911Dave

I had an '86 Carrera as my only car for 2 years, putting around 8-9k miles per year on it, and I can tell you that these cars are a hell of a lot more fun as weekend toys than they are as daily drivers.

The 2 years I did that were not kind to the car. The wear and tear on the interior and the paint were noticeable, and it stranded me once with a melted main wiring harness. The cost to pay the shop to fix that was $4k, but the real problem was that I was without a car for the 3 months it took them. I was lucky that I was travelling out of town most weeks during that time, because I had to drive a rental car the entire time that I was home and waiting for my car to be fixed. That cost thousands more.

See, the biggest problem with it being your only car is not how much it will cost to fix it when it's down, but how you are going to get by without a car for a potentially lengthy down time.

I wouldn't do that again in a million years. And I echo the advice of others who say if you have to finance the car and it will take all your available cash just for the down payment, then what you are contemplating is a colossal mistake.

kyngfish

So you can read but you're a confirmed snide jerk. Got it. Thanks!

Freddie Two Bs

Not that he needs a counsel for the defense, but in my limited experience Matt is actually a pretty awesome guy who's given me great advice every time I asked a question.

Mondrian

I think what everyone is trying to tell you is don't marry your mistress but you need an old head to truly understand the reasons.

golfnutintib

matt has given plenty of sage advice on this board
he can be a little sharp of tongue but his heart is in the right place
respect the elders grass hoppa

mooty

lots of sage advice here
if you want a nice 911 it's $$$ to run.
i am a little ocd. i bought a what most will consider concourse level 911 and i am already $6000 (1 month, i did say i am OCD) on top of the almost 6 figure 911... it add up very fast.

Mondrian

Pics or it didn't happen.

gerry100

agree with all of the cautions/warnings ( I own an '86 3.2)

AND... the stock AC, before the 964 at least, is a joke.

Just something else to consider for a DD

Drisump

Just to illustrate, I haven't driven my 3.2 all season because there were a few issues I need to sort out. Good thing I have a 993 and a LandCruiser.....I took the brake system apart, ordered from pelican, waited two weeks before I recieve said parts and then put time in reassembling. How does that work with a car you need everyday? I'm not sure what you did with the parts "lag" issue with the AMG but where I live, there would be too many times I would need alternative transportation while waiting for non fluffy parts. (fluffy being parts requiring little time to install or won't leave the car dead in the water if unattended). Parts such as alternators, starters, master cylinders, calipers, would be a royal PITA to obtain and install for a car needing to be on the road everyday. One option would be to pre-emptively change all the normal problem area's in a 30 year old 911, but I can tell you the credit card would truly be taxed. Once again, just my opinion...others may differ, but on this topic and on this board, it seems not many. I did meet an older fellow (likely retired)while travelling in Yosemite this spring, he had a very nice SC which was his DD that he had bought six years previously. He had paid < $20k for the car at the time (60k miles), had done 90k miles in those six years but appeared to have pockets deep enough to handle everything that would come up. He also had a early 70's "T" that he'd bought brand new but with 100's of thousands of miles on her, she was in need of restoration.....interesting guy with an unbelievable amount of 911 seat time. In those circumstances I could see using the 911 as your only car.....but only barely. I guess when then the enevitable multi week at shop comes along, you buy the infamous econobox and sell it when the 911 comes out to play.

911Dave

Classic newbie mistake. You do not understand who you are talking to, and you couldn't be more wrong.

mooty

u asked

Spyerx

^^^ that fking car is perfect. Makes mine look like a tattered old hag. Mine is a weekend drive and I'll put 5k/yr into it EASY because my ocd is almost as bad as mootys. Pcars are awesome. But not inexpensive. I could daily my g, but I have other cars to drive if something does go wrong. Candidly if your budget is the 30k range a much better only car is a boxster or cayman.

Jherriott

Adding my weak advice.

I only just got mine, it's a great car. And I am sure it can handle some miles, because it begs to be man-handled. But I just drove through 5 states and I know I was thinking how much nicer the 928 would be cruising... even the 951 is more comfortable. If your 40 mile daily commute is made up of curvy roads, or lots of stop and go, well... you're gonna have a blast! If it's 40 miles of straight freeway, you won't be getting connected with your car very well. In fact, after my 800 km journey, it wasn't until I was home on familiar twisty roads that I grew that wide grin that is often talked about here...

My other advice would be to ALWAYS have a second car. Hell, even when my Dodge Ram daily driver needs something done, I'm glad I have a back up. Once you are used to having wheels... it's the weirdest most painful thing ever to be walking the city streets like a hobo. Of course, no one looks at you like that, but you feel it on the inside! LOL!

Jase.

GTgears

Thanks guys. I was definitely not trying to run off the new guy. I just call a spade a spade. When someone goes on the internet posing a question about "value" and includes such intimate details of their financial situation I will take those disclosures into account in my answer.

The opening post said that he could wait but he doesn't want to wait. That's the problem with kids today. They grow up being told they can be whatever they want when they grow up and here's a participant trophy to prove it. This current generation likely doesn't even realize that people used to put down 20% to buy a house. Now it's 3-5%. I was in my mid 30's when I bought my first home. Kids today expect to buy a condo at 25 just a couple years out of college.

Cheap interest rates have made the future value of money really cheap. It's tempting to go live the dream before one truly has the means. When it costs next to nothing to borrow money why not borrow against my future? Seems they have forgotten that the most powerful formula in the world is the compound interest. You put $8k down on this 40k 911 and it costs you next to nothing over the next 60 months. But what if you put that same $8K into a roth ira for the same 60 months? I love this article:
http://www.daveramsey.com/blog/how-t...-millionaires/

If you actually invest that down payment and wait a few year to buy the car, you can buy the car using the interest on your earnings!!!

I wish someone had told me this stuff when I was young dumb and before I was $50k in credit card debt. When I was 17 I worked for a luxury exotic car broker in NorCal. The owners drove a Testarosso and 930 slantnose cabriolet, respectively. As a delivery prep grunt I was driving 911s, Countaches, Ferraris of all flavours, and all the other poster cars. I swore then that I would own a 911 by age 25. But I didn't save for it. I bought skis and bikes and took vacations all over North America courtesy of Visa. I was paying off my lifestyle well past my 25th birthday. I didn't own my first 911 until I was over 35 years old, and then it was a 35 year old 911T I bought for $1000. It was not the 930 I had on my wall as a kid because I couldn't afford one still. Today things are very different.

Am I preaching? Nope. The OP is gonna do what he's gonna do. I am just relating my personal experience around such things in very practical terms. You ask questions on the internet and you often don't get the answers you want to hear. Sometimes you get answers to questions that you didn't realize that you asked in the first place. But advice on the internet is free advice. You are free to take it or free to look at it and say,"I hear you, but that's not relevant to me". You are free to reject that advice. Makes no difference to me either way. I'm not trying to discourage 911 ownership and won't be there watching the OP waiting for his car to break down and then point and laugh "I told you so" when he's going through financial stress. I wouldn't wish that on anyone and wouldn't kick a man when he's down. I'm just willing to be the guy who says,"Be careful. What you are doing might end up with you falling down."

Hem

Don't do it.