How did your friends react to the car ... ?

[RingoDingo]

Their behavior is easily explained:

"And if they're northern, that makes it even worse."

[Nods knowingly as a 15 year old American kid, as if I have any idea what Southern English snobbery is all about.]

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[HowDoYouChargeIt]

The same things held me back. I'm over those thoughts. You only live once. We'll be lucky to be here as long as financial advisors tell us to prepare.

Everyone's got different vices for spending money. Some people have boats, some have 3 kids, some like high end escorts, some watches. You are allowed to have yours!

 

[DCYL725]

1. Debadge (especially the words "electric", "GTS" or "Turbo")
2. Don't talk money (the average person will expect a Porsche to be more expensive than average, but without being interested enough to configure one, I doubt someone would realise just how much more expensive)
3. If still necessary, find better friends
...that said, since I retired, I find myself in the company of fellow car enthusiasts or people who have no real interest in cars, and neither of those groups has generated any negativity.
You might get unsolicited compliments from the general public- to be fair, there are probably equal numbers of people who'll hate you for your car, but you'll only notice the ones who won't let you out at junctions.

omg don't de badge the Turbo. Leave it as only porsche fans will know what it stands for.

Might as de badge the porsche crest.

 

[Leverage]

omg don't de badge the Turbo. Leave it as only porsche fans will know what it stands for.

Might as de badge the porsche crest.

It's ok, I only ordered the 4S

 

[DerekS]

I will say I've been dealing with this crap since my first Porsche in 1998 - Guards Red 1998 Boxster.

I was in my late 20s, single, and lived in a nice apartment with a garage.
I got so much crap from people telling me I should have bought a house instead of a car.

I didn't want one! I was perfectly happy with my living situation, and wanted to hold on the house until I married so we could pick one out together.

Porsches became a passion and hobby for me and continue to be so.
I made lifelong friends through the Porsche Club that endure to this day.

I've had adventures in driving all over the country.

People quit giving me crap after the 2nd or 3rd one.

EDIT: 28 year old me:

 

[Jrkennedy37]

It definitely depends on the audience.

As a CT4 owner(and panny ST owner), I simply say we didn’t want an SUV and these were the only options that allow us to haul kids and dogs.

If you look at the cost of an entry level Model S, an Escalade, a Model X, a Merc GLS 5x0, loaded F-series trucks, etc which everyone has no problem justifying the $115k-175k cost, the price for Porsche engineering doesn’t seem extreme. I’ve also mentioned we save around $400/month for electricity vs gas, but that usually puts people on the defensive about their dinosaur burning vehicles and “need” for a truck or massive third row SUV.

 

[Archimedes]

Who cares what other people think? Also, does your car come up in conversation much? Mine doesn’t.

 

[Icebergmikey]

Sounds like you might need different friends. All my friends were happy for me and when my best friend and I went to test drive the 4S, I was on the fence about painting the wheels and paying the extra $12-1300… He said to me, you have to get the wheels painted and I’ll cash app you the money to get it done!

 

[McgR]

basically: It is your car, enjoy it.

I had a X5 45e before. My parents hated that car. They found it a big monster but they do like the Taycan. And it is electric.

As you know in Belgium we are all shifting to electric because of the obvious taks reasons and it is not that much more expensive than a X5 45e / GLE 350de / Tesla model S.

I have a CT 4 and if people ask about the price I happily confirm that it is the cheap entry level (they can’t see my 30k in options). Maybe you should debadge the 4S for that reason.

most of my friend drive similar cars, or don’t care about cars and are happy for me. Same for my neighbors.

I don’t talk about how much money I make and how much thing cost I have. I am not talking about my car, especially if I am in company I don’t know we’ll. I am not judging someone else if he makes less money or decided to spent his money on something else. One of my friends drives a 10 year old Volvo V70 diesel. Safe car, never had any issue, economic to drive and takes him everywhere. Probably he is the smartEr guy.

 

[Hirschaj]

Consider this as a friend sorting exercise. Anyone who comes at you with negativity is not someone you should want to be around anyway so just drop them. Anyone who is happy for you and/or curious about the new car are the people you should probably keep close to you.

 

[Kev946]

Can't say I'm bothered. I'm certainly not going to hide the value, badge, price etc. but also will not brag apart from the performance lol.

Real friends will be pleased for you. Being jealous of being able to afford a car like this is a very British thing.

 

[Redhot2474]

As a first time Porsche owner I can relate to a lot of what you reference above. In addition, I sense an undertone of guilt in your post which I can also relate to (especially since being raised Catholic by immigrant parents). My simple advice is to let go and enjoy especially if you’ve made your purchase in a fiscally responsible manner. Your true friends will be very happy for you as has been the case for myself. I was actually also worried about my father’s reaction as he has always been very stingy BUT he was very happy for me. My wife also actually encouraged the purchase as I think she saw that I was getting burned out from work. An electric Porsche is an extremely unnecessary purchase and what actually makes me most happy in life is my wife, son, and close friends. That being said, I personally worked very hard for my Taycan and even after months of ownership and 7K miles it adds to my happiness EVERYDAY.

I very much resonate with this. I felt GUILT for months after placing this order. Truth is money often times complicates relationships, life, etc. I also grew up in a family in which the “undertone” was wealthy people are “assholes” - I’ve done countless hours of introspection, podcast, conversations with “real”‘friends surrounding $ and success and I’m in a much better place …at the end of the day, people will judge you with $ or without , I just try to be a “better” human everyday and give back and practice gratitude as much as I can …still a work in progress …and always will be , enjoy your car, embrace the haters and and surround yourself with people who lift you

 

[Midlifecrisis]

Can't say I'm bothered. I'm certainly not going to hide the value, badge, price etc. but also will not brag apart from the performance lol.

Real friends will be pleased for you. Being jealous of being able to afford a car like this is a very British thing.

Ha ha. Whilst I agree with you, the OP is in Belgium. So it can’t just be us Brits!

 

[JDNEPA]

As others said - real friends will be happy for you. I have found a very few people will try to put it down to make themselves feel better but this comes from a place of envy. ...my advice is just don't contribute to envy by being a douche, bragging about it to everyone and acting like an elitist or better-than for owning one. There are some (fill in the luxury brand) owners like that, and I've met plenty. If anything, I think some folks tend to ask about it almost as a micro-aggression to flush out which camp you're in (stereotyping) - are you a rich a-hole or the successful but super nice guy.

Bottom line and this is gonna get a little deep, you should NOT feel guilt! I think it's good you're self-aware and humble. You should be proud of your accomplishments but if you still feel guilt, you probably have some opportunities to ask how you can serve or help others as you achieve that success. I assure you that no material item, including a Porsche, fixes that feeling. What I've personally found does fix it - giving time to help for friends and family, volunteer, donating to some charitable causes, or mentoring others professionally. If you can try to lift up others, the material goods tend to just be there and in most others eyes, justified. Realize it's just a thing and doesn't replace the importance of people and relationships. Now, enjoy the car in good health!!

 

[Kev946]

Ha ha. Whilst I agree with you, the OP is in Belgium. So it can’t just be us Brits!

The Brits are very jealous of anyone successful.

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