Do you drive your Fcar to work?

Don't drive your FCar to work. Especially if you own the company. Everyone's first thought will not be "he must really enjoy driving high-end sports cars" It will be "he is a show off...how long has he had that...what did that cost".

 

Exactly...

 

In 14 years driving the 328, even to the supermarket, I still haven't seen any torches and pitchforks.

If you're that afraid to be *seen* in a Ferrari, then why did you buy one?


This reminds me of the '70s, when a company would take your new 308 and re-body it to look like a Bricklin.
Someone want to do a start-up to build a "Prius" body kit for a 458 Italia?
Any takers for that?


In the words of Galaxar (Hail Galaxar) ... "My days of running and hiding are over."

 

>>

Why would you care what they think about you? It's not a building where your friends come together, it's a place where you work, earn money for yourself and presumably get a bonus if you work above your target.

Surely they will understand that if it's YOUR business you put in harder work and most likely over a longer period of time, on top of putting your own damn money and risk into it as well? Why shouldn't you have more money than them? Is your shop called Charity-R-us, where you stick in thousands of your own dollars and time in it simply to take home the exact average of what your employees earn?

People need to understand how it works. It's pretty damn simple. And if they don't like it, they should quit and try their own at setting up shop, see if they then still moan for you earning more, especially if they fail. Or they should just go on wellfare and post on the internet how angry they are that people have more money than them, and have the audacity that they drive in a car costing more than the average.

 

That's a pretty charged up post - I feel that this thread is heating up your emotions a bit. It's understandable.

Recall: I am a 32-year old son-of-an-immigrant CEO who DOES drive my F car to the office. In my company, I employ all white-collar professionals and engineers. Also, I do NOT take my Ferrari to off site meetings, client offices (especially gov't clients), or construction sites. Those are my personal rules.

Do I care that my employees know I have a Ferrari? No. Maybe I used to, and I'm still a little bit sensitive to it with new hires, but in general, no I don't care anymore. Mostly, the engineers are curious, which makes sense, right?

I think we might be able to look at this another way. You say that the employees need to put up or shut up. If they don't like it, they can leave. But, in the end, doesn't the employer (in this case, me) get hurt by that as well? If, for instance, an employee leaves my company, I have to go to considerable expense to recruit another employee to fill their spot, and I have to train that employee (again, costing me time & money). So, rather than ROCK THE BOAT, I elect to maintain the status quo and drive a BMW to the office, rather than the Ferrari. In doing so, I've mitigated the threat a bit, no? Maybe they'll find out about it (because I have Ferrari pens, coffee cups, calendars, etc.). Maybe not. But, if they don't physically SEE it, then it's maybe a little harder to get infuriated that I have something nice and they don't.

Caveat: I don't want jealous people working for me anyway. I'd rather have somebody interested in working their way up as opposed to expecting a red carpet treatment from day one. That's fairly easy to detect through the recruitment and interview process.

Anyway, just trying to point out the other side of the argument. Maybe there is some value to maintaining the status quo and saving yourself some money and headache from attrition or turnover. But, in reality, if somebody leaves your company because you drive a Ferrari, well, that's pretty lame, right? Hell, I would LOVE IT if my employees drove Ferraris, but the highest they've gotten so far are the German luxury brands.

Side note: I used to have an annual gathering at my home, a barbecue where I would cook all the food to show my appreciation (lots of good food and drink). An ex-employee (not an engineer, but a technical designer) cited my "lavish" home (it's only ~4,000 SF!!) and all of my flat-panel TV's as excessive during his exit interview, which caused him resentment towards me and my firm. Guess what? He's now stocking shelves at a local grocery store. He still comes by my office from time to time looking for work. So, you reap what you sow! And now, my wife no longer allows me to bring any employees home for any reason. I can't say I disagree with her.

Raj

 

Seems that someone has already.

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All the above are valid arguments. And in South Carolina we are a wonderful right to work state, meaning anyone can get fired at any time. That being said, if your job as a business is to function at maximum efficiency delivering products to your customers, you want your team functioning at its highest capacity. That means keeping the politics at bay. You can all your employees they can leave.. but then as Raj said, you bear the (expensive) responsibility of finding a replacement and training them. When the best talent is expensive and hard to find.. I'd keep my turnover to a minimum. Jealousy is a powerful emotion, and the team you build will determine its place.

 

I personally don't
But there are a lot of factors..


Sent from my F430 using Tapatalk.

 

We business owners know this and agree. All others don't.

 

Looks like the firies are REALLY interested in saving a Prius.

 

In a perfect world all of that would be true, but as we all know it doesn't work that way. I hear and see things all the time that shouldn't bother me, but they do. Let's face it, sometimes we spend 8-10 hours a day together and I would like it to feel as comfortable as possible. Not to mention the fact that they always expect more $,no matter how the business is performing. Having them to my home or pulling up in some of my cars would not make them feel happy for me, it would make them feel that in some way they aren't making enough. Even though they are paid better then any of my competition.

 

Sorry you got harassed. I'm sure that darkened your enjoyment. I had OSI run a background check on me while stationed at Shaw AFB in the late 80's. I guess an E-5 had no right to own a new Trans Am and an 82 Collector Edition Vette while living in a nice apartment complex. I guess the dual income, no kids life was a new concept for them.

 

"At Will" (non union) employment is basically the same as "Right-to-Work" which refers to union employment. Both give employers the right to dismiss an employee without reason and I think every state has one or the other.

Are you hiring or being hired. You said in an earlier post about not wanting to be fired for driving your ferrari to work. Here it appears you are speaking as an employer.


If you are indeed afraid to be fired because you drive your Ferrari to work, find a new employer as you state it is hard to find the best talent. No one fires their best talent for the car they drive to work.

I have no idea why the person was released after a big contract was signed. I have been in sales my entire career. The only thing that ever happened to me when I landed a coup contract, was get a bonus or praise. It cost lots to replace people, as you have stated.

 

Yes obviously not everyone who wants a Ferrari can afford one. Same with 100 million dollar airplanes, 10 million dollar houses or any other luxury good.

 

There was a very clear indication of differing attitudes here recently in the UK when the press published a story about Ferrari achieving record sales here.

The story was quoted in equal measure by commentators in the right-leaning press as proof that the economy was returning to growth and that it was encouraging to see more people being successful.

On the other hand, the Socialists had a field say. They went into full rant mode about "increasing inequality", "fat cats soaking the poor" etc etc.

The irritating thing about these people is that the government here has just raised the tax threshold thus taking millions of low-paid people out of tax altogether. This action was totally ignored by the Left.

 

Checked prices on a 308GT4 lately?

Most people *like* to believe that Ferraris can't be owned by "real people".
It's their excuse to not own one, themselves.

It sounds better, in their ears, than saying they have other priorities.

Sure, not everyone can afford a *new* Ferrari, but they're more affordable after a few years.
And you don't get the initial depreciation hit.

When I bought my 328 in '99, it cost less than a new Audi A4 2.8.
Today, the 328 is still worth about what I paid for it (despite the added miles).
What would that '99 A4 be worth, now?

 

Yet another reason I'm kicking myself.. I shoulda bought one of those $15k examples a few years back..

 

This is a very good post.

 

I worked for a major corporation where we had 8000 cars in the parking lots. I would drive my 308 at least once a week and maybe twice during the summer or when it didn't rain. It was a fun 25 mile drive comprised of 5 miles in town/village traffic and 20 miles of Parkway driving. Another option was driving 25-30 miles of back country roads which i would do occasionally. My co-workers knew I owned an Fcar and were not jealous but would rib me all of the time and it was all in fun. I never had a problem worrying what others would say as the fun of taking the car to work was had by me. On weekends I would take it to Home Depot or Shopright or CVS and it always seemed to get high fives from young and old. Enjoy the drive as life is short.

 

Thanks. Unfortunately all true.

 

Appreciate it, but I wish it were different. Unfortunately it's the truth and even employees that have been with me for 15-20 years feel and say things.

 

Fair points from both of you, and I get where you're both coming from.

I'm getting incredibly annoyed with the under 25s of the world (and plenty of people older than that) being increasingly obsessed with pointing the finger, ''sticking it to the man'', their socialist agenda, moaning attitude. I'm 24 myself so I know plenty of people like this and I see the stuff they repost on Facebook and other social networks. The absolute crap they post these days with their entitled behavior makes me want to tear my hair out.


Coming back to your caveat iDriveM5, I wholly agree and it's my exact point. Yes it is a mission to find new people (although, in this economic climate and everyone saying they can't find a job it can't be too hard seeing as everyone is so desperate ) but you're only on this planet once. Make the most of it I say. Life is too short to constantly please others by driving stuff you don't really want to as much .

 

Can I convert you from Judaism to Catholism ? Can I convert you from Democrat to Republican ?

Nope, nothing I can say regarding the above would convert you.

Same with this subject, nothing I can say will convert anyone into believing its ok to drive your Ferrari, don't be afraid to drive it, you earned it and its yours and you need to drive it. Just like nothing you can say will ever convince me that people will instantly get jealous or ask me for a raise.

A few of you have had "instances" where you took your Ferrari to work and "something" happented but how do you know they were related, you only assume they were. Maybe they had been planning on letting you go all along and you just happened to drive the car to work on the day they did.

I drive my Ferrari to work, if someone does not like it...too bad for them, its MY car not theirs. But I have not been asked for a raise at my business, at my day job I have not been told "I must be paying you too much", none of those have happened. The only comment at work was things like "I can't believe you parked that in the student lot". At client sites, they ignore it or say "Can I ride in the Ferrari when we go to lunch?"

All good and like I started this post, nothing I can say will convince all the scared people to drive their car and nothing the scared people can say will convince me that driving it will cause anything bad except to my pocket book since the clutch is near its end of life.