Car Talk

With innovative features like auto parking and gaming cockpits， smart EVs are capturing the hearts of young buyers. Here's a language guide to buying your first car in China.

Z世代選車必備語言指南：如何打造你的“避世小天堂

ntheeyesoftoday'syouth，acarisno longer justameansoftransportation.It'sa smartphone，asmarthomeonwheels，andeven amobilesanctuary—a避世小天堂（bishixiao tiantáng，\"littlehideaway\"）-whereonecanescape thenoise，unwind，andfindasliceoffreedom.

With their eco-friendly nature and a growing rangeofstylishdesigns，newenergyvehicles（NEV 新能源汽車xinnengyuanqiche）havebecome increasinglypopularandappealingtofashionforward young people in China.At the same time， governmentsubsidiestoconsumershavefurther acceleratedtheirrapidrise.

Comparedtotraditional gasolinevehicles（油車 yóuche），electricvehicles（EVs，電動汽車diandong qiche）haveattractedfanswithaplethoraofsmart functions like AI-powered voiceassistants（語音 助手yuyinzhushou），intelligent driving（智能駕 駛zhinéng jiashi），autoparking（自動泊車zidong bóche），andmor.

Whena young person enters theworkforce， they encounteramilestone：人生第一輛車（renshengdi yi liang che），or\"the first carof their life.\"Having grown up duringa period of economic prosperity， theyarewell-acquaintedwithcarculture-over 80 percentof Gen Z took theirdriving test in highschool orcollege，according toa 2021 surveybymarketresearchfirmIpsosandvideo platformBilibili.

Unlike previous generations，who often viewed certaincarbrandsasstatussymbols，younger buyersfavorvehiclesthatreflecttheirlifestylesand personalities，evenseekingadeeperemotional connectionandculturalsignificance.

Inaddition，arangeofinnovativefeatureshas made thesenewmodels irresistible，including in-carkaraoke（車內卡拉OKcheneikālaOK）， in-carfragrancesystems（車內香氛系統chenei xiangfenxitong），gamingcockpits（電競座艙dianjing zuocang），andmassageseats（按摩座椅anm6zuoyi）.

Onsocial mediaplatformslikeXiaohongshu RedNote），manyuserssharehowthey've customized personalwake-upphrases（語音喚醒 詞yuyin huanxingci） fortheirsmartvoiceassistants， engagedin沉浸式布置新車（chenjinshibuzhixin che，immersive new-cardeco setups），drivenoff onspontaneousafter-workadventures，camped outintheircars，and even turned theminto mobile coffee shops.

Fortoday'syouth，connectingwithaspecificcar brandormodelispersonalandintentional—even if their choices might appear unconventional to oldergenerations：

The snacksat the dealership are delicious，and the salespeoplearenotonlybeautifulbutalsokindhearted SiSdian delingshihaochi，xiaoshourénméi xinshan. 4S店的零食好吃，銷售人美心善。

The car's color must be unique and stand out from the crowd.

Ché de yánsé bixu xiāozhong bu zhuangku?n.

車的顏色必須小眾不撞款。

Some evenconsult metaphysics：

The car's name sounds auspicious to meYinwei zhe che de mingzi jili.

因為這車的名字吉利。Its interior color matchesmy zodiac sign perfectly.

Chédeneishiyánsé héw dexingzuo féichang pipei.

車的內飾顏色和我的星座非常匹配。

Some，asithappens，askeepSeek， theA languagemodel， to recommend a car based on theirbazi（八字，FourPillarsofDestiny），aChinese astrologicalsystemthatanalyzesaperson'sfate usingthe timeofbirth.Apossibleanswertheyget mightbe：

Thismodel is perfect for you-itsmetallic body represents the Metal element，while its long-range battery embodiesan Earth element， symbolizing stability.

Zhé kuan che feicháng shihé ni：tā de jinshu waiké daibiao jinyuansu，cháng xuhang dianchi zé xiangzhengtuyuansu，yuyiwenzhongyuchijiu. 這款車非常適合你：它的金屬外殼代表金元素，長續航 電池則象征土元素，寓意穩重與持久。

While some young buyers may prioritize personalstyle，manyarestillkeepingpracticality inmind. To navigate thiscomplexworld，firsttimebuyersneedtoconquerthesophisticated terminologyrelatedtoEVs.Keyfactorsto considerincludethenumberanddistributionof chargingstations（充電樁chongdianzhuang）， the vehicle'sdriving range（續航 xuhang），the level of smartfeatures，andtheoveralldrivingexperience

However， once you settleon theperfectmodel， realitysetsin.You'll needtonavigatepractical termslikevehiclepurchasetax（車輛購置稅 cheliang gouzhishui），on-the-road price （落地價 luodijia），andservicefee（服務費fuwufei）while negotiatingwithcardealers.Withcountless obscureterms，iddencosts，andinsidertricks， buyingacar can quicklybecomea daunting challenge.

Afterfamiliarizing yourselfwiththese terms， the next stepis to visita cardealership. Negotiatingwithanactualdealercanbe anartful process in securing the best deal. Outsmarting slick， experienced salespeople， or反 拿捏銷售（fannaniexiaoshou），isdefinitelyeasier said thandone.For example，whenasalesperson asks：

Isthis your first time checking out the cars？

Ni shi diyi ci laikanche ma？

你是第一次來看車嗎？

A novice might simply reply：

Yes，tell meabout the cars. Shi de，géiwojieshao yixia ba 是的，給我介紹一下吧。

Butthat'stotallythewrongmove！Youshould subtlyhintthat youarewell-informed—otherwise， thesalespersonmighttrytohityouwiththeclassic high-pricepackage.Soa prowouldsay：

I'vevisiteda fewdealershipsalready.This ismy first timehere. Wkanguo hao ji jia le，ni jia shi di yici lái. 我看過好幾家了，你家是第一次來。

Thesalespersonmay say：

Wereally can't discount the price any further，but we can offer you some free gifts.

Jiagé zhen de bunéng youhui le，song yixié zengpin keyiba？

價格真的不能優惠了，送一些贈品可以吧？

Don’t just smile and sayokay！Chancesare， you’llbeoffered somecheaptrinketslikeair fresheners，tinypillows，orsteeringwheel covers. Instead，youshouldclearlystateandnegotiate for high-value gifts：

lwanta gas card，three freemaintenance services， windowtinting，adashcam，floormats，chassisarmor， andafireextinguisher...lheardotherdealershipsoffer the full package.

Wxiang yao yóuka、sān cibaoy?ng、boli tiemó， háiyδuxingchejiluyi、jiaodian、dipanzhuangjia、 miehuoqi......tingshuo qita dian dou you quantao zengsong.

我想要油卡、三次保養、玻璃貼膜，還有行車記錄儀、腳墊底盤裝甲、滅火器聽說其他店都有全套贈送。

With your negotiation skills and patience， the salespersonwilleventuallyrelent，andthedream carwillbe yours.Once the car becomes your second home， the journeyto freedomwill truly begin，asmanyyoungcarownershavesharedon socialmedia：

The steering wheelin my hands reminds me that freedom is truly mine to command.

Sh?uzhong de fāngxiangpán rang wδ mingbai， ziyóu wánquán yóu wδ zhāngkong.

手中的方向盤讓我明白，自由完全由我掌控。