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I don’t drive in bad areas or if I know there will be stop and go traffic because I hate wasting the miles in slow speed driving. Otherwise I don’t care what others think. But, I will move the expensive cars to the outside garage when getting contractor quotes for home work. Common sense in my book.
In southeastern Pennsylvania, 911s are so common that nobody cares. We just spent Sunday running a series of errands in our Targa. Again, nobody cares. I drive it, because it’s fun to drive and don’t care what anybody thinks.
Having been to more states with a 911 than the average bear, you do draw attention to yourself in very rural areas. I have encountered onlookers who have never seen a 911 in person before.
People spend more money on pickup trucks than many people spend on a 911.
People spend more money on pickup trucks than many people spend on a 911.
so much this.
the number of people who gawk at a $25k sports car and spew things like "eat the rich" or "must be nice in your ivory tower" from their $75k truck they drive themselves in alone to the grocery store to buy one bag of groceries makes me not want to live on this planet anymore.
It’s interesting people think I’m rich for owning a 10 yr old 911 when they own a $100k pickup truck they bought just to pull their $70k 5th wheel camper.
When I was searching for my car I was open about it with a coworker of mine. He’s a car guy and seemed to enjoy the car shopping journey…he would send me links to for-sale 911’s. Then when I told him I found one and put money down he acted surprised. Then when I closed the deal he got salty. Bitched about money constantly and soon quit to chase a higher salary. I suspect he figured it was all for fun and I didn’t have the resources to actually pull it off.
Bought my car and didn’t tell any family or friends about it. Didn’t seem to be a way to mention that without it sounding like bragging.
My parents saw it when they visited about a year after I bought. Surprisingly they were pretty dang excited for me…I thought they’d think it was a foolish waste of money. About 2 years later on a camping trip with a buddy that it came up. He was kind of annoyed I didn’t send him pictures from day 1. Apparently he thought that was awesome as hell and would have liked to share in the excitement.
I did the same exact thing... Didn't tell anyone, except my gf (now wife) and my insurance agent (that I know personally). Everyone knew I wanted one ..just didn't tell anyone I got one. Untill slowly everyone found out. And most of their reactions were "why didn't you tell us, this is awesome." Haha. Even my closets co-workers didn't find out for a couple of years....and we're all car guys.
Ofcourse, my true reasoning for not telling anyone, is that, it's a very special purchase for me, especially at my age. I keep things close, things that are important. I don't flaunt, I try to appreciate and not take things for granted. I travel a lot for work and see things and go places not many would not and even should not visit..really puts our lives into perspective. Porsche 911 we have? Some are glad their eyes open and feet hit the floor when they wake up, which is truly something to appreciate.
Funny story. A friend of mine paid far north of 200G's for his 992 C4 GTS cab with a ridiculous amount of options. He traded in his 987 Boxster for it and got like 20K for it on trade, I believe. He told his wife it was just another Boxster he traded for and threw a little more cash into the deal to get a newer one in a different color. She believed him and cannot actually tell the difference between the cars. Hilarious.
To answer the OPs question. Short answer. No.
I love driving the car and will only deviate if the parking is sketchy or I need to haul stuff that the 911 is just not practical for. All my friends know that I’m a car guy and frequently enjoy riding shotgun at club drives etc.
I don’t give a rip. I drive it every chance I can. When they start paying your bills, then they can have an opinion.
Around here its more important about how you drive your car and how fast it is.
Stock cars, no mods, factory alignment, commuter tires, stock brakes and height get hated on as cars and coffee poseurs.
Have something more aggressive, mods and personal touches, decent tires, shredded or not, surface cracked rotors, faded calipers, track alignment camber, you get the nod from all forms of life. Usually followed by, Respect, he drives it like it was built for.
Wifes Type R is currently at the detailer getting wrapped (in a metallic red/pinkish color) and she needed the van. My hip is aching (need a replacement at 47 yrs old) so too painful to ride bike.
Honestly if I didn’t drive it to work occasionally it would sit parked collecting dust too often.
Everyone at work accepts I’m a Porsche fan and this is what I choose to spend my money on. I’m also like the only one who doesnt have a vacation home up North. Sure, I would love to have a lake home or 80 acres with a hunting cabin but couldn’t afford that. So I went with cars instead. It helps that the wife is even more into cars than me.
After reading this post, I started noticing people's reactions to my car. They smile, and I smile or wave back. I get some waves and thumbs up. I don't think many are angry or jealous; they mostly seem curious. Perhaps, like the post above from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, I'm in Chester County, Pennsylvania and Porsches are common.
Funny story. A friend of mine paid far north of 200G's for his 992 C4 GTS cab with a ridiculous amount of options. He traded in his 987 Boxster for it and got like 20K for it on trade, I believe. He told his wife it was just another Boxster he traded for and threw a little more cash into the deal to get a newer one in a different color. She believed him and cannot actually tell the difference between the cars. Hilarious.
Sounds like a real healthy relationship. Lucky girl.
After reading this post, I started noticing people's reactions to my car. They smile, and I smile or wave back. I get some waves and thumbs up. I don't think many are angry or jealous; they mostly seem curious. Perhaps, like the post above from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, I'm in Chester County, Pennsylvania and Porsches are common.
Picked my GF up from the airport the other night in the Porsche and we decided to grab dinner at a place that had tables on the sidewalk, and street parking. So I had to parallel park in front of all the patrons. (The car is still fairly new to me so that was a little nervewracking!)
Anyway, I could tell most of them were watching (I mean, it's miami blue!), but I tried not to make too much eye contact as we walked past everyone to get to the host for a table. (Didn't want to seem like I was looking for attention, if you can picture that scenario.)
Sat down and at least five parties walked past with positive comments about the car. Either "gorgeous car," or "what color is that?" or a simple thumbs up and a knowing glance. Car people, random people, do recognize that these cars are special. And even though it's an exotic-ish color (funny that it's a VW color from the 70's), it's still a fairly subtle-looking car. It's a gumdrop. It's not a Corvette with scoops and wings and severe angles.
Anyway, I feel less self-conscious about driving the car out in public (even though you might run into someone you know, which we did), but there's still that choice that I have to make if I'm going to meet up with certain groups of friends. After I have the car for a while, I'm guessing that will subside, but for now, admittedly, it's a thing.
Can you point me to where I can buy an RM for $10k? If so, I can get into GT3 Touring bidding....
To the OP and overall sentiment here, I do notice it, but I've long since stopped caring about other people's perceptions.
To other people's points about not driving into areas where "eat the rich" is a real vibe - I agree and drive something else there.
I typically don’t even interact with people when I’m out and about. Other than parking, I don’t typically have an issue. I try to be self aware and not park anywhere higher risk. And sometimes it doesn’t matter how far away you park, some people will decide to park right on top of you anyway.
07-08-2024, 04:23 PM
