I didn't have that experience the last time I went car free; I got teased by a few friends, warning me not to think of them as a taxi service, but generally speaking, people I know didn't judge me negatively when I gave up the car. (OK, they thought it was a little eccentric at first...) Strangers have looked down on me from time to time, but I don't care about them.

In our society, people will judge you based on your wealth, and a car can be a symbol of that wealth, but most people are able to recognize that a symbol isn't the thing it represents. If you have a nice car, but you're always broke because of it, that doesn't earn you much respect; it just lets the world know you're an idiot.