Last week, we told you about the sad state of Hyundai, Kia, Porsche, and Suzuki. We told you about how they refuse to offer workplace protections to their LGBT employees. We told you about how they avoid answering our questions, like, “When will your employment policies catch up to the rest of us in the 21st century?”
If you’re the sort of person who puts her money where her mouth is, that could be enough to put you off those brands for a long time to come. After all, there are plenty of other fish (and four-door sedans) in the proverbial sea.
But what if you’re not so political in your shopping habits? And what if you really dig a ride like the Hyundai Accent (which we’ll review tomorrow)? How can you reconcile terrible, regressive corporate policies that conflict with your own deeply held beliefs — policies that implicitly devalue you and the rest of the LGBT community — with your need for a good car? How can you make a deal with the devil?
It ain’t easy, but it can be done.
Look, in a perfect world, we could spend all our time shopping at places like J.C. Penney (now known as jcpenney) and bypass Target altogether. We wouldn’t have to stay at hotels like the Manchester Grand Hyatt. We could pick up stakes and move to one of the growing number of states that allow gay marriage.
But the world isn’t perfect– if it were, Ryan Gosling would bat for our team and Maggie Gallagher would develop a lifelong case of laryngitis. Sometimes, we just have to close our eyes and think of England’s more progressive legal protections.
Case in point
This isn’t just idle chatter. One of our readers recently wrote in and asked, in essence, “How ‘gay-unfriendly’ are the four companies on your ‘non-gay-friendly’ list?” He needed a new ride, and he was looking at the Kia Rio SX, but as he said, “I really don’t want to support a company that doesn’t understand that LGBT people should have the same rights as everyone else.”
Our advice was that he contact his local Kia dealership and see what its policies are. As we mentioned in our interview with GM’s Eric Peterson, each dealership is unique, since dealer’s contracts with automakers don’t get into specifics like employment policies.
Long story short, our reader found a Kia dealer in his area that had a history of supporting LGBT causes and had even participated in a local AIDS Walk. That made him feel better about purchasing a car made by a company that still doesn’t “get it”.
But what about you? Have you run into this problem in looking for a new car? Has it been a major sticking point? How did you overcome it? Drop us an email, or leave us a note in the comments below.
Surprised to see my story here 🙂 Just thought I’d give you an update – I still haven’t bought a new car. I’m really interested in the Kia, but I also like the Hyundai Accent SE and want to check out the new Prius C as well. My current car is still doing fine, it just doesn’t meet our needs very well.
Thanks so much for the update. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with the Kia or the Hyundai, but you might take a long, slow look at the Prius C. My colleague (and Friend of Gaywheels) John Voelcker recently put it through its paces, and he had very nice things to say: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1072665_2012-toyota-prius-c-first-drive-report-and-full-details
Keep us posted!
Well, that’s my other dilemma. My mania for new cars has me changing vehicles every 3 – 4 years. (Fortunately, I always go for eco/green cars that are on the lower end of the pricing scale, or I’d be even more broke than I am!) I’ve never owned a hybrid, though I really love the idea of getting hybrid mileage out of my car. My daily commute is all city, so doubleplusgood on that. But I can’t help but wonder if it makes sense to spend the extra money on the hybrid if I might not keep the car long enough to make it pay off. I have to decide if I’m more interested in saving gas (and the planet), or saving money (and my own personal finances).
And then there’s that pesky little Scion iQ…
I’m afraid you’re on you own, there — math remains a mystery to me.
That said, I’m sure there are a couple of handy calculators online that can tell you which would be money better spent. If you find one, let us know — we’ll look around, too.
(FYI, not sure about the Scion iQ. Have you thought about the underappreciated xD?)
Update: I went with the iQ. It just seemed to meet my needs better. It is very much a niche vehicle, but I think I fit that niche pretty well.
Plus, I was able to get a fantastic deal on one that they had to sell as “used” even though it only had 21 miles on it!
I’ve had it about three weeks, but so far I’m loving it. Still haven’t had to refill the gas tank!
Visited the local auto show this week and checked out all the cars on my list. The Kia Rio and Hyundai Accent were both nice cars for the money, but my partner had a lot of trouble getting in and out of them with his arthritic knee. The seating on the passenger side was too low. The Kia Soul worked much better for him, but is a bit big for my taste.
The best fit for him, believe it or not, was the iQ. It has a high seating position and big doors. The back seat would only work for occasional use, but that’s okay. The Prius C was there, too, but they had it locked and no one could sit in it. The interior looked awfully cheap for a car that cost $23K. Plastic hubcaps at that price, too. 🙁
The xD is interesting… We’ll see.
That’s great to hear — please keep us updated!