xenophobia/jingoism?

[prufrock]

Why is the Fit is such a lightning rod for people? They either love or hate it. On the road and in my neighborhood, my wife and I have received polarizing responses to this car. Is it because of a fear of something different or just a pro-American car slant that makes some react so negatively to it? I've noticed this especially with people who own upscale luxury cars or bloated SUVs and trucks....

[Firebat666]

yo there just jelious lol

[zukered]

It's probably a mix of "you bought foreign!?" and resentment that they're paying so much more for gas than we are.

Meanwhile, I think I made a hater out of the driver of a Ford pickup truck the other day.... we were beside each other as the light turned green, and his tires actually squealed as we both started off, but my Fit's tiny 1.5 L engine easily pulled ahead of him as the two lanes merged into one.

Okay maybe there's one other reason people hate the Fit--the owners are sometimes smug bastards

[Cat]

Yeah, you never know what the reaction is going to be. All the people that have stopped to ask me questions about my car have been really nice but then I have some truck drivers who love to come up hard behind me and stay close. The real thing that makes them crazy is how we can walk in and purchase 25.00 in gas and have to go back for our change! They can spend 50.00 and still not have it filled to Full - LOL

[zukered]

I have to admit I've not actually had anyone speak ill about the Fit to me. Maybe it's because in Canada all cars are "foreign" so there's no homegrown company to get worked up over.

Thanks to recent news about a Canadian GM plant closing, and Ford receiving $80 million in taxpayer handouts, some people online did admonish others who bought "foreign" cars, totally or deliberately ignorant of the fact that a) Ford and GM are foreign, and b) that Toyota and Honda both manufacture in Canada, too.

That particular GM plant built mostly trucks and SUVs, so big surprise GM tried closing it down.