How People Treat You When You Drive a McLaren vs. BMW

One thing that not a lot of people talk

about is how owning certain cars affects

how certain people interact with you.

And whether you like it or not, it

really affects the assumptions they've

made about you depending on the car that

you've shown up in. Different cars open

different doors.

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>> [music]

>> So, I'm not talking about having better

or worse cars, and I'm definitely not

flexing the oo, I've had such great

cars. It's more understanding how the

public's perception works based on these

cars, [music] and then what to do with

it once that door opens. When I own the

BMWs, especially the M5s,

most conversations with people revolved

around horsepower, 0 to 60 times, and

what [music] cars I've raced or beat.

And if I went to a Cars and Coffee, the

interactions were more about what

modifications I had planned or have

already done. Did they [music] add

horsepower or performance that was

noticeable so they could do them to

theirs if I felt like they were good

ones? Everyone was nice. It didn't

really matter what cars you were into if

they [music] were at basically at the

same level with Audi's and Mercedes and

stuff like that. Um, everything was

always centered around racing and

horsepower and performance

conversations. So, we were all judging

ourselves against the other ones and

what they had done to make their car

faster or look better. The only

exception to this was the Alpena, and

that's because it was more of a luxury

BMW. Uh, nobody really asked about

racing or speed. They did ask how about

horsepower, and then just mostly

commented on how nice and luxurious it

was, especially for a BMW. And the

conversations were more along the lines

of it felt like a Bentley. And that told

me something right away when they

started talking to me in a different

way. Lamborghini was a totally different

route. [music] Kids wanted you to rev it

and adults asked if it was comfortable

and easy to drive. But one thing was for

sure, everyone noticed it. With the

Gallardo, the conversation was always

about how was [music] a gated manual and

how fun that must be. and then how small

the interior was because, well, I'm 6'5

and I didn't really fit in it. With the

Aventador, it was more about how good it

sounded and how wide and low the car was

and also about how hard they are to

drive. You get way more attention, but

you also get way more of those

assumptions. Early on, it felt like

people started treating me more like a

rich snob instead of just another car

guy. That really does change though

depending on where you live. Southeast

Florida, it's totally different, but the

perception is still real. McLaren was

the biggest shift. And when I got the

600LT, it was a way nicer car and felt

different than anything I'd owned before

it. And people were just really curious

about how it drove and just all the

little nuances of it. Then I got the 720

and the perception shifted again. I

think because more people knew what it

was. And that's where I started to get

the questions about what do you do for a

living and kind of jealousy from them

was more noticeable about how they would

hate on it and me because of what I

drove. And some of those assumptions

people were starting to talk about were

if I was selling courses as [music] some

sort of influencer, which is a big thing

here at South Florida. And other people

were just assuming I inherited the money

and I could just spend it on whatever I

want because at the time McLaren had not

a great reputation for being reliable.

But what also started happening was more

successful people started to come up to

me and talk about business over

horsepower and modifications and that

kind of stuff. We bonded [music] over

the car, but really talked about what

kind of business we owned or how we made

the money to afford the car. When the

765 came along, the room [music] changed

yet again. collectors actually started

coming up to me and holding

conversations with me instead of just a

quick nice car and moving on. We started

to shift [music] from even just business

to investments or long-term plans for

future wealth building or car purchases.

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It was a different level of person that

was not only willing to talk to me, but

willing to keep the conversation going.

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And the car became the signal for them

to know that I was probably someone that

was more [music] worth talking to than

the sea of 720 owners that were around

[music] at the same time where I live.

The 765 gave me credibility before I

even spoke. And whether we like it or

not, that's how these rooms work. Aston

Martin's a completely different crowd.

They're way less worried about the MSRP

[music] or the horsepower ratings or 0

to 60 times. They're more about [music]

comfort and style. And honestly, really,

where are you going to take the car to

enjoy it versus how are you going to

race it? They don't ask about the track,

they ask about road trips. [music] It's

almost like a quieter confidence of

not how did you afford it or what what

can you do to make it sound better or go

faster. It's more about how [music] are

you going to enjoy this great thing you

have. It's more like experience over

numbers. The DBX has surprised me the

most. I think it's because [music] not

as many people know about it and they're

just curious and they actually don't

have any preconceived judgments about me

when I step out. So, like I said, the

different cars open different rooms, but

what you know and how you interact with

people in those rooms determines whether

you belong. The car doesn't make you

better. It just simply opens the door to

give you a chance at proving you belong.

And after that, it's all on you. [music]

So there's not a secret hack. The you

can't overlever yourself and get into

these rooms and then [music] expect

magically that people are going to

respect you and work with you. [music]

You have to be humble. You have to be

respectful. And you have to have

knowledge that proves you belong in this

room.

And I'm not saying you have to be the

smartest person in the room. But the way

that you prove your value in there, even

if you're a little bit less

knowledgeable than the other people in

the room, is you be honest and you ask

questions. And when the people answer,

you don't talk. You just listen.

And

that's the easy simple way to survive in

these rooms is don't BS because they

will figure you out real quick and then

they won't want to interact with you

anymore. [music] And then you've

overleveraged yourself to get into a

position to be in this room that you

can't do anything about because you've

embarrassed yourself and

they don't want to be around you

anymore. Driving the Volh Hall on track

at that event showed me two things. One,

I want to be in that room more. And two,

I am not there yet, which means there's

still work to be done. Cars don't define

you, but they do show you what's [music]

possible. Welcome to Buster's Garage.