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      10-26-2020, 09:04 PM   #67
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chassis View Post
Alfisti Have you considered taking the $xx that you are considering spending on a Porsche, and instead selling your daily driver for $yy, and buy a nicer car for daily driving, for a total price of $xx + $yy?

If you are leasing your daily now, see if you can negotiate an early termination in exchange for a nicer car at the same dealer group.

This gives you a potentially more enjoyable automotive experience on a daily basis, without the worry, expense and storage space requirement of an extra/low usage vehicle.

Your profile lists an X3. Potential upgrade vehicles could be:

X3 M40i
X3M
X5 M50i
Any of the M-B or Porsche SUVs, or Jag or LR for that matter.
I think Alfisti got rid of the X3 for an Alfa a while back.
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      10-26-2020, 09:47 PM   #68
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I was in a similar situation as OP. Looking for fun dedicated sports car that was “special” to go along with my F80 M3.
This was going to replace my Subaru BRZ - my wife said I needed to get a “grown” up car. 😂

Anyway looked at bunch of cars - GT350, E92 M3, MB AMG-GT, MKV Supra, 991.1 GTS, 991.2 base manual, 991.2 S, GT4 etc. I settled on 991.2 T for a lot more $$$ that I originally planned to spend but it was a 2019 with just over 5k miles and had about 5yrs warranty including CPO.

Porsche makes the best pure sports cars if you want to have it all - performance, prestige, build quality, fit/finish, excellent driving position, heritage etc. This is why you pay the big premium and only you can say if it’s worth it in the end. All the other cars i tested were compromised in certain aspects.
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      10-27-2020, 06:55 AM   #69
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chassis View Post
Alfisti Have you considered taking the $xx that you are considering spending on a Porsche, and instead selling your daily driver for $yy, and buy a nicer car for daily driving, for a total price of $xx + $yy?

If you are leasing your daily now, see if you can negotiate an early termination in exchange for a nicer car at the same dealer group.

This gives you a potentially more enjoyable automotive experience on a daily basis, without the worry, expense and storage space requirement of an extra/low usage vehicle.

Your profile lists an X3. Potential upgrade vehicles could be:

X3 M40i
X3M
X5 M50i
Any of the M-B or Porsche SUVs, or Jag or LR for that matter.
the 1 really cool plus one more ordinary car versus one do it all type higher end vehicle is a common debate (in fact I think I started a thread on it a while back), but in the end alfisiti has decided he wants a convertible special drive car in addition to a daily...I think it's the better route

even if the daily is a pretty good drive, driving it everyday will make it normalize pretty fast...much better to have that really special car that you only drive occassionally and can really take care of

I think that feeds the passion much better...
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      10-27-2020, 06:57 AM   #70
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jstein55 View Post
I think Alfisti got rid of the X3 for an Alfa a while back.
Our X3 was hit and written off, Mrs wanted the Alfa. It drives very sporty, little rough but sporty. It's a touch too small as the kids grow but my Saab wagon does the heavy lifting when we carry big things.

Quote:
Originally Posted by R N M View Post
I settled on 991.2 T for a lot more $$$ that I originally planned to spend but it was a 2019 with just over 5k miles and had about 5yrs warranty including CPO.
Very nice, well done. Love the subtle duck tail would do that over a GT3 every day.
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      10-27-2020, 07:15 AM   #71
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Quote:
Originally Posted by R N M View Post
I was in a similar situation as OP. Looking for fun dedicated sports car that was “special” to go along with my F80 M3.
This was going to replace my Subaru BRZ - my wife said I needed to get a “grown” up car. 😂

Anyway looked at bunch of cars - GT350, E92 M3, MB AMG-GT, MKV Supra, 991.1 GTS, 991.2 base manual, 991.2 S, GT4 etc. I settled on 991.2 T for a lot more $$$ that I originally planned to spend but it was a 2019 with just over 5k miles and had about 5yrs warranty including CPO.

Porsche makes the best pure sports cars if you want to have it all - performance, prestige, build quality, fit/finish, excellent driving position, heritage etc. This is why you pay the big premium and only you can say if it’s worth it in the end. All the other cars i tested were compromised in certain aspects.
Big fan of the T, really enjoyed test driving one last year, but of course way out of my budget. Would love to see where these end up price wise when they are out of warranty. Not easy to find an MT and carbon buckets, but that would hit all the sweet spot for me
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      10-27-2020, 07:39 AM   #72
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Quote:
Originally Posted by baege View Post
the 1 really cool plus one more ordinary car versus one do it all type higher end vehicle is a common debate (in fact I think I started a thread on it a while back), but in the end alfisiti has decided he wants a convertible special drive car in addition to a daily...I think it's the better route

even if the daily is a pretty good drive, driving it everyday will make it normalize pretty fast...much better to have that really special car that you only drive occassionally and can really take care of

I think that feeds the passion much better...
It is a valid discussion. The wife drives the family SUV and I do only 6000 miles per year so I am a prime candidate for one car that is a bit selfish. I would save in the region of $3K year on insurance and running costs by not running a 3rd car.

Then it comes down to which one give I am absolutely non negotiable on 2+2 (or 4 seats), convertible, sporty not GT in nature and naturally aspirated with a bit of attitude. This leaves me with the following;

Camaro
M3 with the V8 (E92?)
Mustang GT
911

Camaro I do not like the look of despite growing up in a Holden family (this is religous at home in OZ).

M3 reliability worries me, hard top is super heavy and therefore loses some of the sporty nature, plus BMW convertibles always look wrong at the arse end for some reason.

Mustang makes the right noises and I could mod to my taste with say a GT350 front end for eg. In winter they may be interesting even with snow tyres on but i think i'd manage. Issue is they are everywhere, not a bit special and not really chuckable like a dedicated sports car but I am not writing them off given the money involved and the nature of the roads here where corners do not exist.

911 makes ones pants all soggy but no way I can DD one (single garage you see) despite my low miles. So I am weighing up purchase price and the extra $2500 to $3K yr to run a 3rd car.
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      10-27-2020, 07:56 AM   #73
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i'm having a similar problem. we have four cars, and i'll likely get a truck next, but i also don't want to give up my ultra-cheap electric smart car... it isn't ideal to have five cars between the two of us, but my offroad truck isn't worth anything, the m3 isn't going anywhere, and my wife hates the smart car. i'm looking at getting a raptor, and while one doesn't buy that truck for practicality, i don't want to drive it to the gym or short errands.
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      10-27-2020, 09:04 AM   #74
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5? Jebus man ya gotta ditch one at least. WHat does insurance and rego run you?
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      10-27-2020, 08:18 PM   #75
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfisti View Post
5? Jebus man ya gotta ditch one at least. WHat does insurance and rego run you?
yea, thats the thing. insurance and registration is relatively cheap. we've massaged the mileage and "primary" and "pleasure" vehicles accordingly, plus a garage discount and an umbrella policy. insurance is a smaller piece of the puzzle- its the overall cost. maintenance, insurance, and registration on five cheap vehicles does add up...
here is the curve ball- i daily drive the smart car and it saves me at least $1k a year in tires and oil on the m3. keeping the smart car around is like driving a free car.
i want the next gen raptor with the 760hp gt500 v8 in it. its probably going to be an $85k truck. but then does the truck become my third weekend vehicle? doesn't make sense to buy it and let it sit.
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      10-28-2020, 07:32 AM   #76
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Man insurance here is at least $1200 year.
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      10-28-2020, 09:26 AM   #77
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If we're just kicking around ideas, here's mine: I agree with those who say you only live once. My dad had a stroke, out of nowhere, when he was 41. He was a beanpole, so not some huge guy where you would expect such a thing. It happens. After the stroke, he was no longer able to drive. Stuff can happen at any time---expected and unexpected.

Let me ask you (the OP) about COVID. Why does it matter to you? Are you concerned about your job or is it more about the optics of buying an expensive sports car during a pandemic? If your job could be on the line, I can understand the hesitancy. If you're worried about optics, I'm not sure I fully understand. But I don't know your situation.

I will say that I owned a previous generation mustang GT, largely due to the rave reviews. At the time, the various media outlets made it seem like the mustang was 95% of what you get out of a e9X M3. Wrong. It might have been able to generate numbers fairly close, but the driving experience is quite a bit different. I now own an e92 M3, so I have a pretty decent perspective on both cars as well as what it's like going with both the cheap and the expensive option.

Now, not everyone notices or cares much about the difference. They may not feel the differences are worth spending double (or more) given how they generally drive. If at the end of the day, you're having a hard time seeing the "worth" of the 911, perhaps the mustang is the best way to go. If nothing else, it has a great exhaust note. If you're a "Porsche: there is no substitute" kind of guy, you're going to be really unhappy living with the mustang.
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      10-28-2020, 11:56 AM   #78
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In relation to COVID-19, the mrs practice (lawyer) saw a downturn and I took a 10pc haircut that has been re-instated. I am also concerned the money from governments that has been propping up the economy may dry up and see the markets fall and panic sets in, leaving my job under risk.

Also the wife is extremely COVID edgy, I am a pragmatist but cautious, she is extremely cautious and not in a head space to handle the aquisition right now.

E92/Stang/911, I have rented Stangs, base GT's, glorious engine but felt heavy compared to a base 997 I rented. The two tripping point on a 911 vs stang is a) 3rd car hassles/cost and b) the roads here are frighteningly dull, arrow straight, absolutely rock solid arrow straight. I need to drive 90 minutes (no traffic) to find a decent bit of road and that is NOT an exaggeration.

I think i will get my 911, and I do think about the one I passed on, i just need to wait a bit longer I think.
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      10-28-2020, 12:46 PM   #79
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My BMW was in the body shop and I opted for the "luxury" car from the rental company. That turned out to be a Mustang convertible. I won't address the engine because it wasn't a GT350 or 500.

My car was in the body shop because someone had hit me on the passenger side, presumably while it was parked because I didn't know it had happened until a friend pointed the dents out to me. Having door problems, maybe I was overly sensitive but the wide doors on the Mustang made it very difficult to get in and out in tight spaces and the back seat was just about unusable.

Just my experience. I think I threw a party when i got my BMW back.
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      10-28-2020, 01:08 PM   #80
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It's a 2+2 coupe, what were you expecting?
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      10-28-2020, 06:28 PM   #81
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The bottom line for me here is how freaked out OP and his wife seem to be about tomorrow's uncertainty. I don't think he needs to be convinced to want a Porsche.

Yeah, life is too short to not reach for your goals, but life's also too short to lie awake at night worried about being financially overextended. I definitely know how it's like to be the latter.
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      10-29-2020, 07:03 AM   #82
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Freaked out is a bit harsh, but the virus is getting a hold again pretty much everywhere and if business stops and i lose my job and she slows to a crawl ... not good.
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      10-29-2020, 07:23 AM   #83
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfisti View Post
Freaked out is a bit harsh, but the virus is getting a hold again pretty much everywhere and if business stops and i lose my job and she slows to a crawl ... not good.
Not only is there a lot of uncertainty, which I don't think will go away until maybe mid 2021, but the value of used cars hasn't even gone down from what I've seen. It's one thing if you can make the argument that these cars will not be cheaper than now, but they're not. The only time I kind of could understand was during the beginning of the pandemic when dealerships were advertising some very good deals.

I got offered what I paid for my Tundra last summer, even though it's a year later and has 13k more miles.
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      10-29-2020, 08:09 AM   #84
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfisti View Post
In relation to COVID-19, the mrs practice (lawyer) saw a downturn and I took a 10pc haircut that has been re-instated. I am also concerned the money from governments that has been propping up the economy may dry up and see the markets fall and panic sets in, leaving my job under risk.

Also the wife is extremely COVID edgy, I am a pragmatist but cautious, she is extremely cautious and not in a head space to handle the aquisition right now.
So yeah, it seems like a good move to hold on the purchase. The good thing is that none of the cars you're looking at are going anywhere. You can buy one now or in 2 years, it won't really matter. There's enough stressful things going on in the world, probably best not to introduce something that could add to it---especially if this would be considered an out of the norm extravagant purchase. I think for a good 2 months everyone had a sense of uncertainty about the future and if I was still working under that premise, I would be a lot more conservative with spending money.

Quote:
The two tripping point on a 911 vs stang is a) 3rd car hassles/cost and b) the roads here are frighteningly dull, arrow straight, absolutely rock solid arrow straight. I need to drive 90 minutes (no traffic) to find a decent bit of road and that is NOT an exaggeration.
If you can do any work on your own, that will help with the costs, but also, if it's a 3rd car, you won't be using it a ton, so costs will naturally be lower than if it was your daily. The driving situation would be a concern for me as well. I have some ok roads near me, but nothing like what's about 60 minutes away. But there's also something to be said about the feel of a high quality, well built car and it definitely doesn't require backroads to notice it. Of course, you could get that same feeling in something like a Mercedes SL, which will be a lot less sporty than a 911. If the porsche club near you is active, they might have some fun drives to go on a few times a year.

Quote:
I think i will get my 911, and I do think about the one I passed on, i just need to wait a bit longer I think.
Given what you said above, that's probably good. Gives you more time to do some research----maybe spend some more time in the cars your considering via Turo or other rental outlets if you think it would help.
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      10-29-2020, 08:44 AM   #85
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My only fear witht hem "not going anywhere" is a) I am super choosy with options and colours and b) prices keep going up!
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      10-29-2020, 09:14 AM   #86
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Ref: expensive car purchase and economic stability. How much money has the Canadian government directly put into consumers’ hands? An estimate to that question for US consumers is $1T.
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      10-29-2020, 09:19 AM   #87
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ABout $2K month but effectively WAY more than that because it was not tested at all. So, if you were a student pre-pandemic working 15 hours a week making $15 an hour, you'd make a little under $1K month but now you get $2K month for doing nothing.

Is it about 3 steps left of most of the god and gun nuts here but FMD this government is terrible.
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      10-29-2020, 10:02 AM   #88
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They've added $0 to working people.
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