some thoughts about mileage

qlander · 03-30-2006, 07:50 AM

As I wait for my gauges to be refaced and LED'd at NH speedometer I had an epiphany.

I just love driving my 88 Turbo Cab. I even drove it through our mild winter in NJ. Of course in the time since I've had the car I have logged more than 3k miles. This is in about 6 months. Not to bad but the mileage is getting up there.

Although I hope to keep my Porsche for a long time, I do worry about its value decreasing rapidly with increasing mileage. So where does this leave me?

Here is What happened:

I Sent the gauges out. Surprisingly the price quoted by NH speedometer rose by about $80.00 from the time I first spoke to them to the time they actually had their hands on the gauges. No big deal but interesting. Turn around time was said to be about two weeks. I called 4 days after sending them and it turned to three weeks turn around.

Came back from a week vacation ( in PR ) and as I passed my car in the garage I placed my hand on the rear spoiler. I hurt at not being able to jump in and drive, but did get a sense of inner peace since it was the only way to avoid racking up a few more hundred miles.

So there you go. The only way some of us can resist the temptation to always drive our p-cars is to tinker with them.

Next up, upgraded sound system. Since I have a cab I won't be tracking and don't need as much weight savings so here come the subs baby!

Some one should do an analysis of money spent on parts vs value saved on mileage. Not me, I suck at statistics.

I'll post pics in a couple of weeks when the gauges go in.

Q.

masraum · 03-30-2006, 07:58 AM

I think the best thing that you could do is stop driving it completely. That way you don't add any more miles and you keep it pristine for the next buyer if you ever sell it. That would really be best for you and the car. Yep, don't ever drive it again.

A second thought... Married fella's shouldn't have sex with their wives that way they can save them for the next guy.

Of course, I'd rather drive mine into the ground. I'd rather pay $50k for a car I love and put a half a million miles on it and only sell it for $100. I think I'd more than get my money's worth out of it that way. And if I had a virginal wife that looked like a supermodel. Yep, same thing.

To hell with the future value and the next guy. A car isn't an investment unless it's a real collector car. Cars are consumables.

Drive it, enjoy it!

hbkramer · 03-30-2006, 07:59 AM

Solution : add a longhood to the stable n spread the mileage over the group.!!

petrolblue83911 · 03-30-2006, 08:17 AM

My personal opinion is that, first off, what's the point of owning it of you aren't going to drive it?, besides that, not driving it kills these cars!!!, the way I see it, unless I became stupid rich and could buy all of my favorite cars, and keep them in a stocked garage, than the hell with it, drive it, enjoy it, that's the bueaty of 911's, the drive is where the fun is, I mean looking at it in your garage, what's the fun in that!-may as well just buy all the porsche books you can find, and look at the pictures!

-Besides I bet that if you don't drive it, you won't end up keeping it anyway, I know I wouldn't! My SC cosmetically is a 9.5, not a ding, paint is extremely nice, interior is more like an 8 or so, seats are a bit worn, but dash, glass, carpet are all perfect, I've got close to 150k on this car, and over the last year, the more I drive it, the better it runs, sounds, and feels!-I see the 911 as the car to use to avoid putting to many miles on the daily driver, -that's the car I don't want to depreciate to fast, since I end up selling/turning in the d-driver every 3-4 years, I suspect that most of us loose a whole lot more in depreciation when we sell our daily's than on our Porsches (maintance $ not included..)

ianc · 03-30-2006, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Married fella's shouldn't have sex with their wives that way they can save them for the next guy.

Roffle.

glander, drive the car. It's not a mutual fund.

ianc

Dueller · 03-30-2006, 09:10 AM

What is it...a $35K car max? So you run up another 120,000 miles on it. (At 6K miles a year, that'll take you 20 years). And you sell it then and it'll be worth what? $15K in todays dollars? So its cost you $1,000 a year + maintenance? Seems like a bargain in my book

Look at it another way...stop driving it except to keep the fluids circulating. Lock it away in a climate controlled vault. Hang onto it for 20 years. Whats's it gonna be worth in 20 years? 40? 50? Even if it doubles in value, you would be better off selling it now for $30K, putting the money in agressive mutual funds and you'd have $100-120K in 20 years.

YUP...watching those mutual funds grow stirs my soul...

Drive the damn thing...

qlander · 03-30-2006, 09:33 AM

Thanks guys. I feel much better now. My wife said the same thing. Just drive it. I will continue to do so and hopefully we'll have another mild winter this year.

Cheers,

Q.

moazam · moazam's Garage

I am by no means an expert, and my observation is from looking at about 8-10 cars at the most...

I've noticed the cars that don't get driven much, and get driven very 'softly' tend to have troubles and need rebuilds relatively soon.

The cars I've seen where the owners took care of them but still drove them and really used the rev range, those cars seem to keep doing really well even with very high miles on the engines. The worst are cars that sit for extended periods of time.

Of course, this could all be anecdotal, or at the very least a good excuse to make sure I drive my upcoming Porsche a lot.

Dueller · 03-30-2006, 09:47 AM

Good decision, glander...and sounds like your wife is a peach.

Personally, I get a chub when someone compliments my car and are amazed at how timeless the design/condition of a nearly 20 year old car with over 100K on the clock is.

An example in another motoring related genre: I ride motorcycles a lot (avg 20K miles between two different bikes). What kills me is the inevitable dentist or CPA who's paid the entry fee to the "club" with his Harley softail wearing the "ride to live, live to ride" tshirt and chaps. And you look at the odometer on his bike and its showing 2400 miles on his 4 year old bike. Errr, right....POSER!

porschenut · 03-30-2006, 10:47 AM

Get out and drive the snot out of that car! Drive it every day. When you're old and grey and lurching around with a walker, you'll look back and wish you had driven it instead of looked at it.

sand_man · 03-30-2006, 11:07 AM

DRIVE IT!!!!!!!!! I've become the pathetic poster child for what happens when you purchase a low mileage car that some @sshat decided to polish more than drive!!!! Needless to say at 42,000 miles I'm building one hell of an engine to replace the Exxon Valdez that was once a low mileage "cream-puff"! I know I sound like a broken record with this, but deciding to daily drive a car that was once in someone's collection is analogous to opening the mummy's tomb: as soon as light and air hit it, be prepared for the garage queen to show her age...REAL FAST!

Granted I'm speaking strictly from a mechanical sense, the good thing is that I still own a car with a perfect body, interior, undercarriage, etc. So I guess that's what i really paid the premium for.

kqw · 03-30-2006, 12:51 PM

What an amazing experiencing to drive a 911 for many many years. It's like putting on a glove that always fits perfectly.

My philosophy is and has always been to drive and experience the joy of driving a car that you like.

With my previous P-Cars, I drove them until they reached approximately 300K miles and had no reservations in selling them to a friend. They knew what they were getting as I always maintained my cars properly, no damage and car kept original with no engine mods.

In fact, every now and then I'd be asked: "Has the car reached the threshold to sell yet?"

Whenever I was ready, it was "first come first serve" and I never had to put an add in the paper or other periodicals.

Pic's below of current P-Car almost ready to reach the threshold...