for old folks
November 12, 2010 (Friday)
I’ve been toying with the idea of buying a late model or new car, but there are so many different makes and models! I’m having a hard time deciding on which ones to investigate. I decided yesterday to ask the computer. I typed in the search box “new car for 80-year-old man.” I’m not 80 yet but I’ll be driving it in my 80’s and beyond. “Hey,” I said to myself, “maybe it will have a suggestion for me.”
Did the good old internet offer me a suggestion? Yes, but not a suggestion for a make and model. It responded with a couple of ideas about old people.
One of the ideas that the industry avoids like the plague is any suggestion that their vehicles are intended for old people. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at any ad or commercial for a new car. A case in point: Oldsmobile’s slogan of a few years back: “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” The statement, repeated in many ads, was intended to say that Oldsmobile automobiles had been redesigned for the younger generation. The impression gained by the public, however, was that Oldsmobile was an old person’s car. Horrors! When they realized their error, they discontinued the ads.
The other idea prominent in the response I got has to do with whether or not old people should be driving at all. My electronic advisor gave me a list of questions to determine my fitness to drive. I will not tell you what the questions are and I won’t divulge my answers. My credentials for driving do not depend upon my answers to a list of questions. The proof of my being able to drive is in the fact that I returned to Rockport alive and well after driving on Houston’s freeways.
Anyway, I learned that the industry makes no cars especially for old people. I’ll figure it out for myself. I’ve been driving my Mercury Grand Marquis for many years. They have discontinued the line. It’s not for young people. If they only knew that all the kids in my family are crazy about it. Go figger.