Kinda of a chicken and egg question here, but what the Hell. I like to think I’m basically a good person. The problem of course is that everybody likes to think they’re a good person. Yet the world is filled with people like the Honda Prelude driver I got stuck behind at 32 mph for two miles this morning. The other day I was (surprise!) driving with my girl on a very twisty one-and-a-half lane road near our house. As the particular section we were traversing was residential, I was just lugging along in second gear. Wouldn’t want to crush a Big Wheels (and have even more neighbors hang up “SLOW DOWN! CHILDREN!” signs all over the damn place). Suddenly, from seemingly nowhere, we’re face to face with a gun metal Hummer H2, charging uphill as if loaded with VX gas and being whipped by General Francis X. Hummel. Thanks to the superior superiorness of the Mazda RX-8 R3, I was able to brake, turn, scoot out of the way and flip the prick off. My girlfriend exploded, “Only awful people drive those things.” Before my adrenaline returned to normal, I was in total agreement. But, ten seconds later I said, “really?” She stuck to her guns. “You have to be a complete asshole without regard for anyone else to drive a Hummer.” Now, this is coming from the same woman who though the Bullitt ‘Stang sounded, “Wasteful.” But… at least in terms of the H2, I think she has a point. You?
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My car makes me drive like a jackass a lot more than what I used to drive.
I watched a gunmental H2 weave in and out of traffic on the 10 near the 405 the other day. I think they’re useless and owners are socially irresponsible, especially when piloted solo. But you have to hand it to them for coughing up so much gas money… Lifted trucks make it especially bad. That makes you an especially bad person (unless, you’re my coworker’s husband). Thankfully, they appear to be far less common now that it’s harder to refinance your house to buy new tires and a tank of gas.
I dunno, does owning a gun make you a bad person? I hate to harp on any particular car – is the Hummer driver that does 5,000 miles a year a bad person, and the Prius driver that does 60,000 a hero?
Ridiculous question. The answer is no.
Your vehicle choice does not make you a bad person. But your behavior with your choice can certainly make you a hypocrite. If you choose to drive a Hummer, fine, but please spare me the lamenting talk about gas prices and the cost to fill your tank. You knew what you were getting when you bought (leased?) it. I grumble and bear it when my choice of vehicle makes me pony up $160 for a tire that is shot in 22K miles. Don’t like it but thats the price I pay. And no, owning a gun does not make you a bad person at all. But being irresponsible with it like leaving it loaded in the house without securing it from your toddler makes you an idiot, though.
“You have to be a complete asshole without regard for anyone else to drive a Hummer.”
What does your girlfriend drive? Whatever it is, you have to be a total asshole without regard for anyone else to drive whatever she does. Try that line on her and see if she changes her tune. And people wonder why I don’t have a girlfriend….you gotta treat em right like that!
You don’t have to like a particular car, but I have zero problem with people driving what they want and can afford. More power to ya! whynotaztec makes a good point as well. or what about the guy that still drives his 80s Chevy C/K while others have bought 6 Civics in the meantime. I would certainly guess that despite the horrid MPG and emissions, you still do a lot more to save the earth by not buying a brand new car than buying a brand new car every 4 years, no matter how good the MPG is. There’s a lot more to it than just how much gasoline you put in the tank.
I think owning a car with obnoxious or ridiculous mods makes you a pretty bad person.
Of course it’s more about the driver than the car. Anyone who cuts you off from a green light is pretty bad (especially when they can see that their lane ends about 150 feet ahead).
When I bought a Chrysler 300, certain people I know tried to convince me not to because they said “certain types of people” drive that car.
They were refferring to gangsta rappers during the early days of the 300’s release, when Snoop dogg was on commercials with Dieter Zeitsch.
People do consider cars to represent a certain image. If you drive around in a Black Escalade with tinted windows and big rims, some people automaticaly assume your a drug dealer.
I supposse it matters what the current flavor of the month is on BET.
And to you TTAB, I’d like to say, I’m glad you credit Black culture with making the Chrysler 300 a cool car. I also noticed BBC’s Top Gear did the same thing.
I personally think White Americans who are watching Black entertainment, or seeing Blacks in the streets in certain vehicles are either desiring, or shunning vehicles based on their looks.
Some people of different ethnicities WANT to look like the rapper they saw on TV and having a vehicle that looks menacing happens to be a way to complete the look.
You don’t see any rappers stepping out of Hyundai Genesises or Volkswagon Jetta’s do you? You certainly won’t see cool people popping out of Smart fortwo’s or Honda Accords.
Or forget about rappers…what about television actors like TONY SOPRANO? I’m sure alot of cowards out there went out to buy cars Tony Soprano was driving, like the red GM truck and his black Escalade.
I think vehicle size is a way to project our subconscious desires for domination on the roads. That’s what drove the SUV craze. That’s also why dummies tune their trucks and econo cars to emit loud, ridiculous noises that don’t really represent the amount of horses under the hood.
I don’t think a Hummer makes you a bad person, but, it seems so out of place on a city street. If you live in a place where you need to traverse rock canyons and mountain ranges to get to work, OK then.
I drive a silver Mercedes S550. Everytime I pass one in Black, I kinda wish I’d gotten that color instead, but, people would think I was a Limousine cause in NYC, that’s what we’ve got.
On the whole, generally, I believe females base their thinking upon emotions vice logic or rationality so, generally, I just ignore female opinions.
Still single, strangely… but incredibly happy in a stress-free life.
We all “vehicle profile”; must get in left lane at red light when Lesabre in right lane, Prius voters will be voting for a Democrat, ect. Not all Buick drivers are slow, not all Prius drivers left and not all Hummer drivers are pricks. I can’t think of any car that makes me think “bad person” consciously or sub. Driving activities such as reckless driving or hyper-miling knowing full well you’re impeding traffic come close to “bad person” in my book, whatever their car.
I won’t lie: No matter how much I may like somebody, I think less of them if they drive an SUV or a pick-up truck than if they didn’t. The only exception is if they use the pick-up for what it was intended more than half the time. Example: “I use my truck for my job and/or hauling track-day vehicles.”
An SUV says you’re a crappy person. End of story.
Isn’t the answer to this question the same as:
Does advertising work?
Hummer is an excellent example — the styling and (at least in the past) ads targeted people with a certain ‘attitude’ about their relation with the world.
So my nominee for QOTD is: Are you the target market for your vehicle? or better: Do you resemble your car’s ads? (Johnny can certainly find a way to say it better.)
buying a hummer doesn’t make you a bad person – you already are bad (as in asshole) if you buy one
It’s cool to say SUV drivers are losers or evil. Truth is, cars have no reflection on yourself, though we like to think it does (especially BMW and MB drivers). You wouldn’t assume a ‘95 Sentra driver is poor, would you? So don’t assume SUV drivers are assholes. They aren’t! I think the A-holes are YOU GUYS!!! >:O
The three “worst” people I’ve known drove:
1. Toyota Highlander
2. Audi TT
3. Ford 500
The three “best” people I’ve known drove:
1. Chevy Impala
2. Ford Explorer Sport Trac
3. Toyota Corolla
So I say no, what you dirve does not make you a bad person.
Then again, I’ve never actually met an H2 owner.
Since I have never known anyone who owns a Muruno/Infiniti “cross-over”. I can not say they are a bad person. But they are they are about tops in in obnoxious driving.
I do know a Hummer driver, a pompous @ss
Only bad people drive H2s. Karma has punished them with off-the-cliff depreciation, high gas prices and small penises.
I can understand why someone would own an H1 because they appreciate the innovation, the reduction gear hubs, huge articulation independent suspension, legendary military service, and insane drive over a fire hydrant and up stairs off-road capabilities, even if they don’t use those features on a daily basis.
I can also appreciate that some people might need a Tahoe/Yukon for towing or solid axle/body on frame ruggedness.
However, someone that needs a Yukon dressed up as a horrifically ugly imitation of an H1 is deeply psychologically disturbed and should lose their license.
An H2 driver is basically someone with a Fiero with really bad knock-off Lamborghini body panels that thinks they actually own a Lamborghini.
All BMW 3-series owners are bad people.
You ever driven an H2? You have to be a bad person to have that little respect for your fellow human beings. No visibility. If you’re driving, say, a Miata in the next lane, you’d better be right with your maker, because that Hummer driver sure as hell can’t see you.
Young kids who borrow daddy’s BMW are pricks.
No.
Being a bad person makes you a bad person.
I’ve met complete assholes who drive Toyota Corollas and all-around nice guys who drive ridiculous vehicles (full-size SUVs on DUBs)
I, too, know an H2 driver. he’s a douche rocket of the highest orbit.
I used to drive a Grand Cherokee- and not that it has 1/100th of the bling factor of the H2, it still gave me the impression that I could, and would, kill someone if they double-crossed me. Seeing that 7-spoke grill about two feet from the rearview mirror of your Prius says something. Now that I drive a Prius *sheepish grin*, I’ve come to realize that people will drive as aggressively as they can depending on the car they’re in. I don’t think that awful people buy certain cars. Instead, certain cars turn you into an awful driver.
If a certain car makes you a bad person, then you folks are more shallow than I had previously assumed.
Consistent assholes on my daily 45-minutes commute: H2s and A4s. Except the wagons. Have no idea why.
peoplewatching04 :
I’ve come to realize that people will drive as aggressively as they can depending on the car they’re in.
Your demographic of people you’ve realized must consist of generally crappy drivers.
I think people are awful drivers because they refuse to discipline themselves to drive well.
That said, I live in a very Prius friendly, urban, university neighborhood. I’m tempted to pick up a used Ram diesel and bumper-sticker it with:
“Studies show Cummins Turbo-diesels retain 99 percent of original power and torque even after 100,000 miles or 8 Prius’s crushed under the front bumper, whichever comes first.”
I guess I’d be a bad person, then.
I am of the opposite opinion of peoplewatching04, at least the part where he says that he doesn’t think that awful people buy certain cars. I think, for example, jerks are far more likely to buy BMWs and other “status cars,” though I would never say that all BMW drivers are jerks, or that driving one can make you a jerk.
Certain cars carry with them so much social baggage that to see somebody driving around in, say, an H2 tells you far more about a person’s insecurities and fears than anything else. It’s big yuks to say that all Porsche or SUV drivers all have little willies, but I think that’s kinda dumb, because some people genuinely love the driving experience and can fully appreciate the capabilities of an M3 or 911. However, for a non-enthusiast to buy cars of this nature doesn’t necessarily speak well of the purchaser.
the only vehicle to which the answer is yes is the H2, honestly.
I mean, http://www.fuh2.com exists for a reason.
Okay let’s see…
I own two Mercedes S-Class’… so I’m a snob.
I own two Volvo wagons…. so I’m a leftist snob.
I own a Chevy Pickup and a Ford Pickup… so I’m a right wing nut job.
I own a red Sunfire convertible… so I’m an ‘aspiring’ chick.
I own three other cars that get at least 35 mpg… so I’m a good steward of the environment and, more than likely, a cheap bastard.
I own a parts car, which definitely makes me a cheap bastard.
I own an Accord which makes me brilliant.
I own a Sable which makes me an idiot. Any other intelligent American would choose a Camry instead.
In fact, I own no Toyotas. That makes me politically incorrect, un-American, and downright fascinating since my work is in the car business.
As for those in the car business around Atlanta, all of them already know what I am.
A fast talking bullshitter whose life is primarily dependent on bullshitting others… and that makes me a true American.
“Karma has punished them with off-the-cliff depreciation, high gas prices and small penises.” Pure brilliance.
You may want to double-check with your grandparents, but they’ll back me up. And I’d hate to be the one to tell you this, but anyone who drove a Hupmobile, and their decendants, carry the evil gene. Though it may be dormant now, make no mistake, you’re a horrible person!
It’s only because I’m bored that I’ll respond (take the bait) to Verbal’s comment about BMW 3-series owners. When I first bought my 3-series, a friend asked me how I liked the car. My response was that “It’s a big responsibility owning a BMW as people expect you to be, and drive like, a prick”.
As others have already said; It’s not what you drive, it’s how you drive, that makes you a prick. Me? I’m the same guy who was driving a Toyota Echo 10-months ago. I enjoy my 3-series but what I drive doesn’t make me who I am. My ego, and driving style, would remain the same if I went back to my Echo tomorrow. If you think the Echo is mock-worthy, you don’t want to hear me talk about how much I enjoyed my Ford Festiva.
And now I’ve proven to myself there’s little to be added to quasimondo’s post.
Have a good one.
I don’t think your choice of vehicle can make you a bad person, but these comments really make me want to meet an H2 owner to see what he/she is like.
Going back to “vehicle profiling”. At 25, Im still in my 00 VW Golf (2.slow) its navy with tinted windows, coincidentally I was parked by a park this evening smoking a cigarette and relaxing after a long day at work before going home, when two dea agents pulled up in an unmarked van (NYC… btw) and drilled me for 10 minutes just to make sure I wasnt dealing drugs, or god knows what else.
Now, I own a business, a home, business degree, but unfortunately my car screams UNDERAGE DRUG DEALER (they asked my age three times and just couldn’t believe it).
Ive grown to hate the car because of the image it carries with it. Time for a grown up car, every car comes with pr baggage and yes HUMMER drivers are pricks.
-J
ajila:
Having loaded a dozen or more H2’s as part of my job, I have to say, at no point was I surprised by the drivers. Just the sort of uppity bitches who would care more about appearing rich than plowing through someone else’s passenger cabin. It’s worth noting that, in all cases, I’d decided I despised them long before seeing the car.
They’re a pain in the ass to load, btw, because the spare tire is the size of an HVAC unit, and of course the rear bumper is the height of your hips. That, and the cabin is T-I-N-Y.
So is it any surprise than the most reprehensible among us would sacrifice quality, economy, safety and ROOM to drive around in the closest thing you can get to a tank?
Verbal :
October 1st, 2008 at 9:00 pm
All BMW 3-series owners are bad people.
I only wish! There’s this impossibly cute, 3 series driving blond that lives in my neighborhood. I’ve been trying to convince her to be bad, and cheat on her husband with me for months now, with no success.
I don’t think the car makes someone a bad person. But I think people who don’t give a shit about other people are more likely to buy hummers, specifically, and big SUVs generally. Nonetheless, I would not assume that anyone who drives a hummer or a big SUV is a bad person. (I’m sure there are a few jerks driving Prions.)
Sociological research shows that people who drive minivans tend to be nicer and more socially conscious than people who drive SUVs.
Of course, people who drive Porsches, most classic cars, and various others are beautifying the roadways, and they should get some credit for that.
Has anyone else noticed that today’s Prius drivers aren’t quite what they used to be? When the Prius first came out, they tended to be driven in a conservative, go-with-the-flow manner. However, now that more and more “regular” folks are driving them, it seems that they’re being driven in a more “normal” (i.e., aggressive) manner. But to answer the original question: No, I don’t believe a certain car makes you a bad person. It all depends on how you treat your fellow motorists.
I don’t think your choice of vehicle can make you a bad person, but these comments really make me want to meet an H2 owner to see what he/she is like.
My brother-in-law drives an H2. My friends and family are in agreement that he is an asshole. I suppose it is possible to own an H2 and not be an asshole though.
Anyone driving a large vehicle who doesn’t put make safe driving their first priority when behind the wheel is a bad person (from a driving POV), as they are putting others in danger with their actions.
Drivers and, especially, motorcyclists with noisy exhausts are also bad people. That said, I’ll probably put a header-back racing exhaust on my car when it comes off warranty so that I can tolerate the other loud exhausts around me, as well as getting better mileage and more power. Anti-social behavior? Yes. But I guess if it really bothered people, it wouldn’t be legal in the first place.
obbop :
October 1st, 2008 at 8:26 pm
On the whole, generally, I believe females base their thinking upon emotions vice logic or rationality so, generally, I just ignore female opinions.
Still single, strangely… but incredibly happy in a stress-free life.
Sounds a little bit like Jack Nicholson in “As Good as it Gets.” I circumvented the problem by dating a nice boy. Well, actually, he’s kind of a jackass.
What pisses me off more than a-hole Hummer drivers are self righteous, hypocritical people who presume to know all about someone they don’t know just because of what they drive. What we each choose to drive is NOBODY ELSE’S DAMNED BUSINESS. Period.
Cool thread.
When my wife first met me, she thought I was a snob and a jackass because I was driving a BMW (it didn’t matter to her that I bought it used and was 7 years old).
When I told her I wanted to spend my birthday driving a Hyundai (Genesis) and a Pontiac (G8), she realized I really don’t care what badge happens to be on the car so long as the car is excellent.
Hummers are not wasteful if they are uparmored and have an M240 mounted on them. Otherwise …
I think your girlfriend has a point, not because the Hummer is the kind of car only “a complete asshole without regard for anyone else” could love, but because it has a reputation as one.
So, in order to drive a Hummer, you’ve got to have a complete disregard for the judgement and opinions of the people you encounter in your daily life, from strangers to acquaintances to coworkers to your neighbor to your mom. You have to get up every morning and get in a car that, when you park it at the grocery store, gets you dirty looks and snide comments.
It takes a certain kind of person to be able to put up with that, day after day, and still feel like they’ve made a good purchasing decision and look good in the car they’re driving: it takes a complete asshole without regard for anyone else.
Think about it; it isn’t about the car, because it doesn’t matter if the reputation is deserved or not: it exists, and driving a Hummer means you wallow in the fallout every day. Only complete assholes can do this and still feel smug at the end of each day, because people that thick-skinned generally do whatever the fuck they want regardless of how it impacts other people — sort of the everyman’s definition of complete asshole without regard for anyone else.
Corollary: what kind of person drives a Yugo? A poor, desperate person. It’s the last resort of someone who has neither money nor any better choices — if you see someone driving a Yugo, you know it wasn’t just about the money, because you can get less-crappy cars without the reputation of the Yugo — but if you’re both poor and desperate, you’ll put up with the reputation (and the car itself) because you have no choice.
So poor and desperate is to Yugo as complete asshole without regard for anyone else is to Hummer. Most cars don’t have this kind of polarizing reputation, but these two particular vehicles do.
Gosh, I never had so much of a hankering to add a yellow Hummer and a black Escalade (with 24s) to my fleet. Why stop there? It’s so much fun to be maligned for silly reasons I’m inclined to add a Shelby GT500KR, an F350 Dually in King Ranch Trim (for PETA), a thug’s Gallardo, and a true exhaust port middle digit, an Audi R8! Then again, if I correlated people who really don’t give a rat’s butt about fellow humanity to incidence of car driven, the Mercedes S Class rules. That’s a car that makes any of its drivers suspect, Wall Street against America and all that.
Pretense, snobbism of any variety including the effete pseudo-cleverness of groupthink car selection, and prejudice based on automotive choice pretty much all ensure the bad people are the ones passing judgment. Even a Civic owner sneering at the likes of a Cobalt looks like a bad person to the Chevy driver.
The nicest people today are often in Cadillac DTS, Chevy HHR and Ford Focus. They’re free of pretense completely. Not to mention those of us driving Cadillac XLR-Vs ;).
Uh, the answer to Jonny’s question is “no.”
Phil
In my experience, driving Police-Interceptor Crown Victorias with light bars on them makes you a bad person. No other car has the ability to make someone a bad person.
“Do Certain Cars Make You a Bad Person?”
Yes, i think so.(In other peoples eyes)
I used to drive gti class cars, but now i drive a couple of cars that´s considered cute.
Now i can get away with much more doubtful behavior in traffic without getting honked at :-)
In our driveway are a Prius, an Olds Alero, a Grand Cherokee, an E46 3 series, a GTO and a BMW motorcycle. What does that make us? I have no idea.
It’s more of the person than the vehicle, though for some personality types the vehicle may bring out more of that personality. I like to think that that doesn’t happen to me though. I drive the same way in pretty much all the cars, though certain of my vehicles (obviously) take the curves better than others!
“Do Certain Cars Make You a Bad Person?”
The answer to that question has to be No.
The question however should be ” Does the combination of certain cars and egos produce a bad person”. The answer to that question is Yes.
A H2 combined with a considerate person is not going to cause an issue. I must admit I have not met a considerate person with an H2 or any Hummer yet.Goes actually back to the question what kind of an ego buys those things.
The car is not at fault it always is the person operating it.
So it`s the combo that counts.So watch out for that weirdo in that tank.
Wow. A lot of hate for the H2 here. The last time I sat in one, I remember it being huge. It dwarfed the Navigator that was parked next to it. It was definitely like nothing else I’d been in before. Of course it was no military truck but it kinda looked like one. For a small instant, I could see the allure of that truck.
Of course it’s the person who’s bad, not the truck. In defense of the H2, I’d have to say that I’ve seen much worse behavior from practically any 18-24 year old driving an F-Body, used 3-series, or even a slammed import and racing from every stoplight.
It depends on what you mean by “making you a bad person.” The way I see it, it can be one of the following two:
1) It makes you do rather bad things, or at least behave in worse ways to a neutral observer.
2) It makes you intrinsically a worse person, i.e. making you kick puppies and push old ladies into crosswalks.
Since we’re all “auto enthusiasts,” I think we can all identify with phrases like “the engine just begs to be revved” and “the car just begs to be driven hard into corners.” Some automobiles do/can encourage bad behavior, whether we’re talking about tiny roadsters or behemoth SUVs. So that’s a definite yes for #1 given the “right” combination of driver and vehicle. And enough of #1 could arguably lead to #2.
“Do Certain Cars Make You a Bad Person?”
I’m not sure about that, but certain cars do “talk” to me and change the way I drive. My old Saab was always saying “C’mon, you can take this road faster than THAT”, while the rental Buick the dealer gave me while the Saab was in the for one of its extended visits said “Slow down, ease back, you’re already going almost as fast as the speed limit …”. The rental Impala I had on vacation recently kept screaming “SLOW DOWN – WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!” (or was that my sister-in-law?).
The BMW says “Ve should take zis corner at exactly 47 mph … Ach, zere is an idiot in a Buick going 5 under ze limit!”
No, but I’d say bad people tend to buy certain kinds of cars. If you’re seriously considering buying a huge 5k lb.
attack vehicleSUV with an engine making a measly 242 horses, my guess would be that either A. you have no real idea what you’re buying or B. you just really really want a full-size version of that Tonka you had when you were three.Put it this way: the only person I’ve met who’s come close to buying a Hummer (a H2) was my ex-brother-in-law. This was also a guy who adjusted the headlights on his pickup as high as possible, and thought the only drawback of this was that other drivers would be jealous (because he could see better). Draw your own conclusions.
EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffqtJ-eB1qY Clarkson likes it. Ahem.