Cars and owner stereotypes

[61653 HTAFC]

Tesla drivers = the new BMW/Audi drivers

A significant portion of them share the same liking for tailgating and cutting up other vehicles along with an aversion to indicators.

100% this. How quaint the old South Park episode about the smugness of Prius drivers seems now.

 

[D1511]

Anyone that would own a Chrysler PT Cruiser is clearly as mad as a hatter, unless they have some sort of association with the Ant Hill Mob from Wacky Races.

 

[TPO]

Tesla drivers = the new BMW/Audi drivers

A significant portion of them share the same liking for tailgating and cutting up other vehicles along with an aversion to indicators.

Unless their battery is getting low in which case they dawdle along at 50 in the inside lane of the M-way, getting in the way of the trucks...... (most often seen on a cold dark wet night in winter).

TPO

 

[route101]

I have noticed a trend of late. On high spec BMWs drivers are taking off the front reg plate!

 

[gg1]

I have noticed a trend of late. On high spec BMWs drivers are taking off the front reg plate!

Nothing new about that, it's been a boy racer thing for at least 20 years.

 

[greyman42]

I have noticed a trend of late. On high spec BMWs drivers are taking off the front reg plate!

Why?

 

[TheSmiths82]

Why?

They say it is because of the looks, I suspect it is really to help avoid APNR and speed cameras. I see so many Ferrari's etc with no front plates and it really annoys me. I also wonder if people think the law doesn't apply to them to display front number plates what other laws are they breaking?

 

[greyman42]

They say it is because of the looks, I suspect it is really to help avoid APNR and speed cameras. I see so many Ferrari's etc with no front plates and it really annoys me. I also wonder if people think the law doesn't apply to them to display front number plates what other laws are they breaking?

Regarding the BMWs; the large front grille on the new models looks awful so i would suggest leaving the number plate on if anything.

 

[route101]

I thought it was due to looks. They usually display the number plate on the top of the dash. To me a car without a front number plate looks stupid.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Anyone that would own a Chrysler PT Cruiser is clearly as mad as a hatter, unless they have some sort of association with the Ant Hill Mob from Wacky Races.

You don't see many of those about now. They're so ridiculous that they're almost coming back round to being "cool" again. Apparently they're also cheap to insure because nobody would want to nick it!

They say it is because of the looks, I suspect it is really to help avoid APNR and speed cameras. I see so many Ferrari's etc with no front plates and it really annoys me. I also wonder if people think the law doesn't apply to them to display front number plates what other laws are they breaking?

I've noticed more cars recently having number plates (either front or rear) offset to one side. To me this looks atrocious, and reminds me of the grille on a 142 or an early 1980s Fiat Panda.
"De-badging" is a similar trend among a sub-set of car enthusiasts, I've no idea who started it but they need to get in the sea. I went to view a Mini Clubman the other day, and the badge on the nose had been replaced with a garish diamond logo.

 

[75A]

Anyone that would own a Chrysler PT Cruiser is clearly as mad as a hatter, unless they have some sort of association with the Ant Hill Mob from Wacky Races.

I must be mad then because I think they look great.

 

[matacaster]

Anyone that would own a Chrysler PT Cruiser is clearly as mad as a hatter, unless they have some sort of association with the Ant Hill Mob from Wacky Races.

Ah, but it's a difficult car to get rid of. How many self-respecting scrappies would want a PT cruiser in their yard?

 

[m79900]

Ah, but it's a difficult car to get rid of. How many self-respecting scrappies would want a PT cruiser in their yard?

That wouldn’t be a problem. It’d fall apart before anyone got the chance to see it anyway!

 

[birchesgreen]

They say it is because of the looks, I suspect it is really to help avoid APNR and speed cameras. I see so many Ferrari's etc with no front plates and it really annoys me. I also wonder if people think the law doesn't apply to them to display front number plates what other laws are they breaking?

Well its seldom enforced so people get away with it, as with pavement parking, dark number plates et cetera.

I must be mad then because I think they look great.

Me too, it certainly is different. Not that i'd have one due to their bad reputation.

 

[Bald Rick]

Nissan Juke + American driver.

No further explanation needed.

(This is from the BBC News website, happened in Tenby)

 

[Benters]

Mercedes A-Class or B-Class. Most commonly in white with an illegally-spaced personalised number plate with raised lettering and bought on the never-never by those types who live in rabbit-hutch houses on new estates.
They go for Mercs because they don't want to be seen with a Vauxhall Astra on the drive when they think they can have a Merc for similar money.

 

[DustyBin]

Mercedes A-Class or B-Class. Most commonly in white with an illegally-spaced personalised number plate with raised lettering and bought on the never-never by those types who live in rabbit-hutch houses on new estates.
They go for Mercs because they don't want to be seen with a Vauxhall Astra on the drive when they think they can have a Merc for similar money.

See also low-spec 1 Series.

 

[route101]

See also low-spec 1 Series.

Audi A1 and A3 too. See quite a few young females driving them.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Nissan Juke - someone who doesn’t understand what a good car to drive is.

Pre-2020 Pukes are for those who think Love Island is good telly and Liverpool is a good "soccer" team.

Still iffy driving though eh

Coming up the M5 today from Cornwall I just pulled onto the M42 when an electric Audi came down the slip road straight onto the motorway no indication.
1st then 2nd lane then 3rd lane causing me to brake heavily

So I gave him the full beam treatment.

Anyway for the next 30 miles he behaved like a whopper, in & out of traffic still not indicating causing others to brake & swerve.

By the Belfry golf course turn he made his error & got blocked in.

I nipped past & he spent the next 22 miles staring at my tailpipe about half a car’s length away while I sat there smirking doing about 69mph.

As I came off at our junction he passed & gave me a filthy look that could kill.

So I lowered my usual standards & gave him something back for his trouble all the time smiling nicely.

Never get mad
Get even!

Electric Audis are called e-tron. This is close to the French word "étron", which means Tango Uniform Romeo Delta in English

I think a 310 BHP Volkswagen Golf Type R might like to be next to you at a set of traffic lights!

No, never underestimate the older Micra (1993-2003) in that "very initial" stage of acceleration! The Golf R will spend that second trying to put its power down... but then literally leave everything for dust once it has done so.

I had a Mk 2 Superb Elegance (2.0 TSi, tweaked to 249 BHP) for nearly 9 years & we both miss the thing. It was much more fun to drive than you would expect & could cruise at a quite decent speed in Germany....

Why didn't you keep it?! My 2009 is still going strong with just approaching 60k on it.

 

[DustyBin]

No, never underestimate the older Micra (1993-2003) in that "very initial" stage of acceleration! The Golf R will spend that second trying to put its power down... but then literally leave everything for dust once it has done so.

I think this may be a little “optimistic”!

My Focus is rather more powerful and has a more sophisticated AWD system than a Golf R, but the principle is the same. The off-the-line acceleration is brutal!

 

[delticdave]

Pre-2020 Pukes are for those who think Love Island is good telly and Liverpool is a good "soccer" team.



Electric Audis are called e-tron. This is close to the French word "étron", which means Tango Uniform Romeo Delta in English



No, never underestimate the older Micra (1993-2003) in that "very initial" stage of acceleration! The Golf R will spend that second trying to put its power down... but then literally leave everything for dust once it has done so.



Why didn't you keep it?! My 2009 is still going strong with just approaching 60k on it.

We owned our 2012 Superb for quite some time & we really did enjoy it but we only have garage space for 2 cars.

 

[DelW]

From the Grauniad, possibly should be called its "no **** Sherlock" section:

BMW, Subaru and Porsche drivers ‘more likely to cause a crash’, study finds | Automotive industry | The Guardian

Research found speeding or jumping a red light less likely in a Skoda or Hyundai than in brands sold as ‘performance driving’

amp.theguardian.com

A study of more than 400,000 UK road accidents found that when “risky or aggressive manoeuvres” played a part in collisions, there was a significant statistical difference in driver culpability across different brands.

Dodgy driving – covering such reported infringements as speeding, jumping a red light, overtaking on double white lines or ignoring the humble pedestrian crossing – was more likely to be a factor when a Subaru, Porsche and BMW was involved than a Skoda or Hyundai.

Who'd have thought it

 

[Bald Rick]

From the Grauniad, possibly should be called its "no **** Sherlock" section:

BMW, Subaru and Porsche drivers ‘more likely to cause a crash’, study finds | Automotive industry | The Guardian

Research found speeding or jumping a red light less likely in a Skoda or Hyundai than in brands sold as ‘performance driving’

amp.theguardian.com

Who'd have thought it

Presumably the study was skewed by not reporting on Nissan drivers who (in my opinion) are more often than not hopeless and cause accidents behind them without them realising.

Just today I have had run ins with 2 drivers when out on my bike - one overtaking so close that the wing mirror missed me by about 10cm (who then turned left right in front of me 5 secinds later so I had to brake hard), the other slowing rapidly on a country lane for no obvious reason, then driving at 10-20mph for about half a mile, braking/accelerating erratically and then turning into a drive without indicating. A Micra and a Qashqai, since you ask.

 

[bramling]

Presumably the study was skewed by not reporting on Nissan drivers who (in my opinion) are more often than not hopeless and cause accidents behind them without them realising.

Just today I have had run ins with 2 drivers when out on my bike - one overtaking so close that the wing mirror missed me by about 10cm (who then turned left right in front of me 5 secinds later so I had to brake hard), the other slowing rapidly on a country lane for no obvious reason, then driving at 10-20mph for about half a mile, braking/accelerating erratically and then turning into a drive without indicating. A Micra and a Qashqai, since you ask.

The standard of driving has really dropped round here since Covid. Any journey is pretty much horrendous now. Agree that Nissans are among the worse end of the scale. Not sure how things have come to get so bad; with a few exceptions it’s certainly not like it in northern England, or for the most part in Wales. I’ve often wondered how much congestion / pollution could be eliminated if a more stringent testing / competence assurance regime allowed us to get some of these liabilities off the roads.

 

[Eyersey468]

The standard of driving has really dropped round here since Covid. Any journey is pretty much horrendous now. Agree that Nissans are among the worse end of the scale. Not sure how things have come to get so bad; with a few exceptions it’s certainly not like it in northern England, or for the most part in Wales. I’ve often wondered how much congestion / pollution could be eliminated if a more stringent testing / competence assurance regime allowed us to get some of these liabilities off the roads.

I agree the standard of driving is worse than before Covid

 

[DustyBin]

Driving standards have certainly deteriorated in recent years, and a lot of “stereotypical” behaviour is now commonplace.

Take indicators for example. Once a famously seldom-specified optional extra on BMWs, it appears other manufacturers have now followed suit and deleted them from their standard equipment lists…

I actually think a compulsory refresher course or test every few years wouldn’t be a bad thing!

 

[Sun Chariot]

Saabs are for architects.
Alfa Romeos and Lancias are for people who think with their heart over their head.

I concur with the second point. Years ago, I hired an Alfa Brera for a week of touring around Devon. I've never had so many random people come up and talk to me about a car ("It's gorgeous" and "Does it break down lots?"). The rear seats and boot were negligible and it's a definite "heart over head" type of car.

I'm no architect but I bought a 6 year old Saab; I owned it for 5 years and it gave me 120k miles trouble-free - the only outlay was usual running costs. Unlike most Saabs, this one was the lesser-known Hirsch engine mapping, giving just shy of 300bhp from its V6. A bit of a "sleeper" and a great way to annoy Porsche Boxster drivers....

 

[DustyBin]

I concur with the second point. Years ago, I hired an Alfa Brera for a week of touring around Devon. I've never had so many random people come up and talk to me about a car ("It's gorgeous" and "Does it break down lots?"). The rear seats and boot were negligible and it's a definite "heart over head" type of car.

I'm no architect but I bought a 6 year old Saab; I owned it for 5 years and it gave me 120k miles trouble-free - the only outlay was usual running costs. Unlike most Saabs, this one was the lesser-known Hirsch engine mapping, giving just shy of 300bhp from its V6. A bit of a "sleeper" and a great way to annoy Porsche Boxster drivers....

That’s a nice Vectra.

(Sorry, couldn’t resist!).

 

[Sun Chariot]

That’s a nice Vectra.

(Sorry, couldn’t resist!).

It's a Vectra with fewer seats and the chassis stiffness sorted.

I part-ex'd it 6 years ago, at a Kent dealership; so I was very surprised to see it summer 2022, driving past my current car, only 3 miles from home on the Hampshire - West Sussex coast!

 

[route101]

Young females driving Audi A1s seem popular now.