Face it, the reason we buy the cars we do is mostly for the "coolness"

Some of us don't.

The first car I ever drove was about a '92 Oldsmobile Silhouette, or whatever was the first year they made them. It was the least cool thing a 16 year old high school student could drive. I loved it. It had nothing flashy about it. Bad stereo, seats were difficult to remove, and the sliding doors were a puzzle to anyone new to the car. It was my favorite car (keep in mind that after that I've driven an Eclipse, LR Discovery, and - on occasion - my dad's company Lexus ).

So if everyone buys their cars for the "coolness", I'd be suprised by what the other college kids thought about my current minivan.

Face it, not everyone does buy for coolness. Once and a while, people buy things for practicality. I've hauled countless band instruments, pa systems, drum kits, etc. in my van, and have frequently had 7 people riding inside (fraternity, any of 3 school bands I'm in), and I'm always giving about 4 other people rides home on break, earning me a little extra cash. I went for practical.