Has anyone else noticed this? I thought it was my imagination at first, but after driving in my Box for over a month now I am certain of it.

It's like they treat you as though you have no right being on the road in your "little box". Examples include:

1. Rolling up on me hard, riding me, and passing me aggressively, Often accompanied with the "stare"
2. Being cut off at merge points. Other driver will speed up or not allow you to enter traffic.
3. Other driver gets right up on your butt at a stop light, inches from touching.
4. Aggressive tailgating regardless of lane or speed.

In most all of these cases they seem to have the same look on their face I call the "xB stare". Hard to describe, but the look is something like they are mad that you are driving that thing on "their" road. Mostly it is males that do this aggressive stuff, but females in larger cars or suvs have also been spotted being stupid.

I am 38 years old and have owned many different cars in my lifetime, but none have brought the treatment that I am getting in my XB.

For every person that seems to love it on the road, there are 5 more hating it. Weird.

 

Yeah, I know what your mean! I say "F" them all!

 

been there too

i just keep drivin and smilin

 

it's real, my wife and I get the same problems in our xb...no one really seems to bother me in my truck(maybe it's b/c the truck is a POS, and I look like someone who wouldn't bother to insure it...)

 

these people are called HATERS.....here in miami it's about the same the stare is what i like but the... do you wanna race when you at the light is to stupid trust me you ain't the only one just ignore these idiots on the road and drive safe..

 

true enough... I would term my self as somewhat of a "rude" driver. Meaning that when in a rush sometimes I'll *ahem* be very rude and ride the outer lane and wait till the last second to merge (i.e. "cutting" the line). But then again.. in NYC, its either do that or wait while 20 other cars cut in front of you. (I do not to make an extra lane out of shoulders though, you people are crazy)

I believe it has to do with three things:
1) the car simply does not have an aggresive appearance from the back/sides. Nor from the front. Vans and SUVs always got the beat-up look, or the "I will crush your luxury car with my grill" look (Or the "I obviously don't care about the environment, will I really think twice about crushing you?")
2) our front end is short and stubby... thereby making it hard to NOSE in. Plus the box dimensions make it very easy for them to gauge the proper distancing, and our higher stance makes it harder for us.
3) we care about our cars too much. While its all shiny and new, you will never get that kinda respect. When I drove my parents' beat up sentra, I got plenty of leeway from all kinda of drivers. b/c people see it and go... "damn he just does not give a $#@& about his car, I better let him in". Plus even when it was shiny new, people knew it was an econobox, you bought a sentra cuz you did not have money to afford something better. but those of us with boxes, well I think they instictively understand that we went with the box for a little bit more than just value.

As for your other points...
1)... ...people pass you? if they're passing me they're driving too fast to worry about trying to give me any stares. lol, kidding... sorta... but this is NYC, where people have learned staring gets you in all sorts of trouble.
2) see above
3) I think that's just us imagining it, there's a lot more room than you think, I learn that every time I parallel park.
4) I think that's cuz we have a huge drafting zone. That and the flat back makes people think they can judge the distance much better.. unfortunately, they are often wrong...

as for the stare... They're just mad cuz they didn't get a box.

 

i agree, but i thought that it was just the drivers in this town. But it has been more so since i got the box. but when we are out in the xA it doesn't happen as much. go figure

 

Wow, I thought it was just in the land of gobs (good -ol-boys) I don't know how to explain it either. Just had a punk the other day do the same crap. he passed me like a mad man, than drove 35 in front of me
I know that the xB is a total out cast in a crowd of poultry littered pick-ups, but do we have to worry about vandals? I have had people shake their head at me with a nasty look, What's up with that? My family thinks I am a little obsessed with the park a mile away but try to blend in thing. You know how it is when Mr. D H parks his Dodge 20 ton pu across four spaces, and finds his name carved in the door from a key.
I hope this too will pass. Just leave me alone!
And don't touch my box

 

Get a nice loud audio system, roll down your windows and blast Pantera, and look around all crazy like you want to murder someone.

Then, people will generally leave you alone.

 

i guess it's your attitude on the road. if you enter the roadway with the "victim" attitude (overly cautious, etc) you'll probably become one.

all i know is, everyone gets the F outta the way for me.. but then again, i don't drive a toaster on wheels not that an egg is any better......

 

In Chicagoland I think those bad attitudes are standard
with the SUV or Sports Sedan crowd.

I hate to bring up my P-Car again, but in my Porsche I
get dirty looks all the time. It's not my fault that my lane
merges with yours!!!

I've not seen it yet with my box, but I've only had it since
Wed. Though I did see my first box last night driving over
to the dealership...I think the other guy was just as shocked
to see mine! LOL

I also do the park a mile away thing. But still, it seems I
then attract the 'tards that park all crooked and you
wonder, how the hell did they get in that spot and *not* hit
me? And WTF did they park next to me when there is
about a dozen empty spots around me?

My main fear though is being rear ended. _______s on their
phones in the SUV are going to be the death of me!
Hell, I'm just recovering from being hit head on by some
___'tard that needed to get to apartment 10 seconds
earlier and thought cutting across 4 lanes of traffic was
smart! I'll miss that SAAB...

 

just stare back! somethin about being different which makes people jealous!

 

A few months ago I was driving my baby girl (15 months old) to a doctor's appointment in my tC. On the way I come across a pick-up truck (you know the type, raised with the obligatory cool guy clothing company sticker or extreme sports stickers) pulling a trailer that is kind of changing lanes a bit erratic and mildly swerving.

I pull up along side and naturally he is on his cell phone so I motion for him to roll his window down. I ask him if everything is ok because he is swerving or is it just because he is talking on his cell. He says it's none of my business and instantly gets all fired up. He starts shouting this and that and I'm trying to tell him I am just looking out for the safety of my baby. Needless to say I got pretty upset and he kept on shouting stuff from across traffic.

To relate this to your topic it was just funny because as he was going off on me one of his "comments" was that I drive a Scion and started knocking me about it. I just looked at him in disbelief and shook my head. I mean what did my car have anything to do with anything??? To end this story, as we continue to drive he is right along side me and again I point to the back seat at my baby and tell him again I just wanted to make sure everything was cool and that I just want to get my baby to the doctor in one piece. Apparently he hadn't noticed my daughter before this moment and it finally hit him. He appologized and said he is a new father too and it tough and so on and so on. I just looked at him and gave him the peace sign and said hopefully we're cool now and drove on to the doctor.

 

I beleive it might be more like what happened to me on the interstate the other day. Dude in a large SUV comes up on me like 90MPH in the fast lane and goes around me fast, then hits his brakes and comes over in my lane. He then proceeds to get back in the fast lane and slow down so that I pass him, all the while rubber neckin at my box. He then gets directly behind me and stays there for a couple of miles and then passes me on the RIGHT! As he goes by he gives me the thumbs up and then shoots of at 90 again.
I was like, that was wierd (first three days of having the box), now it is almost and everyday occurance.

 

I wouldn't say I am a fast driver. I go with the flow. Do 70 on the highway. By know means am I slow though. I do have 2 little ones in the back to worry about in the mornings too, so I can't go flying around racing everybody.

I get my speed kicks from from Suzuki SV650 sport bike. Nothing on 4 wheels can even challenge me on the bike. Some are smart enough to realize this, others aren't and think their riced up Honda civic will smoke me. Funny to see their faces as I wave goodbye with a twist of my wrist.

 

I think this applies if one drives a unique looking vehicle. I'm waiting patiently for the green-light to buy an xB and so in the meantime, I drive my PT Cruiser (which I already know is NOT a popular car on this forum). I park at the end of the lot, away from EVERYONE and inevitably, some ding-dong in an Urban Assault Vehicle parks right next to my car and (to make it more frustrating) parks so bloody close to my car I barely have enough room to open the door and get my fat butt back into the car.

I especially try to park further out from the rest of civilization when I have my kids with me. 1) I can keep a better eye on them when they're not surrounded by a lot of other vehicles and I can make sure there's no traffic while I unload everyone (have 3 kiddos, one in an infant seat) and 2) I can make sure my son (6) doesn't just throw his door wide open into someone else's car and make me into one of "those people."

Inevitably, someone parks their Urban Assault Vehicle nearly on top of my Cruiser making it difficult to enter (and leaving me wondering how they got out of their vehicle without inflicting any damage to mine).

Since moving from California to Texas (and I thought Cali had a lot of UAV's and Trucks - sheesh!) I've noticed that many people park really close, but in Texas, they haven't thrown their doors as much at my car as they do at my wife's new Toyota Sienna Van. It has several of scratches in the rear doors from the dipwads that think because it's a "van" it must not be worth much, blah, blah, blah. Nevermind that it cost 2x what my Cruiser cost me and nearly 2x what an xB will cost. For cryin' out loud, people! Just watch your freakin' doors and your freakin' kids!

 

SOOO Tru

 

I feel the exact same way! Especially about the "passing you aggressively" part. Every @$$hole has something to prove when they see the box!

They're just haters! And jealous about your brand new ride, so they have to prove thier car is "better" by showing you how much more powerful it is.

Bunch of loser

Some jerk almost blew up his old ___ Mirage to dust me at a stoplight. Chirped the tires, smoke pouring out of his muffler, and I'm not even racing him (or paying much attention at all) He was driving normal 'till he saw me.... The funniest part was that he was like 40 yrs old w/ his wife in the car who gave him a look like, "what the hell are you doing?"

Something about the box just brings it out in people.

-THE DON

 

I get this one all the time. ALL the time. Highway driving has turned into the headache of the century.

 

well I'm not an xB owner yet but i'd get the same thing whenever I'd drive my bonestock 1992 honda civic hatchback.
i'd mostly get the rude driving from pick-up trucks/suv's. but like everyone says forget 'em they're just haters.
i think its the compact car thing that gets people driving stupid!