Yes.
Honda Accord
Economics. It was old and cheap and I desired to spend as little as possible on auto-expenses over the 5+ years of grad school.
Mainly drive to school (<1 mile), and get groceries. Some recreation to SF, but not much.
On campus at Stanford in the suburb of Palo Alto. I am a grad student. I hope to be a professor at a business school someday. I work at Stanford, in Palo Alto. I do not work in my car....although, now that I am starting my thesis, I expect to drive to do interviews more often.
20 min/day. Maybe 30 min/day on weekends.
None really.
Yes. Well, mainly just drink diet coke.
Yes. Just a good stereo system...I'm proud to say it is worth more than the car. I installed it back when I had longer commutes (~60min/day).
Dunno. Probably just another (perhaps new) Honda Accord.
No. They break down and are basically just money pits for vain people.
Okay. I get in the car, buckle-up, turn on the car, hit play on my weezer cd, open my diet coke, drink my diet coke, pull out of the my spot, start going to the office. I get a telephone call from my girlfriend, turn down the radio, pick it up, and talk to her for a minute. After hanging up, I am close to my office. I park, turn everything off, grab my diet coke and cellphone, and exit the car. This is a routine -- plus or minus the call from the girlfriend -- that I repeat everyday.
I read books. Or daydreamed as a I looked out the window. Probably more of the latter. I would occasionally also listen to a walkman if we went on long trips.
Music=priority number one. Diet coke. Cellphone calls. Probably in that order.
No, not really. Besides a little music, I still like to daydream when I drive. In fact, I'll sometimes go on long drives just to daydream. No, entertaining for others is not really necessary. I really don't need that much control since I prefer to eliminate distractions as opposed to increase them.
Both. CDs are good enough for the car. I don't need a large library of songs at my disposal in the car (as would be available with some sort of MP3 player in the car).
No. Not really. NPR is enough.
It used to be when I was younger: as a teenager or early 20s person, this was important. Now, I just need something to play NPR and the occasional music...although, it really doesn't need to have high quality. I think I'll just stick with the standard audio equipment in my next car.
Yes. Maybe once per every three rides...but only for about 3 minutes. I just use it to arrange meeting up with people...not for long conversations.
Yes, occasionally. Yes, I like them. But I find maps are enough. GPS does not add much extra value.
Yes, if it were cheap. But, frankly, functionality is more important to me.
Safe, functional, comfortable.
No, not really. Well, I suppose at this point I prefer plastic and cloth because it reminds me that I'm driving a functional and efficient Asian car.
No.
Hmm. Well, I suppose I prefer a few very functional gauges that control the essentials like air conditioning, the radio, and the car-control related things. Nobs or buttons are good enough. Things like touchscreens are annoying because they distance you from the mechanics of the operations...I always just keep thinking, "Man, if the computer goes out, I'm gonna have no control of this function," when I see touchscreens or other electronic controls. I prefer manual controls.
Probably a 4-door Honda Civic. They are cheap, reliable, and functional.
Probably a 4-door Honda Accord....a little more room than an Civic (for the kids). I find it pretentious that people buy luxury cars when they are wealthy. I'd rather use my money to invest and become more wealthy. However, I may purchase a Lexus or BMW if it were a required status symbol that would improve my career.
In order or priority: Health. Education. Investment. Charity. House. Other stuff.
I'd probably not upgrade, honestly. But if I had to upgrade, it would probably be media (i.e., new CD player, amp, speakers).
Everything up front since you often get a better deal. Then again, I only want the basics: air, CD, power locks/windows, anti-lock breaks, etc.
Well, I am still CD based...they are just organized in CD-books. I have itunes, but I don't buy random music online...I just use it to organize my current CD collection on my computer (to use on my ipod shuffle).
Old Nissan 4-Door in the 1980s... It was a hand-me-down from my family. It served my purposes: general mayhem and teenage debauchery. I had a little anxiety about it not being the coolest car (i.e., a truck or sports car...as some of my friends had), but you get over those things.
Parents drove Honda Accords or other Honda products (Odyssey van, etc.). I liked the Accord. I liked the Accord best because it was nice enough, but highly functional. I have nothing against Toyota (which I believe is an equivalent brand with equivalent products too the Toyota), but I will admit a slight affinity to the Honda brand. But I'd switch to an equally high quality brand/product (i.e., Toyota) if they gave me a better deal. My motto is: Transportation is a commodity and will be treated as such.
Mercedes...such a big waste of money...so pretentious. At least the BMW folks have come down in price (on the 3 series) to be comparable to the Honda Accord, and the Lexus is an objectively better car (since it is Japanese, and focuses on performance and comfort), but all my friends with Benz are always repairing them. They are money pits. I suppose you could say I am anti-European car, and pro-Asian, but Benz seems the worst to me.
Lexus. Felt like an efficient Japanese car, but with high performing steering, cornering, and supped up engine.
For a date, I'd still just wanna drive my Honda Accord...cuz any girl who couldn't appreciate that I'd rather invest my dough in my education and investments isn't the girl for me. For a roadtrip: this might be a little different. Maybe a Toyota SUV of some sort...because they are still as comfortable as a Japanese car, have low gas mileage, but enough head room and trunk room for adventures. For errands: Honda Accords are enough.
Sure. Why not? Depends on our driving requirements. If we both worked, it'd be better to have two cars to get to different locations. Also, I've found that car pooling is difficult for academics who have unpredictable schedules like myself.
Hmm...I guess the overall theme of my answers is functionality. I want a car to get from point A to point B in the most cost efficient (which includes: price of car, maintenance, and gas over its lifetime) way. Comfort (air conditioning, soft seats) is somewhat important. Style is not that important (although I prefer the Japanese style, if someone gave me a new American car, I'd drive it).
2015: Autopilot and flying cars. That way I could read in the car. This is what I would "like" to see as standard, but I realize that is asking too much of an fundamentally non-innovative industry. Realistically, they'll probably all be hybrids (which is a good incremental step) with lots of useless media options (satellite, mp3, dvd, screens) that won't really improve our lives. I think the differences between luxury/family/economy functions will be increasingly small, although the brands (and costs) might be even bigger. My example of this is the convergence of upper-end Accords and lower-end BMWs at the $30K price range...similar functionality....but for not much more functionality, you can buy a $117k BMW 7 series to impress your friends.