Are you a car snob?

[RichUK]

If I’m honest, I can be sometimes.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

IMO the 'non-car snob' people are more snobbish about what people drive than the actual car snobs.

 

[EightySix Four]

Always. I'm am snobbish in that I judge those who claim to be car people critically by the cars they drive. Like my roomate claims to be a car nut, but before the MR2 he had a Celica GT (one of the ugly late models) and now he has a truck... Not much of a car guy IMHO.

 

[StageLeft]

Sometimes. I guess as much as I can be driving a minivan with rusting door panels. I mean, I try. I do.

 

[NutBucket]

The condition of a person's car is more telling than the car itself IMHO.

 

[StageLeft]

The condition of a person's car is more telling than the car itself IMHO.

Right now my car is decently clean but yesterday it wasn't, what does this mean?

 

[Zenmervolt]

For my own cars? Absolutely. Even the S70 has the high-pressure turbo engine and I've upgraded the brakes and suspension. I don't think I could ever buy a car that I didn't get excited about in some way.

For other people's cars? Not really. If someone wants to buy a "disposable" car I do honestly see the value in that. I'd have saved probably $20,000 over the last decade if I followed the same path.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Always. I'm am snobbish in that I judge those who claim to be car people critically by the cars they drive. Like my roomate claims to be a car nut, but before the MR2 he had a Celica GT (one of the ugly late models) and now he has a truck... Not much of a car guy IMHO.

You realize someone can be a "car guy" even if they don't have the funds to purchase a 911 GT3.

I hope your avatar doesn't suggest you drive a Mustang.

I drive a truck and a Trans Am. I consider myself a "car guy" because I can appreciate a nice vehicle regardless of it's brand, age, or type of engine.

 

[EightySix Four]

You realize someone can be a "car guy" even if they don't have the funds to purchase a 911 GT3.

I hope your avatar doesn't suggest you drive a Mustang.

I drive a truck and a Trans Am. I consider myself a "car guy" because I can appreciate a nice vehicle regardless of it's brand, age, or type of engine.

No, my avatar is because I go to SMU.

Yes, I understand that, but people who claim to be car guys but drive appliances bother me, you can always find something that does what you need and has some soul. Your T/A makes you a car guy.

 

[StageLeft]

You realize someone can be a "car guy" even if they don't have the funds to purchase a 911 GT3.

I hope your avatar doesn't suggest you drive a Mustang.

I drive a truck and a Trans Am. I consider myself a "car guy" because I can appreciate a nice vehicle regardless of it's brand, age, or type of engine.

A friend of mine probably couldn't even find his oil filter but he obsesses over car magazines, so although he can barely pop the hood he could easily get into the details of various trim versions of a Mercedes C class. I, on the other hand, barely know what a C class is, but I can change my oil and nef in the Garage. I think there are various ways to be a car guy, like you said

 

[PricklyPete]

I'm not a car snob. I love cars though. I don't think being a car nut = being a car snob.

 

[MJinZ]

If I see you rolling in a Maserati GT, then yea I will give you looks. And your car looks.

 

[BassBomb]

yea i am

 

[Zenmervolt]

You realize someone can be a "car guy" even if they don't have the funds to purchase a 911 GT3.

I hope your avatar doesn't suggest you drive a Mustang.

I drive a truck and a Trans Am. I consider myself a "car guy" because I can appreciate a nice vehicle regardless of it's brand, age, or type of engine.

There are car guys and there are gearheads. If you have a brand new 911 GT3 but don't know what on earth a "997" is, then you're just a car guy. If you confuse Nikasil with Alusil, you're probably just a car guy.

Simply "enjoying" or "appreciating" cars isn't what once made a "car guy". It was something that you had to pay for with skinned knuckles, greasy jeans, and the occasional missing fingerprint from letting your right thumb get torn up on several sharp points while you were dismantling and re-installing the sunroof of your 951 yesterday so you could replace the 25-year-old weatherstripping (stupid latch hardware).

There's nothing wrong with merely appreciating cars, that's a wonderful thing, but for a long time the description of "car guy" was reserved for someone for whom cars were a high priority in life, someone who lived on Ramen to afford a new set of racing tires or who slogged through 16 inches of snow in a little RWD sportscar because it was worth the trouble to be able to drive that car when summer came around. At the most basic level, at one point a "car guy" was someone who would rather be driving, working on, or just looking at a car than anywhere else in the world.

However, as "The Mechanic" says, "No more. These days, we let anybody in. Recently I met a guy in a Lexus ES 350 with golf shoes in his trunk. Even he claimed to be a car guy. Said he goes to the L.A. auto show every year, and remembers a 1962 Mustang his dad bought new."

The bottom line is that there are "car likers" and "car lovers". The majority of people who call themselves "car guys" today are simply car likers.

ZV

 

[Perknose]

Based on what I've seen and read here, I think the largest group of car snobs in The Garage are the more red-faced of the anti-Prius boyz.

Given their numerous ZOMG posts here, you'd think the rest of us were all vulnerable and impressionable young girls cowering under the haughty, jack-booted command of the, ummmmm, Pri-i.

Honestly, I know a ton of people who own and drive either a Prius and/or the Civic hybrid, and not one of them spends any time gloating about their appliance or actively looking down on other drivers.

I've been a passenger in their vehicles, and it takes me asking direct questions to get them to talk about their cars at all, which I actually consider to be sad, as the tech packed into one of them is awesome.

Now, am I a car snob? Not really, no. I'd wager I've had as much fun rowing through the gears, getting the most out of an old Volvo 122s or even a VW bus (where you always had to be getting everything it had to give) as some of you have had blasting down the road in your ubermobile.

And . . . I happen to be fond of 'em ALL -- new, old, big, small, imports, Detroit iron, trucks, and motorcycles.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

 

[Perknose]

"No more. These days, we let anybody in. Recently I met a guy in a Lexus ES 350 with golf shoes in his trunk. Even he claimed to be a car guy. Said he goes to the L.A. auto show every year, and remembers a 1962 Mustang his dad bought new."

Lol, the rarely seen 1962 Mustang: http://www.westcoastfalcons.com/scff/histriv/sportsfutura.htm

 

[amdhunter]

You can't drive what I drive and not be considered a snob.:awe:

 

[Arkaign]

I'm a huge car nerd, and I have no snob level whatsoever, whether the time spent with the M5, or now with a mere Focus. I certainly have my preferences and opinions, we all do, but I would virtually never tell someone that their car sucks or that mine is better, or that kind of nonsense.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Based on what I've seen and read here, I think the largest group of car snobs in The Garage are the more red-faced of the anti-Prius boyz.

The Prius is a very nifty piece of technology with a lot of innovation stuffed into a small space. But so is my smartphone and I don't have any desire to drive my smartphone.

My only problem with the Prius is that it's horrible to drive. If all you want is an appliance that will get you from point A to point B, then it's a decent vehicle with lots of space. But so is a Jetta TDI wagon, except that the Jetta is significantly more fun to drive while still getting comparable mileage. The Prius isn't a bad car, but there are cars out there which do the same job as the Prius, except that they do it better and without the added complexity.

If the Prius provided exactly the same driving experience but wasn't a hybrid, the car would be universally panned as dull and uninspiring.

ZV

 

[Apex]

I'm more of a performance snob than car snob.

 

[Perknose]

My only problem with the Prius is that it's horrible to drive.

One of the Pri-i owners I know bought hers used and it handles significantly better than any other I've been in, simply because it came to her already shod in wider, grippier, uprated tires. The tires made a HUGE difference.

As for "horrible to drive" otherwise, that's by your standards, sure. ZV, I've owned and flogged a ton of vehicles ALL of which you'd consider "horrible to drive" and I've enjoyed the hell out of taking them right up to their limits while passing 3 series bimmers on curves.

The Prius has good interior room and decent hatchback enabled cargo space AND, if I owned one, I'd hypermile that sucker for all it was worth and enjoy THAT direct engagement in the motoring process 'till I splooged all over the mileage readout.

I can have fun in any car with a stick and I could have fun in a Prius without one.

Again, de gustibus non est disputandum.

 

[JulesMaximus]

If it's not Scottish, it's crap!

Oh wait, nevermind.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

You can't drive what I drive and not be considered a snob.:awe:

Don't you have a Jetta or did you buy the bimmer?

 

[Matthiasa]

My car has rust on the bottom.
That should tell you.

 

[Zenmervolt]

One of the Pri-i owners I know bought hers used and it handles significantly better than any other I've been in, simply because it came to her already shod in wider, grippier, uprated tires. The tires made a HUGE difference.

As for "horrible to drive" otherwise, that's by your standards, sure. ZV, I've owned and flogged a ton of vehicles ALL of which you'd consider "horrible to drive" and I've enjoyed the hell out of taking them right up to their limits while passing 3 series bimmers on curves.

The Prius has good interior room and decent hatchback enabled cargo space AND, if I owned one, I'd hypermile that sucker for all it was worth and enjoy THAT direct engagement in the motoring process 'till I splooged all over the mileage readout.

I can have fun in any car with a stick and I could have fun in a Prius without one.

Again, de gustibus non est disputandum.

True, but, as I already mentioned, the Jetta TDI wagon comes from the factory with wider, grippier tires and it also has, "good interior room and decent hatchback enabled cargo space" all while getting similar mileage. The TDI also comes with steering that isn't numb and suspension that doesn't make the car list through corners like a sinking ship.

As far as which cars I'd consider "horrible", I'd say to try me first because you might be surprised. The Prius has a special spot for me in the terrible handling department. I've hustled Crown Vics and Town cars around winding roads and they've felt more in control than the Prius does. And the only thing I've ever driven that got blown around by crosswinds more than the Prius was a 28-foot International moving truck.

The Prius isn't a bad car. It's reliable and it has practical and useful space inside. But it doesn't deserve the amount of praise that it gets heaped on it by the automotive press. If it got exactly the same mileage and drove exactly the same but didn't have the whiz-bang hybrid setup it would be just another econobox. It's a perfectly adequate car and that's the best that can be said of it.

ZV