# Why are large aftermarket wheel rims so popular in low income areas? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 4, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737 "2012-03-04T18:07:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/21 "2012-03-05T14:31:31Z")
See also clothes. As a fifty-year-old professional white man (as opposed to all those amateur caucasians out there) I can wear an old tweed jacket that shows its age. Cliched, I know. Young urban people people need to wear something new, bright, and so far as I can tell, essentially identical to what every other young urban person is wearing. Combined with a hair style which clearly costs more than I spend on haircuts for a year. If people are not able to differentiate themselves through their homes, they will expend effort (and money) to differentiate themselves outside their homes. Ambivalid’s point about portable status is a very good one. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/22 "2012-03-06T20:28:44Z")
Another thing you often see in the (US) ghetto is what I call “Ghetto Cadillacs”, older American luxury cars that have low blue book values but that are technically luxury cars. If you ask yourself, “Why couldn’t they have bought a new or gently used Chevy rather than that 15 year old clunker Cadillac?”, then you are an outsider. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/23 "2012-03-06T20:34:27Z")
> [@grude](#): > > The implicit question hidden in the OP is why someone on such a low income doesn’t save the money they spent on rims for more “worthy” things, like savings so they can attempt to claw their way out of the ghetto or something. The position the ghetto resident is in is unquestionably not ideal, but that is a matter of perspective. > > OP can I ask if you have an iphone, ipad, laptop? Or some fun but ultimately frivolous and trendy sink of a couple of hundred to thousands of dollars, I bet you do. > Well imagine some billionaire posting here about this upper middle class person he just saw playing with an ipad, why would this person spend so much money on a toy would they could have invested it, or at least put it into savings so they could get out of that dreadful suburb they live in and into a real manor with at least a century or two of provenance? > > The answer of course is that you are content where you are and you don’t spend most of your day hating your life and surroundings plotting how to claw your way up, if you blow money on a toy or status symbol its because you can think of no better use for the money(besides should you live your entire life deprived of things you want for the hope of entering a higher economic class? Of course not thats ridiculous.) And, the reality is, if your random middle-class Joe decided to spend that extra $5000 on stocks rather than on an iPod and a trip to the beach, he might end up losing it all if his stocks crash. I can see a potential for the same type of attitude in the ghetto- why spend money on, say, getting a better education if you think that, come graduation, you’ll be a graduate flipping burgers in 10k in debt rather than a dropout flipping burgers with a nice ride? ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/24 "2012-03-06T20:46:36Z")
Not only is it a status symbol but it’s a PORTABLE status symbol. You can soup up a house but the only people seeing it will be the ones walking by it. Plus, it’s much more expensive and with the way people move in and out of the ghetto, probably isn’t worth the money and effort. brand name clothing/sneakers and rims seem to be the most popular status symbols around here. From my guess above, the portability and relatively lower costs (as opposed to buying a brand new house or a brand new, fancy car) make it seem more attainable. The funny thing is, they spend all of their money on these items to give the impression that they can afford it easily, which is further from the truth. What is the word for this…a paradox? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/25 "2012-03-06T21:12:24Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Every income level has their car-type status symbol. Asians go for the “riceboy” thing, buying el cheapo clapped-out Civics and putting wings and kits on them. White people go for the “domestic rice” Cavaliers and such and do the same thing. More wealthy people don’t do the mods because they’ve grown out of it. Instead they go for the brand status like Lexus or Jaguar. > > You can drop a fortune on a house and it won’t stand out, or it will because it’s by far the nicest one on the block in which case people will wonder why you didn’t just move. Cars, however, go with you everywhere you go, and they display the economic status that you are or wish to be. Think about it. If you can afford to burn up $10000 tricking out your car you give off the impression that you have money to burn. How you choose to go about that is merely a reflection of your particular subculture. Seems to me that just owning a BMW or Mercedes is a status symbol for the upper-middle class crowd in the US. It indicates that you can afford to buy a 40+ thousand dollar car. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/26 "2012-03-06T21:27:59Z")
My wife explained it to me years ago when I naively “asked why don’t they spend that money on something useful”, referring to something I no longer remember. You buy the status symbols you can afford. Those who can buy huge houses and fashionable clothes. Others can only afford a really car. In some neighborhoods its the lawn or the Christmas lights. Still others have to settle for new shoes as a status symbol, so they save up for nice ones. In the OPs case, shiny rims is what most people can afford. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/27 "2012-03-06T21:53:44Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > \ In the OPs case, **shiny rims is what most people can afford**. Or not afford, in many cases. I get that it’s a status symbol of the particular area, meant to send a message “check out my rims, I’m so dope”. But I wonder if anyone in that area to whom ‘stylin’ rims’ is a badge of status ever looks at the broken-down beater that is riding on them and thinks it looks as funny as it does to those of us who aren’t the target demographic. To me, it’s like trying to polish a turd. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/28 "2012-03-06T22:29:05Z")
The hard thing to understand is that to buy the rims, they had to use money that could have been spent on crucial expenses like housing, food, or healthcare. The middle class person is not making those same trade-offs. He is not using his rent money to buy the iPad. There won’t be a food shortage in his house if he buys a fancy car. He buys luxury items with luxury money. The poor person is using money needed for critical living expenses to buy luxury items, and very expensive luxury items at that. Sometimes rich people can go overboard with the luxury items, too. There are many stories of rich people getting in way over their head with vacation homes, fancy cars, and boats. But that is more a problem of having a high cash flow and acting like it will keep coming in forever. They were not making tradeoffs between their kids getting shoes and getting a new BMW. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/29 "2012-03-06T22:33:39Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Or not afford, in many cases. > > I get that it’s a status symbol of the particular area, meant to send a message “check out my rims, I’m so dope”. But I wonder if anyone in that area to whom ‘stylin’ rims’ is a badge of status ever looks at the broken-down beater that is riding on them and thinks it looks as funny as it does to those of us who aren’t the target demographic. To me, it’s like trying to polish a turd. Right. To you, it’s like trying to polish a turd. But to some people, it is just a quirk of the culture. I never liked make up (still don’t wear a lick of it, except for clear lip gloss), never the less, I like ghetto girl’s make up. They have a particular flair with it, and it is over the top and cool and very fun to watch when they parade around the club with it. They put on these ridiculous long baby doll fake lashes and sometimes they were their hair bald and it is hilarious because the lashes is way longer than the hair on their heads, and I’m sure people laugh at them and don’t understand. But in our culture, there is a certain appreciation for it. Not all of us do it or like it, but it is a part of our overall culture and we get it. We may not get why others in their own cultures do what they do, but it’s not my style to laugh at it. Don’t know why one wouldn’t be ashamed to admit that they do. Laughing at people for doing things that you don’t understand but that isn’t hurting you any speaks volumes about you.\* And for the record, I wouldn’t be surprised if the same people laughing at these girls are the same ones that may pick up on some of their style after it crosses over from the street to the runways. But grude already regulated hard on this thread. I couldn’t have said it better. _I don’t knock laughing at whatever tickles one’s funny bone. But looking your nose down at someone to really laugh_ at \*them? Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/30 "2012-03-06T23:59:34Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > The hard thing to understand is that to buy the rims, they had to use money that could have been spent on crucial expenses like housing, food, or healthcare. The middle class person is not making those same trade-offs. He is not using his rent money to buy the iPad. There won’t be a food shortage in his house if he buys a fancy car. He buys luxury items with luxury money. The poor person is using money needed for critical living expenses to buy luxury items, and very expensive luxury items at that. Not to defend the behavior, but … their critical living expenses are much different than the middle class. Most poor people in the 'hood have food to eat; fast food combos are cheap, and much of their food expenses will be covered by an EBT/SNAP/food stamp and/or WIC program. They can pay the rent; most aren’t being evicted every few months, and most understand that there’s a high cost of moving with deposits, utility connection fees, and so on. Health care … it’s difficult, but if you don’t have a job with health insurance, why save for an illness that may never happen, when you’re poor as it is? In most of the US, public benefits are based on both your income and your net wealth in liquid assets. I may be wrong, but the way I understand it, in New York. if you have more than $14,000 or so in liquid assets, you can lose your Medicaid benefits. You may lose Section 8 rental subsidies. If you get arrested, you may not be able to qualify for a public defender. It makes it very difficult to save enough money to out a down payment on a house, college tuition, or the like, because the moment you get too much money, you’ll be deprived of what little of a safety net you have. In the US, in many ways, there’s more security in being destitute than working-class. As a middle-class American, I always seem to experience some large expense whenever I run into found cash. If I get a $3,000 tax refund, the next week I’ll have house and car repairs that total almost exactly $3,000. In a three-paycheck month, one of my dogs will inevitably need emergency vet care that eats most of it. I seldom get to enjoy that found cash, or better yet, bank it; I save through frugality and a 401K instead. Now, imagine you’re poor, and living in the 'hood. You really don’t have many nice things. You suddenly get a $15,000 windfall; lottery, inheritance, whatever. Do you bank it? You could, but if their luck is anything like mine, they’ll have some expense that sets them back $15K the next month, and they won’t have the chance to enjoy the windfall. You could pay credit card bills, but then you’ll have nothing tangible or physical to show for it. If they keep it, they might have to kiss some of their benefits goodbye. Thus, bling, rims and some more body work on that donk. You’ll keep your Medicaid and other safety net benefits, and if some expense comes up, you’ll deal with it then. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/31 "2012-03-07T00:01:23Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > But I wonder if anyone in that area to whom ‘stylin’ rims’ is a badge of status ever looks at the broken-down beater that is riding on them and thinks it looks as funny as it does to those of us who aren’t the target demographic. To me, it’s like trying to polish a turd. I’m sure people who live in the historic mansions in Georgetown look at your average suburban ranch-home dweller scrimping and saving to afford furniture from the Pottery Barn (finally, let’s replace the Ikea stuff with grown-up furniture!) and think… it’s like polishing a turd. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/32 "2012-03-07T00:19:56Z")
\*\*Elmwood \*\*hit it on the head. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/33 "2012-03-07T00:48:23Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > So I’m asking the board. Why? My guess? If they _weren’t_ the sort of dumbasses who’d spend ten grand on a set of rims they wouldn’t be stuck in a low income area. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/34 "2012-03-07T13:53:10Z")
The rims are fairly easy to ‘acquire’ and then trade or offer as a discount ‘favor’. Barder is good means of exchange lacking currency especially when you can obtain a product to barter. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/35 "2012-03-07T14:22:17Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Laughing at people for doing things that you don’t understand but that isn’t hurting you any speaks volumes about you.\* What it says about me is that I find humor in the situation. If you think it says more than that, maybe you’re reading too much into it. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_G7subs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Rich\_G7subs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_G7subs)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/36 "2012-03-07T14:29:22Z")
Oh…and I’ve been informed that they are NOT called “wheels” or “rims”… they are DUBS. As in “Where’d you score those dubs. bra?” I guess you take the Double U in Wheels and shorten it to “Dubs” ? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/37 "2012-03-07T14:32:51Z")
Did rims replaces expensive sneakers as portable status symbols? (and let’s not forget that boomboxes used to be the status symbol of the eighties). Or are those different (age) groups? ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/38 "2012-03-07T14:33:00Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > What it says about me is that I find humor in the situation. If you think it says more than that, maybe you’re reading too much into it. Well, I added my asterisk there because I did consider that maybe you were just having an innocent non-judgmental laugh. In which case, I totally get that. ETA: Dub = double = 22 inch rims. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/39 "2012-03-07T14:56:25Z")
Every culture has its own sense of style. Where my wife is from, everything is brightly colored, strongly seasoned, fast and loud. To me, it looks sounds and tastes ovrt the top. But to her, my culture has the same silliness-boring colors, bland food, music is too quiet and slow. We tease each other about the impracticalities, but mutually understand why we like what we like. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737/40 "2012-03-07T15:19:51Z")
One thing about the rims… they are for purely aesthetic reasons. There is no functional purpose to them. In fact, they reduce the functionality of the vehicle. Many of the other luxuries mentioned in this thread, such as cars, houses, and electronics, do provide tangible functional benefits. Usually the more something costs, the more benefit it provides. Even though a luxury car costs much more than an economy model, the luxury car will usually drive better and have many more features. Buying rims is probably more like buying art. Someone may spend $10k on some paint and canvas which just hangs on the wall. The difference is that the person who buys art is spending discretionary income. He’s spending money that’s left over after paying all his bills. But as the OP said, the people buying rims are spending non-discretionary income. He mentioned lapsed insurance and disconnected utilities. So while every culture may have their own way to display status, it doesn’t mean that it’s always reasonable to do so. It’s fine to have lots of money and spend it on rims. It’s foolish to hock everything and go way into debt to buy rims to present a facade of wealth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-aftermarket-wheel-rims-so-popular-in-low-income-areas/614737.md?page=3)