The Boxster, the poor man's porsche and Inferiority complex

[Coffinhunter]

I have only had one person say to me that I was driving a poor mans Porsche. My reply was simple and shut him up.

"Oh, what model do you drive?"

[SeanZ4]

Never had the poor man's porsche comment. I did have a guy say "that's the girl Porsche"... My reply was "that's what people who don't know much about Porsches say"....

[Porsche Chick]

You know, some people think of Canada as the poor man's America . . .

And French Canadian . . . some say that's just a cheap version of REAL French . . .

Point is, anyone can insult someone, why would you DO that?

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by SeanZ4

Never had the poor man's porsche comment. I did have a guy say "that's the girl Porsche"... My reply was "that's what people who don't know much about Porsches say"....

What kind of car was this person driving?

I get at least one comment each day that I drive my car, usually when I'm stepping out of it to go into a store. And it's a better than even chance that the gas station attendant will smile and say "nice car sir". One time these two girls leaving a trendy W hotel started taking pictures of me picking up from the valet even though there was an AMG big fast whatever Merc five feet away that cost probaly 10X's what this old bucket is now worth. I think the owner of the AMG was standing there with his girlfriend and wasn't amused that the girls were excited by my car.

People seem to love this car particularly kids. They're always shouting from bikes or sometimes I see this glassy-eyed stare like if someone just switched on little mermaid on the TV. In all of those comments, I don't think I remember anyone ever calling it a Boxster, they always refer to it or ask about it as simply a Porsche. I almost think that 99% of the public don't know that the Boxster and Carrera are different cars. I've heard some Carrera guys say "no one ever dreams about owning a Boxster" but I have to tell them that I've lost count of the number of people over 10 years that went up to me and said "you have my dream car". And they span all ages from teen agers to senior citizens who seemed sad they never had one. That makes me realize how much self-inflicted nonsense Porsche owners buy into, all for Porsche to get more money out of them.

[SeanZ4]

He was driving a lexus or something like that. This was a couple of years ago. Really, that's the only comment I ever remember. Like you Perfectlap, 99% of everyone just calls it a Porsche and I get the same reactions from kids on bikes too!

[madmods]

..........................

[Coffinhunter]

Originally Posted by madmods

- sorry but for you, it's 25% more expansive-

Make sure to take it with you when buying a house then!!!!!!!

I know what you mean though. I usually take the wife's mini van if we are buying something where the car would be noticed. I also make sure the garage door is closed when a service guy comes to the house.

When someone does make a comment about being rich, I ask what kind of car they drive, and 90% of the time they paid more for it than mine is worth. They usually are very surprised to hear that.

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by SeanZ4

He was driving a lexus or something like that. This was a couple of years ago. Really, that's the only comment I ever remember. Like you Perfectlap, 99% of everyone just calls it a Porsche and I get the same reactions from kids on bikes too!

Lexus cars are fine for people who play bingo and hit the early bird at Friendly's.


I'm a bit baffled as to why roadsters get the the girly car label when most women avoid manual transmission cars. They (mostly) go for automatic VW Beetles and Cabriolets, FIAT 500s, automatic Mini Coopers, automatic Range Rovers (the #1 chick dream car) and automatic Cayennes, automatic Jeep Libertys, automatic BMW and Merc sedans.

A female driving a small, cramped manual transmission car that can only fit one girlfriend is stuff you (mostly) only see in movies. Usually its a middle-age white professional male driving a roadster. Everyone else in the world wants an SUV.

[Goodbiketime]

My wife and I own a BMW 323i(mildly modded plus 2 rims, lowered, tinted windows, etc., etc.) no one refers to it as a poor man's BMW even though it is the least expensive of the line up and a BMW Z3(no mods, but factory M appearance package) and much more of a girls car, even though I love to drive it and a Guards Red Porsche 986. The point is none are near the top of the marque's high dollar cars. I just consider myself very blessed to have 3 such awesome cars and I could care less what others think or say. How many of them own any of these cars? My guess is not too many! It's a funny thing that people that do own more expensive cars never call the 986 a poor man's Porsche, it's the one's that drive really ordinary cars that call them that!

[BYprodriver]

[QUOTE=Perfectlap;358761]Lexus cars are fine for people who play bingo and hit the early bird at Friendly's


If my wife hears you saying that at a traffic light, all you will see when the light changes is pictured below & you will be powerless to change your view!

[eli cash]

Huh. Never had the "poor man's porsche" comment. As many have pointed out, quite the opposite where I am nervous to mention the brand because most people have the perception that it is an unattainable luxury car.

[polkfarmboy]

Originally Posted by madmods

Yep understood - sincere apologies

THREAD IS CLOSED

Your eyes are closed and your heart is weak, you have insulted my honor and now you must defeat my five style dragon fist :dance:

[madmods]

......................

[coreseller]

The Mullett is strong with this thread......................

[pothole]

In my experience, the people most likely to be disparaging are car guys who don't know as much as they think they do.

Non car people all think early Boxsters are lovely in my experience. Even quite knowledgeable people often think 986 Boxsters are girly and crap. Until you take them out in the car and they are typically fairly stunned.

Not because an early 986 has supercar performance, obviously it doesn't, not even close. But they very quickly realise that 986s sound fantastic and feel great. Put simply, they're fabulous driver's cars and anyone with even an ounce of appreciation for what makes a great driver's car recognises that very quickly when they actually experience them.

You can't really blame people for thinking what they do. Unless they've been in a 986, they've no particular reason to know what they're like.

Personally, I say long may it last. Keeps 986s nice and cheap.

[thom4782]

There is little anyone can say about my Boxster that will hurt my feelings now. I heard it all when I owned a 924 for 10 years. It was incredibly fun to drive especially after I puts carbs in it.

[black_box]

I seemed to get a lot more "nice car man"s in my 986 than my 987....

[Mark_T]

Originally Posted by stephen wilson

Hell, for a year I hesitated to tell people I own a Porsche (Boxster), because I was uncomfortable with the fuss they made. "must be nice to be rich", "they're paying you too much" , etc.

I get a lot of "Sure wish I had your job". My response is always "Why, so you can drive a 14 year old car to work too?

[Mark_T]

Originally Posted by Porsche Chick

You know, some people think of Canada as the poor man's America . . .

Hey, we're bigger and we're on top. If this was prison you'd be our b*tch!

[Deserion]

Ha, I did have one guy make a comment behind my back that my Boxster wasn't a "real Porsche". Pretty sure the guy didn't even own a car, let alone a rust bucket.