I bought a Subaru Outback 4 months ago. Before that I had a Jeep for 10 years.
On FB groups the Jeep people were very helpful. They were great places to interact. Lots of helpful people, and great places to share info. I sold my Jeep, so I left those groups.
(Specific groups were: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK2), WK2 Off-Road Rigs, Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel, and WK2 Grand Cherokee Off The Beaten Path)
4 months ago I joined the Subaru Outback Enthusiast FB group. I’ve posted about 10x in 4 months and am saddened to find a lot of snark there. Snark that I never encountered in my 10 years in the Jeep groups. Never ever.
I am finding Subaru people to be more snarky and mean than the Jeep people in those FB groups.
In the madcap-but-wise universe of that founder, Bokonon, a granfalloon is an association of people who think that association means something. It is actually meaningless. A native of Indiana, Vonnegut offers “Hoosier” as an example: No Indianan has any control over the circumstances of his or her birth, yet Hoosiers they are, just as my meaningless membership is in a class of people who just happened to be born about the same time and found themselves confined within the same walls for four years of secondary education.
I absolutely wouldn’t think that one group would be nicer than another.
That said, Facebook groups are hugely influenced by their founders. One of the nastiest, most back-biting, most cliquish groups I’ve encountered on Facebook is a group founded for parents in a local school district. It ended up that way because the founder was someone who adored drama, and managed the group in a way that encouraged such drama.
I would expect a Subaru FB group to be nasty and mean if the founder made it that way, and helpful and friendly if the founder made it that way.
There’s that, plus I was wondering if the groups are restricted to owners of those particular vehicles. I’m not sure why Subaru owners would snark on someone else for owning a Subaru; seems a little self-defeating. If the snark is coming from people who don’t own Subarus, but joined the group just to be jerks, that makes a little more sense.
There could also be some in-group needling going on, which the OP is interpeting as snark. I used to drive an MG. There are lots of jokes about how unreliable English cars are. From one owner to another, they’re a form of commiseration or self-deprecation. To a newcomer, they might come across as snarky.
I think of Subaru people as upper middle class soccer Moms.
I think of Jeep people as outdoorsy types.
Given those stereotypes I’d expect Jeep people to be more laid back, and probably happier given the link between happiness and spending time in nature.
Those are total stereotypes though. My friend drives a really nice Jeep and I’ve never heard of her spending much time outdoors.
I’m just amused at the idea of a similar group for Honda drivers. The only thing we really have in common is not wanting to pay a lot of money for a car.
It’s possible that people in a Jeep group would be “nicer” because they hang together in the face of perceived criticism from the outside world for driving large gas-guzzlers. No idea why Subaru owners would twist each other’s tails.
Wasn’t the Subaru lesbian stereotype applied mainly to Forester owners?
Owners of Jeeps/Subarus and people who identify with their brands enough to join FB groups are not the same groups. I’ve owned Subarus for years, and would never consider joining a FB group for them. I encounter more Suby tips and stories from the backcountry skiing group I belong to, lots of Suby owners there.
Remember, Subaru spelt backwards is You are a bus (U R a Bus).
More about lesbians and Subarus. A good friend from many many years ago is a lesbian, and when she found out I bought a Subaru she was tickled pink. She has an Ascent, not a Forester.
And yes the WRX STi group can be a wild bunch, with their highly modded WRXs. There are some crazy videos out there of WRXs flying through the air on off road courses. They are literally off the off road!
Slightly off-topic: Saw a Jeep Owner’s group on the local news a day or two ago. Talking about the event this coming weekend. A big gathering and drive. The members were self-described as “Freedom Loving”, lots of Law Enforcement and First Responders…
Anyway, the run starts in town, goes to a Brew Pub in a town down the Interstate, then down to another brewery, down the local highways.
Here, in the vast High Desert/Sierra Nevada’s, more open land than most folks can imagine. Criss-crossed by trails and dirt roads than a tank of gas can manage. And the drive is… All pavement. Jeep Club.
