A Tale of Three Porsches
01-01-2014, 09:52 PM
#1
A Tale of Three Porsches
Someone on this site provides a quote with every post to the effect that there is a fine line between a hobby and mental illness. Let me tell you a sad tale about how true this can be. In March of 2012 I purchased my first 911, a low mileage 2010 C4S in Meteor Gray on black full leather. It was loaded with pretty much everything I wanted but I bought almost by chance. I was early in my search for a 911 and found this car in Florida on the web. Unsure of the discounts available on these cars (and not being familiar at that time with Rennlist forums), I impulsively made what I thought was a very low offer about 12% below the asking price, just to see what the counter would be. To my considerable surprise, my offer was accepted. So, I bought a 911 sight-unseen on my first offer. Go figure. Here's the car.
01-01-2014, 10:00 PM
#3
Some of you may be able to relate to this, but I did not consult my wife before buying this car. Needless to say, she was a bit surprised, particularly since I had a perfectly good BMW335 coupe to drive. Easy for her to say, she was already driving a Boxster S. I wanted my own P car. The car arrived by closed transport about a week later. It had been described as "perfect" by the salesperson. Of course, it wasn't. It was in very good condition, but had a "rub" that was about 2 inches high and an inch wide on the rear bumper that had been touched up. Also, there were some bolster rubs on the driver's seat, and the clear bra had been poorly applied to the mirrors leaving several bubbles and wrinkles. So, I was not completely happy with it, even though it was a beautiful well equipped car. This is why you guys say, "Get a PPI first"! Still, that does not justify the strange sense of disappointment I felt that it was not "perfect" as promised. I also felt guilty about buying such an expensive car at the height of the great recession. Why? I don't know, but I felt that way. Has anyone else ever felt this?
01-01-2014, 10:06 PM
#4
Chapter 2
It seemed we could not have two sports cars and the BMW lease was about to expire. Not being made of money, I kept the car three months only, then traded it on a new Mercedes Benz E350 Coupe. Are you kidding me? This is where the insanity began. Here is the Benz:
It seemed we could not have two sports cars and the BMW lease was about to expire. Not being made of money, I kept the car three months only, then traded it on a new Mercedes Benz E350 Coupe. Are you kidding me? This is where the insanity began. Here is the Benz:
01-01-2014, 10:11 PM
#5
Has anyone ever done anything this dumb? Within a week I was regretting my decision big time. I soon found myself looking at 911 options on the web again, much to my wife's dismay. In particular I remembered a 911S I had found earlier in the year in a very unusual color that really attracted me. One thing I realized after I had the C4S was that, while I thought all 911s were beautiful, I preferred unusual colors. Meteor Gray is definitely not rare or unusual, although it's a very nice color and hides dirt very well.
01-01-2014, 10:23 PM
#6
Chapter 3
I obsessed all summer over a 2008 911 C2S I found at Euroclassics in Richmond in a color that seemed to be an interesting non-metallic blue in the photos they dealership provided. I went so far as to contact the dealership and learned that the 911 was a color I had never heard of, Murano Green. This led to a road trip to Richmond to check out the car. The color was much more green than I had expected, more of a teal color. Still, I was intrigued. On the test drive, I blew through a 90 degree left turn that led directly to another without properly applying the brakes. Not smart. The rear end let go, I over-corrected and the car wiggled again in the opposite direction. We very nearly ended up in the woods. PASM probably saved my butt. The salesperson's voice was two octave higher the rest of the way back to the dealership. I took this as a bad omen, and left without buying the car. One month later, I drove back and bought it after selling the Mercedes.
I obsessed all summer over a 2008 911 C2S I found at Euroclassics in Richmond in a color that seemed to be an interesting non-metallic blue in the photos they dealership provided. I went so far as to contact the dealership and learned that the 911 was a color I had never heard of, Murano Green. This led to a road trip to Richmond to check out the car. The color was much more green than I had expected, more of a teal color. Still, I was intrigued. On the test drive, I blew through a 90 degree left turn that led directly to another without properly applying the brakes. Not smart. The rear end let go, I over-corrected and the car wiggled again in the opposite direction. We very nearly ended up in the woods. PASM probably saved my butt. The salesperson's voice was two octave higher the rest of the way back to the dealership. I took this as a bad omen, and left without buying the car. One month later, I drove back and bought it after selling the Mercedes.
Last edited by Volnomad; 01-02-2014 at 12:03 AM.
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01-01-2014, 10:37 PM
#8
Chapter 4
I love that Murano Green 911. I even liked the exhaust note better than the 997.2 I had before (excepting sport exhaust of course). It was an odd color. People at Cars and Coffee either loved it or hated it, not much in between. But, then life threw me a curve. My wife changed jobs and took a new job in another city, necessitating selling our condo (and my secure parking space). I found myself driving my 911 on interstate highways back and forth to see my wife. And because I had sold my house as well and moved into an apartment, I no longer had a secure place to park the car. I put 12000 miles on it in one year, and despite a full clear shield, it was taking some hits on the highways. I worried about it not being secure constantly. To make a long story short, I sold the Murano Green 911 after a year of ownership, and leased another Mercedes. Ok, the first time was a big mistake, could happen to anyone, right? The second time, now that's pure foolishness, although at the time it seemed I had good reasons for getting rid of this car I loved. Two weeks later, I was already trying to find it, to buy it back.
I love that Murano Green 911. I even liked the exhaust note better than the 997.2 I had before (excepting sport exhaust of course). It was an odd color. People at Cars and Coffee either loved it or hated it, not much in between. But, then life threw me a curve. My wife changed jobs and took a new job in another city, necessitating selling our condo (and my secure parking space). I found myself driving my 911 on interstate highways back and forth to see my wife. And because I had sold my house as well and moved into an apartment, I no longer had a secure place to park the car. I put 12000 miles on it in one year, and despite a full clear shield, it was taking some hits on the highways. I worried about it not being secure constantly. To make a long story short, I sold the Murano Green 911 after a year of ownership, and leased another Mercedes. Ok, the first time was a big mistake, could happen to anyone, right? The second time, now that's pure foolishness, although at the time it seemed I had good reasons for getting rid of this car I loved. Two weeks later, I was already trying to find it, to buy it back.
Last edited by Volnomad; 01-01-2014 at 10:38 PM. Reason: typo
01-01-2014, 10:50 PM
#9
Chapter 5
With the help of my local P dealer, I learned that my car had been purchased at auction by Gaudin Porsche in Las Vegas. I found it on their website and much to my chagrin learned that they were asking almost as much for the car as I had paid for it more than a year earlier when it only had 8500 miles on the odometer, not 20k. I hesitated, because I thought they were asking too much for the car, and surely it would sit awhile like it had at Euroclassics the year before. The price would surely come down. But, after searching the web for a 911 in a color other than black, grey, silver, or white, I came up empty handed. I decided to bite the bullet, and get my unique car back. But, this is a sad tale, and of course the car sold almost immediately. Doh! Does anyone know who bought it??
With the help of my local P dealer, I learned that my car had been purchased at auction by Gaudin Porsche in Las Vegas. I found it on their website and much to my chagrin learned that they were asking almost as much for the car as I had paid for it more than a year earlier when it only had 8500 miles on the odometer, not 20k. I hesitated, because I thought they were asking too much for the car, and surely it would sit awhile like it had at Euroclassics the year before. The price would surely come down. But, after searching the web for a 911 in a color other than black, grey, silver, or white, I came up empty handed. I decided to bite the bullet, and get my unique car back. But, this is a sad tale, and of course the car sold almost immediately. Doh! Does anyone know who bought it??
01-01-2014, 10:59 PM
#10
Chapter 6
So, the Murano Green 911 was gone, hopefully to a good home with a secure garage and no need to beat it up on the interstate every week. I was miserable though. My wonderful wife came to the rescue, despite her concern that I was certifiably insane at this point. And, really, who could argue? She decided to sell her 2008 Boxster S, a great car that she loved and had driven trouble free for 5 years. She said she would drive the Benz until she was ready to buy another car more to her liking. Despite my madness and wretched judgment, I was being given a third chance. Who says there are no good women out there? I'm lucky to have one! After searching for about a month or so, I found an interesting option in Seattle. It was not what I set out looking for, being older and higher mileage. But, I loved the rare color and I'd never owned a Targa. So, it satisfied my need for something a bit different. We flew to Seattle and picked up the car at Barrier Porsche. Here are my first views of the car:
So, the Murano Green 911 was gone, hopefully to a good home with a secure garage and no need to beat it up on the interstate every week. I was miserable though. My wonderful wife came to the rescue, despite her concern that I was certifiably insane at this point. And, really, who could argue? She decided to sell her 2008 Boxster S, a great car that she loved and had driven trouble free for 5 years. She said she would drive the Benz until she was ready to buy another car more to her liking. Despite my madness and wretched judgment, I was being given a third chance. Who says there are no good women out there? I'm lucky to have one! After searching for about a month or so, I found an interesting option in Seattle. It was not what I set out looking for, being older and higher mileage. But, I loved the rare color and I'd never owned a Targa. So, it satisfied my need for something a bit different. We flew to Seattle and picked up the car at Barrier Porsche. Here are my first views of the car:
01-01-2014, 11:22 PM
#13
While this story is a strange and somewhat sad one, the epilogue was more upbeat. First, I ended up with a great car: 2007 Targa 4S in Nordic Gold on black full leather with Navigation, Sport Chrono, etc. with 28k miles and in excellent condition. After flying to Seattle to buy the car, my wife and I decided to do something a bit crazy (not surprising at this point in the tale, right?). We decided to drive it down the Pacific Coast Highway to LA and then all the way back across the country to the Carolinas. I'll post our travelogue with lots of photos, much like what David did on this forum for his cross-country trip in October, if anyone is interested. Thanks for reading.
01-02-2014, 12:04 AM
#14
Instructor
Not sure why I enjoyed this thread as much as I did. Kept checking every 15 minutes to see if you had added the next chapter. Maybe because it had the ups and downs, wins and losses, that make for a good story. Regardless, thanks for an hour or so of entertainment this evening. Enjoy your car in good health! 
Cheers!
Cheers!
