Carrera is gone....

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Well the day finally arrived when I let my beloved Carrera go. New owner is a virgin Porsche guy, very cool and I'm sure he'll be joining our NoVA clique. He drove her away tonight and I just returned from depositing the money. That car taught me more lessons than college - and cost me about what two yrs. of college did too. She's pretty well-sorted by now and tonight is someone else's baby. My 993 now knows she's got my undivided attention and with the cash I just got, she'll be getting some extra TLC now. I'm sure I'll be seeing my newest ex again soon, but I know she's in good hands and will soon become a serious track car. Mission accomplished.

smoak · smoak's Garage

Richard how did the buyer come to find you? And by the way, congtatulations and at the same time, sorry for your loss. I really wish I had just bypassed the Carrera sometimes and gone straight to the 993. Real air conditioning and a 3.6..... I can only hope for now.

jazzbass · 09-10-2003, 06:43 PM

Congrats, Richard. I know its a relief to have the car sold. I for one am impressed you sold the car given the current economy. For a while I had my Carrera for sale while I was contemplating buying a G50 car and despite my extreamly low price (so I thought) got no calls. None. And the G50 guys I was calling, basically had the same problem.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

Hey, now you can buy an SC. Come one...you know you want one. You need one.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I have no regrets, having gotten the Carrera before the 993. I knew nothing when I got the car. Now I know what I'm doing and am not intimidated by anything on these cars. I handed the new owner a very phat folder of receipts that totalled about $7k, most of which were parts I installed myself (and with lots of local Pelicanheads). Yeah, there were some tough lessons learned, but I enjoyed it. Autotrader is what sold my car for me. I was getting a call or email every day for the last 6 wks. One guy came to test drive (on a fun run of ours), one guy from NJ paid for a PPI and never called me back and the only other serious prospect was the eventual buyer. There are a lot of tire kickers out there. Several of the guys who called me had 924's and wanted to move up to a 911. Todd, I really would like to have an SC sometime. My 993 is as nice as they come and I never let her go. But I am positive I will add more Porsches to the collection. When I get a house with a Taj Garage, an SC or even older 911 will be mine.

scphelps1 · scphelps1's Garage

Congratulations, Richard! You're right, now you can focus all your attention on the 993, not that she's exactly been neglected. I saw your post recently on all the items you wanted to do; I had to laugh! I'm still having brake issues, but hope to be up there for the 28th run.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I probably can't make the fun run that day, as I have to take the lady to the airport that morning. But since the fun run starts near the airport, I may try to link up with the pack, once she's on the plane. Even if I can't make it, I may be represented, as the new owner of my Carrera will probably attend.

kstylianos · 09-11-2003, 07:04 AM

Congrats, Richard.......Sad to see it go, but I'm glad it went to a local guy.

BTW: I first met him to show him the car (when you were away). It was funny to see his face when he stopped by the garage (where I'm building the engine) and told him, 'yeah, the car should be ready in a few weeks'.

APKhaos · 09-11-2003, 09:15 AM

LOl Charlie - good one!
Richard, congrats on the sale. Your mission orders are to take the proceeds from the sale and apply them to the 993. As you know, a Pcar is not real until you have invested an additional 50% of the purchase price in upgrades/mods/tweaks.

I'm thinking suspension, 3.8 P&Cs, etc. Go for it!

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Oh Tony, don't I know it!

Luckily, I put my PhD (from Porsche School of Lessons Hard Learned) to use in shopping for the 993 and got a PERFECT one that even already had most of the mods I would have done anyway. So for now I've treated myself to Euro front and tail lenses, some more Kumhos and may get a strut brace. Down the line, once my front tires are gone, I'm getting MY02 wheels, Yoko ES100's and (when it needs it), I'll do the RS clutch and LWF. This will be a DIY job for all of us to enjoy. I don't plan on engine work. As I said, my first DE taught me once and for all that driver skill will always trump HP. So I need to do some more DE's. But maybe then I'll need PSS-9's, no?

targa911man · targa911man's Garage

Richard--

Congrats. But why did you unload the better car?

SRISER · 09-12-2003, 05:14 AM

Richard:

I actually was going to come look at that car when I was shopping for a 911. But the email you sent back with "did all the work myself" freaked the wife out...I tried to explain to no avail. We ended up buying from Craig Bitter in Vienna, VA. Nice little '88. Anyhow, congratulations. I knew that car would sell pretty quickly. Look forward to meeting you in person. Now, how about that NoVA funds distribution?

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Show this thread to your wife:

Outrageous fraud on G50 clutch job - long.

Then tell me that DIY work (with receipts for all parts and photographs of work in progress) is less reliable than shop receipts. I have plenty more stories along these lines. You can't trust anybody. I know I can trust myself.

SRISER · 09-12-2003, 06:03 AM

I don't think it is less reliable...just my wife thought so. Sometimes you just can't win...

I am currently trying to learn as much as I can since I would like to do the work myself to save money and KNOW that it was done by somebody I can trust...me. I am with you man. I hope you didn't take the last post as some kind of slam on you...that was NOT intended...really. Apologize if it was read as such.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

No offense taken at all. But I've learned this lesson more than once. With my 993 I got every receipt from day 1, including the 30k miles service done at a P-car dealership. Plenty of stuff on that bill was NEVER done. I know because I did it myself and saw stuff that had never been touched since it left the factory. I bled the clutch slave about 1500 miles after the 30k miles service was done. What came out of there looked like used motor oil - and it was originally ATE Gold! The tranny fill and drain plugs had never been touched by a wrench since they left the factory, but you can bet that was charged on the receipt from the dealer. Oh, I could go on. DIY is the only way to go. Especially with a Carrera - they're easy and fun to work on.

SRISER · 09-12-2003, 06:14 AM

Reserve the right to call and beg, plead, bribe you into helping!

911 · 09-12-2003, 06:33 AM

Richard,

I had thought long & hard about selling my Carrera after I got my 993. Somehow, I just can't seem to let it go. The Carrera runs perfectly and is such a joy to drive. Plus, with the soft market for our cars, it wouldn't be worth it at the moment. Believe it or not, my wife thinks I'm nuts if I were to sell it (talk about spousal support!).

So, for now I plan on having both of my 911s in the garage. One day I might decide to make the Carrera a dedicated track car, but that's definitely down the road (i.e maybe next life). Right now I'm karting since it's the most cost effective way to go racing.

Rich