sideskirts, bumpers, and hoods.

― kephm (kephm), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 01:20 (twenty years ago)

this year's lexus commercials don't seem as obnoxious as past years'

that's because they star the overstock.com lady in her first non-overstock.com commercial appearance

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 02:29 (twenty years ago)

I would love it if Santa brought me a gift certificate to the car wash, but instead heard rumblings last night about a Ben Franklin bio.

― Mary (Mary), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 02:34 (twenty years ago)

Every kiss begins with "Kay"; every idiotic, misjudged attempt at proving one's love through flaunting a dollar figure begins with "cash or charge?"

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 07:18 (twenty years ago)

The car for Christmas makes sense to me .. It's not like you have to buy a new one every year. But if you have enough money to buy a car, and you were thinking, "it's about time to buy a new car this year" - then you can get what is essentially a neccessity* item and give it to your spouse for a gift, thus copping out on a real gift.

*"neccessity" meaning every** American is entitled to a car.
**"every" meaning most, typical.

― D.I.Y. U.N.K.L.E. (dave225.3), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 13:46 (twenty years ago)

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