Sonic

you should have sold them the car for $48,500

 

A couple of years ago a colleague of mine parked near me in his Mercedes S500 and proceeded to tell me that I must be making a lot of money to be driving around in a Porsche.

When I explained that his car cost much more than mine his answer was that his was a lease, so it didn't cost as much!

I think that Matt hit it on the head, it's not the cost, but more the "stigma" that the Porsche portrays to many people.

 

After many years of 911 ownership, i have settled on the two word response suggested in a post above.

 

I do that all the time...never drive the Porsche, or leave it in front of the house, in order to get estimates...

 

and what two words are those???

 

Probably everyone here has had snide comments about their ownership. I also don't let anyone know that I either work with or who work for me that I have a P-car for jealousy/productivity reasons.

However, at least equal to or maybe more often I get comments about how nice the car is from people in parking lots, etc... so it's not always bad.

 

Just think … what we hear to our faces is just the tip of the iceberg. This type of envy/jealousy actually caused alienation in one case for me … sad … whatever. Thank God my dog could care less. (my wife too!)

 

Why pay attention to all these mental midgets that say s**t about our cars. My answer has always been one of two depending on my mood 1) "don't be bitter be better." or 2) If you like it so much get one yourself otherwise F*&K OFF!"

 

On the flip side - I am amazed at the dis-interest the guys I know show in my car. No hood poppin, no looking underneath, no questions. I don't get it? Pride maybe? All I know is if I see a P-car, F-car, L-car, Vette, streetrod etc. I purposely walk up and let the owner know I appreciate their car and if I have questions I let 'em fly.

 

Similar experiences in that a few months ago I had another 993 in my garage on stands doing some work on it, and had called out a fire sprinkler repair service to replace a leaking flow valve. A valve that requires a fire sprinkler license to purchase. Anyhow, company quoted ~$550 to replace. Once the work was started and the guy (actually three guys at one point) said, 'you know, this job will cost about $1250 to fix." I laughed out loud like he was joking.

He wasnt.

I went off on the guy. I blew a GASKET on this guy. Gouging, three guys milking this job that a normal plumber would be more than qualified to do etc.etc. I was PISSED! It really boiled down to him looking at this beautiful black cab in my garage. I told him this car was not mine..

After I cooled down a bit, this guy realized what I was talking about. He lowered the price $250. Still got robbed IMO. There arent more than a few outfits that will do this type of work, so I was stuck..

Anyhow, good thing he didnt see my yellow coupe under the cover in the driveway

 

is that some think its reasonable to own a private plane, a second house, a $45k pickup truck, lakefront property, or even a 30 foot boat; but drive a 25 year old Porsche and immediately big $$$ signs come to their mind.

Some real ignorance out there. At this point in life, I take no s$#@. Make a stupid statement and expect to get called out on it.

 

The stigma will always be there. As a general contractor, I drive a nondescript, white, straight up, 96' F150 truck almost every day. The vehicle is a money maker/ necessity. I'll drive the 993 to jobsites and estimates as often as I can.
Twenty years in the trades and a love for the marque since I can remember,
I work way too hard to care what people think when I drive either car.

 

Those are the two words...........................

 

Another time I drove my 91 Diesel Van to show an existing Tenant some additional space for rent in the Facility and he looked at my Van and Joked – where’s the Mercedes – I grinned and told him the rents we are charging him I can’t afford one; he paid the rent I asked for without too much bargaining for the additional space. The Tenant is a web company and the guy drives a late model M5. I know if I drove the 993 I definitely would have been worse off in getting my asking rent as he would look at the car and think I was gouging him.

 

I had something almost identical happen to me with the yard irrigation guy. He had to get access to the garage to work on the control unit. His priced doubled. Additionally, one of his first comments was...... "You know the difference between a Porsche and a porcupine?........... Location of the *****".

He finished his work at lower prices and asked me to pay in cash since he had to route checks through Pakistan to evade income tax. I wrote him a check anyway....... I'm still on the fence about calling the IRS.

This guy was just a dumb, arrogant redneck. Funny thing, all my neighbors used him as well...... Not any more.