Ok...doing some soul searching now....
08-13-2007, 05:09 PM
#1
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Ok...doing some soul searching now....
Not exactly having buyers remorse....but I kinda all the sudden have the means to buy a 911 Carrera. A beautiful mint specimen is local at Fred Baker's and my problem is the fact that my stoopid Bimmer is 2 months old and I will get hosed on the trade in. I could handle a few thousand for this little upgrade, but I am not prepared to lose 8K+ in 2 months time! But my heart is telling me to do this! I will probably not do the deal unless I can get this down to a manageable 3K loss. I figure its the price I pay for my little treat. Needless to say, I've been missing the HP a LOT for the last two months! The fuel bill.....awesome....the power....a little wimpy. Now I can't do the awesome power merges onto the onramp....I have to actually plan my moves in advance in traffic! I know...cry me a river! I'm driving a nice car and I'm crying over it! : -(
08-13-2007, 07:03 PM
#3
AudiWorld Super User
This is my thoughts
I see a PERFECT 01 S8 with 63K miles that is about 2-3K over priced. I want it....but I am trying not to let it get the best of me.
If I bought it for 24K, it would be worth 21K when I drive it off the lot......
I guess reading your story makes it easier to pass up....but it is a perfect speciman.....and my car is so nice, I can wait.
If I bought it for 24K, it would be worth 21K when I drive it off the lot......
I guess reading your story makes it easier to pass up....but it is a perfect speciman.....and my car is so nice, I can wait.
08-13-2007, 07:06 PM
#4
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8 large is a lot of money. This is where I apply the 95% rule.
I just went through my own version of this just a few days ago. I write books for a living and one of the fun things about this, after you've been doing it a while, is that every so often an unexpectedly large check comes in the mail. I get royalties for each book twice a year, but the foreign royalties have odd schedules, and it seems that every few years all the people in Italy or Korea decide to read one of my books at once.
So this check comes, and I start having the Ibis White RS4 / Milltek exhaust / Stasis suspension / Stratmosphere short shifter / new sway bars / suede wheel & shifter conversation with myself. Drooling slightly, panting over some good audio / video of the RS4 on their forum.
Then the 95% rule starts talking to me (did my dad slip me a pill when I was a kid, or what?): My A8 is faster than 94% of everything on the road (especially on a trip like Boulder - San Francisco, which is what matters to me more than running 11's); it's prettier than 98% of all cars; it's safer than 99.9% of all cars. Actually, if you weigh all that, it's a 97 or 98 percenter, not a 95 percenter.
And it's paid for. And I've sorted it out. Everything works and looks good and goes good and stops good.
Yeah, my buddy with the Daytona Grey RS4 can give me a good dusting off going up Sunshine Canyon. But he's one of few, and how much would I be willing to give up to get from 97% to 100%?
Not $70K, I decided (once again! The A8 makes this easier than any car I've ever owned). I can bank that, and come Christmas, when my daughter has been at college for four months, I can rent a nice house I know about on Islamorada that comes with a tight old Hatteras and take her and her school pals out for long days of fishing in the morning, eating grouper for breakfast on the boat, diving reefs all day -- a fleet of six foot barracudas hanging just off a reef in the Gulfstream will bug out the eyes behind the mask of a teenage diver, or me -- fishing in the evening, cooking fresh fish again for dinner. And I can take a certain someone else lingerie shopping, and send my folks on a trip they wouldn't take otherwise, children of the Depression that they are.
A little moderation, a little compromise -- not always such a bad thing. Close one door, others open. Sometimes Mary Ann satisfies more over time than Ginger.
That's the skinny from a 48 year old geezer. (Who, let's be honest, might be eyeballing the 802 bhp Sportec 911 that's on the cover of the new Excellence, and thinking, "Just three or four more checks like this one...")
Oh, yeah: $8K will get you a wingsuit and all the jumps you need to learn how to fly it. You might meet someone fun.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/84266/rodeo.jpg">
So this check comes, and I start having the Ibis White RS4 / Milltek exhaust / Stasis suspension / Stratmosphere short shifter / new sway bars / suede wheel & shifter conversation with myself. Drooling slightly, panting over some good audio / video of the RS4 on their forum.
Then the 95% rule starts talking to me (did my dad slip me a pill when I was a kid, or what?): My A8 is faster than 94% of everything on the road (especially on a trip like Boulder - San Francisco, which is what matters to me more than running 11's); it's prettier than 98% of all cars; it's safer than 99.9% of all cars. Actually, if you weigh all that, it's a 97 or 98 percenter, not a 95 percenter.
And it's paid for. And I've sorted it out. Everything works and looks good and goes good and stops good.
Yeah, my buddy with the Daytona Grey RS4 can give me a good dusting off going up Sunshine Canyon. But he's one of few, and how much would I be willing to give up to get from 97% to 100%?
Not $70K, I decided (once again! The A8 makes this easier than any car I've ever owned). I can bank that, and come Christmas, when my daughter has been at college for four months, I can rent a nice house I know about on Islamorada that comes with a tight old Hatteras and take her and her school pals out for long days of fishing in the morning, eating grouper for breakfast on the boat, diving reefs all day -- a fleet of six foot barracudas hanging just off a reef in the Gulfstream will bug out the eyes behind the mask of a teenage diver, or me -- fishing in the evening, cooking fresh fish again for dinner. And I can take a certain someone else lingerie shopping, and send my folks on a trip they wouldn't take otherwise, children of the Depression that they are.
A little moderation, a little compromise -- not always such a bad thing. Close one door, others open. Sometimes Mary Ann satisfies more over time than Ginger.
That's the skinny from a 48 year old geezer. (Who, let's be honest, might be eyeballing the 802 bhp Sportec 911 that's on the cover of the new Excellence, and thinking, "Just three or four more checks like this one...")
Oh, yeah: $8K will get you a wingsuit and all the jumps you need to learn how to fly it. You might meet someone fun.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/84266/rodeo.jpg">
08-14-2007, 04:50 AM
#7
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A great many of the Mary Anns have a Ginger hidden inside. The inverse is rarely true.
One of the disadvantages of age is that you have to start wearing spectacles. One of the advantages is that you can spot the Ginger inside a Mary Ann from a hundred paces.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/84266/mvz0557.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/84266/mvz0557.jpg">
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08-14-2007, 04:58 AM
#8
AudiWorld Super User
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Another factor is this...besides the fiscal analysis of this deal.
Its surprising to hear my old man even agree with me with such fiscal recklessness! (he's the ultimate calculated financial freak! better for me to inherit...but I urge him to treat himself more often!) But he's told me that I've got a window of a certain many years before wife, kids, etc....so to embrace the fun years as much as one can!
I'm a young single bachelor. I've just recently been given a huge promotion. I've always done pretty well, but this is a huge jump for me. I've worked my *** off for the last 5 years. I've had some pretty rough times. I logged 100K miles on a tired A8....doing a lot of knuckle bruising in those 3 years I've had it. My consultancy is picking up business again. I work a lot, but when I get a chance to play....I go all out. My rationale is the fact that everytime I get in a car...it has to be fun...whether its going to work or not. I've dreamed about a 911 since I was a kid. (I had a 993 Turbo model and posters...so that may put my age in range!) Of course there were Ferraris and Lamborghinis....but I am in product development...not Investment Banking! So 911 is a very real option.
So how many of you were as close as a signature to achieving a childhood dream with out a huge cost (money, responsibility)? Money only in the means of losing some.....can always make more. That is my rationale....of course, I'm making a big deal out of something stupidly materialistic....but it would be the same achievement for me as someone who said they wanted to be an Astronaut at age 8 and achieving it in their adult life.
I'm a young single bachelor. I've just recently been given a huge promotion. I've always done pretty well, but this is a huge jump for me. I've worked my *** off for the last 5 years. I've had some pretty rough times. I logged 100K miles on a tired A8....doing a lot of knuckle bruising in those 3 years I've had it. My consultancy is picking up business again. I work a lot, but when I get a chance to play....I go all out. My rationale is the fact that everytime I get in a car...it has to be fun...whether its going to work or not. I've dreamed about a 911 since I was a kid. (I had a 993 Turbo model and posters...so that may put my age in range!) Of course there were Ferraris and Lamborghinis....but I am in product development...not Investment Banking! So 911 is a very real option.
So how many of you were as close as a signature to achieving a childhood dream with out a huge cost (money, responsibility)? Money only in the means of losing some.....can always make more. That is my rationale....of course, I'm making a big deal out of something stupidly materialistic....but it would be the same achievement for me as someone who said they wanted to be an Astronaut at age 8 and achieving it in their adult life.
08-14-2007, 05:08 AM
#9
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A 911 is a much different car than your D2 or 5-series, so make sure you evaluate trade-offs
you'll be going from a pair of 4-door luxury sport sedans to a 2-seat sports car. Is it a C4? Cab? Do you drive in snowy winters?
Most 911 owners use the P-car as a 2nd vehicle and treat it differently; they don't park it in parking lots subject to door dings, they don't run them thru car washes, etc.
You also didn't mention which vintage- the 996's are very reasonably priced, but it you buy '99-'01 (pre-facelift) there are known issues that were taken care of in the '02s and beyond.
That all said, the driving experience itself is very good and they are very suitable daily drivers that will bring you years of enjoyment.
Good luck w/ your decision!
Most 911 owners use the P-car as a 2nd vehicle and treat it differently; they don't park it in parking lots subject to door dings, they don't run them thru car washes, etc.
You also didn't mention which vintage- the 996's are very reasonably priced, but it you buy '99-'01 (pre-facelift) there are known issues that were taken care of in the '02s and beyond.
That all said, the driving experience itself is very good and they are very suitable daily drivers that will bring you years of enjoyment.
Good luck w/ your decision!
08-14-2007, 05:28 AM
#10
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Buying a 911 is an emotional decision backed up by rationale...
You're young, have the money/timing and a bright future ahead of you that promises success. Follow your dad's advice and get it before a wife and kids intervene w/ your plans (trust me- they will).
So go ahead and treat yourself now while you can. You can always save up a couple extra beans w/ your new promotion and buy PaulW's D2 as a second car for less than $10k. That's a lotta car for the money and will give you the best of both worlds.
So go ahead and treat yourself now while you can. You can always save up a couple extra beans w/ your new promotion and buy PaulW's D2 as a second car for less than $10k. That's a lotta car for the money and will give you the best of both worlds.