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I let my close friends drive my cars. Luckily, I know they have the means to cover it. One of my friends did have a mishap with one another friends Mercedes once. It was all handled with insurance and a nice steak dinner.
I let a very long term friend mine drive mine the first week I had it
(he has a long history with manual trans cars and sport bikes )
I had to really encourage him to push the pedal and throw it into some corners to
'get the feel of it'
pretty sure he came away with a smile, though he's a Nissan GTR fan
another friend asked for it a 3 day weekend, for a getaway with his wife
....not exactly the type I'd loan a car too
an acquaintance at a BBQ who'd had more than a few drinks casually asked for the keys
'Yea', I said...'that's what we do..toss our keys to anybody'
I am particular as to who I let drive my 996. I won’t valet it. I have let a few friends drive it, but only if they know what they are doing. Those that tend to break everything they touch - no. Those that listen to my wishes about what I expect (don’t ride the clutch, don’t shift too fast, etc), yes.
It’s just a car, yes, but not really. A money shift in a regular car is $5k or less. A money shift in this car is $20k or less. Big difference.
I have hardcore car enthusiast friends that I would have no problem at all with them driving it. My 'regular' appliance car driving friends? Not so much.
In the last decade I've moved a couple of times and I actually bribe the enthusiast friends with breakfast or lunch to help me get cars to the new house.
Here are my buddies Darin and Ricky on the way from Ocean Beach to Bay Park with me following behind.
My wife drives the Porsche occasionally and enjoys it, even though she really does not like driving a stick. My oldest son loves the car and drives it whenever he is in town. A good friend who drives a Panamera and a Boxster has some miles in it too. It’s a car, and it is covered with insurance - I’m happy to let someone responsible drive it. My daughter wants me to re-train her on a stick so she can drive it and I’m fine with that. My car is not perfect - nice but it has a couple of small dings - so if something happens I’m not going to lose my mind. If friends and family enjoy it too, that is great.
Daryll
Ill let any of my friends that "make good decisions" drive my car. My bro-in-law id not one of them . I drive much harder then any of my friends anyways so if its gonna break its not gonna be their fault. The real question is why would anyone hand the keys to their sports car to me ???
I don't even think of accidents or getting the car dirty. I just freak out about the cold start procedures. These cars can not be beat on until they are warmed up. They can't be floored at 2000 RPM to get on the highway warm or cold. Once its warmed it up, take a spin, no problem. But that first is the part that makes me terrified. Any honda of chevy a 2-3K engine whatever. A 20K engine that can total a car if you don't know what you are doing, NO WAY. I know its not super expensive from a car perspective but there is way too much to lose for nothing to gain.
This is what I'm especially paranoid about when I leave my car at the mechanics and get it back with miles added. I can't help but wonder how hard they've revved the motor while it was cold. Even though I probably don't wanna know, I'm tempted to get one of those OBD tracking loggers that records vehicle data.
None of my friends and family WANT to drive the car - most folks don't drive manuals, and others (mistakenly) worry that I'll freak out if something happens to it. It's a car; things happen when you drive 'em.
At California Festival of Speed, I wanted my visually impaired nephew to get some seat time at the "taste of the AX" course, but I wasn't working that event and couldn't drive him myself. One of the AX instructors working that day took my car out for 15-20 minutes and had an absolute blast...and I got to post this photo for his Mom to find.
I don't have any issue allowing people I trust to drive the car - and frankly it's not the car I worry about. I always ensure that I don't hand it over to anyone whose youthful exuberance might overshadow their survival instincts - I am reluctant to provide someone I like with an instrument to inadvertently kill themselves or other people with. The 996 isn't exactly a loose cannon, but a few minutes at wreckedexotics.com provides plenty of evidence that 911's haven't become uncrashable just yet.
Honestly depends on the friend. Most of the people my age cant really drive stick so that rules out a lot of my friends, that being said I have taught quite a few of them. One of them in particular has worked on my car with me and vice versa, and I let him take my car out for a drive whenever we meet. At the end of the day if I feel that I trust them and know they aren't going to drive like a maniac, I let them. However, that's also because I don't fear running the miles up on my car. If you don't feel comfortable then you shouldn't let them drive. It is your P-car after all.
I don't have any issue allowing people I trust to drive the car - and frankly it's not the car I worry about. I always ensure that I don't hand it over to anyone whose youthful exuberance might overshadow their survival instincts
This, is what I'm mostly concerned about the most. Things can get hairy, mix that with a lack of driving experience and things can go wrong. The last thing I want is some one to get hurt.
i have let 2 friends drive my c4s, one tracks his manual cayman often so i wasnt concerned about his ability to handle the 911 properly, and the other i felt comfortable enough to let him take it for a quick spin, with me in the passenger seat. still working on teaching my wife the 6 speed before i let her take a shot with it.
I think it depends on the car. I just bought my 996c4 online and flew my parents from East Coast to West Coast to drive it home. It was wrecked (almost totaled) on the way home. No fault of theirs and they tracked the guy down. So it’s always a risk and I drive a friends 997 S often enough. But when another friend offered the keys to his beautiful 1972 911T, I had to decline. And when my dad’s 912e is fully restored I cannot imagine getting behind the wheel. Some cars just seem too hard to replace. I know they should be driven hard and enjoyed and maybe one day I will own one and be comfortable doing exactly that.
I'll let anyone drive it. I have even let people drive it on the track. Just a car. I find most people are more gentle with it because they are scared of what may happen, and they don't want to worry about fixing it.
I agree. I have let friends, my boss, and family members drive mine. If anything, they are more worried about breaking it. I always laugh and say "get on it", but they won't. I guess I should let my friends drive me around, lol. It's a car and I love it, but I don't see this car as my sole earthly treasure. But my wife isn't driving it, lol. Just kidding...…… I have good insurance for a reason.
I don't even think of accidents or getting the car dirty. I just freak out about the cold start procedures. These cars can not be beat on until they are warmed up. They can't be floored at 2000 RPM to get on the highway warm or cold. Once its warmed it up, take a spin, no problem. But that first is the part that makes me terrified. Any honda of chevy a 2-3K engine whatever. A 20K engine that can total a car if you don't know what you are doing, NO WAY. I know its not super expensive from a car perspective but there is way too much to lose for nothing to gain.
This. I let my friend drive it but he’s a very fastidious BMW owner (335i 6-spd). I’ll let my GF drive it but she’s clueless about cold start procedures on ANY vehicle... But she used to own an RX-7 and manual 320i. And, she currently drives my beater C70 6-spd when she’s in FL.
06-05-2019, 09:30 PM
One of my friends did have a mishap with one another friends Mercedes once. It was all handled with insurance and a nice steak dinner.
But she used to own an RX-7 and manual 320i. And, she currently drives my beater C70 6-spd when she’s in FL.