For some strange reason I think the general perception of Porsches on the road is one of hateful envy and causes peoples to boil of jealousy. Even though other cars like ferraris/lambos may be nicer people get less jealous of them its kind of strange. I think pcars just attract jealousy and thats party of the reason I love em'. .

I've been cut off, flicked off and screamed at for the slightest things. I think it comes with the Pcar territory after this being my 2nd Pcar.

 

For what its worth, those jack-holes would have kicked the doors of your car had you been driving a old Buick I suspect. I doubt the car make had much to do with their behavior, but rather it was driven by their feeling of entitlement that they had the right of way.

To be fair, I'll admit here, I've smacked a cars rear quarter-panel with my hand to get the drivers attention. In both cases, it involved me walking in a cross walk and being 20% across and the drivers being oblivious or uncaring and just wanting to drive past me or over my feet.

However, out in a general unmarked parking lot situation, there are usually not any crosswalks and the vehicle with the best visibility and ability to adjust/react to a situation is the pedestrian, so they should not go wandering around like they are untouchable. Its very easy for a person to stop and let a car by. Its a lot harder for a car driver to watch the back ends of 20 cars for backup lights coming on, folks stepping out between them, all in your peripheral on the left and right and still not run over that person wandering right down the center of the driving lane as they meander to the store.

Don't let the actions of a few get to you.

 

Have to chime in as I'm REALLY on the fence about Porsche ownership - not for this particular reason, but for the status and attitude it can generate from people. However...

Offset that with the number of times I've had people give me a smile and a nod. Or pull up next to me and say, "Man that car is gorgeous". Or the way everyone seems to wave me through when I pull up at the same time to a 4 way stop intersection. Or that people will actually pull out of the fast lane to let me go - even without tailgating them (!)

There is something to be said for Porsche ownership that is a cut above a BMW, yet not enough to cause the reaction you get from driving a Lambo.

 

You are so on target, and I absolutely love that I am not the only one who has gleefully (and non-obviously- I'm not a big guy) slapped the side or trunk of a car that was obliviously or intentionally endangering pedestrians.

I have been lucky enough not to have a lot of negative experiences with yokels, but then I do avoid boy racer moves or otherwise inviting trouble.

That said, there are regional variations, even within the same state, where have/have not attitudes are boiling closer to the surface.

Don't sell the Porsche. Move.

 

To sell your car because of the unwanted attention doesn't make any sense in many levels. Will you not buy a big, comfortable home because people might think of you as ostentatious? Will you not wear nice clothes because people might think of you as pretentious? Will you not speak your mind because people might think of you as too opinionated?

It's the man behind the house, clothes, car the accounts for something, everything else is a costume.

If you didn't do anything wrong in this instance, why blame the car?

"Life's a garden, you got to dig it" Joe Dirt

 

Found out today that a potential client is hesitant to work with a financial advisor that drives an expensive car and appears to have money.

Wow. I would think a person would not want an unsuccessful financial advisor.

I have had to have few medical procedures recently and was personally looking for the best. The more successful they are the better I feel.

I am not a big believer in luck; except when opportunity is met by preparation.

Don't sell the car. If you are afraid of what someone thinks because you are successful, then you should stop being successful.

 

After having a few days to cool down, I realize that my initial reaction was emotional, not logical. I think the reasoning behind considering to sell was more around the value of the car and less around the image. I do believe that P-cars, and moreso F-cars, etc are targeted by haters at times. In this case even though I was well within the law and still driving cautiously, it was more of just running into 2 hillbillies that happened to feel especially righteous that day...their perception of the Porsche didn't help the situation but you're right, it probably didn't cause it. The thought process then jumped to "do I really want to put my possessions, and potentially the safety of me and my family, in harms way?". Ultimately, it was a freak thing and could have happened anywhere and with any vehicle I was driving.
I will enjoy the Porsche and continue to focus on all of the great things that come from it (i.e., new people I meet, etc) while trying to stay out of situations that could end up like this one did.

 

...Luckily nobody has done similar to my little CS but I cant say the same for my once cherry 1974 International Scout II. Certainly no exotic, but in a way more rare than P-cars in Los Angeles. For absolutely no reason that I can think of, my entire passenger side was kicked in...roughly a size 10 Adidas by the looks of the marks left. I considered jealous exes but who really knows. Shes my baby and that pissed me off. Porsche or old American junk...some people just need to be taught a lesson when it comes to messing with other peoples passions. I wish I had my collapsible baton when this all went down.

 

+1

 

Are you people serious about this??? We are talking about Porsche here. There are Nissan's / Toyota's that cost more than a regular 911. You are looking wayy too into this.

Your car is not a fancy status symbol, people are not that impressed with it, and it's not the reason people thing you are an a-hole. OP- Your door was kicked because you didn't let someone walk when they obviously thought they should have been able to walk. Hate to break it to you, but your ford escort would have had the same treatment.

I think, obviously, you have the car for the wrong reason. If the fun of owning a streetable race car is not enough for you to keep it, sell it. But please dont blame it on the unfortunate people who dont work hard enough to buy it themselves.

I had a honda that had a window busted out a few years ago for no apparent reason while on a road trip out of the state. Should I have felt guilty that somome thought my 6 year old honda was better than the two busted nikes that they use for transportation??? get real.

 

This thread is silly. It's the DRIVER not the CAR.

Simple solution? Don't be a *****. Had you let them pass (regardless of whether they were in the right or wrong) this would be a non-issue.

 

Back when I was a university student and nearly got run over by a sedan as I was 70% of the way across the crosswalk as the sedan, middle of a normal day on campus with a 20mph limit, whizzed past my knees doing 35mph, the trunk slap was more a reaction than a lot of premeditation. But, given the ***** in the vehicle, they of course stopped 30 yds down the road and got out and came at me yelling "did you hit my car!".... so there I was with 2 big football players feeling they are NFL entitled to be above the lowly students, pressing the issue in my face. Fight or flight did cross my mind.

Had it been off campus, self defense would be easier (Louisiana, in fear for my life, 'nuff said), but on campus we don't get to carry any weapons so the football player always wins against the engineer who isn't interested in spending lots of time learning a hand-to-hand martial art.

So I think I got lucky that it just ended up a shouting match, but still, in hindsight, I'd do it again. Life is too short to knuckle under when legitimately wronged just because it would be easier.

 

That is a strange psychological phenomenon, isn't it. For financial advisors, where I'm demanding the person help me make money by leveraging my free resources, I can see some indication of success on the part of the advisor as good.

However, like my dentist, too much display of success when in the business relationship (ie at the place of work) suggests you are paying too much for that muffler.

I would have a very hard time hiring or not triple checking the pricing on anything from a landscaper that drove to my hard in his Ferrari, lets say.

Every time my dental hygenist asks if I want a parafin treatment for the hands while I'm in the chair, or a foot massage, I comment that I think I'm paying too much for my dental treatment. The cost for all that non-dental crap comes out of my pocket as either copays or insurance premiums. I'd rather not subsidize pampering and just get my teeth cleaned for the price of that service.

I've also heard folks not driving their nice cars to work because of what their colleagues would think. I know I was a bit uneasy when I first let slip to my boss that I drove a 997 Targa.

Its an odd thing, the human mind.

 

first of all, i agree with everyone who said that similar incidents could have happened with any other car.. BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Honda, or Hyundai.. Infact, Chevy drivers and Ford drivers have been pissing on each other for decades.

2ndly, i also agree whole-heartedly that a-holes are everywhere.

to the OP,
bottom line is that u cannot allow the a-holes influence your life.
IF u sell ur Pcar cause of thses douchbags, what are u gonna do if someone gives breaks into ur house because u live in a nice house?? are u gonna sell ur house ? never buy anything valuable for ur house again ?
are u gonna let the 'losers' dictate how u dress, too?

'$hlt happens'

The incident happened because u, unfortunately, came across two a-holes.. nothing more.

enjoy ur Porsche

 

I think the specific idiots that kicked your car, would have kicked any car that didn't stop for them. Some guys just love to tangle, especially when they have a buddy and an excuse.

The Times once reported that the vast majority of the resentment towards the wealthy remains unspoken. Only a fraction of these people (which must include P-haters who spit on parked 911's) let you know about it. My guess is most haters will mutter negative stuff, but keep it to themselves. The resentment bugs me, but I understand where people are coming from.

The bigger picture is our 997's are luxury toys, not cars. (Cars don't cost this much) Porsches are simply not attainable for 99% of America. As the middle class in this country swirls into the ****ter and jobs continue to vaporize, the underlying resentment towards the wealthy will become even more obvious. It doesn't matter if you drive (a) a 1979 SC with 200,000 miles and a salvage title or (b) have a brand new shiny guards red TT with a vajazzled (sp?) wing. All 911 drivers are perceived to be wealthy. We and our cars are going to **** off a few people no matter what. Its all the more reason to be a responsible, good citizen. If you are worried about a hater damaging your car, then don't attract the unwanted attention: Don't cut off pedestrians in the Dunkin Donuts parking lot and don't weave in traffic on RT 95 doing 130mph.