Do you judge people by the cars they drive?

Yes, in a sort of way.

If they're driving a lowered, modified Subaru with stickers plastered in the rear window, there's a good chance they vape and I don't want to have anything to do with that.

If they're driving an older MDX or RX, they're probably going to be on their phone.

If they're driving a Sunfire with visible duct tape and zip ties, they give no berkeleys about anyone or anything, so avoid them on the roads.

If they're driving a Hummer, they look like an enormous douchecanoe and are probably really into "gains."

The flipside can be true.

If they're driving a rattle canned Volvo Amazon on tasteful wheels with a raucous exhaust, they seem like a really fun dude to be around.

If they look young and are driving an XJ6, they're really brave and probably come from a line of British car enthusiasts.

If their first generation Rav4 is manual, has a junkyard-sourced Eaton M90 sticking through a hole in the hood, and is absolutely covered in mud, they seem pretty damn awesome.

This is much more a Korea thing than a US thing, but any time I see a BMW, Audi or Genesis etc (ie big luxury sedans), I expect to get cut off, squeezed, or blown by at very illegal speeds. I'm not often wrong.

I find this thread hilarious. My wife was driving a CR-V when I first met her, and I was driving a Camry at the time (5 spd manual on Eibach springs with Whiteline F&R swaybars). We now own an Odyssey, a RAV4 (at least it's a V6) and a Mustang. This is also the first year I haven't owned a pickup truck, but I do have a very embarrassing HF utility trailer.

After reading this thread, we have to be a walking stereotype! I blame it on my parents, who simultaneously owned a Toyota Echo, a Suburban, a pickup, and a 6spd LT1 Corvette. They also picked up a Mustang GT (manual) a few years back. My dad might be the slowest Mustang driver ever - he was getting 26 MPG on his mixed commute into work before he retired

Only the expensive slow ones. I'm actually really sick of passing this one shiny happy person with a murcialago around here. We get it, you bought a car worth more than a lot of local houses,but you're getting passed on the way to 60 by my miata. Get a prius or other appliance, you're just ruining the brand even further and berkeleying up traffic for the rest of us.

Also, the loud and slow crowd. Sure your car SOUNDS fast as lightening, but you can barely get it to 70 on the highway without your giant spoiler shaking loose on your FWD.

RevRico wrote: Also, the loud and slow crowd. Sure your car SOUNDS fast as lightening, but you can barely get it to 70 on the highway without your giant spoiler shaking loose on your FWD.

Our rallyx car falls in this category :( Its very embarrassing to drive around. Its a B15 Sentra Spec V with a loud exhaust. Its otherwise pretty much stock except for some body damage, a few stickers, and +50lbs of mud.

Rebuilding the center section of exhaust to include a working cat and another resonator/muffler is high on our to-do list.

When I see lots of brake lights way before a 'bend' in the road, I form an opinion! Guilty!

I drove a beige Buick LeSabre for 14 years. I hated it most of the time (except that is was paid for). It was a cheap daddy mobile. Driving a POS like this really forces you to be smooth!

At least now I have a race red Focus, but I'm the same guy!

I have the old FX16 with primer on the hatch and a faded blacked out hood. Okay, it's lowered and a little loud and has some wider tires.

I'm also pretty sedate in my driving and stick close to the speed limits, except on the twisties. Very few keep up with me on the twisties. If by some odd instance that they do, they are probably sporting a GRM sticker.

Yes. But I wouldn't exclude a woman from consideration based on what she drives.

My girl drives a smart car........although I do tease her about it.

Anybody who is driving like a complete idiot near my house is probably going to turn here and go into Red Lobster.

Granted, Wake Forest/Falls of Neuse road is not very kind and is probably terrifying to people who don't drive it often. There is usually a wreck at the hospital once a week or so, too.

Absolutely.

Vehicle choice and accessory choice in particular are a great indicator of personality.

NASCAR stickers in the window mean that I never need to engage in conversation with that person. We will have absolutely nothing in common.

Except for Brodozers, nope.

I used to make fun of Buick drivers, but now I own a Volvo so I can't say anything!

ProDarwin wrote:

RevRico wrote: Also, the loud and slow crowd. Sure your car SOUNDS fast as lightening, but you can barely get it to 70 on the highway without your giant spoiler shaking loose on your FWD.

Our rallyx car falls in this category :( Its very embarrassing to drive around. Its a B15 Sentra Spec V with a loud exhaust. Its otherwise pretty much stock except for some body damage, a few stickers, and +50lbs of mud. Rebuilding the center section of exhaust to include a working cat and another resonator/muffler is high on our to-do list.

That car is built for a purpose though. I meant more the stragglers from the fast n furious, fart can adds 50hp crowd. There's a 96 civic just down the street from me. Giant spoiler, pep Boys bling, you can hear it coming a mile away but it takes 10 minutes to cover that mile. It's not fast, it doesn't race or auto x, it's just slow and obnoxious for the sake of being slow and obnoxious as far as I can tell.

To be fair, I left the exhaust broken on my Saturn for months because it sounded like a rally car with the muffler just hanging there for show not connected to anything. Engine braking was awesome with pops and bangs. But it looked like a beater Saturn, and that's all it ever wanted in life.

You would judge my son by the car he drives and you would be correct.

RevRico wrote:

ProDarwin wrote:

RevRico wrote: Also, the loud and slow crowd. Sure your car SOUNDS fast as lightening, but you can barely get it to 70 on the highway without your giant spoiler shaking loose on your FWD.

Our rallyx car falls in this category :( Its very embarrassing to drive around. Its a B15 Sentra Spec V with a loud exhaust. Its otherwise pretty much stock except for some body damage, a few stickers, and +50lbs of mud. Rebuilding the center section of exhaust to include a working cat and another resonator/muffler is high on our to-do list.

That car is built for a purpose though.

Nobody who sees me drive it around on the street periodically knows that though.

z31maniac wrote: Yes. But I wouldn't exclude a woman from consideration based on what she drives. My girl drives a smart car........although I do tease her about it.

My sister drives a Smart. She is smug. Everyone in a Smart is smug.

i assume super clean never dirty lifted truck with black rockstar wheels = meathead.

I assume everyone in a Prius enjoys the smell of their own flatulence.

I assume everyone in a Chrysler 300 is an ass and is going to try and kill me with their car.

Everyone with a vanagon is a burned out hippie or a dirty pot smoking hippie wannabe.

I'd love to claim I'm a better person that to judge someone by what they drive, but like most I have triggers.

• Lifted truck / coal rolling / confederate flag touting - I will go out of my way to avoid being in the same building as you.
• Toyota or Lexus (post early 90's) You have given up on life and hitting de-fault on everything.
• Prius - All powered by 100% pure smug and have no idea about the true environmental impact of making batteries
• ANY other hybrid or electric car that doesn't say Turdbota or Lexass on the back? I'm cool with you and want to chat with you about your reasons for choosing it and what your drive cycle is.
• 3rd gen Camaro's - If you've driven this through years of derision and jokes about Mullets and dead hookers, I want to talk autocross with you.
• Air cooled Porsches - I must talk to you to find where you fall on the spectrum. At one end you have true car guys who love their cars and suffered through years of being looked down on by other PCA members for not having the latest car you could get to Total Douche who wants to show how cool they are for having a retro car.
• Automatic Boxster - You are a total fool.......unless you happens to be me, in which case. Way to go on such an amazing score.

Yeah, I'm a hypocrite and there are exceptions to every one of those....except the first, i still don't want to talk to you.

I have been noticing that modern jeep SUV drivers are a bit more smug and dare I say less than capable drivers and more importantly driving faster and with less care than conditions warrent.

Skip forward to today. I had to be out today in the beginning of the storm/blizzard we are getting and I saw seven single car accidents. All appeared to be the result of speeds that were way to much for the conditions. Five of the seven vehicles were modern jeep suv things.

To me this confirms my observations of modern jeep SUV drivers.

GameboyRMH wrote: I'll only judge you by your car if you use it to make a statement, so most people don't get judged - a blandmobile doesn't really say anything. A Mercedes C-Class says "I'm not that wealthy but I desperately want to look rich!"

A C-class is the only Mercedes I'd consider. Anything else is just too damn big. A decent C-class is like a 3-series without the Pontiac level interior quality.

So lets change this around. What does Jaguar S-Type R say about "someone".

Edit: Dark silver/grey with a black interior.

dean1484 wrote: So lets change this around. What does Jaguar S-Type R say about "someone". Edit: Dark silver/grey with a black interior.

Brave, very very brave

Trans_Maro wrote: Absolutely. Vehicle choice and accessory choice in particular are a great indicator of personality. NASCAR stickers in the window mean that I never need to engage in conversation with that person. We will have absolutely nothing in common.

lol, my mazda3 came with a #14 tony stewart sticker in the back window, as well as a law school sticker burned into the tint. now both are burned in after scraping off the #14 sticker

Truth is all of us are probably profiled by someone. You can't profile people by what they drive usually, as people buy cars for different reasons. Having said that, I still judge the car when I have a choice of who to line up behind at a light. Buicks always lose that choice.

And whoever came down on the CRV, well, my wife had one and it was by far the best car we ever owned. Nothing else even comes close.

NOHOME wrote: Except for Brodozers, nope.

Oooohhh...forgot about those. So yeah, I guess I do. Living in the ATL, they're everywhere. I chuckle. E36 M3, even in our golf cart community, many of the brodozer owners have brodozer golf carts. Lifted, big rims, stereos, neon lights. Not only do I chuckle, I LOL.

racerdave600 wrote: Truth is all of us are probably profiled by someone.

Both my cars say "I may be too broke to have any business modifying cars, but I'll do whatever I can to squeeze some speed from this jalopy!"...which is spot-on, really.

Shiny lifted jeep= dingleberry

Dirty lifted jeep= legit dude

Shiny buick= WWII veteran

Dirty buick= drug addict that was given grandpas car when he died. The relatives thought not having a car was the reason he didnt have a job, but really hes just too big of a piece of E36 M3 to work. The car was beautifully cared for until they handed him the keys, but he managed to hit a mailbox on the way home and knock the mirror off and crack the windshield. Now it hasnt had an oil change in 26000 miles. The ashtray is overflowing with cigarette butts and the seats are covered with burn holes. The only maintenance that happens now is jump starts and pumping up the tires, but that happens every day. There is a pink babyseat in the back that isnt properly strapped in but thats okay because he never sees his kid anyway.

racerdave600 wrote: Buicks always lose that choice.

I'll pick a Buick over a Prius any day.