OK, we're having our largest auto "flea market" of the year in the southeast this weekend (Charlotte AutoFair), and I've been seeing cool cars and classics on the highway all week - hundreds of them. (I'm going too BTW.) Yesterday morning, I passed an early 60's Impala (black on black - beautiful car) and a 59 Fairlane retractable hard top (black and white - beauty too) going down US-52 to the speedway - under their own power, not trailered. I comment about this to a coworker, and he says something like,"I hate those old cars like that." I let it go, but it got me thinking...
Why would a person "hate" a car? It's a car, not a foreign dictator or something. It puzzles me how people can feel such emotional distress over viewing an inanimate object - geez.

I used to kinda be that way a little as a kid. I thought I knew everything, and the car(s) I liked had to be the best, and the ones I didn't like had to suck (i.e. I "hated" them and would never consider owning one). But when I got my license and started riding in other brands and models my friends had, I discovered they are not all POS's like I had originally thought as a kid, they just look, feel, and sound a little different. I have since gone on to develop an appreciation (to a degree) for all cars. Every car has a story to tell - from what the designer wanted to create, to the economic conditions it was designed to live in, to the intended buyer and their needs.

So what makes some of us grow into our 20's, 30's and even beyond and still carry this "hatred" towards a particular car, brand, or feature? I mean, I can see if someone says,"I don't like it's looks", or "The drivetrain is too lame", but to say "I HATE that car" or "I would NEVER buy a #####, I don't care if it was the last car on earth"... man that just blows me away.
I know there are many in this forum who DO appreciate cars across the various brands and models, but there are a few who blatantly point out that they hate a certain model (guess which one in particular! ), and those of us who do like cars in general still know some who "hate" certain models or .
Car-lovers, let's speculate on the hatred,
Car-haters, please tell me WHY you HATE a car.
And please be honest... I WILL NOT pick up my flamethrower... I promise!

I'll kick it off by saying that while I have the utmost respect for the LS1 powertrain, I just didn't like the bodywork and interior of the 4th gens, and would likely never own one. I DON"T HATE THEM THOUGH! If I were to buy a Camaro this weekend, it would likely be an '86 IROC with T-tops, preferably black. I love the bodies and "spirit" those cars possess. So in short, I don't hate Camaros, just because I didn't fancy the last bodystyle.

So let's have it...

 

I think the word hate itself is way overused.

Just like the word awesome is...

Most things fall somewhere in the middle, but it is more dramitic to be at the far end of the scale, whichever side it is that you choose.

It also makes you feel 'part of the team' or something if you align yourself with something so closely.



<Deposit $0.02 here>

 

Hello fellow car-lover! I will attempt to speculate by delving into my line of reasoning several years in the past.

There was a time when I would never want to own a Ford--and certainly not a Japanese car! Perhaps as you are younger you form associations and stereotypes for many things, including cars--and why not? Cars are an inherently passionate subject. Maybe you adopted a loyalty to a make based on your parents' or friends' preferences. Maybe there was a car you were dreaming about owning as you were growing up and it was no doubt better than anything else. It could be behind the flimsiest of reasoning that you develop this bond, this thicker than blood alliance with a specific car or make.

For me, my parents and friends for the most part were GM. My uncle and cousin had the Mustang. My dad had a Corvette (as well as a Camaro, Corvair, Grand Prix, etc previously) and my brother and I would eventually have Camaros and Firebirds. I remember insisting my Mom buy an American (and GM) car when she was shopping--and who shouldn't listen to a 14 year old for car buying advice? Whether she listened to me or not, she did buy a Chevy Corsica.

The strongest factor in my holding of "hatred" for other cars was probably who I associated with those specific cars. I had a boss that I hated who owned a new Eclipse GS-T (he'd always claim to beat Camaros in races!). Just the same, I might know someone from school who drove another type of car and didn't like it for the same reasoning. Don't like that type of person--don't like their car preference! A pretty shallow theory that a car sucks because its owners suck, but it I guess it made sense in high school.

It wasn't until I actually got out there and drove some of these other cars that I realized they weren't so bad. My brother had a thing for wanting a different car all the time, so I got to sample a wide variety of cars on test drives. Once I got over the initial resistance to being lumped in with all the other stereotypes for those cars, I was actually able to enjoy them! Of course, as you get older you stop worrying about what everyone else thinks anyways.

Today, I have an appreciation for all types of performance cars (still not big on trucks). I can say cars like the Miata, RSX, and even Mustang are fun to drive (though the Mustang did live up to the poor quality rep). There are a lot of exciting cars out there, why limit yourself to one make? I now wouldn't (and didn't) think twice about buying a Japanese car. My WRX is an incredibly fun car to drive (as is my Fiero--I think of them both as unique, neither are the fastest cars out there).

Ultimately, most people's taste and reasoning change as they get older. I'll continue to think GM first, but can say I'm comfortable with and "hate-free" when it comes to other makes because I took the time to find out what they're about.

lol, I feel like I've been at an AA meeting or something! Nothing like killing time on the computer at work!

 

Hate is usually associated with the penii that you know who've owned the car. Porsche owners usually deserve the stereotype, for example.

That, or just hideous styling. I hate Azteks, but the people who drive them don't seem all that bad.

 

I agree with that! The word hate is everywhere these days... from the perception of Americans overseas to TV-show critics!

But as for cars, is our conclusion that people don't "hate" the car, they just don't know of another word to describe their "dislike"?

I would contest that based on some people's additional derogatory comments like,"they are POS" or "It never will be desireable no matter what."

This is a DEEP issue. You have to look for subtle clues and hints in the contaxt of the conversation, but I really feel that some people hate certain cars... with passion.

 

Jerry, you ALMOST got me spot-on there pal!

My folks tried all brands throughout the 50's and 60's, and slowly ended up being Ford loyals due to their own reasons. As a kid, you think your folks know everything, so I deduced that Fords were the best - they had to be or my folks wouldn't own them. Childhood reasoning - isn't it great?

When I was 15 and ready to get the ol' license, my dad happened into a deal on an '81 Mustang, and offered to help me get it. Well duh! What working kid is gonna turn down help on a pony car! So I ended up in a Ford due to family pressure and the economic strife of a working 15 y/o. (Getting a car at 16 was NOT a birthright in my family. )

Again, it was my "worldly personal experiences" (read that as cruising the strip, beach trips, and ski trips with friends) that got me into other cars of the day, and much to my astonishment, that '85 Camaro with a puny 6 DID actually get us to the mountains and back! And Jeff's nova actually did carry all 4 of us up and down the strip chasing honies without breaking down or blowing up. Point is... I learned that those "other" cars that I so loathed as a kid were actually not so bad once I actually got in them and drove them. Heck, I was even wishing my Mustang's back seat was as big as Jeff's Nova seat was a few times!!!

So you can count me in the same relative boat as you Jerry.
Nice post!

PS - While I appreciate the impact that import cars have had, especially on our domestic quality, I still have a hurdle to get over when it comes to buying one myself. Rent them - yes, I do often on business. I just can't bring myself to buy one yet!

 

I dont think people hate cars, they just say hate instead of saying I stronglly dislike those cars.

 

I hate slow cars (12+ sec. 0-60)

 

I hate rice (cars with 4 foot wings, fart mufflers, rediculous stickers/graphics/ground effects). I think that's really the only type of car where it's easy to see why one would "hate" it.

 

Hmmm... yes. I think you have found a car type that I would say I "hate" too!!

 

I think one reason people are so "brand loyal" is the money they spend. They want to feel good about the thousands they just plunked down on this rolling hunk of metal, and many times they feel threatened if people suggest something else would be a better choice.

I saw this all the time in the game industry when I worked as a store manager. People would nearly come to blows over which console was better, and it was usually just because that's the one they plunked down their hard-earned money on.

That's not always the case, but it can be a pretty big factor a lot of the time I think. People want to feel good about what they buy, they want to feel like they got a good deal.

 

Yup, I'll agree to that too!

But remember, in that case, there may have been a perfectly good car that some nut-case destroyed. Can't blame it on the car itself. The idget that does that to a car ruins the car's practicality, usefulness, and intended presence. I too wonder why they do that...

 

I bought a 1981 Ford Mustang (used) in the mid 80s, and it was a car I hated. It had only 40,000 miles, was a straight 6 with a manual (which wasn't bad at the time, the wife at the time drove it more than me), but is looked great. It it was black with a red interior, had t-tops, and was otherwise loaded. In the 6 months I had that car, the stereo died, the speedometer quit, the roof began separating from the T-top frame, the headliner began separating, & the front brakes warped. As I said, I kept it only 6 months. After that I swore Mustangs were junk, and hated them.

A year and a half later, I ended up buying a 1 1/2 year old CHP Mustang 5.0 with more than twice the miles of the '81 (over 80,000 miles!), and it turned out to be the most dependable, well made, solid car I ever owned. That car didn't even begin to have wind noise till I shipped it to Hawaii, at 190,000 miles 10 years later. Now I think they were the best cars for the price ever made.

I guess hating a car is related to your own experiences with it. I'm a Ford fanatic as far as the mid eighties to the early 90s cars. But because of my sister's experience with Ford dealers regarding her 1995 Mustang, and the fact Ford wouldn't reimburse her for her head gasket failure (even though a year later, they recalled the cars for that exact thing) she got fed up & bought a Camaro about a year ago.

Needless to say she now utterly hates Fords.

 

Proud, I just wanna say (should you ever wanna buy 1 ) that the year IROC-Z28 you mentioned was the only year that they had the third brake like on the hatch and power went down. (both just in that year only, the light looked kinda stupid and the power was higher in 85 and of course went up in 87) And I agree with your comments about the cars.

http://www.iroc-z.com/1985pages/1985.../1985pic11.htm

Nice

 

guion - I totally see your point. And can't say that I wouldn't be livid myself.

But in all honesty, shouldn't your sister hate the DEALER instead of all subsequent Ford cars? You and I both know that in the grand picture, Ford makes about as good and reliable a car as anybody else for the money - give or take. They all do. The law of statistics mandates that anybody who makes 100,000 units is going to have some quality mishaps - even if every human and every robot does their job perfectly. So a bad one's going to get out from time to time. Then there's the engineering shortcomings which lead to cracked heads after 80k miles and clutches that die after 50k, and so on - shame on them for not testing sufficiently. But to hate the cars is weird for me at this point in life.

Again, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing I based this thread on.
WHY HATE A CAR?
In the case of your sister, it sounds like misdirected passion. Go to the BBB, place a "three-for-free" ad in the local paper, park the car across the street from the dealer with a big sign in the window claiming "This lemon came from ##### Ford!". That way you could vent some of the anger, and they'd wanted to settle, I'd bet money on it!

Thanks for the post!
Yet another "reason" for a person's passionate position on auto selection...