European automobile culture
The car culture here is very different than in North America. The cost of a Mercedes, BMW, or Audi in Europe is 150% the price in North America. This is mainly because there's more competition in this class in North America. People tend to not lease cars, but buy them straight out, although this is beginning to change. There are hardly any Asian-manufactured cars and there are even less 4x4s and SUVs. Gas is $1.50 per litre here. What's the price in Toronto now? The last I heard, it was just over $0.90/L.
I was walking through the university parking lot and, all of a sudden, it struck me that almost ALL the cars were either silver or black. There are some white cars and some red cars, but NO champagne-coloured cars at all. Actually, my German friends think that champagne-coloured cars are extremely tacky. They also think that it's bad taste to match the exterior and interior colours of your car. For example, my friend's Dad has a white car, with a terra-cotta (kind of like a burnt red) leather interior. This is considered unique and good taste. I think it's gross.
Also, people don't do after-market changes to their cars. It does happen, but it's rare. I found out that the majority of people who sup up their cars here are from the countryside, where they have nothing better to do, so it's not considered a good thing if you sup up your car.
You probably already knew, but almost all cars here are standard, everyone knows how to drive standard, and almost everyone prefers standard. There are also tons of station wagons here. For almost any model, you can find a station wagon version of it. Audis, Mercedes', Volkswagens, Volvos...anything. I think I'm still scarred from the station wagons with the wood panelling in the 80s and I think that the additional part that makes a car a station wagon also makes it ugly.
The speed limit is 120km/h in Switzerland and you'll get ticketed if you go over 130km/h. If you speed over 150km/h, it's actually considered a criminal offence and, if convicted, you get a criminal record for it, have to pay a baseline fine, AND a % of your annual salary (not sure exactly how much, but I hear it's a lot).
One of the cars that I see here that I really like, for a starter car, is the Peugeot 206cc convertible (French manufacturer, see pic!). My favourite starter car in Canada at the moment is the Mazda3, but I'd have a tough time deciding between the two if we had Peugeot in Canada. I heard that we have the Smartcar in Canada now, although I don't think it's going to work. There is a lot of parallel parking here, but not so much in Canada. In Toronto, if you don't have a parking spot for a normal car, you still won't have a parking spot for a Smartcar. And even though, yes, there is a specially-designed "safety cell", would you really like to risk being hit by one of the many huge SUVs we have? I'd rather see mopeds/scooters get big in Toronto, although the average driving distance is probably too far and it wouldn't be so great in winter lol. I just like mopeds & scooters :P.
I was walking through the university parking lot and, all of a sudden, it struck me that almost ALL the cars were either silver or black. There are some white cars and some red cars, but NO champagne-coloured cars at all. Actually, my German friends think that champagne-coloured cars are extremely tacky. They also think that it's bad taste to match the exterior and interior colours of your car. For example, my friend's Dad has a white car, with a terra-cotta (kind of like a burnt red) leather interior. This is considered unique and good taste. I think it's gross.
Also, people don't do after-market changes to their cars. It does happen, but it's rare. I found out that the majority of people who sup up their cars here are from the countryside, where they have nothing better to do, so it's not considered a good thing if you sup up your car.
You probably already knew, but almost all cars here are standard, everyone knows how to drive standard, and almost everyone prefers standard. There are also tons of station wagons here. For almost any model, you can find a station wagon version of it. Audis, Mercedes', Volkswagens, Volvos...anything. I think I'm still scarred from the station wagons with the wood panelling in the 80s and I think that the additional part that makes a car a station wagon also makes it ugly.
The speed limit is 120km/h in Switzerland and you'll get ticketed if you go over 130km/h. If you speed over 150km/h, it's actually considered a criminal offence and, if convicted, you get a criminal record for it, have to pay a baseline fine, AND a % of your annual salary (not sure exactly how much, but I hear it's a lot).
One of the cars that I see here that I really like, for a starter car, is the Peugeot 206cc convertible (French manufacturer, see pic!). My favourite starter car in Canada at the moment is the Mazda3, but I'd have a tough time deciding between the two if we had Peugeot in Canada. I heard that we have the Smartcar in Canada now, although I don't think it's going to work. There is a lot of parallel parking here, but not so much in Canada. In Toronto, if you don't have a parking spot for a normal car, you still won't have a parking spot for a Smartcar. And even though, yes, there is a specially-designed "safety cell", would you really like to risk being hit by one of the many huge SUVs we have? I'd rather see mopeds/scooters get big in Toronto, although the average driving distance is probably too far and it wouldn't be so great in winter lol. I just like mopeds & scooters :P.
posted by lilswtamy at 11:41 p.m.
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