Are You "The Joneses"?
 

So you've heard the expression "keeping up with the Joneses" right? (For those outside of the US, it's the tendency of people to admire, then try to copy, what other people do).

Hubs and I each have our own P-cars, purchased used, we both drive and enjoy them. Now our neighbors, who I can't actually stand (long story :rolleyes:), have gone out and bought a new Cayman. Interestingly, they don't seem to drive it. At all. They also didn't do the traditional "sit in the garage and stare at it's beauty", which I think we all did when our Porsches were new. It just sits there.

We mentioned this to our accountant who told us about a friend of his who bought some kind of fancy Audi (I dunno what kind). It was one of only two of this particular model in the entire state. Then his neighbor went out and bought the exact same car.

Has this happened to you? Did your neighbors and friends buy Porsches after seeing yours?

Not exactly; however, a friend of mine who sells new/used cars bought a black Scion FR-S very soon after I bought my black box. Coincidence? :confused:

Don't get me started on that FR-S! :matchup: I waited 2 years for that stupid car to come out and I was disappointed with the final result (power, handling, cheap feel). I was hoping it would be more like my old Celica (which I loved). Looks nice, but it's no Porsche. Then I spent 5 months looking for a car, and hubby kept pushing me towards the Boxster. I finally listened.

Actually, I take that back. Shortly after I bought my A8, one of my buddies from college called me up and asked me if I'd drive with him 428 miles to Fargo, ND to pick up an A8. Although it was a year older, it was the IDENTICAL exterior color.

Since then, he has become a bit of an Audi nut and currently has about five or six that he is either using for parts or is wrenching on. Although I don't think he copied me to keep up with the Jones, I'm sure that when I did let him drive my Audi, it did make a big enough impression that he wanted one for himself. Maybe I should let him take the box out for a spin?

Thankfully my neighbors have enough sense to buy cars that they like and not for what other people like. ;)

I wish mine did. :rolleyes:

Just forget that I mentioned those three letters:)

I'm still mad about it. :mad: Two years of watching it on the net; concept renderings, spec changes, waiting for pricing, learning way more about Subaru than I wanted to (they co-developed the FRS/BRZ), etc., etc.

Sigh . . .

It's okay. I just do a little meditation, and I calm right down . . .

:D

Not my neighbor, I had a 996TT, he bought a C6 Z-51 Corvette.
I bought a CLK Black Series, he bought a ZR1.
I bought a 986, and now we're both modding our "track" cars.
Slight HP advantage to him. (He's +400hp on me)

For me, the best meditation :matchup: usually starts with twisting the key that is found on the lefthand of the steering column :)

No, my neighbors pretty much do their own thing. Which is nice.

Naw, everybody is into their own thing here with little or no peer pressure. We have a pretty wide socio-economic range with everything from well-heeled retirees who are in the Country Club set, to young married couples with minivans. A few Porsches, a few Vettes, lots of Rat Rods and 50s-60s hotrods. To each their own. :cheers:

I bought an ambulance to tow my race car (not a porsche, subaru!) and a few months later, an electrician down the street from me bought a nicer ambulance!

Ugh.

:matchup:

We are "THOSE PEOPLE" on our block. We used to have a motocross track in our back (5 acre) yard. My MX buddies came from all over to ride. We used to have our neighbors standing at the fence watching. A few even brought their horses over…to get them used to loud noises. Doc said no more MX. I took up flying and the neighbors hated that, wife didn't like it either, so it was short-lived.

Now I play guitar and drums - and no one comes around….except when I fire up the Pcar! By then, I'm gone!

I have not kept up with them, I have LAPPED the Jonses! :D

Shortly after I bought my black Boxster, the neighbor across the street buys a black Z3. I was talking to him about it and he told me that he was actually shopping for a Boxster but changed his mind after he saw that I bought one first because he didn't want to look like he was copying me. I feel kinda bad for him getting stuck with that crapcan just because he was concerned about what someone else might think. I told him straight up that, had he bought a Boxster first, I would have still bought mine anyway as I was buying it for me, not the rest of the neighborhood.

My neighbors either tell me they think my Boxster is cute, or they give me s**t about buying it (I live in Subaru/pickup truck country).

I get a few "girl car" comments from the people at work, but whenever we go to lunch they prefer to ride with me.....:dance:

As for more showing up in the neighborhood, I don't see it. I actually wish a few more would show up, then maybe a good shop would open up closer. I hate the thought of driving into Tampa for service I know I can trust.

My sporty cars can cause divorces(not mine!) and aggravation from other neighbors.
Usually it is women that cause the problem. G has one so I want one one gal tells her husband. Husband says no as she spends too much already.

Another neighbor (female) came over to look at my car a few years ago and was so distressed that I bought it - I got the impression that I had to get her permission before I bought it...LOL I just kept on putzing on my car and ignored her. No I do not keep up with the Jonseses. I just make my own choices.....but usually run it by my wife first!

back in the day i had a boss who was a pompous snob that thought he was better than his employees (and other people in general). at the time he drove a turbo saab 900.

i was in the market for a new car, so i bought the exact same car as him, and parked beside him the next morning.

he never said a word, but within a week he was driving a new bmw.

Wow! That's appalling.

No one in my neighborhood is going to copy me. I live In the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, where gun shows, the rodeo, and big-ass pickup trucks rule.

My neighbor has taken a special interest in my car since he moved in a few months ago. He traded his pickup for this over the weekend.

Cute...my girlfriend has that one ;)

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...8A81DA9398.jpg

Iwant an ambulance now!:D Actually I live so far in the woods that nobody even knows I m here let alone want to copy me :p

I heard that he is going to plasti-dip his wheels, black out the side scoops and paint his brakes green. :matchup:

Guess that makes you "Mr. Jones"?!

Ha! Cute car, too bad that damn thing can't actually turn. :D

How do those American car dealerships find test drive roads without any turns? I test drove one of those, got up to 55 mph in a block, but then had to slow down to 17 mph to make the turn. Ridiculous!

That's why NASCAR is just a bunch of guys turning ever-so-gently left for hours on end. :rolleyes:

Good topic, but I want to hear the story why you don't like your neighbor :) ;)

In our hood we are the only with 2 pcars, all others have pickups, minivans or BMWs (big Mormon wagon).

Different strokes for different folks.

Some "car people" get as much satisfaction and pleasure from their Mustangs, SUVs, Jeeps, big-ass pickups, 'Vettes or whatever, as we get from our Porsches.

No reason to invoke the "Joneses" rule here. That just makes us appear snobbish.

But that's me, and I'm just sayin'.................

Why would your neighbors care about you flying? Flying is my escape from worldly troubles, nothing else disconnects me from all the BS on the ground the way taking to the air does. If my neighbors had an issue with it, I'd tell them to pound sand. It took me decades to find a girl that understands my aviation sickness, but I knew that I'd never last in a marriage with a partner that didn't get it...

I like Mrs. Jones. Does that count ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teOM9y-dV7s

My neighbors might try to steal my Boxster, but I'm pretty sure they'd never go out and buy one!

The only thing I'm Jones-ing for is to get my Boxster out of winter storage and start driving it again!

Which one, the Pony car or the Patrol car??

The closest I had to friends/neighbors "keeping up with the Joneses" was in High School (77-79). We all had to have something "fast", but we never copied the same vehicle.

One friend bought a 74 Roadrunner, one got an brand-new RX-7 from his parents for his 18th birthday, another bought a 65 Mustang convertible, I bought a 69 Camaro, one bought a 62 T-Bird, one bought a 67 Charger, one bought a Pontiac GTO and one bought an Olds 442.

The only other similarity is that all were "project" cars needing body work and paint job except the new RX-7.

BTW the guy who got the RX-7 is an autocross racer.

I doubt anybody in my neighborhood would buy a Boxster. Most could afford it, but it isn't a popular car in WI. I've seen less than a dozen different Boxsters in the entire Milwaukee area in the past year.

DBear

Great topic.
My neighbor across the street moved into his house about 1 years ago. I was trying to be neighborly and walked over to welcome him and his wife to the neighborhood. My next door neighbor came with me. As we approached to say hello he just ignored us. His wife walks by and did the same thing. All we tried to do was say hello. After about 1 minute we looked at each other and we just shook our heads and walked away.

I've never spoken to that neighbor again untill last year when he approached me and came over while i was in the garage playing around with my cars.

He bought a 2000 Boxster S and wanted to show it to me. Now we wave and talk to each other several times a week.

Not quite keeping up with the joneses but close enough.

I paid $56k for my in-town home 25 years ago. All the shoeboxes built and sold near me on my street now are selling for a half million (which ain't cheap for a 2000 sq. ft. House in Houston). When I open my garage and drive out a BMW 550 or a Boxster, the young guys living nearby must think, "Sheesh. Considering my mortgage payments, I'll never own cars that nice."

And then they get their live-in girlfriend or wife pregnant and that's the last nail in the coffin for a sports car for 20 years... And they will move to the burbs where the schools don't suck.

I guess the burbs are where the Jones' live.

I guess my neighborhood is pretty diversified. No two cars or trucks alike. However living in Kansas it's very common to see 50k$ + trucks every day. One of my best friends' wife is a high school principal. She bought a new 330xi awhile back. One of her teachers was giving her a hard time about it (with the budget strains and all)... her reply was awesome: "I bought the bmw because I couldn't afford a loaded out Tahoe".... (that's what the teacher giving her a hard time drove)..

There's a sentence you don't hear very often! :D

Do you go to Eibell? During the '80's, he had all our money, it was like tithing to the Porsche God.

Let's just say she likes her husband so she thinks everyone else does too. As if. :rolleyes:

Of course we're snobbish, we are better than them. We have Porsches.

JK :D