Negative reaction to the Zed by spectators?

[wiseguy]

That is true though, with my 911 I got more negative remarks than positive, even from people I called friends... It's insane how many people get green with envy and start calling you "rich b*stards"... Some people just don't seem to understand that we don't get these things for free. I worked hard for what I achieved.

Agreed. Unfortunately, the car looks so good that it does seem to attract a lot of attention from transients. I've been hit up for money at gas stations several times (I seem to be the first car they approach, and I usually turn them down), and once at a hotel that I was checking into. The guy saw me pull in near the hotel entrance, and he followed me into the lobby, though I didn't realize it. He then jumped in the elevator with me and my date on the way to my floor and told me his sob story about needing gas money to get back to his home state. Knowing that my car would be parked in an unattended parking lot all night, and he would know where it would be, I gave him some cash as sort of an insurance policy. I figured that was better than having to replace my top due to slashing, etc. But it is aggravating. No one handed me anything; I took out student loans, earned scholarships, went to school, and worked hard to get where I am. Yet, driving nice cars seems to make us targets. Since owning the Z4, I've developed a heightened sense of my surroundings, and try to stay vigilant when driving around with the top down. It is a shame that it has to come to that.

 

[Bad_Pritt]

That is true though, with my 911 I got more negative remarks than positive, even from people I called friends... It's insane how many people get green with envy and start calling you "rich b*stards"... Some people just don't seem to understand that we don't get these things for free. I worked hard for what I achieved.

Agreed. Unfortunately, the car looks so good that it does seem to attract a lot of attention from transients. I've been hit up for money at gas stations several times (I seem to be the first car they approach, and I usually turn them down), and once at a hotel that I was checking into. The guy saw me pull in near the hotel entrance, and he followed me into the lobby, though I didn't realize it. He then jumped in the elevator with me and my date on the way to my floor and told me his sob story about needing gas money to get back to his home state. Knowing that my car would be parked in an unattended parking lot all night, and he would know where it would be, I gave him some cash as sort of an insurance policy. I figured that was better than having to replace my top due to slashing, etc. But it is aggravating. No one handed me anything; I took out student loans, earned scholarships, went to school, and worked hard to get where I am. Yet, driving nice cars seems to make us targets. Since owning the Z4, I've developed a heightened sense of my surroundings, and try to stay vigilant when driving around with the top down. It is a shame that it has to come to that.

Sad to hear that it's so extreme in your situation/region... must be aggravating indeed.

 

[craig3.2]

A lot of people still think it's a 20k+ motor, which I think is where the envy comes from.

Yes, the only "problem", with the z4 is that for those who don't know any better, think its still a 20-40k car (possibly even more so if on a private plate)...as you have to remember these cars were indeed at least 20k upto over 40k new and some ppl just don't know any better to current values/costs.

I had strangers commenting on how nice my previous z4 was from the day I got it(at @18months old) until the week I sold it at 7years old...with a lot of folks thinking I had paid way more than I did...I guy thinking I had paid 45k for it the week I got it at 20+ k; even though the car new was just 36k. Even funnier when the week before I sold it, a woman in a 1yr old Honda crv commented on how nice my z4 was asking how old it was and what did that set me back, guessing at 20k...she was surprised when I told her it was 7years old and worth abou 7-8k.

Never had any really negative comments from ppl, bar the neds who took a dislike to my current M, but that's just jealous idiots for you
Drunken idiots by the sound of it in your case, op.

 

[dlp]

Dare you to go back Top Gear style with "Manlove Rules OK" sprayed down the side

 

[chris g]

people do think they are expensive - i do get mainly positive comments about it and occasional "mid life crisis car" which in my case may be true - but it sounds like most of the posters on this topic dont get

 

[dlp]

people do think they are expensive - i do get mainly positive comments about it and occasional "mid life crisis car" which in my case may be true - but it sounds like most of the posters on this topic dont get

I love the "mid-life crisis" one...I always reply that if a man walks out on his wife children and job, runs up huge debts on a credit card then shacks up with a Moroccan rent boy selling dope in Amsterdam then that's a mid-life crisis!

Buying a small convertible isn't.

 

[chris g]

agreed - in truth its mid life - now i can afford one and still run the 7 seat 4x4 - - funny really a few years ago when I had the mr2 - i got boy racer, then the various mile munching mercs were all call Stuttgart taxis - seems every car has a handle attached to it - or you

 

[Rusky]

Havent had any problems yet, but look at my avatar! Would you?!

 

[Quadracer]

My whole life has been a crisis, what with marriage, building a home together, two great kids to bring up and running my own business. My Zed is a treat now that the crisis is over

 

[andysat]

My whole life has been a crisis, what with marriage, building a home together, two great kids to bring up and running my own business. My Zed is a treat now that the crisis is over

 

[Quadracer]

My whole life has been a crisis, what with marriage, building a home together, two great kids to bring up and running my own business. My Zed is a treat now that the crisis is over

I'm still happily married
Sounded like I wasn't when I read that back

 

[wiseguy]

Dare you to go back Top Gear style with "Manlove Rules OK" sprayed down the side

Ha! Not on your life. :lol: Those Top Gear guys were crazy for pulling that stunt in Alabama. Maybe all of the open and obvious television cameras trained on them 24/7 while filming kept them safe. I'm not bashing AL, as it's in my region (the southern US), but I would never suggest doing that in any rural area (Iowa, Utah, it really doesn't matter). Racists and hate mongers live everywhere, not just in the southern US, as our media likes to depict, but we do have more guns per capita than other regions. These two rednecks I encountered were just the type to do something stupid and be seen on the nightly news. Whether they would end up in handcuffs or be scraped off the road into a bag would be the only issue left to be determined. Just to be fair, I'm more concerned when I stop in large urban areas that I am in 99% of small southern US cities. Mostly, I find people in the US to be decent human beings. But it's the occasional rogue for whom you have to watch out.

 

[wiseguy]

people do think they are expensive - i do get mainly positive comments about it and occasional "mid life crisis car" which in my case may be true - but it sounds like most of the posters on this topic dont get

I tell the ones who make the mid-life crisis comment that I wanted to buy a convertible while I still had all my hair to blow in the wind (as most of the ragtop owners I see are retirement-aged guys with bald heads). My philosophy: Why wait so long to buy a car that makes you happy? That's the same reason my Z4 is my DD. Sure, it helps that I don't have kids.


Also, notice what the commenter is driving. It's never anything that would excite me in the least. "The jealous are possessed by a mad devil and a dull spirit at the same time." Swiss poet J. Lavater.

 

[T1berious]

I did have a very aggressive encoumter when checking my tyre pressures.

Thugs in a blacked out A3

Thug one "Is that an M?"
Me "Yes, it is"
Thug two "You're a ***t"
Me "excuse me?"
Thug two "you flash ***k"
Thug one "I bet it's not an M"
at which point I ignore them and carry on doing the pressures while they carry on acting like muppets and leave.

Amazing thing is, in the grand scheme it's not an expensive car to buy.

crippling to run mind.....

Bottom line is there will always be those who are itching for a row and don't need much of an excuse.

Would these sorts of incidents stop me buying a 991 or Range Rover? Hell no! You do these things for yourself not anyone else

 

[3rdPillar]

I must admit since I've got the Z4 I've had no end of idiots driving up my arse, normally 40+ year olds in TDCI Focus's like they have something to prove? :roll:

Can relate to this one... Especially at home time ( on my way home from work ). "Home Time" WTF was I thinking, like I was at school or something!

 

[TommyGG]

Nothing negative so far in my 1 year driving around. Since I got it wrapped though I've had about 3 positive conversations with people in cars next to me at traffic lights about the colour!

 

[the cueball]

what age is "middle age" these days anyway????

 

[Bumpy]

I tell the ones who make the mid-life crisis comment that I wanted to buy a convertible while I still had all my hair to blow in the wind (as most of the ragtop owners I see are retirement-aged guys with bald heads). My philosophy: Why wait so long to buy a car that makes you happy? That's the same reason my Z4 is my DD. Sure, it helps that I don't have kids.

I resemble that !
This is the most 'negative' and cruel comment I've had since Zed Ownership.
Never anything even close when I rode the Harley.

Bumpy

 

[nightyard]

only had a man in a white van call me a w***er or something once


usually I only hear nice car etc etc

although my roadster was a magnet for getting pulled over by the police :x
number of occasions;

1. "I clocked you at almost 90 entering the motorway but I'll let you off because I have so much paperwork already" ... :? I was doing around 70..funny thing is I seen him parked up earlier so he must have done 90 himself to catch me up :?

2. Getting out my car and the police pull up as I'm getting out ... "Nice car, I bet that goes quite quick, slow it down" ... I was entering my road doing 20mph

3. "do you have insurance, your not on the database" ... that's odd because a few weeks prior I had been pulled over (read above) and my insurance was checked and I was on the database. ( part of me feels I was singled out because it was a sunny day and I was driving with the roof down.)


Haven't had any problems in the Coupé

 

[wiseguy]

I tell the ones who make the mid-life crisis comment that I wanted to buy a convertible while I still had all my hair to blow in the wind (as most of the ragtop owners I see are retirement-aged guys with bald heads). My philosophy: Why wait so long to buy a car that makes you happy? That's the same reason my Z4 is my DD. Sure, it helps that I don't have kids.

I resemble that !
This is the most 'negative' and cruel comment I've had since Zed Ownership.
Never anything even close when I rode the Harley.

Bumpy

Well, Bumpy, I meant no disrespect. Sorry if I made you feel bad; that wasn't my intent. The Zed is a timeless car, so the age of the owner isn't a factor. It just means you have a fine eye for a great motor, and are among good company.

I know a guy who was saving up to buy a Harley. He was planning to buy it in a few years when he retired (mid-50s) and ride across the US. He had looked forward to that day for more than 10 years, back when he started saving. He had a stroke 2 years before retirement and now can never ride a motorcycle. Stories like that make me cherish everyday, and take none for granted. That's why I look at people who suggest my Z4 should be my "Sunday only car" like they have a pineapple growing from their head. If I like it and it makes me happy, why put off that feeling? That was the point I was trying, inarticulately, to make. After a long, crappy day at work, a top-down drive along the water's edge at sunset, with the stereo cranked up, can perk me right up.

Next time I'm in Canada, the beer's on me!