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Q: Have luxury items lost their lustre now that xiangba lao have them?

I used to think it would be nice to own a BMW or a Mercedes. I'd still like to get a nice mid 2000s model beamer when I finally go home in the middle of next year.

 

However I'm worried. I know that in themselves material items never provide any satisfaction, but leaving that aside, I think I'll take one look at my prized possession which I'm gone into debt for and see myself as on a par with some Shenzhen washing machine and baby formula parallel importer or a guanxied up feudal chieftain masquerading as a developer with a portfolio of empty concrete tenements held up with low grade concrete with sea sand in it and tinny rebar which I'm constantly re-hypothecating in order to put down as collateral with five different loan sharks so I can buy my 18 year old mistress a trip to Jeju.

 

After seeing the cars I admired so much driven by Chinese nouveau riche peasants, I'd feel classier in a 1987 brown Holden Commodore or even a Mazda Familia with a sub woofer and a blow off valve.

 

I hope no Chinese people ever learn what a blow off valve is. (If Gouxiong asks, tell him it's an appendage attached to his boss which he must fellate in order to get a raise to 60 cents per post).

8 years 46 weeks ago in  Culture - China

 
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Shifu

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Say what you will about the peasants driving BMWs, but a BMW is still a quality car. I would buy one if I had the money. 

laowaigentleman:

I had a ford telstar. I drove it for one year and its head gasket blew. I went to a mechanic and the guy showed me two possible replacements, one was a ford gasket and the other was a BMW one. He said they were exactly the same except the second would have to be imported from Germany and it had a sought after label on it.

 

The BMW one was $200 and the ford was $45.

 

I had a BMW 91 three series which was a manual. It was nice to drive. Nicer than the Ford. I think if I could get another one of those, it would actually be better than a late model ford, and ford is a good car. I like Mazdas and Nissans too.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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andy74rc:

BMW used to be quality cars. Nowadays is a quality perceived car (i.e. well designed "soft" door closing noise), moreover on the lower class cars (series 1, X1,  and 3 in particular).

8 years 46 weeks ago
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Emperor

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I like all the fake Porsches where I live. Ever dreamed of owning a four cylinder Cayenne?

laowaigentleman:

Would I!?

 

I'm funny about the whole rear engine thing to be honest. There's something about porsche's that I can't explain that turns me off them. Lotuses on the other hand...

Perhaps it's that.

 

The idea of a four cylinder 911 makes me think of an Elise. Those are great, unless you're in Chinese traffic. In accidents they always come off second best.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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fada:

I use to think that aswell but i read somewhere(can't provide a link, sorry) that for years large engine imports were pretty much banned and foreign manufacturers were only left put miniscule engines into what would otherwise be a beast.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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xinyuren:

There is a heavy tax on all engines larger than 4.0L, but as Audi has demonstrated, a 4.0L V8 can be plenty.  One of my favorite cars, the 2011 Audi S7 had a 420hp turbo 4.0L. Such a sweet engine.  I wonder if it ever came to China.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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Sinobear:

I, myself, don't like Porche but if I was paying for one, I sure as hell wouldn't want a 4-banger in a 3/4 ton SUV.

Audis in China, unless directly imported, are made by Volkswagen in Beijing, so there's that.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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andy74rc:

@Fada: Porsche doesn't have 4 cyl cars since the mid '90s (the 3.0L inline on the 968 was the last). For sure never on Cayenne.

They're now talking about a turbo 4 flat, but not on the market yet.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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Sinobear:

It was me who mentioned 4-cylinder Cayennes and I'm talking about fakes, not genuine Porches.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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8 years 46 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Say what you will about the peasants driving BMWs, but a BMW is still a quality car. I would buy one if I had the money. 

laowaigentleman:

I had a ford telstar. I drove it for one year and its head gasket blew. I went to a mechanic and the guy showed me two possible replacements, one was a ford gasket and the other was a BMW one. He said they were exactly the same except the second would have to be imported from Germany and it had a sought after label on it.

 

The BMW one was $200 and the ford was $45.

 

I had a BMW 91 three series which was a manual. It was nice to drive. Nicer than the Ford. I think if I could get another one of those, it would actually be better than a late model ford, and ford is a good car. I like Mazdas and Nissans too.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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andy74rc:

BMW used to be quality cars. Nowadays is a quality perceived car (i.e. well designed "soft" door closing noise), moreover on the lower class cars (series 1, X1,  and 3 in particular).

8 years 46 weeks ago
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8 years 46 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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I know what you mean. When I saw so many Merc Benz in South Korea in 03 it made me lose appeal to them, so I can relate. Yeah, so many BMWs running around in China so it appears as a common median valued car. 

As for me, I'm more set on the older US vehicles. Barracuda (cuda), GTO, firebirds, corvettes, etc. maybe my taste has changed due to this and/or age.

diverdude1:

..... I sure miss my '77 Vette angel   whatta car!

8 years 46 weeks ago
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laowaigentleman:

I'm a kiwi and I respect the whole muscle car thing, but we don't have a lot of that where I'm from (Wellington). Hamilton's where the muscle car fans are.

 

I'm into the non-ostentatious European cars, British classics and tasteful Japanese stuff - hate those blow off valves and pissy turbos.

 

My dad had a morris minor 1952, a 1919 baby austin and a saab (of all things) with a turbo in it.

 

These things had character and said a lot about the kind of guy my dad is. I've felt this way many times when I meet people from all walks of life and we discuss cars, but of course I never get that feeling with anything people own and buy here.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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diverdude1:

I had a Saab once... luvd it... lotsa character.  I think it was some 70's model ... 99 maybe...  long time ago.  I also am into the 70's and older Euro cars.  my bro had a bad-ass little red 2-door convertiblle...  think it was an Alfa Romeo... somewhere in the 60s model.  cooooool ride

*only Jap car that ever caught my attention was early 240, 260, 280Z. my hot older cousin had one.... 240 I think...

8 years 46 weeks ago
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I'm all into old muscle cars so it doesn't affect me since the tasteless tuhao don't like them.

 

Now importing second hand cars in China is almost impossible, too bad.

Sinobear:

I want a Corvair

8 years 46 weeks ago
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laowaigentleman:

Something to look forward to when you get back home, huh?

Is the muscle car scene in Germany big? In NZ, it's mostly confined to one city which all the followers make a pilgrimmage to (Hamilton).

They also head over to Bathurst. NZ is filled with Jap imports.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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To be honest, I never really liked most luxury cars (I do like Benz but only a couple of models)... they look too stuffy and too pretentious. In China, you find them all over the place because a ton of farmers with inferiority complexes decided it was their turn to look down on other farmers that didn't hit it big yet.

 

You find a lot of fakes too... like the retarded car I saw with the body of a Ferrari but the branding of Porshe. Shameless.

 

I would MUCH prefer a nice Corvette, Mustang or Trans Am. A car that sticks out and has character. But these kind of cars would be wasted in Chinese traffic and on horrible Chinese roads.

 

On top of that... a Mustang costs like 25-30k USD while in China it costs like 450k RMB. Sorry, but I just can't justify being ripped off that hard.

laowaigentleman:

Did you read the article about how a dodge viper costs about 4.5 times more than its US price in China?

 

If you haven't seen it, I'll dig up the article for you. I found it in the financial news in yahoo.

 

I'd be a muscle car enthusiast too, if I were exposed to them more. My dad is one of those British vintage guys. Likes steam trains too. When I talk to my Chinese friends it's all about how they want a certain car because it will make them feel like a man. If you get technical their eyes glaze over and the subject changes to cameras, elephant shit coffee beans they bought in Thailand even though they hate coffee or iphones.

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Maybe it's not the car that has lost its lustre. I think, after seeing so many useless peasants chase after the lustre of brand name cars for face gain, you are starting to see the ugly side of brand name loyalty.
Or maybe I'm too optimistic. Maybe you can't feel better than other people if you drive in a car that too many people are also driving. Classism should be vertical, not horizontal. What a terrible plight. It must be hard for you to bear.

Eorthisio:

I laugh inwardly whenever I am on foot (yeah because I don't take my car to go around my area) and some tuhao with inferiority complex drives slowly with his pretentious car when passing by, all the while staring at me. I look anywhere but at him or his car, some of them go as far as honking, desperate to be noticed like attention whores on the internet.

 

Those people truly live through others' opinions, it must be incredibly exhausting and frustrating to be like that all the time, no wonder China has such high suicides rates.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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BMW is not quality.

 

In fact, many of these luxury cars are still using the same frames/engines/etc as their generic counterpart. Interior features are different, and a few exterior stylings, but that's pretty much it. And you're stuck paying out the ass for something that's not measurably better.

 

Every time I see someone driving those types of luxury cars (BMW, Audi, Lincoln, etc), I can only assume they're amazingly stupid cunts. This goes for Americans as well. I don't care who you are; if you choose $$$ and face over functionality, I look down on you.

 

We have 2 decent cars, but we almost got a stupid cuntmobile or ten. Thankfully, at the last minute, I realized I didn't want to be a face-seeking, mouth-breathing reprobate for the rest of my life.

 

I laugh at everyone using Apple products, even Americans.

 

/end-elitist-snobbish-rant

 

*ahem*

 

Use whatever you like, no matter what anyone says. If you like something, and you can afford it, buy it. I may think you're a stupid cunt, but that's ok... as long as you're enjoying it, no harm, no foul.

xinyuren:

You don't know very much about cars. Have you ever driven a BMW M3/4?  You haven't because if you had, you would eat every word in your comment.  BMW makes damn good sporting cars, in fact they are a benchmark (much like apple is)  I came very close to buying a BMW M5, but I settled on buying a domestic model, CTSV because I was working for a UAW factory at the time.  Cadillac dreams to meet the level of BMW.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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coineineagh:

Apple is heavily marketed, windowdressed, commercial OLD technology. MacIntosh computers *were* the most advanced in programming, until they sold everything to Microsoft for their iPod/IPhone/iPad cash cow. When you praised BMW just now, I got a deja vu hearing my wife say: "This is the number one, best in China, most popular, most professional, only official, famous company." It's brand name loyalty at its finest.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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fada:

BMW will do top speed all day everyday without breaking a sweat, standard cars would soon break umder the strain, there is a massive difference in engineering and build quality. Im not saying ford(europe) will fall apart but it doesnt compare to a bmw, not by a country mile.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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xinyuren:

@coin - Appple is heavily marketed and windowdressed, it's true.  But they are also the benchmark phones that all manufacters aim for. Not to mention that the MacBook is THE standard for notebooks.  The design and attention to detail can't be denied. I am not an Apple fan, but there really is no question that Apple makes quality products.  As for BMW, I have test driven and crossed shopped their sports sedans.  Have you?

8 years 46 weeks ago
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bill8899:

You obv never owned a BMW. Had a 540 for 7 years. Just oil (and other fluids) changes, replaced the tires and battery now and then. It never broke down, never a repair. Oh yea, and cleaned the battery posts when I felt like it. It was a 'rare' 5 speed manual, I drove the **** out of it. Dam I miss driving.

And Apple ... I'm not a fan, but dang they're nice. I might buy an iPhone this summer. Why not? 

I only buy Levi's. So sue me. 

Some people buy a brand for quality. Get over it. 

8 years 46 weeks ago
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Hulk:

THE FANBOYS ARE ATTACKING

8 years 46 weeks ago
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bill8899:

Obvious troll is obvious.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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Shining_brow:

BMW is quality... but so are many other brands out there. Are they over-priced? Maybe. Certainly the parts are because of the name that goes on it. Especially with so many companies manufacturing parts for all different cars, and then just re-tagging them.

 

Also, obviously, cars are suited to different environments.

 

Personally, I'd like an M3 Sport (which is something I don't see many Chinese driving - maybe only 1 in the 6 years I've been here).

 

However, back home, such a car is about the same as Ford or Holden Australia - they all make top quality cars. But the local cars are cheaper. (I'm surprised by the number of Monaro's I see here). I wonder when I'll see the first Commodore being driven around here :p

 

Just as an aside: "To gain approval to develop a new Commodore, General Motors did a top-secret deal with Holden to pair the next generation sedan with a Buick that was originally exclusive to the Chinese market.

Holden won the contract to design the car, which was then due to be built in Australia and China.

But now that Holden has decided to shut its Elizabeth car assembly line in 2017, China is poised to become the sole producer of the vehicle.

Documents obtained by News Corp Australia confirm every Holden fan's worst nightmare: the next generation Commodore will be a front-wheel-drive car powered by a four-cylinder engine.

Every top-selling Holden since the birth of the company in 1948 has been a six-cylinder, rear-wheel-drive sedan.

The last time Holden sold a four-cylinder Commodore in the early 1980s, sales tanked.

The four-cylinder Ford Falcon released last year has also failed to boost sales, accounting for less than 10 per cent of deliveries."

8 years 46 weeks ago
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BMW is not quality.

 

In fact, many of these luxury cars are still using the same frames/engines/etc as their generic counterpart. Interior features are different, and a few exterior stylings, but that's pretty much it. And you're stuck paying out the ass for something that's not measurably better.

 

Every time I see someone driving those types of luxury cars (BMW, Audi, Lincoln, etc), I can only assume they're amazingly stupid cunts. This goes for Americans as well. I don't care who you are; if you choose $$$ and face over functionality, I look down on you.

 

We have 2 decent cars, but we almost got a stupid cuntmobile or ten. Thankfully, at the last minute, I realized I didn't want to be a face-seeking, mouth-breathing reprobate for the rest of my life.

 

I laugh at everyone using Apple products, even Americans.

 

/end-elitist-snobbish-rant

 

*ahem*

 

Use whatever you like, no matter what anyone says. If you like something, and you can afford it, buy it. I may think you're a stupid cunt, but that's ok... as long as you're enjoying it, no harm, no foul.

Hulk:

Relax... lol

8 years 46 weeks ago
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I owned a BMW 320 once. Late 90's model. It was nice, but the brake servo went and I ended up selling the car for 100 quid. The repair cost was more than the car was worth.

 

The best fun car I had was a VW Polo. Only 1.2 L engine, no power steering, but by God you could throw it into corners. Super cheap to service.

 

I am not really into cars, but if I was back in the UK I would drive a Chinese copy mini any day. Dirt cheap, and it works. But of course, it can't be sold in the UK because of it's NCAP rating. A shame really, because dangerous cars make more careful drivers.

 

 

xinyuren:

Most fun I've ever had on 4 wheels was driving a Mazda Miata.  I bought one for my wife, but I ended up using it more than her.  Not a lot of horsepower, but a very balanced vehicle.  That was a time when I could afford to buy a car just for play.  With a family of four, I can't even consider that option now.  A pity.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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andy74rc:

@Xin: a 3 years old ND 2.0L is on my 45th birthday list..... :)

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Shifu

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By your logic if you ever get to middle east I think you would prefer to ride a chicken instead since I have seen them screwing up the most luxurious cars like toys. There's difference among the two as Arabs don't give a damn duck if the Porche is screwed up while drifting but a Chinese can freak you out if his 'life' gets a scratch.

Englteachted:

I don't always agree with you. But you are 100% right. If your taste in cars , women, phones or anything is based on other people and what they they use/ don't use than you're being silly, immature and dumb. 

I knock Apple products simply based on my experience. They are useless for anything outside of photos, music/ videos (itunes) and games. Connecting to your computer is a hassle. Using different apps to access a file is ridiculously difficult. No microsd slot or an type of expansion. It's 2015

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Shifu

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I'm not sure if it is ignorance or jealousy which makes people rag on Apple and bmw. After my super cheap xiao mi broke after a year of use I used an iPhone 4s with no problems.   Now I got an iPhone six just cause it had a super awesome deal that you'd have to be cheap to pass up.  It's a great phone and slick all around.

laowaigentleman:

Fair enough, but I don't think people are attacking the products themselves out of spite, I'm pretty confident that most purchasers of both products are buying them out of brand name loyalty and this seems to be the consensus among all of the posters here too.

 

Not good for progress if you don't have consumer pressure on development of the technology, you would agree?

 

I have an ipad and I think it's fantastic to use when I'm on holiday or when I want to get a deal at a restaurant. I bought it for my girlfriend and use it rarely, but I have to admit, it's a hell of a device. I don't care if a bunch of peasants are glued to them all day, I still love mine.

8 years 46 weeks ago
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Sinobear:

Remember Apple's strategy: so simple any idiot can use it. Hence, who buys Apple products?

Stop, drop, and rooooooooooooooooooooooooooll

8 years 46 weeks ago
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jetfire9000:

As far as phones are concerned, I don't see a difference in terms of "difficulty" when it comes to putting your finger over an icon and clicking it. Computers are a different story, but I'm not computer literate anyway. 

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