Popular Vehicles

[lhafer]

I drive a minivan and live in the suburbs. There are TONS (literally) of minivans here. 95% of them are either Honda Odysseys or Toyota Siennas. I drive a 2012 Nissan Quest. There are not a lot of Quests where I live. Not exaggerating, the ratio of Odyssey/Siennas: Quest = 50:1 easily. I don't mind it and actually prefer having a car that not everyone else has.

That said, when looking at our next car - I REALLY like the Buick Enclave or the GMC Acadia. But again - those are a dime a dozen around here. They are everywhere!! I'm also super interested in the new redesigned Pathfinder, and am interested in seeing how many of those I start seeing around my neighborhood.

It kind of bothers me that there are so many Enclaves and Acadias in my neighborhood - and all in the colors I like.

Does how popular a car is deter you from buying one? I'm not going on reliability or any of that. I just don't particularly like Honda vehicles or Toyota vehicles, so i really never give them serious look. Especially when I know that there are other cars makers out there that are just as (or more so) reliable than Honda or Toyota. I kind of feel like I support the underdogs!

[crl]

Nope. Doesn't enter into my thinking at all. I would choose a less popular color if I liked it to make it easier to find my car though.

Catherine

[edurnemk]

Yes it does, I don't like having the same car everyone else has. That's why I crossed the CX-7 off our list, they're everywhere around here. I have a Nissan Rogue.

[twowhat?]

Kind of. When I was shopping for my first "my choice" car (pre-kids), I picked the subaru forester because it's a great little car (both reliable and practical and loved by Tom and Ray) that very few people have here (texas). And I love my little subaru.

But when it came to buying a practical car for kids, everything went out the window except for absolute practicality, and we bought an Odyssey. And I love my Ody:)

eta: I did refuse to get a silver Ody LOL:) Ours is black. It made DH feel better about having to drive a "man van" because we sold his beloved black Passat to get the Ody.

[BillK]

I don't mind driving a popular vehicle. In fact I drive the most popular vehicle in the US - a Ford F150 (2011 super crew Lariat) 4x4 and my wife drives a 2008 Toyota Sienna. Love my truck.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-NWm_LNPceHU/T4DKG11KxeI/AAAAAAAAAus/UdccsAb5EZk/s640/IMG_20120407_181838.jpg

[123LuckyMom]

I don't care. I have a Honda Odyssey. It's a great car, which is why millions of other people have it, too. There are plenty of other ways in which I can express my personal style. I buy vehicles for practicality.

[SnuggleBuggles]

It only affects my color choice. Like there's no way in heck I'd buy a silver minivan here- 90% of the minivans here are silver.

[lhafer]

I don't mind driving a popular vehicle. In fact I drive the most popular vehicle in the US - a Ford F150 (2011 super crew Lariat) 4x4 and my wife drives a 2008 Toyota Sienna. Love my truck.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-NWm_LNPceHU/T4DKG11KxeI/AAAAAAAAAus/UdccsAb5EZk/s640/IMG_20120407_181838.jpg

Sharp looking truck Bill!

[belovedgandp]

Not my choice in vehicle. I'd still go with whatever I wanted. Although when I did buy my van (yes, an Odyssey) a few years ago there were two colors readily available in the options I wanted and I did chose the color I liked slightly less because the other option would have given us an identical vehicle to our friend and neighbor across the street.

[lhafer]

I don't care. I have a Honda Odyssey. It's a great car, which is why millions of other people have it, too. There are plenty of other ways in which I can express my personal style. I buy vehicles for practicality.

I feel like people ONLY look at Honda and Toyota because of others people's raves about them, and don't give other models a glance. There are other manufacturers out there that have just as reliable vehicles, but people don't give them a chance. I know a lot of people that have or had Hondas, and every single one of them had at least one major issue with their car. One had a pilot and got rid of it due to lack of reliability. My sister has a civic and has had engine problems with it that cost a lot to repair. My friend has had issues with her tires on her current pilot. Her husband has an accord, and now wants to sell it because of all the repairs it has cost them. Granted, they all have kept their cars for a long time...but they all have put a large amount if money into repairs. I don't think speaks quality the way everyone else likes to talk.

I've had nissans and Hyundais and never once had any issues with either one of them. I had my 1st Quest for 6yrs and over 100k miles when I traded it in. The only think I ever did was oil changes and tire rotations, and the occasional x number of miles tune up. I know there are lemons in every car model. It's unavoidable. I just haven't seen Honda live up to its seemingly gold standard name in my circle of friends.

[KLD313]

No, I picked my car for the features I wanted and the room I needed. I have an Acadia but I got the Denali version so I don't see a ton of them. I really loekd the Diamond White but almost every Denali I see is that color so I got black instead.

[queenmama]

Yes it does, I don't like having the same car everyone else has.

This is exactly how I feel. I drive a Saab Aero station wagon. Saab cars are very unusual for our area.

I also love the Saab quirks and think it is super fun to drive, but being different is what drew me to it in the first place.

Lara

[katydid1971]

I drive a silver Oddy. Its so popular that I often walk up to the wrong car in the parking lot. :bag There is a reason its so popular, its because its a great car. I find that to not be super popular, the car has to be a dog or super $$$$. JMO

[lhafer]

No, I picked my car for the features I wanted and the room I needed. I have an Acadia but I got the Denali version so I don't see a ton of them. I really loekd the Diamond White but almost every Denali I see is that color so I got black instead.

Of the Acadias...the Denali versions are what turn my head! They are sooo purty! :love-retry:

[hellokitty]

I drive a silver Oddy. Its so popular that I often walk up to the wrong car in the parking lot. :bag There is a reason its so popular, its because its a great car. I find that to not be super popular, the car has to be a dog or super $$$$. JMO

Lol. My first ody was silver and dh and I used to joke about how half of the odys made in that design (early to mid 2000's) must be silver. When I got my newer ody last yr, I bought used. I didn't care too much about the color as long as it wasn't silver! My Subaru prior to my ody was silver too, I was just sick of it. With that said, my new ody is grey, which is far from exciting, but hey, at least it's not silver!

Generally speaking I don't care how popular or unique the car I'm considering is. Subarus are uncommon in our area, so it makes us weird to be Subaru fans and dh still drives a subaru The closest dealership is an hr away. Dh refuses to even look at mazdas or nissans. Something about the engine bugs him and the only domestic brand we may ever consider again would be a ford. However, we still lean heavily toward the Japanese brands. Bil is a snob and will only drive European brands.

[AnnieW625]

It only affects my color choice. Like there's no way in heck I'd buy a silver minivan here- 90% of the minivans here are silver.

I have a silver Honda Pilot. I am going to try my darnedest to not buy another silver car. I think the silver Pilot is one of the most popular cars here.

In general no I don't think popularity skews me any way except when I am looking for a good deal. When we were buying our Pilot we couldn't get a Toyota dealer to work with us in regards to the Highlander because next to the Surburban here in the mid 2000s they were pretty close to being the most popular SUV here. Looking back we probably coukd have gotten a better deal on a 4-Runner because they don't sell a lot of thise here. Now I think in my general area it is probably a tie between the Lexus RX, and the Honda CR-V for the most popular SUV. The Ford Flex is also really popular here.

Mini van wise I think the Sienna is the winner, followed by the Town & Country/Grand Caravan, then the Odyssey, and the Nissan Quest.

Sedan wise DH says I cannot get a beige Camry. I am also pretty convinced that silver is the new boring beige.

Now with all of that said we are hoping to get a VW TDI Passat or Jetta, or a Volvo as a next car because we like the features and with the VWs we will definitely like the mileage. DH is really feeling being different for our next car purchase.

[elektra]

If I loved a car, its popularity would not deter me. Lexus RX's used to be a dime a dozen around here too, but my dad still got one and it's a great car for him and who cares if everyone else has it! He did pick a more unique color though.
I do see not wanting just a Honda Odyssey or Toyota if everyone else has one though. But then again, they are popular for a reason! I think we had a Buick or Enclave as a rental in Hawaii and it was great. Or actually it was a Chevy Traverse I think- very nice.
I prefer those types/sizes of SUVs myself. (I drive a Volvo XC90.)

Oh, and pretty truck Bill!

[niccig]

Now I think in my general area it is probably a tie between the Lexus RX, and the Honda CR-V for the most popular SUV.

I have a CRV. I love it for me. It's not too big so I don't feel silly driving it when it's just me and DS 99% of the time, but big enough that I can load it up at Lowes.

I don't look at popularity of the car. I'm all about practicality and if the car has what I need from it. I do care more about how it drives, I still miss not driving a stick. Looks are right at the bottom for me. So my priority is:
1. practical for what I need
2. how it drives
3. looks

[georgiegirl]

Love my silver Odyssey! Everyone here has one (usually silver), but I can usually tell mine apart from the rest because its way dirtier (we live off a dirt road.). In retrospect, I may have chosen a different color, but the car is great. It doesn't bother me that it is super popular. It's a car, it's purpose is utilitarian. I can see picking a purse that's unique to be different, but not a car.

[lhafer]

I'm not saying I would get a certain vehicle JUST to be different. I get why certain cars are popular. And I usually like them. But if I know another brand of car has the same features/warranty/style, etc and I like it - I will probably go with it just because I have better chances of getting a good deal.

My quest is a fantastic car. I don't particularly like the exterior styling of it. I'm getting used to it though. But the interior rocks, and since that's what I see everyday while driving, that's what's important.

[KrystalS]

I drive a silver Oddy. Its so popular that I often walk up to the wrong car in the parking lot. :bag There is a reason its so popular, its because its a great car. I find that to not be super popular, the car has to be a dog or super $$$$. JMO

LOVE my Odyssey! I didn't really notice how popular silver was until I got mine. I can't tell you the number of times I go up to the wrong car, usually when DS is being difficult and I just want to be out of the store! I've actually walked up to other moms thinking my car was theirs, it's always funny because we end up chatting about how great the Odyssey is!

[chinook]

I'll admit if there are a million of a certain vehicle in my part of town it turns me off a little bit. It seems to bother me less with minivans and more with SUV's. You can't throw a rock without hitting an Acura MDX in these parts, so if I was in the market for a small SUV I'd look at something different, I think.

[AnnieW625]

I have a CRV. I love it for me. It's not too big so I don't feel silly driving it when it's just me and DS 99% of the time, but big enough that I can load it at Lowes

We were originally looking at getting the Cr-V, the previous style to yours but then we finally drove that one and decided we just didn't like it all that much; DH thought it was a little cramped, and the location of the shifter bothered me. Had we waited a year I think we would have preferred the styling of the newer one and it seems a bit less compact than the other style. I sat in the newest one which is still very similar in style to yours and I really liked it except I felt like the back window was lacking and kind of small. If it were bigger I would probably consider it for my next car (because DH eventually wants to replace our Pilot with a truck).

[lmh2402]

nope. we got an enclave b/c it was the perfect fit for our wants/needs re: space, style, ride, comfort, looks

we were dead set on the blue and don't see as many of that color around here, but yes...there are a gazillion enclaves and we just figure everyone has good taste ;)

[smilequeen]

When I had a minivan it sort of bothered me that is was SO overly common as to be completely nondescript. Think...old lady and granddaughter just climbing in with me and sitting down before realizing it was the wrong car.

I don't mind "popular" but that was just too much. I wanted something that said ME rather than typical suburban any mom too, it's actually most important that the car suits me and makes me happy. I'm in my car a lot. 25K miles in 6 months...a lot.

So, my current car is "common" in my neighborhood (3 others in the neighborhood of about 25 homes). But not as nondescript as the minivan was. And it's more ME. The minivan was so practical and it made sense but it was never ME.

[ladysoapmaker]

I don't mind driving a popular vehicle. In fact I drive the most popular vehicle in the US - a Ford F150 (2011 super crew Lariat) 4x4 and my wife drives a 2008 Toyota Sienna. Love my truck.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-NWm_LNPceHU/T4DKG11KxeI/AAAAAAAAAus/UdccsAb5EZk/s640/IMG_20120407_181838.jpg

I miss my truck.

Jen

[maestramommy]

Not really. We live in minivan/3rd row SUV country too. They fill the parking lots everywhere, and I always have a hard time finding my car when I come out of a building! All the brand you mention are VERY popular out here.

However, recently I have noticed an uptick in small cars, like the Mazda5 and Honda Fit. Or maybe I notice them now that I'm interested. Still, these cars look very new. Also, my car seems to be very popular here. I have tried to enter the wrong car on more than one occasion. You'd think, how many gray Accords with Coexist stickers can there be in this town?? Turns out, quite a few, lol!

Just go with whatever really works for you all.

[swissair81]

I have an Ody. I am on Honda vehicle number 4. I had a CR-V, 2 leased Odys, and finally I have an Ody of my very own that I can keep forever. It drives like it's an extension of me. DH has a suburban and I cannot say how much I hate it.

[codex57]

I don't care. I get what I consider to be the best. If everyone else and their mom thinks it's also the best, it doesn't deter me.

And Quest had a horrible reputation for reliability for a reason. New plant and new model. No one knew how to build a car at first. They fixed it around 2006 or so IIRC. Odysseys have had transmission problems so yes, nobody is perfect. I take reliability into account, but also features, value, looks, etc. Stuff that's important to me but may not be for everyone else. But if they end up with the same car, it doesn't bother me. I just modify my car a little to make it easier to spot in the parking lot. Stickers, accessories, etc.

[KrisM]

Well, I drive an Odyssey, which puts me in the minority here. Most minivans are Chrysler products here. But I bought it because it had the features I want. I did pick blue so it would stand out even more in the sea of silver and black. Everyone spots me and waves as I stand out driving in town.

[lhafer]

I don't care. I get what I consider to be the best. If everyone else and their mom thinks it's also the best, it doesn't deter me.

And Quest had a horrible reputation for reliability for a reason. New plant and new model. No one knew how to build a car at first. They fixed it around 2006 or so IIRC. Odysseys have had transmission problems so yes, nobody is perfect. I take reliability into account, but also features, value, looks, etc. Stuff that's important to me but may not be for everyone else. But if they end up with the same car, it doesn't bother me. I just modify my car a little to make it easier to spot in the parking lot. Stickers, accessories, etc.

I had an altima before my first Quest with no issues, and then had a 2006 quest til this year, again with no issues. Every single person I knew that had a Honda has had issues - and none of them had an Odyssey. I just find it interesting.

And I will undoubtedly get a car that I love and fits my needs when the lease is up on my current one. I just kind of like that there are only 2 white Nissan Quests in my suburb (although more are popping up - just in other colors), and one of them is mine. It makes it super easy to go through the car-rider line at school!!