Here's a scenario I've been wondering about: I'm starting law school soon and am wondering about the day I start as a new employee in a firm. I plan to still have my car and use it as an every day driver (don't see the point in spending money on a second car) and have been wondering how people will react. Obviously, as I do now in school, I'll try not to let people know about my car but chances are some will find out. So the question is will a 911 in a new job = big mistake?

 

new guy at work..so have not drove it in on the weekdays..only weekends into work when no one else is there. my in laws said it would not be good thing to be known at work as "that new guy who drives a porsche" in the beginning. In fact, my in laws told me NOT to get a 911. I got one anyways. They found out because my 2 year son was holding the keys when they came over to visit haha. Although my colleague at work also has just got one...hes been working over 30yrs and near retirement.

Extended family does not even know yet....i have older relatives with older 911s....so worried a bit about their response if i was 10-15yrs younger but with a newer 911.

Still debating the whole situation..whether ppl would be happy for you or jealous of you. i dunno....even before i got one....never would feel jealous of others. Im starting to think that really no one cares that much and im just being over sensitive.

Well, has anyone actually had negative responses from ppl at work or family b/c of a 911?

 

If you are young and you work for someone else .. the possible attitude might be "the rich kid doesn't need it" and they will work you harder .

You'll survive .
My guess is that you may have experienced it as a much younger person when you had a bicycle that was better . Material envy does not just apply to Porsches as an adult -- it can even be faced in school as a young person.

Will it help you professionally ? It might .
After all -- If their issues have them dumping work on you and you still are able to succeed without quitting then they will feel their own guilt when they see that you rose above their drama .To the insecure person -- that's how they view acceptance .

In the long run --it will make you a better professional. Or even better -inspire you to retire younger and avoid ever being in their shoes .

 

Someone mentioned being humble and friendly about owning a 911. This is generally what I prescribe to.

You can tell when someone is genuine when they find out about something "unique" that you have/do/have experienced and it's up to you to determine how to react to it.
-If they're sincere and friendly, then welcome them and be open about it (ex. invite them to sit in the car, start it up, drive it, etc)
-If they're not really sincere and you can smell the envy/jealousy, stay humble about it, don't rub it in their face and change topics. They aren't going to change how they think about you regardless of how you are to them.

Overall, I don't bring up the car as a conversation topic nor ever really make note of it. If someone asks out right, "Is this your car?" then I'll answer. But I've found myself going as far as being part of a group where people talk about "some silver 911 in the parking lot" and I just briefly comment, "Yea nice car hey?"

 

I am one of the ones who feels guilty about it...my M3 was kinda embarrassing but the C4S is worse...not quite as bad as Lotus I had...I park further away(which is only another 50 ft away) now so Im not seen in it...the stigma is there whether we choose to accept it or not...and for me, I dont want my colleagues to know about it because it can affect business in a negative way imho....I hate it when people ask me about it...I dont want to talk to anyone about my car unless they truly are a car person...Ill flat out admit Im embarrassed to be seen in it....

Also, I dont particularly get great joy from driving the car to work where there are always speed traps and Im trying to drive while talking on phone and eating breakfast while drinking my coffee while shifting.....I would be perfectly fine with ordinary car for DD...Im getting a cheap DD soon.

Im glad to know Im not the only one having these issues too.

 

I have a friend that has a CLS 600 & a 911S....

When he drives the porsche to work everyone talks about it and makes remarks about the rich owner.....

when he drives the mercedes no one says anything

911 = $80k
CLS 600 = $130k

He laughs about it and only drives the benz to work.... if they only knew

 

Fascinating thread, very interesting and extremely well written repsonses. I am a physician of Indian origin and can't tell you how often the first remark I hear when I enter a new patient's room (especially a grumpy old guy) and introduce myself is... heeeyyy doc you probably make a lot of money and drive a nice car.... what car do you drive ....maybe a porsche huh? All these days I just smile and say noooo I dont drive a Porsche...can't do that anymore. I also have others in the medical fraternity look at my car and then come close to me and say "damn dont know why I chose this speciality...I should have chosen yours" I dont get it..some people just equate buying a porsche to plain arrogance or have a perception that you have some serious cash. They don't get it that one need not be stinking rich to drive a Porsche, not as long as there is something called a BANK to lend you money. I value all the comments but do not completely agree with some comments made on this thread on driving a Porsche in this economy. Why should I restrict myself to certain joys of life (after years of hardwork ) just because the economy is wrecking havoc in some peoples lives ..those who in my opinion may not have made the right choices or have lived life beyond their means. I do not know why all the anger is directed at someone who spent years working hard (in my case it was 14 years from pre-med to actually starting a real job as a fullfledged subspeciality doctor) making a lot of sacrifices in life. Although I bought it and drive it for my own enjoyment I also feel a sense of achievement in life and am proud that I'm driving a Porsche. But the way certain people react to me driving a Porsche sometimes just makes me feel guilty and second guess on whether I truly splurged. I hate that feeling and then dont feel like driving it to work every day. I come back home ans see my baby in the garage and feel hey what the heck I am the one making the monthly car payment, paying for insurance and depreciation of the car. I am not going to let it sit in the garage. I then take it for a spin and then what. I see the looks of certain people who share the road...I feel like they are thinking, huh look at this immigrant guy coming here and driving a nice car. They do not know that I've always driven really nice cars back home and did not come to the land of opportunity just for the money. People do not understand. Just like not every Indian is a vegetarian, not every Indian back home is poor.

I am going to derive pleasure in driving the car right now when I want to and not when I develop osteoporosis down the road at which point even get in and out of the car would be something akin to being born again.

 

This exact subjust has holding me from buying a P car for past several years. Not until this year's big discount, I finally got mine. I still drove the other car A3 to work everyday. But when I had to drive it once a week to keep the car fresh, I don't even park in my own reserved spot, I parked somewhere else where I think "they" won't see me.

 

It's not just the cost of the Porsche but how the car is perceived and how that renders a snap judgement on the car or owner (or both) . A four door sedan can be viewed as mature and the owner as established . Every car has a target sales demographic profile and with that comes potential for stereotyping .

Not that any of this really matters to the person who is comfortable with himself and not willing to change his core values based on the opinions of others .

What is more interesting is simply to observe , interpret and process
what he views in others as their reactions reveal so much about themselves .
In my opinion understanding of ones environment is actually a tool of self empowerment.

 

I couldn't care less of what others think and everyone at my company knows this. This is my car, my dd and has a baby seat and an infant seat in the back. I drive it in the spring,summer,fall & winter. I park it pretty much anywhere, work & elsewhere.

I've been driving a 911 ever since i could afford my first one (a 1971 i should have never sold) and the next one i'll buy will probably be a 944

On the flip side of this discussion, i used to work for a company where the owner was worth in excess of 100 million....he drove a Subaru Legacy & a Dodge Pickup and his wife had a Dodge minivan, he had no interest in cars whatsoever.

 

Wow -- very interesting post . It seems like the Porsche is the spark that brings out this form of bigotry . Whether it's educational , or cultural, or financial it really dredges out a lot of ignorance that you have been subjected to by those around you . Some of it is even in your own peer group . And here you are trying to actually help the very patient or share friendhip with the person (fraternity) who is judgemental .

If those individuals are dishing this out in the midst of your success you can only imagine how they would react and how all those issues would surface if you faced a snag . For example look at the extreme case of Tiger Woods where one day he is on top of the world and the next he is basically quitting his job-- fueled by the perceived negativity of media public opinion. Sad .

 

Well said Yrralis 1 ...My biggest fear would be if every procedure I suggest to help a patient be viewed as a move to make my car payment.

 

I have the S4 for work and the C2S for pleasure. I don't want to give my customers or potential customers the wrong impression. Like it or not people do react differently to a Porsche than a M-B or Audi.

 

I've only had my porsche for 4 weeks, and it's my first one.

I have one neighbour who knows about the car as I have it parked in his garage that we share. The other side don't know about it as the garage is accessible by a side street not visible to the main road. That neighbour(s), had always commented about me always turning up at home with new cars, making a small poke at me at the same time. I just don't know how they would react or perceive us as we live in a modest house with no kids. They have kids and they always seem worn out (tired) working secondary jobs to make ends meet.

I'm painfully aware of how this may appear to our neighbourhood even though in Australia we have been spared by most of the global economic pain everyone else is experiencing.

So far the fabricated story "of my uncle's porsche" has worked at my office but then again I don't really engage with my colleagues so I'm not close enough to open any part of my private life to them.

Those outside of work who know of the car sometimes ask how much I paid for the car which I feel VERY uncomfortable about divulging. Has anyone here been asked or have been in this position? They will sometimes remark, "Wow, business must be going well..." or "What do you do for a living?" I don't know how to respond.

 

To me is just the opposite. when I drive to one of my client's house to deliver his $3500 pocket knife, I park my car between his ferrari and bentley.
Now, picture that but with a 1999 rusted galant LS instead!!!! LOL! He will be embarrassed to have that POS on his property! LOL!
My porsche is my DD and I drive it everyday. I have the miles to prove it (118,000!).
Now, if you are concerned about the work place, and you drive your porsche "once a week" and "the rest of the week I drive my beater"... it will only take one glance at that "day" to know that you have a porsche. The rest is wildfire-sque gossip that will spread out in 2 seconds... so you either drive it everyday to work or not at all.