I may be reaching here but what I noticed at my old job was how your overall image played into promotions you got and cars were a part of it.

Of course no one would admit to it, but it was pretty obvious. In the case of cars, all of the stores were small, so they had small parking lots putting your vehicle front and center whether you wanted it to be or not. There was no way to park 'out back' because in most cases, there wasn't one.

In my case, each time a major promotion happened, I wasn't driving one of my old hoopties. I started at my old job thru a temp agency when I was daily driving my wagon. After about 6 months working there thru the agency, I went out and bought a 2002 RAM 1500 which was only 3 yrs old at the time. Soon after, I was offered a position to work directly for the company. Much later, when I got the final bump into management, I was driving my Wife's old (but didn't look old) Pontiac Vibe as I had gotten rid of my mini van and had not bought my Dakota yet. Coincidence? I doubt it because I saw a similar pattern with other workers at other locations.

Oh, yeah, my replacement after I got fired was someone with a new motorcycle.

Bitter? No, just part of the game called life.