That's a Foreign Car 

I briefly blogged about my new car yesterday, including a picture, but I thought I'd share some of the reactions I've gotten from friends and family. First some background. This is my third car purchase, and my second new car. My first car I bought used my senior year of high school with the help of my Grandma. It was a blue Geo Storm hatchback. It was cheap, but it got me to work senior year, and to college for 4 years. Stormy was very good to me, but not exactly pretty.

My next car was a brand new Pontiac Grand Prix. It was a 2 door, with the 3.8L V6 engine. I had gotten a signing bonus with my job out of college, and this is where it went. It also helped that my dad used to work for GM, and still got a discount on GM cars. I loved that car. It was a driver's car. It just felt right when I sat in it for the first time. She handled beautifully, and had a lot of pickup.

When I decided I needed a new car, I mentioned it to my friend Nicole. I remember a couple years ago sitting out front of her apartment. She mentioned off hand how she thought people who owned domestic cars were stupid. There sitting on the street right in front of us was my Grand Prix.

Me: So I'm stupid huh?
Nicole: Well, not you. I understand why you bought one.

Flash forward to a week ago when we were on the phone:

Me: So I've decided to get a new car. Went to the auto show and have a list of possibilities.
Nicole: I'm sure they're all domestic.
Me: I knew you would say something like that. Well prepare yourself, my top 2 choices aren't.
Nicole: I'm so proud of you.

I'm so proud of you? She really did mean it as a compliment, but it sounded very condescending to me. At the time I just let it go and decided it wasn't worth getting in an argument over.

Flash forward to yesterday. My sister Sarah's birthday was yesterday, and when we were on the phone I mentioned my new purchase.

Me: I got a Toyota Solara.
Sarah: Oh my God... you didn't get a GM?

Then later that night I drove over to some friend's of mine to show them. As we were standing out on the street admiring it:

Josh: Wow, you didn't get another Pontiac.

What is it about me that draws this reaction? Although technically my Geo was domestic (Geo was owned by Chevrolet), it was actually made by Isuzu. So between that and my Grand Prix, I've been marked as a domestic car buyer for life? Personally I don't see what it could be, but I also can't just discount the reactions of so many of my friends and family, because there were more like this.