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The Mercedes thing is interesting. I hadn't been paying attention to it until I began to notice a pattern -- whenever somebody in my town was driving as if the

The Mercedes thing is interesting. I hadn't been paying attention to it until I began to notice a pattern -- whenever somebody in my town was driving as if the rules of the road and basic humanity did not apply, the vehicle was usually a Mercedes. I've been wondering about it ever since. There are definitely benign Mercedes drivers on the road, but the brand seems to attract more than an ordinary proportion of jerks. (This is the kind of thing one notices a lot as a cyclist, and Mercedes owners are responsible for more than their fair share of near misses with me.) I looked for the same pattern with other luxury vehicles, but it doesn't seem to apply to BMW, Audi, Porche, or Maserati. Since nobody in my social circle owns a luxury vehicle, I remain intensely curious about who, exactly, is driving these things. Does it have something to do with being the kind of person who is willing to buy a vehicle with ho-hum performance, expensive repair bills, and poor fuel efficiency? Have you got a link for the "language of cars" you're talking about?

dota_fanatic 10y ago
I suspect your anecdote is just that. Around here (Texas) I tend to suspect unfriendly driving from large trucks and "cheap" sports cars and am more defensive in my driving when I 'm around them. What is the actual distribution of unfriendly drivers? Many mercedes I see are older folks who drive slowly and safely (perhaps too slowly...) As for why buy a luxury car, it's much like why buy an apple laptop? It tends to be a completely different user experience compared to your early hyundai, low-end mazda, <insert budget models here>. As for my luxury car that I got a great deal on used, even considering repair costs, its performance and ride quality is anything but ho-hum...
- sevensor 10y ago
  > I suspect your anecdote is just that. Sure, take it for what it's worth. At best, it applies only to the town where I live. Still, the opening anecdote in the article resonated with me because Mercedes drivers around here have shown an unusually small amount of concern for my welfare. As a cyclist, one tends to be more than usually sensitive to people trying to kill you with their cars. I submit that as the driver of a high-performance luxury vehicle, you may be more than usually sensitive to people driving too slow for your taste.
  - mosdave 10y ago
    > At best, it applies only to the town where I live. Still, the opening anecdote in the article resonated with me because Mercedes drivers around here have shown an unusually small amount of concern for my welfare. Another Texan checking in, and I absolutely agree with you (with the addition of BMW and a growing number of Audi drivers). 95% of my travel is by bicycle or motorcycle and in my personal experience this group of drivers is disproportionately less concerned with the safety/welfare of others.
- zaque1213 10y ago
  > Around here (Texas) I tend to suspect unfriendly driving from large trucks and "cheap" sports cars and am more defensive in my driving when I 'm around them. Really interesting. I'm from Texas also (Houston) and I also seem to get more defensive when I see trucks coming up on me in my rear view mirror, and even more so when they have two sawed off mufflers so that everyone can here them coming from 5 miles away. I used to drive a truck myself when I was a teenager, and am well aware that they aren't all out to get me, but I still catch myself thinking "What an a-hole" when I see them on the road (which is constantly, because Houston).
quanticle 10y ago
I suspect confirmation bias is heavily in play here. You think Mercedes drivers are more likely to violate road norms than other drivers, so whenever you see a Mercedes driver, you think, "Ah ha! Another Mercedes driver that's a jerk!" To be honest, I don't see the problem that either you or the author sees with Mercedes drivers. In my experience, it's Audi drivers that are more likely to be jerks than Mercedes drivers, but again, that's probably confirmation bias talking.
mistermann 10y ago
It's strange because I've always witnessed BMW drivers being the biggest assholes on the road, and by a huge indisputable margin. I've always chalked it up to them having the type of personality to want to show off (so, German luxury car), but they weren't actual big shots enough to afford a Mercedes.
- tim333 10y ago
  I think the choice of brand may be a regional thing. In the UK BMW drivers have a bad reputation too. Edit: "Our poll reveals that BMW drivers are the least liked on our roads", Jalopnik: https://www.carthrottle.com/post/a-massive-41-of-us-think-that-bmw-drivers-are-the-biggest-jerks/ https://www.carthrottle.com/post/a-massive-41-of-us-think-th...
  - clock_tower 10y ago
    That sounds perfectly plausible to me; "languages of cars" are social constructs, after all, not laws of nature, and the same car can easily appeal to different kinds of people in different places.
tim333 10y ago
Link to Fussell quote http://www.magnificentbastard.com/posts/paul-fussell-memorial-week-cars http://www.magnificentbastard.com/posts/paul-fussell-memoria...
- clock_tower 10y ago
  Thanks!
clock_tower 10y ago
> the kind of person who is willing to buy a vehicle with ho-hum performance, expensive repair bills, and poor fuel efficiency? I think that's the key to it. There are two reasons to buy more expensive things than normal: for better quality and durability (think of the famous Terry Pratchett passage on boots), and to show off. Most expensive purchases are a bit of both; a BMW, for example, is a showy vehicle when it's new, but it's also something that'll have a lower total cost of ownership than a Ford if you own it for 20 years. A Mercedes, though, will cost you more over 20 years than an equivalent Ford. If you know that a Mercedes is a money pit (i.e., if you've ever talked to a BMW salesman), and you buy one anyways, you're practicing conspicuous consumption, showing off how much money you can spend on this money-pit of a car, and generally doing the opposite of Pratchett's Boots. This is noveau-riche behavior, which goes with the rest of being noveau-riche; Old Money buys Pratchett's Boots aggressively (Mercer and Sons shirts, easily-repaired shoes, etc.), which is part of how they stay rich for so long. (A fortune is an easy thing to lose if you start treating it like a genie in a bottle. Recall how the Count of Monte Cristo blew through 2/3 of his fortune in a decade; he has many real-world counterparts.) > Have you got a link for the "language of cars" you're talking about? No, but there's clearly a lot of interest in this. Maybe I should write a book about it -- even though I don't know cars particularly well... Note regional variations, as another commentor brought up here; and note that here I'm talking about high-end cars. For really dangerous driving, look for working-class drivers with low-riding sports cars; twenty Mercedeses are less dangerous than one guy who thinks he's driving an F-16.
- sevensor 10y ago
  I think it really speaks to your original point how judgemental we're all being in this thread, myself included. On reflection, I think I really do have a peculiar bias against Mercedes owners. That doesn't mean I'm wrong about their callous disregard for my well-being, but I may be accusing them out of proportion to the other luxury car owners who also wouldn't mind running me off the road.

dota_fanatic 10y ago

I suspect your anecdote is just that. Around here (Texas) I tend to suspect unfriendly driving from large trucks and "cheap" sports cars and am more defensive in my driving when I 'm around them. What is the actual distribution of unfriendly drivers? Many mercedes I see are older folks who drive slowly and safely (perhaps too slowly...) As for why buy a luxury car, it's much like why buy an apple laptop? It tends to be a completely different user experience compared to your early hyundai, low-end mazda, <insert budget models here>. As for my luxury car that I got a great deal on used, even considering repair costs, its performance and ride quality is anything but ho-hum...

sevensor 10y ago
> I suspect your anecdote is just that. Sure, take it for what it's worth. At best, it applies only to the town where I live. Still, the opening anecdote in the article resonated with me because Mercedes drivers around here have shown an unusually small amount of concern for my welfare. As a cyclist, one tends to be more than usually sensitive to people trying to kill you with their cars. I submit that as the driver of a high-performance luxury vehicle, you may be more than usually sensitive to people driving too slow for your taste.
- mosdave 10y ago
  > At best, it applies only to the town where I live. Still, the opening anecdote in the article resonated with me because Mercedes drivers around here have shown an unusually small amount of concern for my welfare. Another Texan checking in, and I absolutely agree with you (with the addition of BMW and a growing number of Audi drivers). 95% of my travel is by bicycle or motorcycle and in my personal experience this group of drivers is disproportionately less concerned with the safety/welfare of others.
zaque1213 10y ago
> Around here (Texas) I tend to suspect unfriendly driving from large trucks and "cheap" sports cars and am more defensive in my driving when I 'm around them. Really interesting. I'm from Texas also (Houston) and I also seem to get more defensive when I see trucks coming up on me in my rear view mirror, and even more so when they have two sawed off mufflers so that everyone can here them coming from 5 miles away. I used to drive a truck myself when I was a teenager, and am well aware that they aren't all out to get me, but I still catch myself thinking "What an a-hole" when I see them on the road (which is constantly, because Houston).

quanticle 10y ago

I suspect confirmation bias is heavily in play here. You think Mercedes drivers are more likely to violate road norms than other drivers, so whenever you see a Mercedes driver, you think, "Ah ha! Another Mercedes driver that's a jerk!" To be honest, I don't see the problem that either you or the author sees with Mercedes drivers. In my experience, it's Audi drivers that are more likely to be jerks than Mercedes drivers, but again, that's probably confirmation bias talking.

mistermann 10y ago

It's strange because I've always witnessed BMW drivers being the biggest assholes on the road, and by a huge indisputable margin. I've always chalked it up to them having the type of personality to want to show off (so, German luxury car), but they weren't actual big shots enough to afford a Mercedes.

tim333 10y ago
I think the choice of brand may be a regional thing. In the UK BMW drivers have a bad reputation too. Edit: "Our poll reveals that BMW drivers are the least liked on our roads", Jalopnik: https://www.carthrottle.com/post/a-massive-41-of-us-think-that-bmw-drivers-are-the-biggest-jerks/ https://www.carthrottle.com/post/a-massive-41-of-us-think-th...
- clock_tower 10y ago
  That sounds perfectly plausible to me; "languages of cars" are social constructs, after all, not laws of nature, and the same car can easily appeal to different kinds of people in different places.

tim333 10y ago

Link to Fussell quote http://www.magnificentbastard.com/posts/paul-fussell-memorial-week-cars http://www.magnificentbastard.com/posts/paul-fussell-memoria...

clock_tower 10y ago
Thanks!

clock_tower 10y ago

> the kind of person who is willing to buy a vehicle with ho-hum performance, expensive repair bills, and poor fuel efficiency? I think that's the key to it. There are two reasons to buy more expensive things than normal: for better quality and durability (think of the famous Terry Pratchett passage on boots), and to show off. Most expensive purchases are a bit of both; a BMW, for example, is a showy vehicle when it's new, but it's also something that'll have a lower total cost of ownership than a Ford if you own it for 20 years. A Mercedes, though, will cost you more over 20 years than an equivalent Ford. If you know that a Mercedes is a money pit (i.e., if you've ever talked to a BMW salesman), and you buy one anyways, you're practicing conspicuous consumption, showing off how much money you can spend on this money-pit of a car, and generally doing the opposite of Pratchett's Boots. This is noveau-riche behavior, which goes with the rest of being noveau-riche; Old Money buys Pratchett's Boots aggressively (Mercer and Sons shirts, easily-repaired shoes, etc.), which is part of how they stay rich for so long. (A fortune is an easy thing to lose if you start treating it like a genie in a bottle. Recall how the Count of Monte Cristo blew through 2/3 of his fortune in a decade; he has many real-world counterparts.) > Have you got a link for the "language of cars" you're talking about? No, but there's clearly a lot of interest in this. Maybe I should write a book about it -- even though I don't know cars particularly well... Note regional variations, as another commentor brought up here; and note that here I'm talking about high-end cars. For really dangerous driving, look for working-class drivers with low-riding sports cars; twenty Mercedeses are less dangerous than one guy who thinks he's driving an F-16.

sevensor 10y ago
I think it really speaks to your original point how judgemental we're all being in this thread, myself included. On reflection, I think I really do have a peculiar bias against Mercedes owners. That doesn't mean I'm wrong about their callous disregard for my well-being, but I may be accusing them out of proportion to the other luxury car owners who also wouldn't mind running me off the road.