For those of you following along at home, I've spent the majority of the winter fixing what ails my 1997 TT. I think I've gotten most of the work that doesn't involve pulling the engine done. When I started this work, it was really to get it ready to sell and move on.

I feel a little like I'm stuck at the moment, because the car has 39,500 miles on it. It seems that every 10k threshold you cross in mileage, the less valuable the car becomes. These cars hold their value extremely well, and that's a big bonus to me, but that also makes me feel a little like I'm keeping it nice for the next owner and that I can't drive it as much as I'd like.

With the exception of color (I'm not a red car kind of guy), this car is pretty much what I'd want out of a 993 TT. Factory hardback seats, painted body color, full carbon interior, Turbo S nose, Bilstein HD's and Euro springs, stock motor maintained by an **** retentive owner, blah blah blah

Is it dumb to maintain these cars like museum pieces? Should I find a ratty 996TT and drive the hell out of it knowing that it'll never be worth squat? The 993 is such an awesome car, but I just don't feel like I get the enjoyment out of it because I'm constantly worried about it's value. That's perhaps why I like working on it so much more than driving it...because I know that I'm doing more to increase it's value than hurt it.

Anybody got any thoughts/comments/insults/counsel?

 

Wrap it!

 

Just drive the damn thing! Don't think of it as an investment or "valuable". When its worth $250K, then worry about it. Who are you saving it for?

 

Do you need to worry about the value? In other words, do you need it to be worth "X" when you sell it? Was your plan all along to sell it after a certain amount of time?

If you plan on selling it but not necessarily now, and you can afford to take the next hit in depreciation, drive it. Regardless, you are accurate when you say they hold value very well, so IMHO, I'd drive the heck out of it knowing that it will still fare better than most in depreciation. Also, GR/black will always be highly desirable.

I bought mine with 19,xxx miles and am able to push aside thoughts of future value because I get so much more pleasure out of driving it than it costs me in depreciation.

 

drive it man.

You're paying for the enjoyment of driving a great car. there will always be another super low mile example that you can store away.

its only money

 

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum with mine. She has 53k miles and is a full on club racer with custom cage, motons etc. For me and my personality I can't imagine not driving my car and just leaving it in the garage for occasional drives. The smile it leaves on my face and enjoyment I get from driving/racing it far exceed any enjoyment the extra money could provide. I wouldn't dream of trading those experiences for some extra cash. But having said that, to each his own. There is no right or wrong answer.

 

drive it...

the lost value will be more than made up for with smiles and money saved on not having to take antidepressant/antihypertensive medication.

you can always buy someone else's garage queen later.

 

I can't relate to your state of mind since for me the only reason to own any car is to USE IT!

However, garage queens are the best values out there so I love people that don't use their cars. If the past owners knew what I do with their form garage queens they'd likely have a stroke and/or kill me

Yeah, drive it!

 

I guess that's why I bought one that was mechanically sound with 68k miles on it...I just drive it and don't care about the value per say. But I do understand where you are coming from in that when looking at the marketplace for these guys you can see the same car be 90K asking price or 50K asking price and the miles are really the only factor(condition/owner care can be very similar).

Plus you have cars with higher miles that have had the issues but have had everything fixed and then you have low mileage cars that may have more risk of major costs to the next owner as they still haven't gone thru the issues....geez I hope that made sense.

Anyway I'd say drive it...you'd hate to find out one day that causes you to regret not driving/appreciating something you have in your life...whether that be an automobile or anything.

Enjoy it...we are lucky to own IMO one of the greatest Porsches ever made.

Chad

 

I understand and appreciate your position. I have a 2010 GT3 with almost 11,000 miles that I'm going to sell and potential purchasers complain about so many miles in one year. Oh well. I buy cars to drive, enjoy looking at and then drive again. If they aren't supposed to acquire miles then why do they have those expendable things called tires? Drive it and enjoy the experience!

 

Buggar the garage queen mate. You bought the car because of how it stirs your soul when you drive it, correct? 39500 miles is hardly worn out either. Even if it had another 10K miles on it when you decide to sell it's not likely to be a deal breaker. A 15 year old car with sub 50K miles on is still a rare car.
I think a few of us have felt like you are right now, but for me something clicked one day and I just realised you live for the day.
Drive it mate. Drive it!

 

just buy a couple of more 993TT and spread the mileage over all three.... that should spread the feeling of guilt and hopefully then you'll be able to relax a little .... happy motoring... have fun or choose another hobby

 

I think part of the issue is that I suffer from AADD. (Automotive Attention Deficit Disorder). I typically never keep a sports car longer than 3 years, but like this car enough not to look.

I've never owned a Porsche that kept it's value this well (ever owned a Mercedes AMG? Talk about depreciating assets), so I partially don't know what to do with myself sometimes.

I figure I have an additional $10k of value I've added just in terms of catching up the maintenance, paint work, repairs, and general upkeep, so that should more than cover a few miles of fun.

Thanks for listening, and I'm happy you therapists are cheap

 

Well if you ever drove it in the rain or even through a puddle, I understand it's ruined anyway. So you may as well now just drive the p*ss out of it. After all ... it's just a car.

 

I honestly can't think of another car with a flatter depreciation curve than a 993 Turbo. I'm not sure how long you've owned it but I would ask yourself, "How much less is this worth now than when I bought it".

Also, how much less would it be worth at 50k miles as opposed to the 40k miles now and how long would it take you to put on those 10k miles? If you look at it in those terms I believe you'll see that the cost of ownership (barring maintenance) is pretty damn cheap. KEEP IT!!!