Ask Lemmy

No, and it's weird. Okay, the duck thing is kinda sweet, but it's expanding beyond Jeeps. I've seen other makes/models with ducks. I feel like having one duck gets you into the duck club quicker than having a Jeep with no ducks, though a Jeep with no ducks invites ducks more than any other car without ducks. Nobody's out there putting the ducks on random cars. But I see more places selling ducks themed after things adjacent to what they sell.

The only car "club" things I'm ever curious about have more to do with what you do with your car, rather than what make and model you drive. Autocross, track days, Gambler 500, things like that.

Otherwise, make and model don't matter to me, I'm just delighted whenever I see anyone else driving with a manual transmission.

When I had my Kia Soul I would joke about sharing the "Hamy nod" (referencing the dope hamster commercial Kia used years ago), which was unbridled poppycock. Not even the drivers of the two other identical vehicles in town would even look my way, let alone nod, wave, or acknowledge we drove the same vehicle.

Hyundai Kona? LOL, I may as well be invisible.

Unless you're in a Miata, Jeep, Harley, or some other extremely rare vehicle, it's just not a thing so far as I can see.

Somehow a little bit, yeah

Only because they don't make them anymore. I always give a 👋🏼 —or a 🤘🏼 if their stickers are funny. 😋

Lol no

I might be curious about the car itself, just to figure out how it may or may not differ from my own, based on the year it was made, but I don't give two shits about the driver. I generally don't like other people, and car brand ownership makes no difference in this equation.

Used to drive a ~~Tank~~ 1995 Volvo 940, and more than a few times did someone approach me to talk to a fellow "vintage Volvo enthusiast".

Now that I drive a 2019 Volvo XC90 T8, people assume that I am a Volvo enthusiast based on the fact that I've had two Volvos in a row. The truth is that I really liked the durable tank that was my old car, and I really like the comfort of my new car. They are not similar in any shape or form. They just happen to both be Volvos.

No.

I had an old BMW. I park in the back of retail parking lots because I don't see the point in circling lots to find a space that is 40ft closer and you can pull through the spaces. Lots of times I would come out of the store and another BMW would be parked next to mine, like there was some automotive kinship or something. There would be five open spaces, some guy and my car. It was always weird.

No

If anything I compare my car's condition to theirs.

Some people make the things they buy and own a big part of their personality.

I don't know why. To me, a car is a box with wheels that I use to get from point A to point B. My main criteria for judging a car is miles per dollar.

Nah, most brands have customers that treat their car like an appliance. They aren't interested in a shared culture around their car. Jeep specifically cultivated that culture through "its a jeep thing" advertising, and it's since taken on life of its own. Some other ones I've seen though

VW owners will throw up peace signs to other owners. Especially popular with Beetle drivers.

Mini cooper owners act like golden retrievers and start flashing their lights and wiggling the car when they see each other.

Subaru WRX/STI owners leave each other little bottles of vape juice

When I was more involved with cars? Sure. Not anymore - but I also don’t drive anything special and just want the thing to start and move.

When you’re young/poor and interested in cars you’ll work with what you got - and if you got a Kia - you’re probably on a Kia motorsports forum/subtikytok.

I super duper don't which is rough on me when I'm driving my jeep. The area I live in has an exorbitant number of them and there's a culture of having to acknowledge every single one you pass.

I happen to look away or down any time I see one coming.

I'm not a curmudgeon, I have just never wanted to be part of a culture because of something I own. That barrier is so low, you can basically guarantee that half of the group would be people you don't care for.

I notice the same when driving my 59 beetle but bugs are so rare now, it's not much of a trouble.

I don't drive (own) a car, so no. But I also don't feel any kinship with people wearing the same pants or watch I wear. Or using the same pen.

That being said, I will feel kinda closer to anyone I can see reading a book instead of doomscrolling their phone. But That's (my) emotions speaking: I worry to see less and less people spending actual time reading books, so I'm always happy to see someone doing just that.