My father is in his mid-50s. He's got a great job, he's still happily married with my mom, and my sister and I have both been moved out of the house and are doing well for ourselves. A few months ago, he went out and purchased a new vehicle to add to the line already in the driveway. But here's the thing: It wasn't a Corvette, it wasn't a Porsche, it wasn't a Chrysler Sebring convertible, and it was most definitely not an overcompensating Hummer H2. It was a Jeep Wrangler.
The Wrangler very much fit the type of car guy that my dad is. He used to have a large variety of rides, when he was younger, including a VW Bug and a '68 Chevelle SS 396. He knows how to appreciate a great car, but he's also been pretty practical about his vehicles since he's had a family. He's never been one for super flashy cars, and until I showed him the reliability of an Acura Integra, he was 100 percent all American.
Now, the purchase got me thinking. There my father was buying a pretty inexpensive Jeep Wrangler at a time when a ton of guys go through this so-called "mid-life crisis." It got me wondering what the psychology of buying cars at this time really was. To my dad, it's because he wanted a new project, a new toy to keep him busy. His two main hobbies are cars and golf, and putting this Jeep into its original stock form will keep his hands full for a while. But what about the other guys? The guys who are out there buying $60,70,80K cars when they're 60? What's that about? With a little help from my dad, we're here to explain. Here are some reasons Why Older Guys Buy Cars During a Mid-Life Crisis.