What is your philosophy on buying and keeping cars?
02-07-2018, 11:01 AM
#1
Race Director
Thread Starter
What is your philosophy on buying and keeping cars?
After reading this forum for a few years I see very different approaches that people take to buying and keeping their cars. Some tend to buy them, then drive them very little, before selling them and waiting for the next one to buy. On the other end of the spectrum would be someone like myself. I buy my cars for the long-term, with no exit strategy in place. In the case of my GT3, I just drive it, occassionally track it, and have mod plans down the road to keep the car exciting, and new. To me, the joy of having a car like this is partaking in the journey with it. It’s the 10-20 year plan (most likely forever) not the 1-2 year plan. I like working on it, washing it, modding it, driving it, tracking it, hanging out with fellow enthusiasts and talking about it, or reading about it here. Obviously my approach involves trade-offs, as i am not buying the latest and greatest every year or two. But i do get to drive it often without obsessing over the odometer. And it is full-time ownership, not part-time, waiting for the next car to be announced, ordered, and delivered. And i do get to have a story with it. And lots of memories. I think those things matter. I see videos of guys who have had their 911 for 20-30 years, and maybe they are doing mods, or refreshing the engine. The car is part of their life. It is part of their story. That’s me. This GT3 was my first 911, and it might very well be my last, unless i can buy an RS 4.0 or 930 Turbo one day. But even if i do add another 911 down the road, this car stays.
There is no right or wrong way, as it all comes down to personal choice. What is your philosophy? Are you a 1-2 year ownership guy? Are you the type who keeps your cars forever? Or are you just waiting for the right one to come along to transition from the 1-2 year guy to the forever guy?
There is no right or wrong way, as it all comes down to personal choice. What is your philosophy? Are you a 1-2 year ownership guy? Are you the type who keeps your cars forever? Or are you just waiting for the right one to come along to transition from the 1-2 year guy to the forever guy?
02-07-2018, 11:07 AM
#2
Personally I refuse to buy a car that I can't drive MOST days out of the week. I usually don't keep my cars more than two years max with a couple notable exceptions and the gt3 may be one of them.
I put a lot of miles on my cars and really learn the car and every nuance, at at least I try. I don't believe you can know and judge a car with less than 5000 miles, personally. Of course there are the super geniuses amongst us and the race car drivers but I am not one of them.
Tracking for sports cars is a must as well, at least 2-3 sessions to learn and test your limits on this car.
I also never buy a car that I can't afford to lose ALL of the value on, because otherwise I get stressed about scratches, mileage, resale. And I refuse to think about those things.
My way isn't the right or only way, and I don't like high horse individuals who insist it's one way or the other. However, it does make me exceedingly happy to see these cars get driven.
Especially since in the end, it's still a mass produced 911 made on the same line as all the others and slapped together in a few hours.
Good question, Rob.
I put a lot of miles on my cars and really learn the car and every nuance, at at least I try. I don't believe you can know and judge a car with less than 5000 miles, personally. Of course there are the super geniuses amongst us and the race car drivers but I am not one of them.
Tracking for sports cars is a must as well, at least 2-3 sessions to learn and test your limits on this car.
I also never buy a car that I can't afford to lose ALL of the value on, because otherwise I get stressed about scratches, mileage, resale. And I refuse to think about those things.
My way isn't the right or only way, and I don't like high horse individuals who insist it's one way or the other. However, it does make me exceedingly happy to see these cars get driven.
Especially since in the end, it's still a mass produced 911 made on the same line as all the others and slapped together in a few hours.
Good question, Rob.
02-07-2018, 11:11 AM
#3
Rennlist Member
The fun of car ownership for me is deciding what to buy, ordering it and enjoying taking delivery. I do not have any attachment to the car. It is a thing to be used and if something better comes along I will replace it.
02-07-2018, 11:21 AM
#4
Rennlist Member
i´m in my thirties. married. kid(s).
have to hunt cars instead of girls.
if i take my last 20 cars. the average is around 1 year of ownership. but some i do own already 5 years. some i kicked out 1 month after buying it.
back in my twenties it was impossible to test drive one for a day or two. so i had to buy everything to get to know it.
but each one got a couple of thousand km on it.
have to hunt cars instead of girls.
if i take my last 20 cars. the average is around 1 year of ownership. but some i do own already 5 years. some i kicked out 1 month after buying it.
back in my twenties it was impossible to test drive one for a day or two. so i had to buy everything to get to know it.
but each one got a couple of thousand km on it.
02-07-2018, 11:24 AM
#5
991.1 GTS and incoming .2GT3
no plan on selling, ever
I like to keep my 911s and hope to pass them down to my kids, im weird like that as I have 0 interest in F cars, Macs, lambos, etc etc etc
no plan on selling, ever
I like to keep my 911s and hope to pass them down to my kids, im weird like that as I have 0 interest in F cars, Macs, lambos, etc etc etc
02-07-2018, 01:22 PM
#7
When I was younger, cars were always short term. Usually because they involved buying cheap, fixing up, using and selling on for a small profit or at least before losing money. Not as a business, just as a way of being able to afford better cars. Over the years, as the quality of my cars has improved, I have kept them for progressively longer periods.
991.2 GT3 is my second 911, first was a 997.2 turbo (bought used) in atlas grey with a lovely terracotta interior. I have no plans to sell either 911. That day may come but I enjoy driving both so much, selling or trading is not on my radar at all. I do not worry about mileage or condition, they are and will be very well cared for but they are also to be used and enjoyed and I am ok with them not looking brand new, years down the line. I guess my approach may appear to have changed over time but fundamentally it has always been to maximise value, to me. These cars have so much to give, I look forward to spending a lot more time with them.
991.2 GT3 is my second 911, first was a 997.2 turbo (bought used) in atlas grey with a lovely terracotta interior. I have no plans to sell either 911. That day may come but I enjoy driving both so much, selling or trading is not on my radar at all. I do not worry about mileage or condition, they are and will be very well cared for but they are also to be used and enjoyed and I am ok with them not looking brand new, years down the line. I guess my approach may appear to have changed over time but fundamentally it has always been to maximise value, to me. These cars have so much to give, I look forward to spending a lot more time with them.
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02-07-2018, 03:19 PM
#9
Instructor
Whenever I purchase a new sports car I always stipulate to my wife that this will be last sports car I own. HA! Why? because I truly believe that it will satisfy my needs: speed, acceleration, handling, looks, etc...well into the future. I tend to keep my sports cars for 4-5 years which is a long time in the automotive world. However I invariably want to try something new and so the search begins. I always give the brand of car that I currently own an opportunity to earn my business, but I'm very open minded. In the case of cars," variety truly is the spice of life" and I do not have any emotional attachment to my cars. I don't mod my cars because I believe the package produced by the factory is the best final product. Now in your case Rob I can understand why you would want to add headers due to the power crippling effects of 5280 feet + on a normally aspirated engine. It'll help but it won't solve the problem. We lose about 15% at 5000 feet above sea level so that equates to about 403 hp and 280 ft lb at the crank. Don't even bother calculating power to the rear wheels, it'll make you cry. My philosophy as you know, get what you want without any regard to what others think.
02-07-2018, 03:37 PM
#10
I wish I had a philosophy, I just keep buying them and selling them months later. The longest I've owned a car is a year.
02-07-2018, 03:44 PM
#11
Rennlist Member
Keeping in mind I am an outlier in regards to how most folks deal with vehicle ownership (and all other inanimate physical possessions) ... not only because of my disposition but because of being blessed with the resources to do my thing.
First and foremost I am not a collector. In my human form, I recognize that the one thing I can never get more of is time, it is my most precious possession, and it might be taken away from me at any moment. Accordingly, I like all my vehicle experiences to be limited to the story arc beginning with desire, ownership, extracting the most I can out of the experience, and discard it as soon as it has been lived. The idea of repetition is anathema to my sensibilities and perceived as time wasted not experiencing something new, something different. Some might refer to it as vehicular ADD, others as a calamitous search for never ending physical possessions to fill the soul crushing void within. Either way ... potato tomato.
So yes, five daily drivers in four years, almost twice as many sports/fun cars, four current cars including my GTI that I drive the most because it's not about what others see, and four Porsches and one AMG either on order or about to be ordered ... all of which will likely be held for less than a year and 1k miles, not because I'm speculating or flipping or gaming my cash flow, but simply because I will want to move on to experience different things in the limited amount of time I have left. Not that I don't recognize that the Porsche market enables me to have this approach with limited losses (at least for now), and I do appreciate that, but I do the same thing with other brands that are not as blessed, it's just how I am.
And then there's the watches ...
First and foremost I am not a collector. In my human form, I recognize that the one thing I can never get more of is time, it is my most precious possession, and it might be taken away from me at any moment. Accordingly, I like all my vehicle experiences to be limited to the story arc beginning with desire, ownership, extracting the most I can out of the experience, and discard it as soon as it has been lived. The idea of repetition is anathema to my sensibilities and perceived as time wasted not experiencing something new, something different. Some might refer to it as vehicular ADD, others as a calamitous search for never ending physical possessions to fill the soul crushing void within. Either way ... potato tomato.
So yes, five daily drivers in four years, almost twice as many sports/fun cars, four current cars including my GTI that I drive the most because it's not about what others see, and four Porsches and one AMG either on order or about to be ordered ... all of which will likely be held for less than a year and 1k miles, not because I'm speculating or flipping or gaming my cash flow, but simply because I will want to move on to experience different things in the limited amount of time I have left. Not that I don't recognize that the Porsche market enables me to have this approach with limited losses (at least for now), and I do appreciate that, but I do the same thing with other brands that are not as blessed, it's just how I am.
And then there's the watches ...
02-07-2018, 03:47 PM
#12
02-07-2018, 04:14 PM
#13
Rennlist Member
And it is full-time ownership, not part-time waiting for the next car to be announced, ordered, and delivered. And i do get to have a story with it. And lots of memories. I think those things matter. I see videos of guys who have had their 911 for 20-30 years, and maybe they are doing mods, or refreshing the engine. The car is part of their life. It is part of their story. That’s me.
02-07-2018, 04:24 PM
#14
Rennlist Member
I keep cars i like. I sell cars i don’t.
Only 3 have made it into keeper status. I shoulda kept my fj40 and s2k tho.
dailys are just appliances for me
wifes m235 is next to go. A m2, Macan, or cayman willmreplace it.
Only 3 have made it into keeper status. I shoulda kept my fj40 and s2k tho.
dailys are just appliances for me
wifes m235 is next to go. A m2, Macan, or cayman willmreplace it.
02-07-2018, 04:27 PM
#15
Instructor