Cars and drivers and stereotypes

[Mike W.]

As the title says, stereotypes.

BMW. I dunno what we're supposed to be. My Dad, RIP 20+ years ago used to say, drives fast with no turn signals. I won't deny I might, uh, exercise them out in bumfuck NV or Utah, but I do use signals more than most. And given my penchant not to stand out, not all that fast where there are others.

But others.

Cadillac. Once upon a time it seemed like they were the vehicle of choice for older, affluent men. Or their middle aged wives, typically a decade or more younger. The classic boat. Now it seems like the cars, much smaller than they used to be, are driven by younger men with a gangster (or wanna be) look. But they've got trucks now, Suburbans with a Caddy emblem. Probably a nicer interior. Seems... driven by middle class, or aspirationally middle class guys.

Women. Used to be girls, especially young women, meaning girls in my mind now, drove slowly, casually. (well there was one girl I knew who always had tires squealing around curves. Said a ex boyfriend who was a race car driver taught her how to drive) But now it seems like it's pedal on the metal. Seems like "most" under say, 25 girls/women romp on it. Maybe many, not most, but a lot.

Teslas. Whoooooh. Seems like they are the hoon drivers now. Never driven one, but apparently they're just stupid fast, especially off the line. Something to do with max power at zero RPM. I see so many of them now just romping on it. Last year at Renofest on the drive, going up the 7K pass, being led at ~95 by our gracious host, there was a Tesla I thought was just going to push me out the the way. Once I finally got space to move out of the way at speeds likely to only get me a very expensive ticket instead of a trip to jail, he just flew on by.

Prius'. Duality of driving patterns. On the freeway, either ~55 or over 75. Seems like I never see those vehicles doing between 60-70 on the freeway. Gender doesn't seem to matter.

So what do you guys see today?

[Blue Shadow]

When the prius came out it seemed every one of their drivers was hypermiling. Hope that is a thing of the past.

[stuartinmn]

For the most part I don't buy into car stereotypes. There are tons of Teslas and Priuses around here and they all seem to drive more or less like everyone else, and BMW drivers use their turn signals as often as everyone else.

[topher800]

My experience with Prius drivers is/was similar to Blue Shadow's - They flat out eclipsed the term stereotype as hypermilers. Less obvious these days it seems.

Living in a college town, it seems the stereotypes are more by age group.

[gadget73]

Dodge trucks: follow too close but will never pass

Chevy trucks: passes constantly, exhaust rotted off or loud enough that it sounds like it is

Nissan Altima: complete chaos, usually full of dents and scratches, uses their lane and part of yours, randomly goes from 10 under to 30 over coupled with no-signal lane changes.

[tn535i]

This is one I would have never figured as I used to think of a Jeep as a guy thing. But- more often than not female driver, more often than not said female driver is blonde (real or bottle who knows), more often than not got some ducks on the dash.

Tesla is clearly for those who want to be the cool kid on the block. Once we start seeing rusted out, beat up Tesla's on the road something else will take it's place I think. Unless of course they never make it to that stage because the battery is too expensive to replace.

Prius drivers- I just keep clear.

I'm content in my old worn out e28 that still runs. 

[stuartinmn]

Teslas seem almost as common as Chevys or Fords around here so it's hard to put them down to one type of driver.

[Mike W.]

This is one I would have never figured as I used to think of a Jeep as a guy thing. But- more often than not female driver, more often than not said female driver is blonde (real or bottle who knows), more often than not got some ducks on the dash.

Not so much the jacked up HD off road ones, but some of them, but the stock ones are now often regarded as "chick cars" And many are driven by women.

Tesla is clearly for those who want to be the cool kid on the block. Once we start seeing rusted out, beat up Tesla's on the road something else will take it's place I think. Unless of course they never make it to that stage because the battery is too expensive to replace.

Yeah, hard to tell what's going to happen as they age. Out here on the west coast, rust is only but a rumor unless you're literally a mile or two from the coast. But they still get beat up and suffer failing clearcoat, which has probably put as many good cars in junkyards as bad cats. And there is that battery thing you mentioned as well as the fact that an expensive car to buy is still an expensive car to fix, no matter how little it's now worth. See V12 BMWs and Jags.

[stuartinmn]

Teslas have aluminum bodies so no rust there, but I suppose there are steel parts in the suspension.

[gadget73]

aluminum rots in different ways, but given some time it will end up looking like Swiss cheese.

[krhodes1]

Teslas have aluminum bodies so no rust there, but I suppose there are steel parts in the suspension.

The S and X are mostly aluminum. The 3 and Y mostly are not.

[Panici]

I'd like to think the BMW drivers are at least in two categories of Vintage and New models.

Folks with a late-model bimmer either have a lot of money or are trying to appear like they do. Mostly a status symbol, think they are above other drivers hence no turn-signals etc. There are exceptions to this rule of course.

Then there's the folks (like most of us) who drive a vintage model (or two, or three ).
Usually it's about the simple analog driving experience, the feeling of vintage materials, the build quality. And for some it's the restoration and maintenance of the relatively-simple mechanicals and electronics on top of the actual driving.

I don't think I'm impressing anyone with a 25+ year old bimmer, but that's not the point for me at least.
Heck my E30 is objectively close to "nice" now with the paint and turbocharging, and I don't even bother to take it out to car shows. I'd rather be driving or working on it then showing it off.