[barefeetdriver]

On the flip side I do discriminate against people buying manual transmission cars irrespective of price bracket.

A relative bought a car, a Swift manual, not because of the manual's reliability, lower cost, FE, etc. but to teach their son to learn a manual geared car. The boy, a first time driver hates it, the parents aren't comfortable with it and now hire drivers on per day basis even for short trips.

Another friend bought a Corolla Altis (a very fine machine imo) in its manual avatar for no real reason. Price diff due to CVT wasn't a factor and the vehicle was meant to be driven 50-50 between himself and his chauffeur. 6 months after buying the Altis his trusted chauffeur quit, so my friend decided to just drive it himself, so that he could "enjoy the car". 6 more months later he sold it off because it was too hard to drive in the city. Yep, its a big car but in his own words the manual transmission was the culprit.

I'm still friendly and related to these people but slightly less so

[Ragavsr]

Originally Posted by nishantbhatia84

Long post alert!

Having driven with Uber in Mumbai for almost 2yrs, I've had innumerable experiences of being discriminated / treated badly.

I would like to hear your opinion on how cops in general treated you . Somehow I have observed here in Chennai that cops treat taxi and commercial vehicle drivers very harshly and have even seen them slapping a truck driver once.

[arjab]

I've had many incidents of experiencing "car discrimination" .
Out of the many cars in the possession of our family & immediate extended family, there is also a Nano Gen - X, which has been derided quite a few times. We bought the Nano in Chennai and have done quite a few trips by it between Chennai and Kolkata. Some amusing incidents that spring to mind:

1. Incident 1: Chennai
I was driving home, late, from office. It was around 10pm and there was a long line of vehicles on Nungambakkam High Road, in front of Park Hotel, with cops breathalysing every driver.
The queue of cars were lengthening & I could see the cops fretting about as the DUI checkpoint was turning into a potential traffic snarl.
Some cops even started attempting to rationalise the queue of cars.

Suddenly one of the cops started waving to me asking me to jump the queue and come up right upto the checkpoint barriers.
I did somewhat hesitatingly and he waved me through, without breathalysing me,(not that I was drinking), all the while speaking loudly to his colleagues, in Tamil, as to why did they keep a Nano driver in queue?
Because, as per him, it's the most cheapest car and owners of such cars are downright poverty-stricken: hence the question of these car owners, spending money & glugging away expensive alcohol & getting drunk simply doesn't arise!

Incident 2: Taj Connemara, Chennai
Had to attend a social function. While leaving the hotel, the valet got the Nano to the portico. As we were about to hop in, a harried looking, perfectly respectable gentleman came running up to us and requested us if we can wait for a few minutes as his 5year old son was throwing a huge tantrum as the little boy wanted to see the "Noddy Car" up close!
It turned out later that the little one was the grandson of one of Chennai's leading industrialists and their rather delicious looking "S"-Class was parked under the portico!

Incident 3: Parking incident
Park Street, Kolkata
All parking slots chock - a - block. The "proletariat" friendly Nano appeals to the heart of the parking attendant. He promptly "rearranges" some two wheelers parked opposite the famous Peter Cat restaurant and makes enough room for the Nano to wiggle in comfortably. Also, I've never been charged "extra" in Calcutta by the parking fee cohort.

"Relatives & family member's speak":
One can write an entire book on this. From incredulity to exasperation to "he's - gone - off - his - rocker" looks and snide comments; we have faced all.

In India, owning a vehicle is still considered as a status symbol unlike the more developed countries of the world where the automobile is treated more as a commodity. Yes, in those countries too, you may be judged as to your choice of automobile; but that judgement will be more on the lines of "your - choice - denotes - what - kind - of - a - driver - you - are" , rather than be a judgement of snobbishness & one-upmanship.

[atnyia]

This was a nightmare in NCR. I used to ride a bike to the office because it took far less time to park and I was never stuck on the Toll Plaza. However, my relatives were on a different level. One of them lives in a colony near sector 14. Once, I took my bike for ease, as last time I had an issue parking my car in the streets. Their reaction was as if I were saving petrol money.

The situation is pretty different in Pune. I preferred riding the Access on the NDA Pashan Road with my wife compared to taking the car. Ahh, don't I miss the line of the trees and the fresh air. Mostly, people don't judge as much.

Bangalore is a little like North. Here people do pay attention to what car you drive. Luckily, Ciaz settles in the middle, nothing great but not a small hatch. No discrimination wrt Valet parking anywhere. The good thing is, known people don't bother much about your car (unlike north). They want to know which company you work at. Working at a product-based MNC is a bigger status symbol than the car or even bike.

[charanreddy]

At one point in time, We had a Chevrolet Beat D - 2012 and Maruti Zen Lxi - 2002 model, bought second hand in 2014. A few friends / distant family refused to get into the zen ! so discrimination is always there.

As 'evolved' humans some amount of judgement is needed and ingrained into us from experience. We wouldn't pick up a shoddy looking guy asking for a lift on a highway or visit a shoddy looking place for dining with family. Problem starts when people behave obnoxiously or high handedly. Personally, though my mind tells me something based on an attire or a car some one drives, I use it to make a positive impression and not a negative one.. I.E. I would envy / respect more, someone travelling in an S-Class, but no way I would treat some one disrespectfully if they don't have a swanky car.

Heck, our society is built on 10 acres of land and the largest landlord with more than 7 acres of land with estimated market price of ~25 crores, drives a TVS XL 50, is always in dhoti and chappals tending to his agriculture or dairy. So its OK to treat some one better based on perceived value but its perilous to treat some one bad due to apprearances.

[Maverick1977]

Circa 2008 - When cars from Tata Motors were looked upon as Taxis only.

I had bought the 1st generation Indica Vista and was super happy with the diesel engine and the oodles of space it offered. However, my colleague at my Delhi office were totally shocked but didn't say much to I visited them. The day I went there(I was based in Mumbai) the 1st question was Why did I buy a taxi? My Jr's. left no stone unturned to convince me that I had made an absolutely wrong choice. Worst was some of them actually started treating me differently.

It was my first experience where I realised how people treat you based on what you own/ drive.

[Neversaygbye]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

The only place I get treated negatively because of the cars I drive is Park Street, Kolkata. The parking attendants there start shouting seeing the Thar and Bolero - "sir this is a big car and you have to pay for 2 parking spaces." I have to literally fight with them and tell them that one is sub 4 meters and the other is just above 4 meters

Park street is a nightmare for parking on most days. I remember I once had a meeting at 4 in one of the offices there and could only get to it by 4:30 despite reaching the location at 3:30, as I just could not find a free parking spot.

Coming to elitism and discrimination, tbh I have taken my soon to be 8 years old Vista to multiple five star hotels and expensive restaurants in Cal and never faced either. Valet parking has never been an issue and I have never been asked to park by myself or at a place far away.

However, the Vista does seem to get the goat of yellow plated Dzires. They invariably have the urge to overtake me by hook or by crook. I don't get that behaviour from any other type of car including other app cabs and even the luxury brands. (Private vehicles in general seem to be less competitive in Cal).

I think in Cal people go more by how you carry yourself and probably what one wears or drives does not matter that much here as long as one is confident and authoritative. However, this is just my experience.

[TD_GHY]

Yes, this happens even in the case of Government vehicles as well. It is assumed that the more senior the officer, the bigger the car should be. For example, if he is travelling in an Innova Crysta (not the old Innova though), he will be perceived as a senior officer. If he is in a Fortuner, he would be perceived as someone from the Senior Apex scale or so. When we travel to other Government offices for some meeting or conference in our official vehicles, the amount of respect we shall receive at the entrance gate by the staff at the security gate or the reception will be directly proportional to the size and the cost of the car. Indigos, Dzires, Boleros are almost always ignored. Crysta and Fortuner will ensure you get a salute. After all, Government is a part of the same society we all are a part of.

[asethi]

I've faced utter discrimination (both good & bad) not because of type of car, but the state where car was registered! I've driven my JK registered (alarm bells!!) Swift in Bangalore/South India for 10yrs! I can write an essay on my experiences, but a few that stand out:

1. We were in Goa for new year and I was harassed by police at check posts over my JK registration, their main question - how come JK car in goa, and I had to explain them that I was still driving in India!
   The hotel owner informed police after finding out JK registered car in his hotel, although police didn't trouble us and just observed from a distance & left. He apologized next day while we were having breakfast and admitted he was dead scared after seeing a JK car in his hotel.
2. Many ex-army personnel would happily chat with us after spotting our car as they would have been posted in J&K sometime in their life.
3. One person literally shouted what this Kashmiri is doing in in this part of world after seeing my car come out of a parking lot in Kanyakumari.
4. Police on highway would stop us and ask our whereabouts.
5. Toll plazas would note my number as KA02 instead of JK02, I still fail to understand why!
6. Many unusual stares from people after they see the JK number on the car.
7. Everyone in the service center knew me just because of my car's regn, and they would be very inquisitive about the place.
8. My car was famous one, and almost everyone who knew me would recognize it.
   
   And many more...

But all these stand out more as now I drive KA registered car, and not a single time I've been stopped by anyone in 2yrs, apart from usual alcohol check while exiting Pondicherry

[Mjaswal]

I live in Finland in a very small university town. I drive a 2010 Golf which is bright red. It is considered a nice car here. A lot of times I get stared at by people, because for them I am this 20 something young foreign guy driving a nice car. Beemers like to race especially on the highways but everything else is fine. I sometimes drive a van for work and fellow drivers are completely different. People like to tail, flash lights, pass and even flip me off when I drive the van. It is like a major drop in ego when they get passed by a van. I always drive with cruise control both on the van and my own car, every-time I pass someone with the van I see that they increase their speed but haven't noticed this with my car. Part of life I guess.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Neversaygbye

Park street is a nightmare for parking on most days. I remember I once had a meeting at 4 in one of the offices there and could only get to it by 4:30 despite reaching the location at 3:30, as I just could not find a free parking spot.

Very different experiences, maybe because of the timing! I have never had any problem finding parking in Park Street. We used to go mostly in the evenings to the restaurants.

Originally Posted by Neversaygbye

I think in Cal people go more by how you carry yourself and probably what one wears or drives does not matter that much here as long as one is confident and authoritative. However, this is just my experience.

Absolutely true, I used to take my 1982 "salvaged from Panagarh" Jeep everywhere including the 4 star and 5 star hotels, but never faced any discrimination. The only problem or advantage, whichever way you look at it, was that the valets did not want to drive the Jeep

Here is a pic of the Jeep -

[Bhalla]

I’ve personally experienced this thing. When I was in 10+1 standard and just got my motorcycle license, I used to take my dad’s Splendour to school and none of my classmates (both boys and girls) were taking me seriously as most of the guys used to have Pulsars, Bullets, Hunks. I was treated like a poor guy by them. 6 months later, when I moved to 10+2 standard and got a Red TVS Apache RTR160 (it was the second Apache in my town), I start getting respect. Now boys wanted me join them on Geddi Route (following beautiful girls on our bikes), Girls began to talk to me in nice way and wanted to do friendship with me. I was no longer the poor guy at our school.
Before buying Honda City in 2014, we used to have Swift Dzire (in white colour) and whenever we used to visit restaurants, hotels or airport, we used to get not so good treatment due to Taxi image attached with White Dzire. Even policemen used to stop us regularly by assuming our car as a Taxi. When we got Honda City, everyone start looking us with different approach. We start getting Babbu Ji kind of treatment at hotels, restaurants. Policemen hardly stopped us for checking. All this because of image attached with Honda City.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Do we treat a stranger whom we are encountering {in whatever setting} for the first time based on his/her attire, manner of carrying himself, tone and style of talking - I guess we all do. I certainly do. It is hard wired into us.

Adding one more to the list, the skin color/ethnicity. I had gone to pick up my foreign colleague from his hotel and the security comes up and opens the rear door for him. Turns out, this happened on other occasions as well when someone else had picked him up. Our man used to get embarassed because he was a young chap and usually the guys who had gone to pick him were senior to him in the organization.

[sac23]

I have only been stopped by police for routine checks while driving a small car.
I also own an Orange KTM and police stop me every time.

[shaheenazk]

This happened to me 20 years ago on Nangal-Anandpur Sahib road when I was heading back to Chandigarh after a tour of the Bhakra Nangal Dam. I was accompanied by my mother and a close family friend. The road in those days wasn't much wide so one had to make a good judgement before over-taking other vehicles. The traffic was fairly dense on that day. A Tata Safari was tailing me for quite sometime. It did not honk aggressively which would have otherwise given me the idea that it was in a hurry. When it did "manage" to come up by my side in order to over-take, I spotted at least four aggressive looking bearded men making obscene gestures towards me and then suddenly their vehicle made a dangerous maneuver to the left which was clearly an attempt to veer me off the road ! Had I not braked suddenly, the driver of the Safari would have been certainly successful in his goal. They then sped away. It took a me a while to realize that probably they were miffed at not being able to over-take me for quite a while considering that I was driving a Tata Indica, a "small car" and they a big SUV like Safari ! It hurt their ego big time. I did not chase them, although I could have.