JSLALALAND

CITY & ITS PEOPLE

In LA, cars don't lie

In Taipei a scooter tells you who someone is; in LA everyone drives, so your car is your business card. Someone can dress however, but their car spills everything: nine tribes of drivers plus a hidden one. Find yours.

Translated from Jasmine’s original Chinese. The illustrated slides are on the interactive reader.

Key points

Full text

  1. 01 | The Original Eco (team Prius)

    A car they've driven ten years and say will go ten more, national park stickers on the back, regulars at Westside Whole Foods. Signature line: 'The last time I got gas was three weeks ago.'

  2. 02 | The Tech Commuter (team Tesla)

    A car so clean there's not even a receipt in it, always hunting for a charger and grabbing coffee while it charges, and talking to the car the second they get in. In LA, there are as many Teslas as taxis in Taipei.

  3. 03 | The Calabasas Box (team G-Wagon)

    Boxy, all black or all white, the door slam echoes through the whole garage, and they never park it themselves. Spotted in Calabasas and Beverly Hills; signature line: 'Where's the valet?'

  4. 04 | The Drop-off Queen (team white luxury SUV)

    A white Range Rover, two car seats, an iced oat latte in the cupholder. Kids dropped off at 8, Pilates at 9, Erewhon at 11: the person in LA who's best at living in their car.

  5. 05 | The Eastside Outdoorsy (team Subaru)

    The roof rack is always on (but rarely used), the back seat is covered in dog hair, and the floor mats have Joshua Tree sand on them. In Taipei, weekends mean Yangmingshan; in LA, weekends mean driving to the desert.

  6. 06 | The Doors-Off Beach Life (team Jeep)

    Doors off, and on nice days the roof too, a surfboard in the back and sand in the seats forever. Spotted in Venice, El Segundo and on PCH: 'Weather this nice, why have doors?'

  7. 07 | The Family Shuttle (team 626 family car)

    A Sienna, an Odyssey or a 15-year-old Lexus RX, a case of bottled water in the trunk, and a Chinese school parking permit on the windshield. On weekends, one car takes three families to dim sum.

  8. 08 | The Hand-Me-Down

    A Corolla or Civic with over 200,000 miles and one working AC setting, passed down through three generations of Taiwanese students, with the previous-previous owner's CDs still in the glove box. 'It's just a little loud.'

  9. 09 | The Canyon Classic (team vintage Mercedes convertible)

    A Mercedes convertible or vintage Porsche older than they are, only driven on nice weekends, and at every red light someone asks 'what year is it?' What they're driving isn't a car; it's a moment in time.

  10. Hidden tribe | The Carless Angeleno

    Hails a Waymo to go out, takes the E Line to Santa Monica to see the ocean, and rode the D Line extension the moment it opened in May 2026. In LA, saying 'I don't have a car' is a statement. (First Waymo ride? Enter JASMINE3HD for a discount.)

  11. Same moment ① | The Erewhon parking lot is full

    The Prius type is still patient on the third lap, the G-Wagon type goes straight to valet, the Jeep type squeezes into a compact spot, the vintage type never comes at all (they go to Trader Joe's), and the no-car type gets dropped at the door by a Waymo.

  12. Same moment ② | It's raining in LA

    The Tesla type drives three times slower than usual, the Jeep type didn't put the doors back on and the seats are soaked, the vintage Mercedes type doesn't go out today, and the 626 family car type goes out like always: Taiwanese people aren't scared of rain.

  13. Every car in LA definitely has…

    A jacket, two pairs of sunglasses, Trader Joe's reusable bags, half a bottle of water of unknown age, and an unpaid ticket. Taiwanese bonus round: tissues, green medicated oil, and a bag of green Kuai Kuai on the dashboard.

  14. A Taiwanese person's first car in LA

    Usually a used Japanese car. Parents' first question: 'How much was it?' Second: 'Why didn't you buy new?' Your first freeway merge, palms soaked in sweat: your first car is the beginning of growing up in LA.

  15. In your car, you're the most you

    In Taipei, a car is transportation; in LA, a car is the most private space in your day: eating breakfast, singing at the top of your lungs, quietly crying. The car doesn't lie, because in the car, you're the most yourself.

Places in this story

In this series

Read it with the slides →

An original JSLALALAND field guide by Jasmine Chang (@jslalaland).