Problems within Your Car Club? Don’t Walk Away—Get Involved
I belong to several car clubs, all of them marque-specific. In many cases I am both a dues-paying member and a follower of the club’s online activity, be it on Facebook, Instagram, or X. I follow these mostly to get a feel for events, new purchases, things offered for sale by other members, or general levels of interest.
Many, if not most, groups bring a lot of joy to their members and fulfill their intended purpose: To bring people together over the shared love of their rides. The best clubs foster enjoyable, instructive interactions through educational, fun events and publications, and provide access to great sources of information or hard-to-find parts. And that’s the whole point of a car club, right? They should all be like this.
Frankly, though, they aren’t. Some groups can best be described as a total mess. There are issues in this part of the hobby that are widespread enough that they need to be addressed.
As an appraiser, I hear horror stories of all kinds. They range from the mundane-but-annoying stratification of models for no reason—”the cool people all have the Utopian Turtletop, only a loser would bring their Mongoose Gatorhead—” to the outright inappropriate: Misuse of funds, or “friends and family” rules for club resources. If you can think of a face-palming example, it’s happened: Club literature gets borrowed for research, only for it to find its way to eBay after someone “forgets” to return it. A club refuses to help with authentication/certification of a car because one of the club bigwigs is still sour that he wasn’t able to buy the car first. I could go on.
And then there are the personalities. Many of us have attended in-person club meets and felt like strangers in a strange land. Once you’ve ventured into Clublandia, these are a few of the people you might meet:
- The “Gatekeepers,” loosely identified by three attitudes: 1) “My car is better than yours,” and its corollary, “your enthusiasm for a different segment of car culture isn’t legitimate because it’s different from mine.” 2) “You (and your car) shouldn’t be in this club at all.” 3) “I don’t need to hear any of your thoughts or ideas; I’ve been a member of this club for 30 years.”
- The “Experts.” They know exactly how Ferdinand, Henry, Enzo or whomever built each and every car, and that there were never, ever any deviations from the options, colors, hose clamps or chrome on anything they made. “Experts” are unwavering in their expertise (such as it is) and in their knowledge of the rules.
- The “Downers.” They get pleasure in squashing your hopes, dreams or aspirations without ever giving any positive advice.
- The marque and model “Chauvinists.” They’ll say “the [insert make] was the best marque in history and the [specific model this guy owns] was the only truly exceptional one.”
None of this behavior is acceptable, and none of these folks is making his or her club better by acting that way, so how do we fight back?
The answer is to get involved.
Sure, you could ignore things you don’t like. A car club isn’t a homeowners association. It’s optional. Don’t like the events but enjoy the magazine? Skip the former, read the latter. Don’t like anything about the club? You could quit. After all, open events like local cars and coffees got popular precisely because of their lack of gatekeepers, experts, and rules.
If you’re in a problematic car club, though, the better choice is to become an active member. Very active.
Talk to other members and see if your concerns are their concerns, too. Fight to fix what’s wrong, even if it’s one small piece at a time. We’ve all heard “be the change you wish to see in the world.” This could be your “be the change” moment.
It might be impossible to fix everything, and backlash is possible—online and in real life. When that happens, remember the traits of a healthy club, and let that guide your behavior. Give out helpful advice when you can, give a thumbs up to a new car or member even if it’s not a car you love, and generally have a positive attitude. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
At the end of the day, a car club is supposed to be about a shared passion, education, making friends, and most importantly, having fun. It’s up to us—the members—to do our part to keep clubs at their best.
The club I belong has a lot of great and very friendly people in it. My biggest beef is that EVERY event is on Saturday. I’m in the motorcycle industry and we work Tues-Sat precluding my being able to participate in them. I don’t think many of the club members are consistent church goers, so why not some Sunday events? Not just for me but other folks, as well….
I’ve belonged to a club for close to 30 years. This club has one rule. “Invite the Club (est. 23 members) to your garage once every two years. No dues, No minutes, No treasury, No Officers, No restrictions on what car you have!
Just a bunch of guys enjoying each others company and comradery. We have gone on weekend trips to car shows in and out of the state. Local car cruises and shows always are on our radar to go to. I’ve pulled out motors many times on members cars, and they have helped me working on my ride. Great friends, great memories. This is the kind of Club that will continue for a long time.
While not necessarily “Clubs”, I’d like to also bring up online groups and forums. I own a Cadillac CTS-V and a Roush Mustang so I belong to several Cadillac/CTS-V and Mustang groups.
What bothers me the most is the shaming and ridiculing of people who have questions about cars that aren’t the top trim levels or the most powerful. For example the Mustang EcoBoost owner that when asked a question gets the “You should have bought a GT”, or the owner of a “regular” Cadillac being told, “You should’ve bought a “V”.
Even though I may now have the top line version of a model, there was a time where I didn’t or couldn’t afford them, but that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t passionate about the ride I did have. It’s just plain snobbery in my opinion. Not to mention that if wasn’t for the people who bought the more mainstream models (i.e EcoBoost or V6 Mustangs), you wouldn’t have the higher performance models.
Geo- I couldn’t agree more. Except to say that sometimes as a matter of practically you’ll buy an everyday commuter car that isn’t an economy airport rental. Not the top of the line, something sporty that can kick up its heels and run when asked but not eat you out of house and home. A bit of a compromise car to start . Then, as the usual suspects need replacing, upgrade. Not crazy, subtle better than stock improvements that all add up while not stressing the car beyond its original intent. For a few dollars more that don’t dent the bank account and you can d.i y. in the driveway. Those are the cars I fall in love with. Fun to drive, always gets me home. 89 octane.
Timely…. Thank you
I am a member of 2 clubs and an associate member of another chapter of one. One is centered on European cars and the other is 2 chapters of the national Jaguar club. Both clubs are having trouble adding new members as the younger generation does not seem interested. I guess I am one of the lucky ones whose fellow members are all great people who enjoy getting together to enjoy each other and their toys. We all take interest in family and other common interests including group rides and food get togethers. My European club has been putting on a European car show for cars and motorcycles for 20 yaers and it is always a sucess as long as the weather cooperates ! Our one problem is getting enough volunteers to make it happen but we always seem to get it done. When you have a group of “senior” folks you need to understand that we all have our own points of view and should make allowances for each one. Life is too short to let petty differences get in the way !