Can owning a nice car be bad for business?
Discussion
TheD said:
I stopped using my old XJR 308. It is worth hardly anything but the comments were unbelievable. I was always having to say it was old but I loved it, but they couldn't see that. They just saw it as a big flashy motor. Even friends with cars that are dull but cost £20,000 think it's flash and I'm showing off my cash. I can't get my head around their thinking at all. I now just use my van or the Terrano and never hear a peep
I drive a 308 XJ8 and I'm shocked to hear that. They are now at least 11 years old and I'm pretty sure most people (even non petrol heads) would know this and regard them more as a semi classic. Having said that I do still encounter folks who think my Jag is worth more than their nearly new Mondeo/Vectra etc..
some people are jealous and all sorts, you only have to see on the news and almost daily different professions are under attack for being over paid etc etc,
for me I don't care at all and infact I like it when someone has something different, as its great to talk to them about the car...
for me I don't care at all and infact I like it when someone has something different, as its great to talk to them about the car...
TLandCruiser said:
some people are jealous and all sorts, you only have to see on the news and almost daily different professions are under attack for being over paid etc etc,
for me I don't care at all and infact I like it when someone has something different, as its great to talk to them about the car...
Is it a case of lower earners expecting the wealthy to condescended to their level rather than what should happen and they aspire to be wealthier? for me I don't care at all and infact I like it when someone has something different, as its great to talk to them about the car...
tim0409 said:
I was recently elected as a Councillor and have been toying with what would be an appropriate car to drive after selling my 1 series. My predecessor, a wealthy chap, used to run around in an old Renault 5 for council work and kept a new Audi TT in the garage for special occasions. I remember picking him up to go canvassing before the election in a brand new 5 series courtesy car whilst mine was in for a warranty repair - he politely suggested that if I wanted to gain votes rather than lose them we should take the Renault 5!
I have just bought my mum a micra automatic so now have her old 2007 Panda, and think it might just be the perfect runaround (and find something nice for high days and holidays).
That reminds me of Conservative politician Jacob Rees-Mogg who in 1997 was a candidate for the Central Fife seat in Scotland - this is a working class, ex coal mining area however Rees-Mogg took his nanny along with him whilst he canvassed. Not only that, he did it in his Bentley. I have just bought my mum a micra automatic so now have her old 2007 Panda, and think it might just be the perfect runaround (and find something nice for high days and holidays).
As a motor trader I sell loads of 5 to 10 year old prestige cars 9/10 its self employed people that buy them as they want something relatively special yet unimpressive to drive to work in...
Eg 2009 Audi Allroad he was a md of major building co, he bank trans me £15k in his dull office and there was over 200k left in his Lloyds personal reserve account after the payment.... old men with old audis have money! And then commented on how he was fitting a tow bar for the caravan... have these people got no idea how to spend money?
Sold a local school governor an old 911 bank trans me £11500 and there was a lottery win left in her account.
Had loads of builders buyer l322 range rovers whilst the wife has a brand new one, they have to look smart but sensible when quoting.
A local suppliers runs around in a 20k mondeo as a 20k audi looks flash... madness really.
Eg 2009 Audi Allroad he was a md of major building co, he bank trans me £15k in his dull office and there was over 200k left in his Lloyds personal reserve account after the payment.... old men with old audis have money! And then commented on how he was fitting a tow bar for the caravan... have these people got no idea how to spend money?
Sold a local school governor an old 911 bank trans me £11500 and there was a lottery win left in her account.
Had loads of builders buyer l322 range rovers whilst the wife has a brand new one, they have to look smart but sensible when quoting.
A local suppliers runs around in a 20k mondeo as a 20k audi looks flash... madness really.
Hark said:
A plumber I know through a car forum as a Audi TTS, beautiful nick, hardly drives the thing tbh. (Appreciate not Ferrari etc but the point about perceived wealth is the same).
His van broke down once and so he took the TT Convertible with assorted plumbing parts etc on the job instead. He got asked by the client "What kind of plumber drives a car like that?!"
"A good one," he replied. lol
Reminds me of a time 10 or so years back myself and business partner thought we'd take our 996's to site and even though we parked round the corner the whole site downed tools and wanted to know how the lowly plumbers were driving such machines.. I guess it didn't help that we were half most of there ages. His van broke down once and so he took the TT Convertible with assorted plumbing parts etc on the job instead. He got asked by the client "What kind of plumber drives a car like that?!"
"A good one," he replied. lol
These days the nice cars stay at home and always go to meetings etc in a grey golf. I think there are very few scenarios where turning up to see a client in a high end car is going to work in your favour. I am also of the view that if you employ staff you should only let them see you in something grey and boring, generally employees (no matter how much they earn) think they are not paid enough and if they see you rock up in a tasty car every day the general consensus will be "if the boss didn't have such an expensive car the company could pay me more"
Absolutely. Most people only view the world through their eyes, and a nice car is not viewed as a hobby or interest by most people, it's viewed as a status symbol, they won't care if you're a car enthusiast, they'll just see things through their eyes. Either make sure your clients never see your nice car or buy two cars, as one of the other posters suggested. I've done the two car thing for years as it's financially better, practically better and better for fun too, but there is a small part of me that recognises turning up in a 6 year old three series is a good thing, whereas a Porsche or similar would be very bad for business.
to3m said:
Well, for some lines of business I suppose it may not be a hindrance at all. But I always note these things too, for exactly the same reason. Who wants to think that they're paying for the overheads as much as they are for the work that's being done? Same goes when I visit fancy city centre offices! Strikes me as a pretty obvious thing to think, but I don't claim to speak for everybody.
Why would you want to think you weren't paying for overheads??I presume we all agree the purpose of starting your own business is to make money, otherwise why would you bother?
Any supplier I use is more than welcome to make as much profit as he wants, provided he's delivering something superior or has figured out a way to be more competitive than the others.
Whether the owner of a firm chooses to have a nice car or not is a different thing, but if he was unable to afford one, I'd suggest he was running his company a little close to the wind. People are supposed to make money and do well - why would anyone grudge them that?
I was discussing this with a good friend of mine,convinced like many of you that driving a decent car could harm business.
Playing devils advocate,my friend who knew i had just had knee surgery asked whether i would prefer to have had my operation
performed by a surgeon who drove an Audi R8 or a Ford Mondeo.
He has a point,no?
Playing devils advocate,my friend who knew i had just had knee surgery asked whether i would prefer to have had my operation
performed by a surgeon who drove an Audi R8 or a Ford Mondeo.
He has a point,no?
nct001 said:
Eg 2009 Audi Allroad he was a md of major building co, he bank trans me £15k in his dull office and there was over 200k left in his Lloyds personal reserve account after the payment....
I love how the tales on these threads get more ridiculous the longer the thread goes on, who says "Oh, look at my bank balance" when buying a second hand car, or are you saying the bank showed you how much he had? Would make for an interesting conversation with the manager about data protection.definitely and most people on PH care more about how their car appears to others than themselves but thats a different subject...
on the commercial side, i used to specialise in fitting internal doors & hence needed a commercial vehicle, found vans claustrophobic and didn't do fit work in the rain so an open back truck fitted the bill nicely.
I opted for a silver F150 lightning and weirdly people could look down their nose at it because it was a truck and yet admire it because it was so smart looking
I think for a tradesman to turn up in something he takes pride in looking after says an awful lot about the type of work he is going to do, I had two different exhausts I used to run on it to (2 mins to change side exit box) 1/ work 2/ weekend
Had a Falcon XR8 ute as well, along with a twin turbo V6 converted P100 for a while, all were great fun for the long miles i used to do.
on the commercial side, i used to specialise in fitting internal doors & hence needed a commercial vehicle, found vans claustrophobic and didn't do fit work in the rain so an open back truck fitted the bill nicely.
I opted for a silver F150 lightning and weirdly people could look down their nose at it because it was a truck and yet admire it because it was so smart looking
I think for a tradesman to turn up in something he takes pride in looking after says an awful lot about the type of work he is going to do, I had two different exhausts I used to run on it to (2 mins to change side exit box) 1/ work 2/ weekend
Had a Falcon XR8 ute as well, along with a twin turbo V6 converted P100 for a while, all were great fun for the long miles i used to do.
berlintaxi said:
nct001 said:
Eg 2009 Audi Allroad he was a md of major building co, he bank trans me £15k in his dull office and there was over 200k left in his Lloyds personal reserve account after the payment....
I love how the tales on these threads get more ridiculous the longer the thread goes on, who says "Oh, look at my bank balance" when buying a second hand car, or are you saying the bank showed you how much he had? Would make for an interesting conversation with the manager about data protection.in the world of Pistonheads
berlintaxi said:
I love how the tales on these threads get more ridiculous the longer the thread goes on, who says "Oh, look at my bank balance" when buying a second hand car, or are you saying the bank showed you how much he had? Would make for an interesting conversation with the manager about data protection.
Nowt to do with the bank manager if you read the post correctly.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff