The Porsches to work thread inspired me to start this one. I've noticed that there are a lot of young people on this board with nice cars, many of whom I'm guessing are lucky enough to have parents who could buy them such a car. What I'm wondering are people's opinions on the negatives of such an upbringing, the positives, etc. For example I am constantly hiding what car I have because of peoples reactions, usually when someone asks what car I have I'll say something along the lines of a Honda Civic and if they see my car I usually say it's my dads. People's reactions to young people with nice cars can be really bad, for example I have a friend with a 325 (imagine a Porsche) who was pulled over and basically harassed by the cop because "There is no way a 19 year old could have that car, it has to be stolen."

 

Being a 'Young guy' myself I know the feeling ,LOL.

One thing you need to realize is people are really judgmental,(not all but most)they work hard(or not) their whole lives and don't have much to show for it,so when they see a younger person with nice stuff they react in not a such a positive way!Especially since they always assume you are terrorizing the streets with some erratic driving!
Just enjoy the car and if the Police/people hassle you,be sure and be courteous and polite and for goodness sake be sure you are operating the vehicle in a mature manner.......and you may find they will accept it a bit better.If not,don't worry about it!

I gotta say on one of my outings,I met up with a fellow who just bought a $300,000 Lambo,I was envious,NOT jealous....big difference but you couldn't help wonder HOW did he do it?
In the long run,it really didn't matter how he did it,he was a very respectful young guy who was grateful that I would give HIM the time of day without passing judgements!

 

When I see a kid in their teens or early 20s driving a really nice car I assume their parents are very generous or the car is actually their parent's. In the more affluent parts of town here in Atlanta, it's not uncommon to see kids driving BMWs, Mercedes Benzs, etc. I don't think the cops would give them that grief you were referring to since those cops here have to be used to seeing that. Although I'm sure the cops go back to their car mumbling about "spoiled brats" etc.

I can't see any positive in giving a teenager a "status" car. It's my belief that if they want to drive one of them, they need to learn that it is something to be earned, not given to them. Go to college, study hard, work hard and THEN reward yourself with that car when you can afford it.

 

I consider myself young, but I think that I am old enough to be the father of some of the young ones!

 

I'm a "young guy" with a pair of Porsche, entirely bought, earned, and paid for between my wife and I.

I do agree that people can be "haters", although perhaps related to where I live, I rarely (if ever) see outward manisfestations of that hate. It's usually just a perception thing where I see on people's faces the disbelief that we own the cars that we do... not that they are extremely nice, but jealously definitely drives people to make assumptions about wealth coming from elsewhere (and our cars are not even *that* nice).

But like Justatoy says, in the end it depends on the person. A young teen who brags about and drives a car that their parents paid for irresponsibility deserves whatever perception challenges he/she experiences. Be respectful and mature, and you will be treated with that same level of maturity in return.

 

Stacy, you are not "young" the teenager that lives with you is young

 

There may be a few young folks that have worked for it. I myself started working at a very young age, my father taught me the value of saving. I was fortunate buying and selling cars when I was young, then testing driving a lot of different cars I really grew attached to the engineering of Porsche. My dad was actually against me about buying such an expensive car but it was my money and my choice. I bought a 928 when I was 21 with my own money in full. And yes I was stopped by a state trooper, luckly he was getting off duty, no ticket but he did ask me 20 times "this is your car, you bought it" funny.

 

My parents bought me a '92 honda civic in HS, then because I got a few scholarships in college, bought me an '03 Mustang GT while in college, both used. I couldn't imagine getting a 997 from my parents. While I don't hate you guys, I do hate the ones that claim they bought the car themselves instead of just owning up to their parents buying it for them.

I'm guessing your parents paid for all the mods too? My parents bought my mustang, but I probably put 8-10k in mods into it myself. They'd never pay a dime to mod a car and think I'm dumb for doing it also.


I'm currently looking at getting rid of the Cobra for a Cayman or Boxster, paying for it myself now obviously. Can't wait to hear what my parents and other people say then. Yeah, I should be saving up for a house, but you only live once.

 

Hey Sunburned;
"I do hate the ones that claim they bought the car themselves instead of just owning up to their parents buying it for them. "

Then hate me because its true, I'm one of seven, a twin, brother a year older and another brother year and a half younger, my dad couldn't afford 4 cars in a 3 year span. My dad was a life long military guy retired on a fixed income, we didn't grow up poor but did work hard for what we bought and treasured it, unlike spoiled brats today who EXPECT the parents to buy them everything, but that's not you of course. Funny how judgmental people are in general on what we own, drive rather than who we are.

 

im in the north east 21 with a S5 and have only been pulled over once and i could see he was getting pissed off because i looked unkempt because of long hair and bearded. but once i showed him the registration that it was mine, he just came back with a warning and have a nice day sir. it was only 7 over the limit on the highway late at night. but a think a 60000+ shouldn't be paid by any one other then the drive unless your paying some else to drive it

 

I bought my 15 yr old who is learning how to drive an 05 Boxster. It keeps her off my Carrera, my 930s, Lexus barge and BMW 335 and by the way...it's the same price as a new Honda Civic loaded. Perceptions are the problem..not reality

 

Depends how you carry yourself in most cases.

 

Naturally, I'd love to jump right in on the defensive...but that never gets anywhere. Everyone's circumstances are certainly different, but I think what's ultimately important is that any person behave in a manner that is respectful of other people and their surroundings. I probably fall smack in the red zone of "young people" are being referenced, and I'm ok with that. While my parents didn't buy my car (i also couldn't imagine truly enjoying something like this if the had) it would be shortsighted to think I did it "all on my own." What about the years of dependancy being a teenager? Paying for the other half of music school that scholarship didn't cover? Providing that opportunity was the entire reason I was able to pursue a career that allowed me to get one in my mid 20's. I'm one of the lucky ones, in that i feel that my parents did a solid job teaching me the value of hard work, but also remembering to enjoy life so long as you're not hurting anybody else. So i guess in a way, the 'rents did buy me my car. They gave me a life...and an appreciation for the fun things that go with it. I wouldn't have it any other way.

-Alex

 

When I see kids (~under 22) in expensive cars, I always assume that Mom and Dad paid. (I'm sure this is true 99% of the times.) Over the years, I'm not even envious anymore - I don't really care, but I don't think it is wrong for children to have expensive things, or a trust to support them.

I am uneasy when I see High School kids driving in performance cars. Even the most responsible kids are kind of stupid on the road. I'm not sure I will let my kids have anthing with race car genes, until they show me how responsible they are....and even then..I'd rather them work for it first.

If I had a 911 or a Lambo when I was a teenager...the highway patrol would still be picking up my pieces.

 

Every spring here in MA we see on TV another news about another BMW wrapped around a tree or light post with 2-3 dead teens in it.

My son will get old used Civic as his first car. His first BMW he will have to buy with his own money just as I did with my first nice car.

Funny enough - when I was shopping for a 911 car some 19 year old asian student from NJ was trying to sell a lemon C4S claiming it was his car. It was ridiculous beyond belief. He kept claiming he was the only owner from the beginning and bought car new (car was 2005 built, he is 19 - do the math ) sells because he has 2 more porsches one of them Turbo, then that he has to sell same day for cash (!) as he has to fly next Monday to Paris for photoshoot - and I am not making this stuff up!

Same car kept surfacing on craigslist for a while next weeks adding new details - his one owner car transformed into 3 owner car, accident was added, then 'new engine installed' was added, then I lost any interest. But for me that was 'young people and 911' experience. hope most younger folks here are decent people and not all of them are drug dealers.