PLEASE talk me out of selling my car!

[jess5engine]

An imminent purchase of a second home in expensive San Francisco has me thinking about selling the porsche. It is not a forced sale, but would make my finances more comfortable. I'm looking to this forum as some sort of support group because I am seriously on the fence on this issue.

The porsche is my only toy (albeit, an expensive one) in an otherwise fiscally responsible approach to life. I've only owned her for about six months and at the time of purchase I thought I would someday give her to one of my young children so they could have that "cool" car that I never had. However, with the real estate market the way it is in San Fran, if I play my cards right the three kids may all have Porsches someday.

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[Sonic dB]

Well...please dont take this as criticism....but if you can afford an expensive second home in SF...shouldnt you be able to afford a 3.2L as well? I mean...come on...how expensive is this car to maintain?

In other words...if you are sweating a relatively minor expense such as the Porsche, maybe you should reconsider purchasing this expensive second home. Most people who own two houses are able to own such luxury/hobby items. Do you absolutely need to purchase the second home?

[Larry Harris]

Buy the second home. What you can write off in interest will probably off-set the Porsche car maintenance.

[scooter911]

Sell the first house and when you buy the on in SF, buy a garage as well. One to house the pcar in !!! Come on. Get her introduced to the pcar andit's family. She adjust!

[konish]

Having just come from the San Diego real estate market...sell the car, there will be plenty of 3.2s left. Try back in a year or so, and you'll have another nice car, but a year in SF in the real estate market makes a HUGE difference! My house went from 321,000 to 421,000 in 18 months. If I would have waited even a week to purchase my home, I would not have had enough money to swing the deal. Besides, it'll give you a chance of not making the mistake of buying a 3.2 when you could have an SC...(ducking)

[Isabo]

If you can afford the second home the 911 should not be an issue. If it is it's a warning sign that you can't afford the house. Why worry about it? You can always sell it if your world crashes around your ears and you need the money. You can't drive a second home around a mountain road on an early spring morning.

[moazam]

As a fellow Bay Area dweller, I understand your plight. The main question that pops into my mind is "Where will you park the Porsche in San Francisco?"

If you have to parallel park the thing on the street everyday, maybe it is better to sell. And also, the home will go up but the car is gonna depreciate for a while.

It sounds like you can buy the house without selling the car...so I think it kinda depends on the parking/garage space then.

[adomakin]

DONT SELL THE CAR!!!

Move to sanfran and see how you get on, moazam has got a point, but when my RSR replica is finished it will be living outside with all the other lesser vehicles(!) I'll be insured so.....

DONT SELL THE CAR!

[Victor]

Some thoughts in no particular order:

It's just a car.

3.2's grow on trees. You will be able to find another one for less money at a later stage should you feel the urge.

By the time your kids are old enough to drive it - chances are they will not think a ~30 year old smokey car is cool. (unless they dig the whole Uncle Buck thing)

If a car (ANY car) places financial stress on the family - f*ck it off ASAP no matter what it is - the pain will only be tempory.

Feel free to disagree. These are just some things going through my own head after 20 odd beers.

[sundaypunch]

Originally posted by jess5engine
However, with the real estate market the way it is in San Fran, if I play my cards right the three kids may all have Porsches someday.

You have pretty much answered your own question.

It would be different if you had purchased the car new or it belonged to your dad or something.

[konish]

jess5engine,
I know where you are coming from. In order to buy my house in SD, I had to EMPTY the old savings account...bank would only loan up to $300,000 (structured like a VA..but not exactly, go figure), so for the rest plus closing, I had to shell out about $30,000. Had I had a toy Porsche then, that sucker would have been gone, gone, gone. It's not that the monthly $$$ was an issue, it was the fact that I only had cobwebs left in savings. I like to have a reserve in the bank...liquid and quick if I need it. The situation was fairly uncomfortable for me for about 6 months to be without it. The guys on here that assume since you are buying a second home in SF suggests that you should easily be able to afford a Porsche may not have all the info...not saying you can't afford one, just choose not to concentrate on the car at this point money-wise. Its almost the same argument I hear form people about dealer maintenance suggesting that if you can afford to drive a Porsche, the dealer costs shouldn't bother you...bull. Remember too that the home is an investment in SF...not necessarily a luxury item the Porsche is not. I'd think that if you had something REALLY rare you may reconsider and see how things go before the sale, but a 3.2 coupe? Really I have no room to talk (I own an SC), but if I did have to give up the car then I'm almost certain I can find as good or better car to replace it with.
R/
Dustin

[Chris Lovell]

In my case, the value of the 911 in the garage feels better than a small slug of cash in the bank. If you don't absolutely need the cash, keep the car. You know this car and love it. That means something.
My .02.

[Ho Hum 74]

You know what gets me about this post (and of course I was stupid enough to open it) is that a guy asks a question without giving all the info necessary to reach a viable conclusion. Who knows why he needs the 2nd house, what the objectives are, what cash reserves he has, what cash he needs for the down-payment, what cash flow he generates to service these loans, what his spending habits are, if the car has an outstanding balance, etc. etc. etc...

Are you asking us a financial question or a question about passion? If it's the latter, then the question is rhetorical. If not, then please supply all the data.

Tristan

[etip]

It's just a car. Investments in realestate, esp San Fran are a gold mine. Make the investment, then if you need a P car, take out a home equity loan and buy one. Keep in mind, the house will make money for you, the car will take money from you.

[Sonic dB]

3.2's grow on trees.

Maybe....but your car, is your car. And...there isnt another one exactly like it. The two snowflakes theory. If you love it, you wont sell it. Would you sell your wife?

ok bad analogy...

[svandamme]

rent out the second home in times you're not using it??

[Schrup]

Keep the car, sell the home & move to Nebraska. Your kids will love that.

[svandamme]

Originally posted by Sonic dB
Maybe....but your car, is your car. And...there isnt another one exactly like it. The two snowflakes theory. If you love it, you wont sell it. Would you sell your wife?

ok bad analogy...

not really, ask any arabiac

[stefang]

Keep it. The fun you have owning it will make you forget that the financial situation is uncomfortable. You can always sell it later if you need to.

Stef

[howiee]

Keep it!!!!!!

If you sell it you'll never see anouther one for a long time.
With a new house comes new furniture, paint curtains, Pool etc. etc. etc. The list never ends.

Please keep it, you'll thank yourself later.