tpmbz67

I'm two years into my lease on an AMG C43 lease. Great car, and would consider re-upping the lease or even purchasing the vehicle. One thing I've noticed -- and I'm quite certain it isn't the result of any change in my driving -- it draws both an elevated level of compliments and more rage from other drivers. I've had a disproportionate number of incidents (again, with the caveat that I'm not driving any differently in this vehicle) where other (male) drivers are raging aggressively. Happened yesterday with a guy screaming at me from his car .. wouldn't have even heard him if I didn't have my window down .. and as with the other incidents, whatever I did to get his attention it wasn't a blatant dick-move or any kind of close call. I had pulled over to the curb when this occurred.

The flip side of this is I get a lot of "nice car" compliments. I'm middle-aged, have driven a number of vehicles in my lifetime, and I'm quite certain that there is something about this one that draws way more assumptions than other cars I've driven (even other German sports sedans or coupes.)

Skim450

haha, i dont know about you, but i live in Souther California, the epicenter of ***hole drivers.... so regardless of driving a Benz, a ferrari, or a Daewoo, people are going to be raging and bitter about something.

but personally, for me, i got more compliments when i drove my fully built 2006 Subaru STI around. (was essentially a racecar with tons of mods). Because the car was unique, loud, it got attention. but i duno, ive only received 1 or 2 compliments in the Benz since i got it earlier this year. Even though its tuned and quick, with some AMG bits, it still looks like every other Mercedes (to people that don't know what to look for obviously). Because of that, i dont think people really bat an eye, at least around my area.

Dieseldan9

iTrader: (1)

I honestly have never had so many compliments about my car and I have been modding and driving a ton of different cars for 20 years now.

PFEAMG

This happens to me all of the time. Of course my broken middle finger cast probably has something to do with it.

What are they raging or yelling about? What are they saying to you that might lead to what's driving (pun intended) their outrage?

tpmbz67

Yeah I'm in Nor Cal but went to school in LA. I've been driving a long time, so I'm fairly sure the rage I've encountered is genuine and related to the car. Of course I've had incidents with other drivers over the years but the degree of anger and assumptions made here is different. I'm older and certainly not driving more aggressively (but not so old that my skills have deteriorated.) It's a white coupe, and looks sporty .. feels like the assumptions being made are based on it being a relatively expensive ride, and that the person driving it is soft and oblivious and discourteous. (Sounds crazy I know .. but I'm a good-sized guy and certainly never get this kind of insecure challenge when I'm at a bar or outside of the car.) Wouldn't even think it was real if it didn't happen with such consistency and intensity.

tpmbz67

Yeah .. that's the thing. The guy most recently was yelling -- but I only heard him because his passenger window was down and mine was too. He didn't stop and I started to follow him but then figure "naw .. let it go." He was yelling "b**ch" .. now that's a specific insult to yell at someone you can't see and it's like an ego thing. Not "a**ho**e" or similar .. but like he needed to be sure that he could kick my ***, based on the car I'm driving.

superswiss

I'm not sure it's the car. You say when this last incident happened your were pulled over to the curb, so I assume the guy who was yelling had to drive around you? Now that's a move that irks me, too, when people just pull over to the curb often causing a jam behind them because everybody has to move over to the other lane now to get around you. It's getting increasingly frustrating with all the Uber and Lyft drivers just pulling over wherever to pick up and drop off riders. There is increased frustrating at ride share drivers clogging up the roads and randomly pulling over blocking traffic behind them.

tpmbz67

Well .. I'm completely open to that possibility, or the very real possibility that I've done something wrong on each occasion that I'm unaware of. In this case there was no need to go around me, and there was a spot on the curb. Was a residential neighborhood. That particular move didn't affect this driver, so it may have been something else. (I'd hope I did something, at least, to draw this kind of response.) But it's the level and intensity of rage that I've seen in this car. Another incident was being blocked in, in the fast lane, and unable to let this guy by me who was right on my tail. He finally got an opening and cut me off aggressively in passing and proceeded to rage at me. I'm convinced it's something about the car and the assumptions made that elevates incidents that, in the past, I've been able to avoid or that passed without such aggressive behavior.

superswiss

Yeah, who knows...I'm in NorCal, too, and the rage on the roads has been increasing in general. It might just be a coincidence. With the increasing messier traffic, there are just a lot more enraged folks on the roads. I've had people yell at me in my Audi RS5 when they do something wrong and then somehow blame me for their mistake. All kinds of head scratching stuff happening on the roads. There's certainly prejudice against certain car owners, and Mercedes is probably more viewed as a snob's car. I'll see if I notice anything once I have my C63. Luckily I'm rarely on the roads during commute hours when all those crazies are out and about. I'm fortunate that I don't have to commute.

tpmbz67

It's a fascinating topic in some regards. Very different from other aggressive behavior because, at least initially, it's anonymous and the assumptions being made are based on the vehicles themselves. The incident in Sacramento .. the guy was actually slowing down to 40 or 45 on the freeway and motioning to pull over. And your blood is pumping and you are responding and it just isn't a good situation to be in unless you can check yourself. I stayed in back of him until he sped off. (Always the safer place to be.) The next day I read about an incident on the same stretch of road where two guys had a similar situation and they did in fact pull over, on the side of the highway. One guy hit the other with a pipe or similar object and the guy collapsed and died .. and the guy who hit him got so freaked out that he staggered into traffic and was hit and died, too. It's just a complete jungle out there at times and you really need to check yourself every time before you get in a vehicle .. but particularly when doing consistent, long driving.

superswiss

I think I read about that incident as well. It's mad what's happening out there, but lots of folks struggle to make a living in this area. They endure long commutes to get to a crappy job that's not really making them enough money to make ends meet. Frustration builds up and then they are crossing path with someone who is driving a car that in their mind costs $100k and they view them as a cause of their misery. I had to park my RS5 out on the street in the neighborhood one night, because our driveway got resealed and I couldn't park in my garage. Next morning I had a shoe print and a dent in my rear quarter panel. Somebody felt like taking out their frustration on my car. Perhaps I offended them somehow by parking in what they felt was their parking spot (we have a shortage of parking in our neighborhood), or they previously saw me driving through the neighborhood and their ego was hurt. I'm the only one with an RS5 in my neighborhood. There are others with nice expensive cars, but like me they all park them in their garage normally. I live in a gentrified neighborhood, which explains a lot.

Skim450

yea, i agree with your last statement, need to keep yourself in check. in fact, i think in some states, getting out of your vehicle in an act of rage constitutes as a felony? aggravated assault or something i think. i am not sure, but my brother had a guy get out of a car one time because he merged in front of him, when traffic came to a stop the guy got out and was knocking on the window wanting to fight. my brother just laughed and drove off. but sadly, people let their ego's control their emotions and act... people end up getting hurt. its a sad world we live in.

tpmbz67

This sounds a little crazy, but I put a small sticker on my dash ... just a little symbol thing that means nothing to anybody but me. And what it means to me is 1) pay attention once you get behind the wheel because you're upping your weight by 4000 lbs and your speed of movement exponentially .. and 2) stay within yourself and don't take the bait if someone comes after you. Crazy that this would even be a thing and be necessary and as unsafe as cars were way back in the day, I don't think this kind of road rage existed. It's part of the whole social media generation package .. people are more isolated, yet going after others in anonymous aggressive fashion.

The other thing I tell myself when my temper shoots up in response to some other dude is that it isn't personal .. it isn't like they are doing it to you in a bar or on the street or whatever. They know nothing about you, can't even really tell what you look like, your size, your age, etc .. at least not most of the time. It's aggressive, anonymous behavior, based entirely on taking offense to something then making assumptions based on the car you're driving. You have to have empathy for any guy who gets out of his car to fight someone else .. what good could possibly be going on with the rest of his world?

tpmbz67

That's awful, waking up to find your expensive ride vandalized by some anonymous hater. What's that line from Pulp Fiction again, about the kind of man who messes with another man's vehicle? I don't know a lot about the RS5 but I drove an A4 before getting the C43 Coupe and I have to say Audi really impresses me. Right down to their customer service. I was debating getting an S4 instead of the Benz and my buddy at the time said "it's good because it's more low-profile .. flies under the radar .." Didn't give it much thought then, but getting these responses now that I've gotten the C43, even though it really isn't that flashy a ride, has me thinking maybe I will get an S4 or an A4 when my lease is up. (Would go with the RS5 but sounds like it's another invitation to get your quarter panel kicked in ..)

TorontoC43

Come to Toronto where C43 is just a normal mercedes and you see Lambo, Ferrari , C63 and M4 everywhere, no one would target your ride because there are far more expensive car to damage

b6tbfmp

Yeah that was karma. Right near Arena Blvd and the 5! Funny, we live in the state capital where its the mecca of any law enforcement...neighbors are in some capacity law enforcement. In the end, we all know its not worth it. Drive away and live another day.

superswiss

Exactly, "Don't f..k with another man's vehicle...it's just against the rules...". Great line and it came to my mind when it happened. Yes, I would say Audis fly a bit more under the radar perhaps, unless you show up in an R8.

mcschan86

For me, I actually drive more behaved than I did with my previous TSX. I leave more room for the car in front as I don't tail gate nor cut into hwy ramps at the last minute anymore. BUT, I had this incident as I slowed to stop at a red light when a girl in a Odyssey randomly gave the middle finger as she pulled up beside. lol. I thought that the only thing that bugged her must have been the performance exhaust at Sports mode.
Disclaimer: I did not stop using Sports mode nor did I turn off the perf exhaust afterwards.