After 18 months I have some thoughts on 911 ownership. There are so many different types of people, needs and wants so this certainly only represents my perspective.

I purchased a pristine 2012.5 C2S Cab CPO with 2400 miles with 90% how I would spec it. GREAT deal, bought a car in winter that had been on the lot >60 days. Immediately added an exhaust, Clears, frunk liner, rennline grilles(not installed), Plenum(not installed) and some other minor things. The car was immediately paint corrected and wrapped almost entirely in Xpel. Again the car is a pristine low mileage car. It is detailed twice a month... this is therapeutic for me.

Here's the issue. I put almost 5K miles on it in a year as a second car used when I wasn't traveling for work - which was a lot. 300K miles a year on a plane ;a lot Needless to say I love it and love driving it. I've taken it to the mountains, to the beach and to the cigar spot on any nice day. The car is just so fun to drive and transforms my mood every time I get in. I wouldn't trade it for any exotic or otherwise.

Here comes the problem.... Not that I want to "beat on" a car... but I do want to beat on a car. Yet have it still pristine. I also love adding modifications to the car... I had a volvo once that was modded to the point that I should have just bought a ferrari; sadly. Tasteful but intentional mods. My car is essentially perfect now and I can't stop looking at 987s's in a manual and thinking about how cool a zippy little car like that would be.... full catless headers, coilovers, mild aero, Plenum+82mm throttle body, etc, etc, etc. If my 991 wasn't so nice - I'd likely be a bit more aggressive in tinkering with it. Certainly I'd drive it more and possibly in any weather. I seem to really be lusting after the 987.2 for a toy go cart driver. Also the 911 has too much pedigree to change too much IMHO.

I have friends who have purchased high mileage 911's and they seem to enjoy the ownership experience a lot and never contemplate the mileage and I'm like well... if I drive the Porsche there this weekend it is x percentage of the total miles on the car and do I really want to "waste" the miles for that? With a higher mileage car it doesn't really matter. With a car that has some love visible on her it matters less.

I LOVE my 991... yet I continue to lust for a 987 and sometimes a 944. As a car guy - I think I'll always have an eye on something else Maybe even a 996 to drive every day? No - that mid engine go cart experience, or the 944....

Other thoughts for anyone reading that's thinking about getting one is that there is significant markdown on a higher mileage 991. With proper maintenance it's a fine car and will last forever. I enjoy my car and do drive it, but I also like knowing that it's perfect and without blemish. OCD is uncomfortable at times. Seems like a few on here have more than one Porsche for this reason?

Likely this will sound like a rant to most... My 991 is the best car I've ever owned and I love driving and preserving her but sometimes wish I bought something a little less special/nice.

Anyone else hear these same voices?

 

R_Rated is ranting? No way...

I think the "itch" is due to being on car forums. My current plan (changes often) is to pick up a manual 996 as a track car when we finally make it to the 'burbs, and maybe upgrade to a newer 991 when my CPO expires.

 

haha - that's fair.

The Itch is also from a good friend trying to mod his cayman... modding is so much less and you can get a hell of a 987S for 30K! manual, 18way seats, Chrono, PSE and I'll do the rest aftermarket! 45K all in with mods, 50 tops and you have the perfect driver's car!

 

My brotha' from another motha', I feel your pain. I picked up a 987.2 Spyder last August. It seems to have cured the itch. For now...

DaveGee

 

Real world problems.

Drive the dam thing. You could be 6feet under tomorrow.

 

Same here..I have a perfect 991 gt3 that I dont drive much so I got this to scratch the mod itch

 

All I'll say is that I owned Corvettes for many years and wanted to preserve my last one because I wanted it to be as flawless as possible. I had it for eight years and only drove only 16k miles (bought it new) mainly because I picked it up two weeks before were expecting our first child (wound up with three kids!). But also partly because of the OCD reasons you mention above.

Along came the C7 Stingray, a much better car than my C6 in nearly every way. While seriously contemplating a new, third Corvette (after owing a C5 and a C6 over nearly 15 years), the pricing of a new loaded one started getting close to lightly used 991S prices. So I happily bought my first 991S, traded in my Vette, and began my love affair with Porsches (on my 2nd 991S and this one is a keeper!).

Although I had intended on keeping the Vette for many, many years (and I did keep it for eight years!) at some point, something better is going to come out that I would find desirable. So what did I do - I had kept my car pristine for the next owner. Sure, I got an outstanding price on my trade-in due to the miles, but it certainly also depreciated from the original price due to its age.

Never again. I am going to drive my cars and enjoy them! It's not a collectible - Porsche made a bunch of them - and it will depreciate no matter how many miles I do or do not put on it. One way I got over the OCD (and I am still pretty OCD about mine - I try to take VERY good care of it, park at the end of the parking lot, keep it clean and well maintained, etc.) is to buy a slightly used 911 in both cases, as you did.

I still only put about 5k miles a year on the 911's that I have had, but it is a far cry from the 2k a year before.

Drive your car and enjoy it!

 

WOW!!!!!!

 

Your 50th anniversary is GORGEOUS!!!

 

buying 2nd or 3rd car to preserve your miles on your pristine 991 will cost more than just driving it and not buying another car.

 

But different experiences. And the NARP syndrome. I think this is a case of wanting to have cake and eating it too!

 

Drive them. Wife drives her Cayman every day snow or shine since brand new in 2007 averaging 6000 miles/year. Until two years ago, when we moved on base and I walk to work every day, I drove my '88 911 every day averaging 8000 miles/year since I bought in 2005 with 67,000 miles. Now the clock is just under 150,000 miles and it still purrs. I'm out every weekend driving it and the 911-50. Proud of every rock chip, faded paint, preventative maintenance, oil change, etc. I'm on the Autobahn with both 911s and wind them up to top speed often. Despite all that, they still look and drive great and people compliment them all the time. Drive 'em like heck and squeeze every drop of enjoyment out of them. YOLO! You can always paint them and buy new parts. I have a persistent program of replacing parts in sections on the '88 911 and '08 Cayman. i do a section at a time to keep them looking great!

 

Drive it and enjoy it. Do the mods and don't worry about mileage or resale. The fact is it is a depreciating asset whether you drive it or store it in your garage. The dealers are up to their eyeballs in late model lease returns and trade-ins and are quoting way below what we think our cars are worth.

 

My view is that you should just drive them, while keeping them clean and maintained well. If you take care of a car, you can put lots of miles on one and still have it look near pristine. Color matters though IMO. If you're buying a driver, I'd buy a car that looks cleaner dirty and doesn't show scratches - white or light silver.

But if that's not your thing, just get two. One to really drive and one to keep as a garage queen you use sparingly.

 

As above. The 991 is certainly not a collectors car or appreciable asset. Buy it, drive it, sell it, repeat. We are lucky to be in our situation. Those who can buy several "toys", more power too you!