GBG

I use my TT for everything EXCEPT my 1x pr week 35 mile drive into the City (NYC) because I'm just too damn chicken to put in in a NYC garage and have it dinged, scratched, etc. Sure, I could slip the garage attendant $20 each trip, but that's still no guarantee of safety, and it gets kinda expensive given that the garage itslef (without tip) is about $30/day.

Anyone else have this same "problem"?

1AS

It's a car, not a kid. Drive it. I park mine anywhere. Sure, if there is an end spot, or one next to a pole, I take that. But otherwise I just ry to park my car to maximize the space from the other guy's door, and forget about it. If after a few years, you have a few dings, get them fixed. The paranoia about waht it does to resale is irrelevant. When you trade the car, they never know it was repaired.
I drive mine thru rain, sleet, snow, park in any lot, and drive anywhere. Last spring, I was rudely surprised when a woman in a Nissan slammed into my rear while I was stopped at a light. No damage. That risk is greater than the parking lot risk. AS

justinmm2

I can understand this. I mean, I drove my last car (996 C2) anywhere, in any condition.. I'd park in Georgetown, drive in snow, etc... But at the same time, NYC scares me. I will confess to caving and borrowing (get this) my mom's minivan for a trip up there once (I think my BMW was in the shop at the time). I didn't want to do it to the car. NYC is not normal wear and tear on a car, between parking and roads.. As it stands now, I think I'll avoid parking in Georgetown but if I need to cut through it, I need to cut through it... (DC has wretched roads!)

Sounds like you really want to do more 911 driving, though... No shame in that!

LT1

Dont do it! Manhattan will eat a car alive. Door dings, bumper nicks from parking too close to the wall/other cars, front spoiler scrapes, exhaust tip scrapes and curb rash will be an everyday occurence. Tipping an attendant will help keep your car up front in a good spot, but no one cares for that car like you and the attendant doesn't realize that resting an open door against a concrete pole as he enters/exit your car is harmful at all. Not to mention the roads (huge potholes) and other drivers (cabbies!!!) that you must battle just getting to/ from the garage. I understand that you want to experience your car as much as possible but is sitting in traffic and fretting over the above what you consider to be quality driving? Save it for the daily driver.

Last930

I make sure I go to a self-park garage in Chicago, then find a good spot. If I had to valet park I wouldn't take a P-car.

GBG

Thanks for the input guys. I really do want to have AS's mindset (i.e., drive it, stop babying it, and stop being so **** about it) but that carefree attitude doesn't come easy to me! Maybe I need therapy? My wife would certainly say so... on many issues.

Don't get me wrong, my car is not a garage queen, I drive it whenever I'm alone, with the wife, or with only one of my 4 kids (I'm tall, so no room behind driver's seat for a second kid in the back). But parking in public garages, particulalry the overpacked ones in NYC, is still one thing that urks me.

Alex-- thanks for the advice, I will work on it. For now, however, the other guys' responses have convinced me that the TT stays out of NYC unless it's a rare special occasion.

Quicksilver01

I have lived and worked in NYC for the past 20 years. I can honestly say with authority that no good can come from bringing your turbo to a NYC garage.
I've had my own reserved garage spot for years. I park, lock and cover my car and take the keys. Still, I have been dinged, dented and scratched, had a light bulb break on the roof, foot prints on the cover, etc....Nothing is more disgusting, however, than watching a garage attendant fire up a beautiful car that's been sitting for days and rev the hell out of a cold engine. They do it ALL the time. Then they chirp the wheels and floor it up the ramp. Or, they jockey it out of the way to move the car that was behind it. That lucky car gets revved one more time for good measure and abruptly shut off. It's even more pleasant to watch this event on a cold day. That way the engine oil is nice and thick.

Getting in and out of most NYC garages almost always results in scraping the front end especially with my X73. The avenues are full of potholes, divets, uneven manhole covers and construction plates. Even my BMW X5 gets the crap knocked out of it!

I leave my turbo in the Hamptons where it can relax and soak up rock chips.
I'll gladly take a rock chip over a pothole or a garage attendant any day.
Take the Metro-North.

GBG

Excellent response QS! Thanks so much, you've sealed it for me. I also have the x73suspension, so I would have the same issues.

My daily driver is also an X5 (sounds like we both spend too much money on cars ), which I like very much for an SUV, so I don't mind too much slummin' it in the daily driver (as opposed to the TT) to the office for the one day a week where I need a car after work.

Leaving it in the Hamptons means NO use on the weekends unless you're out there, which is a shame. While I can't offer you any garage space, you're welcome to leave it in my driveway so that it's just a 50 minute train ride away instead of 3 hours! GBG

Quicksilver01

Thanks for the offer! I grew up in Westchester and my folks still live there.
Luckily, we head "out east" almost every weekend (except the dead of winter).
I put 4000 miles on my car last year and only left the Hamptons once!
I hope to see some track time this year but "The Bridge" is now a golf course
which means I'll have to road trip it! Keeping it in the city would make my life easier, but the challenges I mentions earlier aren't worth it. Maybe with a stock suspension....

GBG

I guess your arrangement acts as an added incentive to head out East, and helps neutralize the effects of that that long haul Friday and Sunday nights.

We've spent the past 8 summers out there renting a house (not winters, though) and as much as I love it there, the drive to and from (and accompanying planning/obsessing over it) has beconme so consuming that we may take this summer off and just stay in Westchester. (4 young kids don't make the drive any easier).

Although 4000 mi/yr 'aint exactly anything to brag about, I'm glad to hear you get to drive your car. My offer stands if you ever change your mind-- always willing to help a fellow P Turbo owner, particulalry a Rennlister. GBG