jjv

I just did a search of the archives with the hope that this would have already been covered, but I couldn't find anything more than a couple of related posts buried in "Car XYZ" vs. 997 posts. I've also seen the "how much do you make" posts" which only tangentially covers what I am looking for. I swear I'm not trolling, and this is a legitimate concern (admittedly through ignorance/lack of exposure, which is why I post this with hesitation). Here goes...

Some background info, which may give you some insight into my state of mind and where I'm coming from:

Let's first get the prerequisite info out of the way. Yes, I can afford the 997, and yes, I have the ability to pay cash for it. In my recent history of car purchases, I've always paid cash, which include a BMW 540, a BMW X5, an Audi S4, and a MINI Cooper. During this same period, I've also leased an Audi RS6, when I could have paid cash for it, just to see what leasng was all about (not for me). I also love track days, and am a member of the local BMW and Audi clubs, as well as a non-make-specific track club.

Here's where my ignorance (or whatever it is) sets in. I come from a middle class background. My mom was a nurse and my dad was a blue collar laborer. My wife had even less growing up. We've both worked hard to achieve our current financial status. We don't consider ourselves "rich." We always viewed "rich" people as being able to fly first class to London from Boston for a long-weekend without batting an eyelash.

So, my question is this: for those of your who live in areas where Porsches are more the exception than the rule (outside the track, I've had less than five 911 sightings around here in the past couple of years), what kind of attention does owning a Porsche bring you?

Again, chalk it up to my own ignorance, but this is a very important consideration before I take the plunge on a 997. I'm the kind of guy that would rather be the #2 sales person in a organization because #2 made practically just as much as #1 but without the bulls-eye on his back.

There are plenty of BMW's, MB's, and Audi's in my town, but I don't think I've seen a Porsche. Although a 997 doesn't cost as much as some of the MB's in town (the crazy AMG cruisers, for example), in my (small?) mind I just fear that the 997 will draw more attention to me. This was one of my considerations when I got the Audi RS6 instead of a Porsche a few years back. And here I am again, still wanting one. One thing I really loved about the RS6 was its understated nature. One lady at a gas station approached me and said, "I just love your Audi. My friend has an A4 too."

Just curious, how many of you out there are the only 911 in your town (or just one of a few), and have you noticed that it draws attention to you?

Or am I simply falling prey to the "spotlight effect"?
I appreciate your thoughts. I hope I haven't broken an written or unwritten forum rules with this post. If so, a thousand apologies and I will remove it promptly (if that's possible).

MUSSBERGER

I now make it a point not to drive my 997 to my business (light construction equipment dealer). I never felt that way about the 987 or my SC before that. The one day I did drive the 997 one of our best customers came through the front door and pretty much yelled (I could hear it in my office upstairs)that all our stuff was over priced. I did not know if he was serious or just busting ***** so I went out to talk to him. Turns out that he had just gotten a new corvette so we ended up talking cars for a while. Still not sure which one it was but he is still our customer.


Oh and BTW

Giants Rule

InTheAir

As you can imagine, here in Mich, there are relatively few Porsches, even more so 997s.

I can tell you that they ~can~ bring unwanted attention (read: american-made auto town). For me, I am somewhat concerned about parking the car in a typical parking lot (keying, damage, etc.). The only thing that helped my situation was that my older 993 was parked in a garage at home and a garage at work, so not a lot of public exposure.

As far as friends and family (coworkers, too), it can again bring unwanted attention. Some of this can be downplayed, either by what you say or how the car looks (to some extent). I think low key colors help to blend in to the masses.

That said, you'll get some added attention--good and bad. It comes with the territory.

chuckla

A very fair question, especially to someone like you who has less than zero interest in calling attention to himself. Before I bought my 996, I had black or silver cars, especially popular in a conservative city like Washington. Then I saw a guards red 03 C4S and fell in love. Worried that I would stand out with that car and that color. Three years later, I don't think that fear materialized. Sure, there are some guys who want to show me that they can wheel their beaters around better than I can my 911. But most people don't stare and, if they do, I don't notice. As you can see with my new (to me) 997, I have bought guards red again.

mickfluff

PM'd

ahhhhh the luxury of living in Ma...... I swear we have the least amount of nice sports cars seen on the road then any other major metro area...

jjv

mickfluff: I never received that PM if you sent one.

Ah, so it's not a figment of my imagination then. Hmm, maybe it's living in ole Puritanical Massachusetts that also makes the feeling seem worse.

My wife and I are "chowhounds" of sorts, so we *love* eating at little ethnic hole-in-the-wall type food establishments for good grub. The thing is, if we want home-style Cambodian or Vietnamese food, for example, these places don't exist in well-to-do areas. Often they're located in "iffy" sections or "iffy" towns where we'd only dare to venture out to these establishments for lunch and definitely not in the evening. Right now, we bring our MINI and we don't really stand out since it's smaller and cheaper than a lot of the tricked out Hondas and Acuras that we see in these neighborhoods.

If we do take the plunge with the 911, the MINI will be traded in, leaving us with a BMW X5 as our second car. I could keep the MINI, but I live in a wooded area and mice/rodents are an issue when we have to park one of our cars outside on a regular basis; they just love to take up residence in the engine bay of whichever car sits outside, so now I refuse to have more than two cars at any given point anymore. The frustration of chewed wires and a "Caddy Shack"-like adversarials relationship with all the squirrels, chipmunks, and mice on my lot have probably takes years off my life and hurt me karmicly for a long time with all these vermin that have suffered in my battles with them. (I've become quite the sharpsman with a pellet gun and veritable Davey Crockett trapsman.)

What to do... what to do... sometimes I think I can park a true "beater" outside, but what good is it is I have to keep replacing the spark plug wires that keep getting chewed up and cleaning out the engine bay/air filters of acorns and rodent feces? Yuck!

I guess my wife and I will have to decide what's more important. This is a car we've both secretly lusted after for a long time, but we've just been put off by the potential baggage that accompanies it.

jnx

I like to fly under the radar as well. I live in a small town near St Louis, and really don't get much attention and I drive a Speed Yellow car. We actually get more looks in my wife's red mustang convertible believe it or not. I guess it all has to do with where you are.

My wife drove her Mercedes-Benz E class on a business trip to Bloomington, Illinois (a big union town) and it got keyed. Never even get a glance here. So who know's , I wouldn't worry about it since you really can't control it. Get what you like, there will always be something about it that someone else doesn't care for.

Likemystoppie?

I'm going to throw my .02 Cents worth- based on MY observations and what my clients have told me.

My back ground: Lived in New England 96% of my life; grew up in Portsmouth NH, lived in Bean town and Watertown- owned my own business; and eventually got into the car business. Flagship Motorcars Mercedes Benz, on RT1 in Lynnfield MA. I'm sure you're familiar with this dealership.

Now, I work in an suburb of Cleveland, outside of the CLE airport. I sell MB/Porsche and Lotus. I've been here for 2+ years- but the ownership and managment are all from New England.

When in NE I sold only MB; and the issue of driving a Benz, never- to my experience- came up. it's a car that new or used, a lot of folks have. Along with Audi's, BMW's and ect. You can pretty much slide under the radar with either of these cars- no matter how nice they are.

When we moved to Ohio- well; that was an eye opener. Clients saying; if I pulled up in that MB I'd have my car trashed and my house burned down. Or- "it's too flashy" Or- to what Jeff said; Cleveland (midwest) is a HUGE domestic car/truck market. "American made" or so the saying of the cheesy car ad's say. And people buy into this crap. Amazing.

Porsche- We've been a Porsche dealership for 2 years now. And personally I've sold a bunch to fellow Rennlist'ers from Maine to Texas to California. And I can say this:

A Porsche- will ALWAYS attract a little more attention then usual. One, it is unusual to see. It should be. It's low production as compared to many other cars. Two, it's Iconic. It's very similar to the 911 silhouette we all grew up with. At some point, people will recognize the car as a Porsche. Some, may not.
But no matter what; it will be a little more eye catching. But color plays a huge part in that too.

GR, SY or even California Azzure Blue will, with out a hitch, catch more attention then Seal Grey, Meteor, Black, Bassalt ect.

You will be driving a very special car. You've wanted one for quite a while, from what it seems. If you can afford to own one of these incredible machines. You have one life to live; enjoy it in great health; and enjoy it with a PORSCHE.

Most of my clients have said, that once they've driven off the lot or taken delivery of their 911. They've not looked back or regretted it.

And neither will you.

Good luck with your decision. -Chris

pred8or

If you dont get it , you'll always regret it. That is why I am finally getting mine. Last car I had was E46 M3 , I reasoned it was cheaper, more practical, lower profile etc. I got it as a kinda reward to myself. Nice car but always regretted not getting the 911. If your successful enough to get one and you want it, do it? Whats the point in hiding your success? You cant take it with you. Afterall you could wake up tomorrow dead! I live in NH there are even fewer here. Just got back from Key West a few days ago and saw more 911's in 2 days than I will see all year here. Even saw 2 R8's. If your worried about taking it some places you should have another car its thats simple and if you can afford a 911 you can afford another car by skipping out on a couple options!

cag64

jjv: understand where you are coming from with the unwanted exposure. I haven't drove the new 997 to work at all (pick it up 09/07). I know my co-workers, the first thing would be "who @$$ did I kiss in order to afford the car". Or I'm over paid (blah blah blah). I drive my 95 Jeep (damn thing won't die) to work. On occassion I'll bring in the 2000 Lexus GS 300 to work. Just around the hood everybody wants to establish a "price" I paid for the car. Very annoying. Believe me, some folks will not be happy for you and your little woman if you decide to go with the 997. Sad to say but you will always be "on guard" for the haters. But that's the price of ownship. People on forums such as this can relate.
THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE .................

911Dave

It has a lot to do with the image of the marque. Some Mercedes and BMW cars are more expensive than a 997, and they'll all garner a raised eyebrow from folks who can't own one for whatever reason. But as soon as you say "Porsche", jaws drop and they go stone cold. It happens even when you buy a 20-year-old one, as I did. Regardless of what you paid, you will quickly become known as "that guy with the Porsh". Whereas a Bimmer or Mercedes or Lexus is "really nice", a Porsche (of any year or price tag, it seems) is something entirely beyond.

And be ready for negative responses. People with money tend to be resented by those without it. Driving a Porsche, as with Ferrari, is seen as flashy. In a lot of people's minds, just being seen in one makes you an a-hole. The only compliments I ever get on my car are from pre-teen boys or other Porsche owners. Everybody else just gets real quiet when you're around and no one talks to you about it.

And don't even THINK about letting your clients, customers, coworkers or boss see you in it. All of them will react negatively to it, even if they don't say anything.

By the way, this comes from my experience living in the Denver area for 20+ years. In places like Houston, Atlanta, and parts of Memphis, where German cars are swarming, you may not have any issues. In Colorado, SUVs outnumber sports cars by about 1000 to 1.

9elf S

I live in a smaller midwest city and can count on two hands the number of 997s and other porsche 911 models in town. It is rare to see another 911 on the road at the same time. I get alot of attention when driving my 997, which is somewhat akward, but on the positive side people are generally appreciative and respectful of the car. Ultimately, I would never let what a stranger thinks about the car affect my decision on buying it.

blk on blk

I live in an area in Houston where a Porsche is not uncommon, but I still get lots of people coming to see it, ask about it, etc almost everywhere I go. The range of people would be an older gentleman in a Bentley to young skater dude. People of every facet of life and income level will want to see it, ask about it etc no matter where you are. It just comes with the ownership of what is in my mind the most iconoc sports car ever created.

abe

Where I live BMW, Merc, Porsche are a dime a dozen. Few Ferraris, and Rolls/Bently..the Ferrari may get a little more attention if its a 599...that said not many people care what you drive since there are so many of them. Now, once we drive out of the area into "foreign territory" you will get more attention in a P car than a BMW/Mercedes which are more prevalent. I actually get a little more nervous since I may be a target.
abe

Alstoy

This is a great topic. I didn't contemplate this aspect prior to buying the car, as you see a lot of nice cars in my town. I bought the car for me. I absolutely love it, but would like a little less attention. The only attention that I love is the one from the kids. It reminds me a lot of me when I was their age.

Thankfully there is always someone or some car better to take the spotlight away. Mark Cuban lives in my town and I see him tooling around in a silver turbo. I think I saw him in an R8 the other day. Ear-to-ear grin. If I see him in the P-car I think I'll waive next time.