Cars are seen as a status symbols in a lot of places, instead of as the utilitarian things they are. Where I'm from people will see you in a better or worse light depending on what you drive, for sure. Most young people get first in debt not for college, but for the 200.000km second or third hand car imported from Germany.
That's a far too simple take. Everyone (yes, also you) have biases around cars. And depending on the bias, people want to have these character traits associated with them.