Question about some porsche owners

[GreenWater]

Here goes. Why are some Porsche owners arrogant, especially when it comes to their car. By some I mean, mostly owners of newer 911, or very expensive Porsches. Here is the little story. I was walking by a new 911 sitting in front of my house tonight. The owner was in the car, convertible, while I was walking by. The front truck was popped but not opened and he was getting ready to drive away. So I told him that his truck was unlatched, and he gave me a really rude and snooty reply. Obviously he is an idiot, all I was trying to do is help a fellow Porsche owner. Or maybe that was my mistake. Maybe from now on I will only help people that own 914s or 944s, because I have yet to meet an arrogant, rude or snooty one. What is the problem with people? I am not trying to rag on 911 owners, because I know a few that are really nice. Is it, that I am not rich enough to talk to them, but they don't know that. And this is not the first time something like this has happened to me.

Sorry for the venting guys, but it is very frustrating. Why can't we all just be nice to each other?

[Eldorado]

lol it has nothing to do with 911 owners.. there are just some real dicks out there....
the old saying goes, meet a hundred nice people, and a dumbass... you'll always remember the dumbass...

[944 boy]

Hang around with the Autocrossers in the San Diego club. You will meet some very nice and friendly people many who drive 911's. But its those who participate in social club events who are friendly, there are more stuck up jerks driving Porsches than I care to count. But just remember this, when his hood flies up on the freeway, you'll be the one laughing.

-Greg

[924Sman]

He was driving a cab, of course this would be his reaction! He was just frustrated he has a rag top.

Dal

[Dantilla]

Many new Porsches are purchased by people with a big ego, or an emotional need to impress others.

I like them.

They insure a good supply of used Porsches for us enthusiasts when they are off buying the latest "Gotta have it" toy.

[VINMAN]

Not to single out any particular group. But I tend to find the owners of the newer Pcars, especially the Boxster and Cayanne crowd, have the cars just as a status symbol. They couldn't give a crap about any other Porsches except the one that they are driving. Even then, they couldn't tell you one thing about their own car. Drivers of the older models are the ones that tend to be friendlier and more sociable, and know the lineage behind the car.

Than again, I run into plenty of 944 drivers who dont acknowledge other '44s either.
I don't let it bother me anymore.

[924Sman]

Amen on the 944 comment. I have met a few ding dongs who think they are in God's place. So this is not any particular car or group/status. 99% of the owners here(Iowa) have no clue what they are driving other than the name Porsche. There are 3 of us who track and a few AX'ers in Eastern Iowa but the rest are playing "big fish in a little pond" here. You want to see big egos, come to Des Moines, small city with a middle class base and a bunch of people who think they are king, but in Chicago they are peons.

Dal

[greygost]

I agree that a lot of newer porsches are bought for the name. I used to valet a very expensive country club, where you got made fun of for having a mere E-320 or 3 series. A few of the members had brand new 997's, and if I'd strike up a conversation about PCA or my old '44 they would totally blow me off. One guy actually bought his wife a brand new 997 c4S cab. Beautiful car, but the automatic transmission gave it away. I really doubt I'll ever see this wealthy soccer mom at Watkins Glen with us next summer...

[Dave L]

its kind of sad really, a person owns one of the most capable cars in the world and proceeds to drive it like a 70's Cadillac with 4 blown shocks.

Cheers to Dantilla, nicely preserved "never abused" cars are easy to find from these guys.

[deekay911]

I agree with VINMAN, a larger proportion of owners of up-to-2 year old 911s etc own the car because it is a status symbol, so the chances or coming across a total d*ck in this population is increased. Take a 10 year old plus Porsche and a how many owners have it because of that same reason? - very few if any. Lets face it, if the new 911 owners were buying the car for driveablilty, performance etc, they would (should) spend their $70k on a 10 year old 993 turbo or GT2. If they shell out for a brand new GT2/3, then I believe they generally know what they are doing also.

[Voith]

some people buy porsche becouse of it`s status, other becouse they love the way porsches are engineered.

guess wich one of those two groups is full of a*shol*s..

[legion]

Hey, I'm sure many of our very cars were owned by pretentious a**holes when new. I see them as a necessary evil as they take the big depreciation hit that makes the cars affordable to us enthusiasts when they get bored and move on.

And as an aside....at a PCA gathering in May a new guy pulls up in a 996 Turbo S Cab (by far the priciest car in our local PCA group). He gets out, walks right up to my 951 and says: "Man, a 951. I LOVE THESE THINGS! That was my first Porsche, that was the car that made me love this brand..."

[flash968]

this is going to piss off a lot of people, but these have been my observations over the last 30 years of playing in the performance car game - obviously the range is wide, and the following are generalizations, representing only the center section of what i have experienced

a big reason i have never liked porsches is the attitude associated with them - it is the only marque i have ever seen like it - even ferrari owners are more open - i was running british stuff for the longest time, and at every track event, i would run into the same attitude from the porsche guys - snooty, stuck up, and unfriendly - perhaps it was because they were always in the rear of the field - lol

i also find the newer owners to be the status seekers - many of the new 911s, caymans, and boxsters are lease cars - they buy or lease the car "because it's a porsche" but fail to understand the root concept of the car (drive it fast)

then there are the concours nuts - these are the geeks who wear porsche jackets and stuff to porsche events - fashion foul - these guys will defend their cars to the end, likely because they have spent a small fortune trying to restore something they know they can't or won't drive for fear of being embarrassed by a suburu or worse, getting the car dirty

then there are the 914 guys - this is an ecclectic bunch - usually talkative, but frequently eccentric - they range from the scruffy old guy who has been rubber-banding and bubble-gumming his car together for 30 years, to the kid who is trying to stuff a small block chevy into it - they can frequntly be found at yoru local swap meet haggling over a beat up set of 914-6 wheels

lastly, i find the kids - these guys are usually 944 owners - it's a cheap car, so it's easy to get into at a young age - most of the owners are under 25, and rather than consult somebody who has been doing this for a decade or two, will read something on some chat board and immediately presume it's the greatest thing since the turbo - departing from the car's natural sport touring use, i find many of the owners trying to wedge it into sports car territory (it's not a sports car), or drift the car, or something else contra-indicated (i did this kind of thing too when i was young and thought i knew everything) - they are almost always trying to find the cheapest thing rather than the best thing, but then complain when it doesn't work - i find many of them lazy, as they will post a question that has been asked countless times (like "will these wheels fit my car?" or "what oil should i run?"), rather than do a bit of searching first

all that being said, i have made some great friends in the 4 years of owning my car, and count it as a very fulfilling and positive experience - i have met some great guys, and some real buttheads - i enjoy owning the car, love playing with it, and frequently hang out with a bunch of the guys, and even sponsor events just so i can do more of that

lol - but, i still hate 911s, and refuse to own a porsche jacket, porsche shoes, porsche gloves, porsche golf clubs, yada yada

[myskyon]

flash968- you know i was reading your post and it sound about right with 944 owners. and 951 owners. though most 951 people are looking for the best deal, i have been striving as I am also the youngest one in the group, to get the highest quality parts from the same seller. and you know what i get teased about it but the real fun come down when we go for a drive and they cant keep up with my car and wonder why i am not adding oil at every gas fill up or my favorite when i drive my car 80miles round trip every day and have never had a breakdown. Grant i do spend more money upfront for my parts but to me it pays off in the amount of time i spend behind the wheel.

back on topic. i have met a few owners and one thing that i see a lot is when i try to talk to some people they look at me and think he knows nothing about Porsche's hes too young or look its another white trash owner. When i get those reactions i tend to just not talk to those people ever i will not say hi i will not acknowledge them. nothing. i made a move to be friendly and nice if i don't get it back too bad for them. the other thing i have gotten a bit of is story tellers trying to be better than they really are. like " yeah i just bought this 996s as a daily driver to the Ferrari, at the CA beach house. and other crap like that. though on this board i have found nothing but very nice people willing to help you out when you have a problem and are asking for help to fix it.

[p-talk]

I've had similar experiences with P-car owners myself, good and bad. I found a local mechanic who works on old 911s in his own home shop, he was a great guy and interested in talking tech. One of the coolest guys I've met actually stopped me in a Walgreen's parking lot, he hadn't seen a 924 in ages and thought it was cool to see an old oddball P-car in good shape. He had an old 911 and participated in lots of track and club events in town, and hadn't heard of the 924S model but thought it was cool.

And of course plenty of prick P-car drivers, usually newer ones. I flash my lights at them anyway - I figure if they're cool they'll wave back, if not they'll be insulted that someone driving such an old car would expect camaraderie, and that's funny to me .

But I agree with 'Dantilla', they're doing us a favor! Maybe I'll pickup a Cayman in 20 years . .

[flash968]

lol - i just moved from that CA beach house were that was EXACTLY the case - at 30k, a 996 is a throwaway

[AaronM]

Originally Posted by flash968

i find many of the owners trying to wedge it into sports car territory (it's not a sports car)

How on earth is the 944 not a sports car?

It's too small to be a grand touring car.
It's too slow to be a muscle car.
It's too nimble and capable to be a mere "sporting" coupe.

It's a sports car. Like the 914 and 924 before it. Like an MGB GT or Austin Healey.

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by flash968

lol - but, i still hate 911s, and refuse to own a porsche jacket,

Oops! I own an early 911, and was given a Porsche jacket as a gift from my sister.

The 911 is set up for autocrossing, and has a stripped out interior. Going down the road, however, It looks great, and I get lots of thumbs up and waves from others, both Porsches and otherwise. I ALWAYS wave back- Just friendly car enthusiasts acknowledging a cool car.

My 944 is a race car. Pretty much everybody at the track thinks everybody else's car is cool. Great bunch of friendly people.

[flash968]

i see this misnomer all the time - it came about back in the 70s when the gas crisis all but wiped out the sports car - for marketing reasons other cars started getting called "sports car" that weren't really a sports car - that error has been pertuated onto today's buyer - those of use who remember though, know what a true sports car is

sports car, by true definition, is a low slung 2 seat convertible, with no intrinsic value beyond pure sport - it cannot have a back seat, power seats, power windows, air conditioning, yada yada (all the things that make it a great touring car)

it is a GT or sport coupe (though being a hatchback and no trunk also makes it not a true coupe)

it is nothing like an MGB in ragtop form, but it is somewhat in the MGBGT form

it is much more like a BMW 325 than an MGB

don't get me wrong, i'm not knocking the car, but rather putting it into its correct class - i love my 968, and with about 40k in mods, cornering well over 1g, and 280hp, it's really quite the performer, but even in cab form, i still cannot call it a sports car - it is still a touring car - my MGB, with only an old pushrod carburetted 165hp, would have run rings around this car in handling, and kept up with it in acceleration - however, i would not enjoy driving it as much, because of the lack of creature comforts that make the 968 a touring car

the last porsche to accurately be called sports car was the 550, though arguably the 914 is awfully close, and i'd personally call it a sports car - if it weren't for the power windows, seats and stuff, i'd call the boxster one too

but, none of this detracts from the fun of the car

[Eldorado]

I was stopped at a stop light one time this summer, and I was first in line. Going through the intersection, left to right, was a nice older blue 911. The guy caught my car out of the corner of his eye, actually slowed down and went out of his way to wave at me and grab my attention -- all while almost causing an accident. lol