When is something not new?

[deborah]

Some time ago, I was refilling my car at the petrol station (or whatever you call it), and the guy at the cash register said "Is yours the OLD Mazda?".

I guess it was old, but I was most off-put because it was my new car.

So, when does something become old? When you stop paying for it? When it breaks for the first time? When a new model comes out? Is it mustachian to think of things as old or new?

[Rezdent]

Around my neighborhood at least, old/new definitions vary widely.
These are opinions, and people seem to move the goalposts constantly.  Plus sometimes they believe "old" is better.

So I don't worry about their opinion of old/new.  At all.

Some folks are just obsessed with automobiles.  The cashier might have phrased it poorly - perhaps he was interested in a particular change in design of a certain make/model year - in which case he was probably admiring your "old" one.

My DH has a white Bronco and I hate driving it because it attracts so much attention from car fanciers.  If your Mazda is one that interests hobbyists then you might get inquiries occasionally - hopefully not as much as that Bronco...

[neo von retorch]

What year and model Mazda? In "car speak" it was almost certainly just talking about the generation (as you said, the "new" model). Although I also think of "old" Mazda as being the Protégé and Millenia, 626 and 323, before they switched the current naming (3 and 6, as well as CX-3/5/7/9).

[Slee_stack]

Probably wanted to figure out which pump to credit your payment on.  i presume there were a couple Mazdas filling up.  He wanted to know if yours was the 'old' or 'new' one.  Hell, there might even have been a window sticker on the other one.

Don't read anything into it.

[FIRE Artist]

When it stops smelling new.  Works for cars and shoes...and likely most things actually.

[ketchup]

It's all relative to its surroundings, I suppose.

My own "recently acquired new-to-me not-brand-new" car is a 2009, and I feel funny calling it "our new car" (given that most of my coworkers seem to drive 2015-16 cars) but I don't give it too much thought.

My grandma's 1994 Chevy Caprice was constantly called her "new car" (was indeed bought new) for almost 20 years before she got "another new car" (a 2012 I think).

[bobechs]

When it stops smelling new.  Works for cars and shoes...and likely most things actually.

Cheese, brandy, aspirin...

[BlueHouse]

I think something becomes "old" when a newer model comes out and the styling changes so that it looks significantly different. Be that a car, a kitchen style, a spouse ;-). Since "normal" people often trade in when styles change then the old thing becomes old even when it might not be actually old. Also sometimes people just use the word old to mean different rather than to signify age as in "is that your old BF?"

Then there is the question of when does something old become classic or vintage or retro? Is my 1950s house with its many original features cool retro or just old and dated?  Will a Mazda ever become a classic?

I drive the older model of Acura TL (2006) and someone at work commented "oh, you've got the good Acura -- the last year before the ugly model change".  2007 was indeed an uglier, sharp-edged, looking model, but I think Acura removed all the hard angles the next year and they all look alike to me again. 
That made me happy. 

[neo von retorch]

But, but... that's totally inaccurate. The TL didn't change the body work until 2009! (Source: I owned a 2008, and it looks just like the 2006.)

2006


2008


2009

[deborah]

It's all relative to its surroundings, I suppose.

My grandma's 1994 Chevy Caprice was constantly called her "new car" (was indeed bought new) for almost 20 years before she got "another new car" (a 2012 I think).

Like your grandma, I have generally thought of things as "new" for a long time - when the cashier said that (there were no other cars getting petrol), the car was actually 12 years old, but it was still "my new car", and I was a bit put out when he called it old (but didn't say anything, because after a bit of thought I realised it was quite justified). I wonder if this helps to make me frugal. If you are still satisfied enough with something to call it "new" when it is past-its-use-by-date to others, you aren't going to replace it.

[RocketSurgeon]

My mechanic referred to my '05 Cavalier as 'vintage.'  I guess he would know? It looks pretty modern to me.

[BlueHouse]

But, but... that's totally inaccurate. The TL didn't change the body work until 2009! (Source: I owned a 2008, and it looks just like the 2006.)

You're right and I should have known that. I'm sorry I called your car ugly, it's beautiful, for, you know, and older car.

[neo von retorch]

LOL - that was one of my bigger car mistakes. Bought a 2008 TL-S in 2011, sold it one year later. Lost $8k in depreciation!

In retrospect... it's ugly ;)

[arebelspy]

I think something becomes "old" when a newer model comes out and the styling changes so that it looks significantly different.

Agreed.  My definition would be "it becomes the old one when there's a new one."

That doesn't make it old, just in comparison (as everything in life).

If you have a phone you bought a month ago (say, an iPhone in August), then a new model comes out (in September), if someone saw your phone and asked "Is that the new iPhone?" then answer would be no.  Even though it's just a month old (the model itself being a year old), and still "new" to you, it's not what they mean.

This guy was referring to a redesign of the car, and it being the "old" style in comparison. It could become "old" when it's being sold brand new, if a newer model is out (and they're blowing out all the old inventory).

It doesn't mean anything, being old, or new... if you're happy with it, what's it matter if something is "new" or not?  :)