I usually never talk with my coworkers about cars. For the most part, they're just not car people and only see cars as commuting appliances. Yesterday while arranging carpools to lunch I pointed out my coupe wouldn't be good because it is hard to get people in the back seat. This started one coversation:
coworker: so what kind of coupe do you have?
me: Chevy Cobalt
coworker: oh... so that's GM... how's it working out for you?
me: Great! I love it. It gets great mileage, has never had a mechanical problem not caused by the dealer, and is really cheap to run and maintain.
coworker: really? That's surprising.
me: American reliability and quality has really improved recently. And the Japanese reliability and quality is really tanking.
coworker: hmm. I guess it is just perceptions then.
me: exactly.
Then at lunch, another coworker was talking about waiting for the 4 cyl Toyota Highlander to come out, because she wants one to replace her aging Jetta. I mentioned that I knew how she felt, because I was waiting for the Camaro to come out. Another coworker chimed in:
coworker: Oh, you want a Camaro?
me: Yup. I love them
coworker: Aren't they really expensive?
me: Oh no, not at all. They're just a little more than a Mustang.
coworker: Oh, wow, that's great. I just thought that Camaros were really fast and the Mustang isn't, so I figured they were a lot more expensive.
me:
Changing misconceptions, one at a time.