Mike: Only you know how responsible your friend is. Now, reduce that to 20% when the hormones rage. Would you still lend him the 928 then? I would not.

I'd give it to my friend who works at Porsche, is married, has a child, and wants to take the family to the coast in a nice car. Because I know that:

a. He has nothing to prove
b. He has more experience driving Porsches than I do
c. If anything goes wrong he won't keep driving until everything is lost (think: timing belt problem - he knows the ins and outs and would not destroy the engine, car, or whatever)

I don't even give the car to my Dad when he comes visiting - he only gets to drive when I'm present. Why? Because 0% of c. and very litlte of b. applies. Same with my brother. Oh and I DO love both of them very much!!!

Here's a funny story from the past (in Germany): Dad goes out for a picnic with his sports buddies, and asks to borrow my RX-7 - which he had never driven before. But it looks cool and sporty. So, Dad drives up at the picnic place and presses the button for the power window. Window opens, Dad pulls off his show, ...

Now comes the problem. Dad cannot figure out how to close the window to lock the car. Since he has never driven the RX-7 and is generally switch-phobic, it does not even occur to him that the switch needs to be pulled upwards (in the direction that he wants the window to move).

So his moment of fame is followed by a moment of total embarassment, and probably for the first time in his life he starts reading a manual. His buddies watching...

He figured it out eventually, but I would not want this to happen with a timing belt warning. In fact, it happened when he drove my first 928. It was a major ordeal to get him to even stop the car for just a little red warning light...

 

Mike,

I think somebody gave you the wrong formula.

According to my experience, it should read...

Buddy+BigDate+BorrowingCar= Big Freakin' Mistake

Other formulaic outputs for same input include:
Big Urge to Kill (former) Buddy
Big Insurance Claim
Big Bruise from Kicking One's Own ****

Greg

 

The fact that you feel you have to, aint a good way to start a relationship.

Signed. Dr Phil



PS: make sure the passenger side seat recline buttons work up and of course down, forward and of course aft. You will need the room

 

NOBODY, and I do mean NOBODY, drives my 928 but me.......................and no standup guy would ever ask..................you need a new friend man...........

 

After further review ------ Absolutely NOT.

 

I feel guilty about it but I wouldn't let anyone use my Shark. Any other car - no problem. What happens if something breaks? Will he pay for it and is he aware of what the cost can be?
I would say if you are like most of us and pretty **** about your car then your friend won't even understand a "little thing" to him may be huge to you.
If he's a good friend he will understand.

Show him the thread

 

About 6 weeks ago, I offered to let the 17 year old son of a buddy of mine take my Shark to his prom. He was so stunned, he thought I was kidding. He called back later that evening (prom was the next night) and asked if I was serious. I told him, yes, I was serious and he could take my car.

I had considered this for a month or so before I offered. This kid is a straight A student, 1 or 2 handicap on his HS golf team, really a great kid. The kind of kid you would want your daughter to meet.

We played golf the day of the prom, I let him drive me around town so I feel comfortable. He's a good driver. So he takes the Shark to the prom. I have his cell phone number, he has mine. I did warn him about the occasional stalling (due to a bad fuel pump relay, since fixed). Sure enough, he called to say the engine quit on the interstate. Anyway, it quickly restarted and the prom date went great. I got to drive his Jeep 4x4 Cherokee, six cylinder, 5 speed manual, square tires for the night.

Was he nervous. Sure. He knew this was my baby and I was letting him take if out of my site. He had been for a ride in the Shark through some back country roads with me last summer after a golf game, so he knew how she drove. I have now converted a 17 year-old kid to want to do well in school so he can buy a Porsche and be a customer of 928 Int'l, 928 Specialists and DEVEK.

So there you have it. I've done it. Should you? Under the circumstances you describe, NO FREAKING WAY.

 

Exactly. You don't need an excuse. Just tell him "Sorry, but no." He's got a plan B, I'm sure.
Two major things that you need to look at:
1. If the girl's going to be putty in hands because of the car he drives, a nice car isn't the only thing that will impress her. He should tell her that he plays bass guitar with Pearl Jam. That should do the trick as well.....and why not? It's also a lie, and he's clearly looking for a slam-bang.
2. Whenever anybody borrows anything from a neighbor, relative, buddy etc., the lender always needs to look at reciprocal value on the borrower's part. Look at the trouble Ned Flanders got in. Your buddy clearly doesn't have reciprocal value, or else he'd be using that object/money to impress her.
Also, your buddy clearly doesn't realize the value that some guys can place on objects....cars, especially. The tiniest scratch or ding that happens as a result of somebody's carelessness is devastating to some, right? A young girl with raging hormones and a few Margaritas can certainly cloud the importance of all of that. His task at the moment certainly won't be taking care of your car.
I have a buddy of 39 years who has a perfect '59 fuelie 'Vette, a Heritage Classic Harley, and a Model A sedan.....all absolutely mint, and all unique enough for me to have wanted to borrow them at one time or another. Have I ever asked? Absolutely not. Never will. These are his babies, and in his mind, nobody treats his stuff as well as he does. The value of our friendship is too great for me to risk him looking at a ding or dent - or worse, on one of his babies, and thinking of his a$$h01e buddy who borrowed it to impress a girl.

 

1. You're crazy Dude. No way.
2. JimD: In Wa State if you open the door for a female you shall get sued.
3. Shmurzik, if a girl doesn't love my car we will not get along.
4. Garth remind me never to drop in for a barbie

 

Dude,

Your car just suffered a mechanical failure. He can't borrow it because you need to do something to it. Your insurance was just cancelled. You need to use it to go out of town. You have a date with a real hottie and you need your car for the same reason he wants it.

Comprende? Bail.

 

I agree, you screwed up..........fix it................now.

bTW, think your friendship can withstand this?

http://www.wreckedexotics.com/928/928_042002_08.shtml

 

Tell him the truth - NOBODY borrows that car!

Or just say, "OOOOPS, my insurance won't cover you".

 

A couple of years ago some absolute genius posted on the RX-7 Forum the pics of his totaled low-mileage '95 twin turbo RX-7 (black on black R2 model, a sweet combo of which a mere 18 were imported for '95 - that car's final year stateside).

This Einstein had lent his finicky high-strung machine to a younger friend for a date. Before the date the equally brilliant borrower took a buddy out for some street racing. On a busy highway. In the rain. The poor car went though a guardrail and into some rocks. The dorks escaped with minor injuries, and then the insurance company tried to screw the owner over.

Lesson: know your borrower. The lender in that case admitted his younger friend was a notorious squirrel, and he then received 15 pages of Internet Flames - ranging from "You dumb@ss" to "I called your insurance company and told them you're scamming them".

So... is your friend the kind of fellow who believes burnouts are soul-cleansing and that racing anybody anytime is mandatory? Or is he a calm, cool driver who is aware of the fact that 97% of dates like to feel safe?

 

D
As much as I admire the creativity, do you guys realize that by contributing more good ideas, you're cutting down my chances of sucking Mike into a live trial of the 'limp' salad & chocolate brownies Then we'll never know if it works.

 

Actually I would and have offered fellow shark owners the use of one of my cars, but being that they are shark owners themselves means they know how to drive them and what pitfalls to watch out for.