imagine how cheap life would be if you were not a car aficionado?

[vash]

you see them everyday. regular folks that simply drive some car as basic transportation from point a--->b. blissfully happy to be in some 90's chevy malibu, unwashed, cheap nameless tires from costco, regular oil changes from jiffy lube, 175,000 miles on the odo, no intentions of buying anything new until the car simply drops dead. these people wash cars with dishwashing soap, let it sun dry, put plain old tap water in the washer reservior.

my bro in law is like this...he couldnt identify a new car model to save his life. no car magazine subscription, no dedicated car wash bucket, no stockpiles of the latest synthetic oil. what happened to us? we drive a billion dollar money making machine, fueled by our car addiction.

sorry, i am bored today. i wonder where i got to the crossroad in life that made me a car lover. my parents were not, my sister pretends...my brother and i...we are both all in. i would be much richer financially, if i was a non-car freak.

(no disrespect for the chevy malibu lovers...not even sure if chevy had one in the 90's)

[HardDrive]

Met my wife. We see a GT3 going down the road, and I'm going crazy looking at it. She just sighs and says, "Its a car. You get in it, your drive." Then I sigh, and we forget the whole thing....until 4 minutes later when a 930 rounds the corner and.....

Guys that aren't into cars = at least 1-4% more gay.

For the record, if you happen to be gay, you are 1-4% straighter if your into cars. Its a scientific fact.

[pwd72s]

You know, I've also tried to figure that out myself... I remember as a grade school kid, a buddy & I would ride our bikes to main street to watch the cars drag the gut...passing on the movies.

[porsche4life]

My room mate is the guy vash describes. He has a gun habit that makes my car habit look cheap. I guess we all have our vices.

[BeyGon]

My wife says if she didn't have me she would be driving a Bentley. I do all the cooking.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

My room mate is the guy vash describes. He has a gun habit that makes my car habit look cheap. I guess we all have our vices.

I have a friend like that...licensed for full rock & roll...his "collection" is conservatively worth 1/2 million...all fully functional, all fired from time to time. Told me he goes through "about 30 pounds" of powder annually.

Cars? He couldn't care less.

[aigel]

Most people drive newer cars. Buy them new, sell them 3 years later and start over because they are scared of cars out of warranty or over 100k miles. They usually have a car note, always paying $400+ a month. They can not service their car if their life depended on it. These people spend as much money on cars as us regular Joe old Porsche owners. They have a lot less fun doing it.

Georg

[cantdrv55]

I have a friend/distant relative who has a budget set aside for gambling. He literally goes to an Indian casino or finds a poker game locally every month. Makes my car and bicycle habits seem cheap.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

My room mate is the guy vash describes. He has a gun habit that makes my car habit look cheap. I guess we all have our vices.

The guy renting out my house has an $8k mountain bike. Documented.

I agree tho, people wonder why we're car obsessed, I wonder how you could not be.

Then again, there's nothing grosser than a balding, old obviously single dude who has no wife or other life other than cars- everyone knows one.

Now, that is creepy. Cars are OK but you have to have other interests and for chrissake, please make sure the house at least looks like a normal person lives there.

Houses where the cars took over are creepy too.

My $.02

rjp

[Jim Bremner]

I'm sitting next to two bicycle frames and forks worth $6,500 each.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by aigel

Most people drive newer cars. Buy them new, sell them 3 years later and start over because they are scared of cars out of warranty or over 100k miles. They usually have a car note, always paying $400+ a month. They can not service their car if their life depended on it. These people spend as much money on cars as us regular Joe old Porsche owners. They have a lot less fun doing it.

Georg

My theory on this is to make only ONE payment...avoiding the interest...and believe me, "0% interest" isn't.

[rnln]

I have a friend who is not interested in anything. Of course he had a girlfriend, married her, and have kids. He does buy regular things such as cars, house, machine and I has needs but those are normal needs. He didn't like stereo like I did. He didn't like to modify japanese cars like I did when we were young. He likes Porsche if you give he one, but he doesn't even know what model it is if one pass by. There are times I wish I don't have hobies, not only to save $$ but also save a lot of time. Imagine if I can't have the car I like now, I think I will be very bored or maybe into something even worse. But oh well, this is how I am built.

Originally Posted by vash

you see them everyday. regular folks that simply drive some car as basic transportation from point a--->b. blissfully happy to be in some 90's chevy malibu, unwashed, cheap nameless tires from costco, regular oil changes from jiffy lube, 175,000 miles on the odo, no intentions of buying anything new until the car simply drops dead. these people wash cars with dishwashing soap, let it sun dry, put plain old tap water in the washer reservior.

my bro in law is like this...he couldnt identify a new car model to save his life. no car magazine subscription, no dedicated car wash bucket, no stockpiles of the latest synthetic oil. what happened to us? we drive a billion dollar money making machine, fueled by our car addiction.

sorry, i am bored today. i wonder where i got to the crossroad in life that made me a car lover. my parents were not, my sister pretends...my brother and i...we are both all in. i would be much richer financially, if i was a non-car freak.

(no disrespect for the chevy malibu lovers...not even sure if chevy had one in the 90's)

[look 171]

I am one of those guy Vash described. I wash the 930 once or twice a year, at least it is with car wash soap. Most of time, when I take it in for oil change or general maintain BS, It gets detail there if I can. I hate ******* washing cars especially the inside. I may have clean the inside once in 20 years of driving. It was my first clunker I think. The 930 doesn't get driven much since the kids came along. My S2000 is basically my daily driver along with some other larger vehicles. I couldn't tell you what size motor I have in my wife's Toyota van, or my SUV or trucks, or the different models for that matter. They go to the car wash when they get really dirty, or change oil when the light comes on. In my Land Cruiser, the oil gets change when every 4 months llike clock work. A gazillion miles on the odo with the faded paint on the hood and the roof, but it goes, and never a problem.

My other weekness used to be bicycles. I raced for many years, so any light and go fast items were a must. I was dumb enough to buy it and use it then pitch it in the corner after a season of racing. I try and sell it but its usually pennys on the dollar. I lost count how much and may never want to know how much actually. Thank goodness I stopped that but missed the competitive riding badly.

Now there's the semi production wood working machines and construction equip. I know its for the business, but I get carry away sometimes. No more spending, now the kids and vacation are getting most of my $.

[Laneco]

As the proud owner of 5 pretty darn nice bicycles, I can assure you that when it comes to anal-retentive about every gram of weight, every snick of the shifter, no car nut in the world can hold a candle to an avid cyclist! Gram to gram, I think competive (and those of us who DREAM of being competitive...) cyclists spend more for their equipment than any other sport on the planet.

Me? Car geek and a bike geek... I drool over a vintage lugged Bottecchia much as I lust for the rich, purposeful curves of a 930 quarter panel. I can ID just about any car on the planet with a glance. Can often nail the year or at least hit within 5 for less common cars. We were watching TV last night and a car came onto the screen - Steve says - "wow, what is that?"

Being the car-geek chick that I am, I said "oh, that's a Maserti Merak, it has a V-6 in it. Remember the V6 that was in the Citroen your Dad had in the shop? Same motor."

You know what the cool part is? Steve just accepts it as being 100% accurate. How freakin' great is that? Damn I married good!

angela

[legion]

Being without a Porsche for 11 months has made me feel rich!

[masraum]

No, not being a car guy wouldn't help me financially at all. I've got more than enough interests to go around. I've just learned to have interests without being able to spend much money on any of them. What I need is more of a one-track mind so I'd only have 1 interest.

[s_morrison57]

I might have more money but it would have probably gone somewhere else but life sure would have been boring with out all the neet cars over all the years

[daepp]

Honestly, since I got the Porsche sorted out, it has hardly cost me anything.

I too cannot understand how some people can be so oblivious of cars. I don't necessarily blame them, it's just that my gear-head fails to fathom their lack of lust for the 4 wheel form!

[speeder]

Interesting topic to me, I've spent a bit of time pondering this. Hobbies and interests can add a lot to life and they can also take a lot. Balance is the key but who has that?

My life has been ruled by a certain level of OCD and honestly, it's a mixed blessing. It has made me obsessively study things that interest me but they're not always the most important things to know, objectively speaking.

My Dad's next door neighbor and friend for 50 years is from a prominent, rich family that made it in the car dealer business of all things. He may have his other indulgences but he always drives the cheapest car sold at any given time. I'm not kidding, I think it's a Chevy Aveo or tiny Toyota right now. (Can't even look at it long enough to notice, it's that non-descript). In the past he had a Geo Metro. For some reason, he either hates cars or just thinks that they are a 100% waste of money. He's obviously not into cars at all and he grew up in a Chevy dealer w/ new 'vettes around when they were really cool cars.

There would be some freedom in not caring I suppose but he'll also never know the fun some of us have w/ cars and bikes. I guess the bottom line is always whether a hobby is adding more to your life than it's taking away in terms of time/money, which are the same thing unless you're absolutely loaded.

[t951]

Since we are talking about expensive hobbies and someone has already mentioned bicycles....

I have a question, if it is too far off scope let me know and I will move it...

Why the obsession with grams of weight on a bike? I get it if you are in 100% PERFECT physical condition, but if you are 1lb heavier than you could be than all of the obessesion and cost seems wasted.

I get that the bike is lighter and easier to move, but at some point the difference between what you had for breakfast and the weight of bike component seem silly.

For the record, I concede that there is clearly a law of diminishing returns in all hobbies. (Audio, cars, etc).

Thanks,
t.