Misconceptions about driving a Ferrari

To drive with a Ferrari to a client is a no go, especially if you're not the company owner but an employee. A stupid rule, but unfortunately a rule you have to accept.

There are always discussions and questions about such a car, as soon as you have to explain yourself you have lost.

 

i really avoid taking one of my exotics to work, on business occasions or to see patients. I would feel embarrassed. Especially when you work in the medical field, i believe, it is important, that peoples perception of you is beeing a humble and down to earth person. But that is just MVHO. Even to take out the cars for a spin with your loved one, unfortunately sometimes is embarrassing (picture below, thats how rockstars probably feel...); for me the best thing to enjoy these beauties is to go on a private meeting like Cavalcade or to drive somewhere remote in a beautiful scenery, where you are not known; also, if you drive exotics every day, than they loose somehow their "special feeling"; last, i have to admit, the older i get, the more i want a comfortable ride when the purpose of the travel is mainly transportation...... Best-- e-
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Almost universal agreement here. Pretty amazing. I also do not drive my exotics to work. I feel if you are any job that requires customers or referrals don't drive an exotic car. People talk and many feel you are either irresponsible for spending so much on a car or make too much and this are overcharging them etc. A business partner of mine years ago with a garage full of high end cars used to drive a Prius to work. He said people think he is "frugal" and "responsible" and he got more and more business when actually he was neither. The funny thing is you can go ahead and drive a $250k AMG or Porsche turbo to work and no one would think twice. Oh well - first world problems.

 

Have only done it once, small client who had a home based business, was also a car enthusiast and wanted to see it, otherwise, generally a bad idea.

 

I am in medicine also.
I don't drive the 458 to work for all of the reasons mentioned above.

 

Same here. Never bring the F-car to the office. Even though they won't admit it patients would resent it deep down I believe. Besides the car would be sitting in the parking lot all day out of use. Rather drive it on days off etc.

 

IMHO unless you're retired, or have FU money, you probably shouldn't drive your Ferrari to see clients. People judge you (good or bad) all the time.

This Far Side doesn't exactly apply to this thread, but it made me laugh. LOL
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I think most of us Ferrari owners could care less about others think of us. If one buys a Ferrari for reasons other than loving to drive it, then other rules (more like social etiquettes) will inevitably apply. Why? Because you start to care about what people think of you in those specific circumstances. When I drive my car outside my neighborhood, I only enjoy attentions from fellow Ferrari owners or true admirers of the brand (not me, the owner). What good will possibly come about from a teenage boy's envious gaze at a middle age Ferrari owner?

 

Ding, ding, ding!

Perception is reality, my friend. Why is this so hard for you to understand?

The client is paying a pretty penny for your company's services and you show up in a $300k+ car. What the F are they supposed to think? "Gee, I guess we're paying those guys too much." It will be in the back of your client's mind during *every* contract discussion and negotiation...and they may even bring it up directly to screw your company down on price.

Why don't you share with the Dev Manager your hourly rate and see his reaction? Even though it's not true, he'll assume you get every dollar of that rate and effectively make 3x what he does. The F car just proves it in his/their mind(s). You are sowing the seeds of contempt and ensuring that your company will not have them as a client for the long term.

You'd be well advised not to take that guy out for lunch in your Spider. It's all he and his team will talk about for the next 10 years ... and you just might get fired. No matter how great you are, if you were impacting my business in such a manner - it'd be sayonara. You *are* replaceable.

I was at a Big 4 IT Consulting firm for over 20 years and now I run my own boutique consulting company. I don't care what "people" think about my garage full of exotics. However, if it impacts my clients and my bottom line - I care. Hence, I drive an 18 year old BMW to see clients and I no longer use Facebook.

 

It's probably a good idea to think about the client you might be visiting before you visit in your dream machine. Some will appreciate it while others won't. You can easily feel them out before you show up by just asking them questions about cars or the race weekend or whatever and take a humble approach. Even if the topic comes up and you do acknowledge ownership, most people will invite you to bring it out next time.

 

I sell mansions but wouldn't take my F car to a new meeting. Range Rover does fine. There's always a chance it will cause a resentment, or that the wife will warm up to you more than the husband wants, or they think you're charging too much or they don't like showoffs or whatever. In business not considering how others feel can cost money.

 

Stay with your (our) feet on the ground !

 

I'm afraid I find these sorts of threads very odd (and some of the posts even stranger), I purchased a Ferrari because I am passionate about cars. I don't regularly drive it to work simply because it is no fun sat in commuter traffic but on the occasion when the weather looks good, I can go either early or late to miss the traffic and I know I can take a couple of hours out to take a proper drive I will take my F car. My staff know I own it and most have been out in it - I am not embarrassed to own and drive it when ever I want.


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Were late paying client X? Doesn't he drive a Ferrari? He can wait, not like he needs the money.

 

No offense, but what the hell are you thinking when driving a $300K car to a client? You might as well just be wearing a sign that says, "You're paying us too much."

It's not because people are jealous of you, it's because it may lead to other employees thinking they are underpaid or clients overpaying. It also may reflect poorly on your judgement even if they think you "earned it" and "saved" for it because it's your passion. If they think you blow all your money on a car, they'll question your judgement on other things as well. If you earning $80K per year and blew your life savings on a Ferrari just because you're passionate about it, I'll still think you're somewhat irresponsible.

And keep in mind this is a normal business environment. Imagine if you're a doctor. I know people who make tons of money treating cancer patients and they would never in a million years drive an expensive car to work. Though your paycheck is derived from saving lives, it's not like the people you may be treating just show up with blank checks from the insurance. There can be severely financial hardship on people who are supporting a doctor's $1M income.

In short: You don't drive a Ferrari to work in more professional environments.

 

Interesting thoughts!
The business next to mine is a small plumbing business - the owner regularly brings his Rosso Corsa F12 to work. Fine with me and I do still use their plumbing services and pay on time.

 

In your line of work, I would not drive it to a client's office. It will give the wrong impression. I know, because I hire consultants from time to time and that's the way I would feel even though I have 3 "weekend" cars.

 

I have spent money on wine, women and fast cars*...the rest l just wasted.

*BUT I NEVER TOOK ANY OF THEM TO WORK!

 

Our Episcopal priest is from England and loves cars, especially Fcars. I took him out for a ride during the week when nobody was around. He loved it and kept having to remove things from his phone's memory to make way for all his pictures and videos.

But l never took the 458 spider to church. Just the remarks we got when we took the silver Boxster S was eye opening enough.

Questions like: Why do you drive a car like that?

Response: l don't want to be late for church.

 

I think we could say it in a different way.... I'm in no way embarrassed of my cars. My DD is a superleggera. I'm a sportsman. So many people see it as normal. But I also have businesses on the side. If I want to win a deal then yes the Skoda Yeti comes out.

 

Awsome

 

Whatever you do, don't introduce them to your trophy wife and mistress!

You know there is a flip side to this. It's

"Geez that guy has a Ferrari. He must be good to get that much consulting business to afford a car like that!"

 

As a general rule I don't like driving my Ferrari or any other higher end car to work. I know we are enthusiasts here but most people know very little about exotics and have preconceived ideas regarding people that own them. In general the negatives greatly outweigh the positives IMO.