Come to southwest Montana -- you'd be signaling "I like to blend in to the crowd" :)

While nationally Subraru marketing emphasizes being different by owning a Subaru, around here its far and away the most common car. You exit Costco, look at the parking lot and ask "which of these 10 gray Outbacks is mine?".

I think we’re saying the same thing - just because it’s common, doesn’t mean it’s not signaling. You can signal that you want to be seen as part of the majority.

I think it's also practical -- if there are tons of Subarus around then it probably means they cope with the road conditions here and are reasonably cost effective and reliable.

If you live in San Francisco and drive a truck than you might be signaling. But if you own a Tesla you are just blending in.

By contrast, here in Idaho owning a truck is just blending in. Owning a Tesla out here would be signaling.

It is interesting how perspective changes so much based on where you are.

In Oregon I swear 80% of the population owns a Subaru Outback. The other 20% owns a Prius. So owning a Subaru in Oregon is just blending in. It doesn't mean anything. But if you drove that Subaru to San Francisco, now everyone thinks you are "outdoorsy".

But blending in can also be a form of signaling. I mean, pretty much everything is I guess. From Zuckerberg’s t-shirt and jeans demeanor to my favorite form of signaling which are those that wear their faang badges to malls and restaurants on weekends. It earns an instant eye roll. I’ve made my point on signaling poorly and disjointly in the thread but my original point was that buying a brand new vehicle, whatever it be, has a lot to do with image and what you want to signal to others. You can signal that you want blend in or that you are different. It’s mostly harmless, but when you do so with a vehicle, you consider actual perf second.

I own a Subaru Outback too and the greenwash earthy crunchy marketing/image of the Outback is horrible.

It's a pig of a car in traffic. Mine is a 2013 with the smaller engine and it struggles to get 20mpg in traffic.

It was a cheap vehicle, but it most certainly is horrible on gas for it's size & work capacity.

Agreed, but my point is as long as you get to signal the image, the actual performance of the vehicle is secondary for most. Including yours truly.

The irony in this is that the imaging for subaru outbacks is "the car of choice for gays and lesbians." It's not just pickups that have associations with them.

Yeah you're just signaling being Bozeman or Boulder basic.