650i costing me more than I expected

[Bryphe]

Stupid story:

I own an Internet marketing agency and went to visit one of our bigger clients.

My contact's boss saw me leaving in my BMW and my contact is now saying his boss thinks I'm over charging them if I can afford a 650i and he wants to shop around.

Never thought I'd lose a client out of jealousy. Guess I'll buy a junker to go visit clients in the future.

[bmrfam]

People like that drive me nuts.

Not a client worth having. If they make simple assumptions like that, it sounds like they need more help than they think. Would hate to think their customers judge their great internet site and creative marketing in the same light.

I can hear it now, "if this company spends so much on their internet marketing and presence, they must be making a killing on me so I am going to choose another option."

They should know whether you are fairly paid by the value of your work which has nothing to do with what car you drive. They obviously have no clue on the market pricing or the value you can deliver.

[M6-Coupe]

Tell them they must be proud of themselves that their service provider is owning a nice car

[Bryphe]

Pretty ridiculous but I'm hoping it'll work out. We've been killing it for them. 40% revenue growth this year.

This guys boss never comes to meetings so I don't think he knows how things are really going. We have a yearly recap in January so I'm sure that will help!

[AgustaF4M3]

I am an engineer and bought my first BMW (2001) X5 when I was 27.
My boss thought I was getting paid too much and found an excuse to fire me, his assistant confirmed it.
I no longer disclose what toys I own. Jealousy exists at all levels of life.

[Bönz]

Many, many, many years ago I was interviewing for a job. The people liked me and it was in the bag. So they sent my to HR for the rubber stamp stuff. The women asked me if "that was my car" she could see outside her window. I said yes. She said, "we can't afford you". I really didn't want to work there anyway, but jeez. What an idiot.

At the time I drove a Lexus GS400.

[M6-Coupe]

Originally Posted by AgustaF4M3

I am an engineer and bought my first BMW (2001) X5 when I was 27.
My boss thought I was getting paid too much and found an excuse to fire me, his assistant confirmed it.
I no longer disclose what toys I own. Jealousy exists at all levels of life.

I believe people are different and think differently! I'm an engineer too. From the first day I moved to US (December 2007) I have always had high dollar cars (Acura TL-Type S, 2 BMW 650i and now M6!) My boss (and his brother who passed away last year and own the company) always have been encouraging me for choosing the car I was (am) driving. I think it's kind of cultural perspective. They look at employees as family members and believe if we drive expensive cars, when customers visit the company, will see those cars and realize how company treats with employees... they also gave me a parking spot right in front of lobby (the entrance)

[Schnell_1]

It's all about perception. Even though you have the right to spend your money on whatever you want, you must be cognizant of how you are perceived, no matter how ludicrous or neurotic the perception. I known many large-cap business owners and CEO's that would love to drive their exotic cars to work, but they do not for appearances sake. They simply want to PREEMPT ignorant conversations and entitlements. Said executives know that customers and employees will notice their high-price car, and subsequently feel an envious and entitled notion for lower prices or higher salaries. So, to nullify that conversation - a conversation they are sick of having - a lot of executives choose blend-in and not make waves. Really, they are fighting the ignorance by just blending-in with "regular" daily cars.

I remember when I drove a brand new six-figure car to work one day... Two days later, a younger kid who was with the company for two years and served a low-level role, asked for a 60% raise. He didn't care or think that I was in the industry for a decade, landing many deals and accolades, putting-in-work since he was in middle-school. He just simply saw the fruits of my labor, and wanted what I had. "Get to work, son"

So, I agree with you: you absolutely have the right to drive whatever you want; you earned that right. But be cognizant of prejudices, perceptions, and appearances. Here's a good read for you....

"Hide The Porsches


Software engineer Randy Adams initially turned down Steve Jobs’ offer to work at NeXT, the computer company started by Jobs after his ouster from Apple. It was 1985. Adams wasn’t ready to go back to work after selling his pioneering desktop software publishing company. Within a few days Jobs was on Adams’ answering machine. “You’re blowing it, Randy. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and you’re blowing it.” Adams reconsidered.

Adams, using some of the cash he’d earned from the sale of his company, bought a Porsche 911 at the same time Jobs did. To avoid car-door dings, they parked near each other–taking up three parking spaces between them. One day Jobs rushed over to Adams’ cubicle and told him they had to move the cars.


“I said, ‘Why?,’ and he said, ‘Randy, we have to hide the Porsches. Ross Perot is coming by and thinking of investing in the company, and we don’t want him to think we have a lot of money.’” They moved the cars around to the back of NeXT’s offices in Palo Alto, Calif. and Perot invested $20 million in the company in 1987 and took a seat on the board.:

[EmMHoLLa]

^^. Thats a good story! Haha..Jobs was the man...

Hide the Porsches!!!

[Bryphe]

Originally Posted by Schnell_1

It's all about perception. Even though you have the right to spend your money on whatever you want, you must be cognizant of how you are perceived, no matter how ludicrous or neurotic the perception. I known many large-cap business owners and CEO's that would love to drive their exotic cars to work, but they do not for appearances sake. They simply want to PREEMPT ignorant conversations and entitlements. Said executives know that customers and employees will notice their high-price car, and subsequently feel an envious and entitled notion for lower prices or higher salaries. So, to nullify that conversation - a conversation they are sick of having - a lot of executives choose blend-in and not make waves. Really, they are fighting the ignorance by just blending-in with "regular" daily cars.

I remember when I drove a brand new six-figure car to work one day... Two days later, a younger kid who was with the company for two years and served a low-level role, asked for a 60% raise. He didn't care or think that I was in the industry for a decade, landing many deals and accolades, putting-in-work since he was in middle-school. He just simply saw the fruits of my labor, and wanted what I had. "Get to work, son"

So, I agree with you: you absolutely have the right to drive whatever you want; you earned that right. But be cognizant of prejudices, perceptions, and appearances. Here's a good read for you....

"Hide The Porsches


Software engineer Randy Adams initially turned down Steve Jobs’ offer to work at NeXT, the computer company started by Jobs after his ouster from Apple. It was 1985. Adams wasn’t ready to go back to work after selling his pioneering desktop software publishing company. Within a few days Jobs was on Adams’ answering machine. “You’re blowing it, Randy. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and you’re blowing it.” Adams reconsidered.

Adams, using some of the cash he’d earned from the sale of his company, bought a Porsche 911 at the same time Jobs did. To avoid car-door dings, they parked near each other–taking up three parking spaces between them. One day Jobs rushed over to Adams’ cubicle and told him they had to move the cars.


“I said, ‘Why?,’ and he said, ‘Randy, we have to hide the Porsches. Ross Perot is coming by and thinking of investing in the company, and we don’t want him to think we have a lot of money.’” They moved the cars around to the back of NeXT’s offices in Palo Alto, Calif. and Perot invested $20 million in the company in 1987 and took a seat on the board.:

That Jobs story is great. I agree with your comments about perception. I'm not the type of guy that's flashing it around to clients. He just saw me out the window.

[doug_999]

Originally Posted by Bryphe

Stupid story:

I own an Internet marketing agency and went to visit one of our bigger clients.

My contact's boss saw me leaving in my BMW and my contact is now saying his boss thinks I'm over charging them if I can afford a 650i and he wants to shop around.

Never thought I'd lose a client out of jealousy. Guess I'll buy a junker to go visit clients in the future.

There are two ways to look at this of course. I would share this with the boss
"Sir, I see you noticed my car. I can attest that it is an expensive car. It turns out that I can afford this car because I'm very good at what I do. If however, price is your key decision point in choosing an Internet Marketing Agency, then I am not a good fit for your organization. If however, quality of work is your key decision point in choosing an Agency, then I am the best fit."

[southern6er22]

When I first got my 6er I really tried to downplay it as long as possible. I was 22 years old and in college. Everyone assumed it was my Daddy Warbucks who bought it for me, but, in fact, I paid for the vast majority of it myself with money I earned throughout high school and college while most of my prep school friends were doing God-knows-what. When I started med school I worried about the perception a little bit because it is a very noticeable car, and I was entering a world where most people are headed toward $200k+ of debt. Early on I'm sure there was a lot of speculation, but here I am a year and a half later as a highly respected member of my class in the top 10%, and the only comments I get about my car are extremely positive and typically it's people wanting me to take them for a ride.

I won't pretend that my family's financial situation had nothing to do with the circumstances allowing me to buy this car, but, at the end of the day, none of it really matters. People are going to judge no matter what you drive or how you spend your money. Being flashy is definitely going to get you more negative attention, but life is too short to try to please everyone. If they want to judge you based on your car rather then your merits as a person, then there is really nothing you can do.

[5against8]

Originally Posted by Bryphe

Stupid story:

I own an Internet marketing agency and went to visit one of our bigger clients.

My contact's boss saw me leaving in my BMW and my contact is now saying his boss thinks I'm over charging them if I can afford a 650i and he wants to shop around.

Never thought I'd lose a client out of jealousy. Guess I'll buy a junker to go visit clients in the future.

See you are also in Utah! People are weird here about nice cars. They'll spend near $1M on a house much larger than they need but drive a 10-year old Honda Accord to work.

A potential client's proper view of you driving a 650 to work (especially when running your own business) should be: "Hey, this person has a $100k car, he/she must be really good at what he/she does". That's assuming the client even appreciates what your car is. Some people these days just see a bimmer badge and lose their sh*t, assuming they are all ridiculously expensive and unattainable.

Now in a corporate or even an academic environment, the "driving a nicer car than your boss" thing is real for sure, conceal that as long as you can! I have experienced it, but luckily have never been fired for it.

[Bryphe]

Yep. Can't please everyone. Some will be jealous and think I'm ripping them off, some will realize I've worked for it and good at what I do.

Thanks for all the messages!

[mjr24]

Schnell hit it on the head......leave the nice cars at home when dealing with clients. There is a lot of ignorance out there.

If the boss is going to ditch you guys after 40% growth, then there is a chance he might not be around very long.

However, if you wanted to be a real dick....you could always tell them since we grew your business by 40% (meaning we made you X amount of dollars more last year), we might look into charging YOU more.

[Palomequet]

In my country you have to have a low profile car in order to attend some kind of situations like you mentioned in your posts. People can not accept the success of others, it's human nature.

[bake]

Small minded folks. You can't assume that one's day job is their only source of income. I, and many of my friends own investment properties, franchise fast food businesses and other ventures that bring in additional income on a monthly basis. If you only look at someone's occupation and what they drive and draw a conclusion, you can make some ignorant assumptions.

[mdrobc13]

Ditto...I while ago I had a 1999 Arena Red Porsche Carerra 911 which was parked closer to the main building where I worked (actually cause I was early in to base and was unloading items before the start of the duty day - it was moved by the time of the meeting but am sure he hadn't left his office to see that). Anyway my supervisor came back and came to me and said "General X said why are we ignoring proper parking regs? He just knew we were doing it since he had seen my car!" I let her know I had already moved it but that car always garnered attention no matter where I parked it!

Later on I had a 2005 Artic Silver 997 Carrera and we were returning back from a day of flying and one new senior ranking officer saw my car parked outside in the parking lot (in the proper place mind you) but remarked "wow somebody is living way outside their means!" to everyone on board the bus. Now this guy didn't know me or what I did or that it was my car but felt for some reason to make that remark. When the others that did remarked "hey that's your car right" in a friendly manner...they guy turned red and didn't speak to me the rest of the afternoon! Had no idea that it was fully paid for and I'd had it for about 2.5 yrs nor any clue what my salary/pay was due to my rank/position (yes I am in the military). He just saw what he felt was an expensive vehicle that he wouldn't own or pay for and made a blanket stereotype/assumption that anyone who did was in the wrong somehow by thought or deed!

Personnally I didn't care and blew it off..but am always aware of the fact that some folks will judge you based merely on what you drive up in, park, or leave their driveway in. Life is too short to worry about it or please them however you just need to be honest with yourself as to how much tolerance you have for it and how it may effect you or your business. My son asked what is my dream car...I said an Aston Martin Vantage V12 or an R8 V10 maybe at this time...or a Lambo Hurcuan. Could I probably afford one...yet but I told him I'd never drive it on base unless it was the day of my retirement and then off into the sunset! Perceptions matter at times and my mom told me when she heard about the 1st 996 incident that there's an old car rule her daddy told her "Never drive a better/more expensive car than your boss or your preacher and you'll be fine and always on the right side of God, son!" LOL

Good luck with your situation!

[ARKONE]

Have to deal with this shit all the time. Being 19 and driving a F10 550i turns heads. Especially since I've spent a lot of time and money customizing it. Will see what happens when I get an M5 or M6 next month....

[bmwjpn]

Never take my 6 to work - always the wife's car

Just never know how people will judge - sad to say!

[ctenidae]

Mine goes a little bit the other way- since I got the car while at a previous job, this job thinks I really know what I'm doing and will bring success to them as well.

As the great Agent K said, "It's best to give them time to get the wrong first impression."

[TazOjla]

Oh my god, it's even worse in the UK, I've had my car keyed outside of my premises several times. People spit at it and and I once had someone shout "F*ing Paki" as I got in. I've never understood this hatred that people have towards others who can afford luxury items. As I'm self-employed I've never had the issue with jobs but the natural despise of the public is unreal. Every Time I park in an area with council houses some prat has to do something to my car in sheer jealousy. I just hate the thought if I owned a Porsche. Any of you guys ever get the odd feeling when you leave your car somewhere unsafe