Nice car jealousy vandalism - a new thing?

I know most people above a certain age tend to say that things used to be so much better back in the day.

Personally, I've always thought that bad news is now just more easily accessible and shoved in your face.

Of course with some things I can imagine it was better. Such as, back in the day you were probably more likely to know everyone on your street and help each other out. Whereas now you could have 500 friends on Fakebook of which 480 would tell you to go away if your car broke down and you knocked on their door at night and asked to use their phone. But at least they'll give you a like for that funny post you made. So I suppose it balances out.

And going back to the thread title, for some reason, I can't imagine back in 1964, an ordinary person (so basically, not some violent criminal) walk past a nice looking Jaguar E-Type and being so uncontrollably jealous that they scratch it.

But I can easily see an ordinary person in 2020, walk past a nice looking Jaguar F-Type and being so uncontrollably jealous that they do scratch it.

Jealousy itself has of course has always existed in humans. But were people more respectful towards others cars back in the day and thus able to at least stop themselves from acting on their jealous impulses? Meaning nice car jealousy is indeed more stronger nowadays? Caused in part by being able to easily see how some people have nicer cars than others? So for some people, who are naturally selfish, the resentment triggered by seeing loads of really nice cars builds up until it's no longer controllable and they then take it out on any car that looks even remotely nice?

Or has this always happened as long as there have been nice cars? Are there forum members on here who have experiences going back decades of jealous pricks damaging their nice cars?

I'm sure it's always happened to some extent, but agree it does seem to be more mindless. Maybe because pretty much everything is considered to be more 'disposable' and less 'valued' (even if valuable) these days. That said lockable petrol caps weren't just introduced to stop people nicking fuel, but to stop sugar being put into tanks and in my era 3 decades ago in the late 80's snapping a VW badge off the front grill of a golf or even better a camper (bigger badge) to wear around your neck was all the rage...

Certainly 20 years ago, somebody broke into my garage, stole my MIG set and a neighbour’s garage and stole his mountain bike. But, not satisfied with that, scratched every panel of my ‘76 Alfa Spider, slashed the seats and hood and tried to smash the screen.

Out of these 4 cars which one would everyone say is at the greatest risk of getting jealousy vandalised?


2019 Mercedes Benz E-Class Coupe in red
2007 Nissan GT-R in silver
2019 BMW 4 Series Coupe in red
2019 Audi A5 Coupe in red

The Nissan GT-R is probably the greatest risk as it probably is the "dream" car of the younger members of the population and they would be jealous of someone else owning one .

This nicely proves that at the end of the day luxury brand badges mean nothing. And that the only person who cares whether a car has a luxury badge is the owner and that too is only in respect of their own car.

Basically what I'm saying is, back in 2007 when the GT-R was new, if two GT-R drivers saw each other they would have most likely given each other a thumbs up.

And if two drivers of whatever the top of the range Mercedes/Audi/BMW was at the time were to see each other, they would have done nothing.

Which makes no sense when you think about it. Because isn't the main reason for getting a BMW/Audi/Mercedes to show everyone else that you are successful? So if you see someone else in the same luxury car as you, you should definitely give them a thumbs up as if to say, "Greetings fellow member of the highflyers club!"

Personally, I think if someone buys a luxury car with the intention of creating an image of being wealthy, they had better get the top of the range model. Otherwise, it's a case of "Oh you got a BMW 3 Series? Was the 7 Series out of your budget?"

In conclusion, ironically, it is jealousy scratches, and not luxury badges, that determine whether or not a car is truly desirable.

I don’t think I ever bought a Merc because I wanted people to think I was successful. The A-Class was because it was ridiculously practical and the following E-Class estates were pretty much for the same reason: load lugging, dog-carrying and trailer towing. The fact that I currently run a 56-plate E320 is not because I can’t afford something infinitely more flash it’s because it’s the best version of the last 20 years. And because I don’t care whether people think I’m successful. I drive the kids’ 11-reg Fiat 500 1.2 to work.

Doesn't matter what it is....my TF was keyed on a road last week (it is well detailed though :D); having dealt with many individuals that behave in such a manner, they are invariably incapable of giving a coherent account or reasoning as to why they behaved as they did....my view: it is their own envy of other people's property mixed with their own self-hatred and inability to reconcile inner issues...who knows.These types of individuals are emotionally immature, incapable of self-examination and reflection and cannot manage their emotions or (violent) behaviour. Damaging a car, bus shelter, window, defacing property gives them a sense of worth, power and control, this transcends age, sex and race etc. I feel sorry for the person who keyed my car because fundamentally I can get it repaired (next week as it happens) their remedy to the issue is not as easy.


The issue over marques, a lot of people buy a car to project an image/and or their apparent wealth and status to other like minded people hence the perceived kudos in driving an Audi BMW Merc Porsche Range Rover (even though they are some of the most unreliable cars on the roads); this attracts kudos from some and jealousy and envy from others. The odd thing is that much of the new cars on the roads are not even owned by the people driving them; they are just borrowing them for about 3 years; as 91% of all new cars sold in the last 12months have been on PCP/Finance with a very small take up of the balloon payment, many opt to increase their debt for the next new one to borrow.