Why I'm a nervous wreck when our 911's aren't in my garage or being driven by me.
 

First a bit of history.

Back in '81 I found out from watching it happen on TV that my '74 911 slid into a sinkhole in Winter Park Florida. It was at a shop getting a tune up at the time. $4500 dollars, a big crane and a new paint job later it was back home.

A few years later as I walked out of a movie theater with a date, I watched in horror as a guy in the parking lot casually backed out of his spot and into the back of my car. $1500 later it was again back home.

Okay, so tonight was flashback time although thankfully less dramatic.

We never take the 993 out to dinner just because, well by now you get the idea. But today we had new speakers installed and the wife wanted to drive it. Afterall, it's her car (or at least I have to let her believe it's hers).

So anyway, we go to our favorite restaurant which is located in a small plaza with a grocery store (and we all know that can never be good). She finds a spot up front at the end of a row with plenty of room. I wouldn't have parked that close but hey I'm paranoid and if I tell her that I'll only get the hairy eyeball and another reminder of my paranoia.

So we wind up waiting for a table outside with a nice view of our (er her) car. I still, almost unconsciously, scan the horizon for potential danger. She starts to give me that look. A couple of middle aged men come out of the grocery store and get in a nearby truck. My pulse rises but the trucks doors close without incident. Her look now takes on that "see Mr. Paranoid, all is well" look. As I start to settle down, we both look back to the car just in time to see the shopping cart moving slowly but inevitably on it's 15 foot journey with destiny and the side of MY F*****G car :eek:!

I'm sedated now and I think all is well but the car does not go out to dinner anymore!

So did it do any damage ?

I don't think so but I won't be sure until the AM.

This sounds like a Woody Allen movie...never take your car out of the garage!

Hey SoCal,

I showed my wife the picture. I thought seeing somone even more extreme than me would help; but it didn't. Have a great New Year!

SoCal,

Thats so awesome. I only wish I could baby my car that much but I have made quite an improvement to her from the night I first saw her.

Kilodawg,

I understand your paranoia. I have a scratch in my passenger door from some stupid person. I park with one side to a curb if at all possible and only park next to other German cars in the hopes they will have the respect for their car as I have for mine.

I think it's a little extreme I'm sorry to say. I fully understand your anxiety, but it is a means of transportation after all.

The key to these cars is that they need to be enjoyed. If you find yourself not driving the car (and hence not enjoying it) because you're afraid of some mishap, you might need to reexamine your attitude towards it. Things happen; stuff wears out, rocks jump up from the road and bite, 2x4's fall off trucks etc.

Still, it is after all just a car, albeit a very special one. I think you are denying yourself needlessly. If something happened to my car like that, I'd be disappointed, depressed, etc. but life goes on and things can be repaired.

Or, you could start your very own climate-controlled Porsche musem. ;)

ianc

I drove my '88 daily for almost 4 years and didn't have the problems that you've had. Yowza.

You know I appreciate that point of view but in my 33 years of Porsche ownership I've logged hundreds of thousands of miles and I've approached this from both sides. When I lived in Northern Jersey where winding roads in scenic countrside prevailed, driving was indeed the essence of Porsche enjoyment. However, for a long time now Florida has been home and driving down straight roads from traffic light to traffic light flat out sucks in any car.

There are other ways to enjoy these cars too and having, maintaining, pampering and driving them purely for pleasure on a nice suny day or to a race at Daytona or Sebring is about as good as it gets for me.

There was a time when my Porsche was "my means of transportation" I have other cars for that now. I start work on the climate controlled museum , in my case a new 3 car garage, next month SmileWavy

Oh... That is sad. Of course I'm unmarried, childless, etc. But still... What could be a better means of transpo than a Porsche?

I'd still rather be driving down a straight road from traffic light to traffic light in a Porsche than any other car!

ianc

Kilo,

Yes ,there is a fuzzy line between being AR and having a good sense of self preservation when it comes to our little treasures on wheels !
It's now 6:00 pm on New Years eve and I will be going out to a late night function.
However my car will be still locked safely in the garage as there are too many envious,stupid,careless or idiotic people about tonight.
As this is my only means of transport and my retirement present to myself at a future time,I dont want to risk anything happening = self preservation !
Fortunately,my destination is one I can catch a bus to but as I learnt from friends living in Sunnyvale SF,it is not always convenient for you all to just get on a bus/whatever.
If I can drive somewhere to assumed safe parking ,it's no problem.
AR ?? - not where Murphy's law is appliccable !!

Cheers + happy & safe New Year !!
Dennis. :)

Geez kilodawg, all the trauma you have been through :) To be honest, I'm even paranoid about driving my SC around town. Sometimes, I just get this feeling I shouldnt drive it. Too many stupid people.

Noah,

I have dated enough in an earlier life to realize that comparing 911's to women you date is to denigrate the marque. Show them fear No!, Never! but respect Yes!, Always! Your 911 is not a date, it's your soulmate!!!

ianc and clevy70911T,

If you want a fun car to drive from light to light in as well as for basic transportation and a bit more respect try driving one of these.:D


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1136034447.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1136034889.jpg


Happy New Year to all!

Oh man this is a greeaaat thread.

I'm as paranoid as the rest of you. I learned the proper art of Porsche parking from my father. Always park uphill from everything, never close to a tree, upwind from everything, diagonnally, within eyeball distance for quick observation, blah, blah.

I even have my three kids trained very, very well.

Recently my 7 year old boy, Spencer, had a new friend over to play at the house. Upon arrival the new friend was taken to the garage by Spencer. Spencer pointed at the cloaked, shrouded and diagonally parked 911 and told his friend, "Touch Daddy's Porsche ... " and with a quick motion Spencer drew and imaginary sword across his neck ".. and you're dead."

Ah, I can rest without reverberations of paranoia.

Consider Wellbutrin, Buspar, or maybe Zoloft.
:D

I'll tell you I love Zoloft. I've never tried it myself but after my wife did wow did it help her. If it wasn't for Zoloft I don't think she ever would have let me get another Porsche.....The three greatest inventions of the 20th century: the 911, Zoloft and the breast implant.:D

Nothing like reading this post to feel a bit better about my own...er..issues. The rain/snow mix over that last few month or so has left the 911 in the garage safely tucked under a nice car cover. I live 1/3 of a mile off the paved road so when the gravel road is mucky I can't bear to take her out. When I do it is a crawl for the 1/3 mile lest one little rock dare to take flight against that paint! Got my battery tender a couple days ago so I'm good to go for these necessary periods of hibernation. When I do get out I am also very careful about parking and for the most part won't even take the 911 if I know I have to leave it unattended for any length of time. I can't quite figure it out but 911s seem to have some sort of gravitational pull of their own when it comes to the clueless, no matter where I park the thing almost inevitably the biggest POS in the lot is parked close to me when I come back out. I'm fortunate to have a few other vehicles to take for daily/bad weather runabouts and commutes. Baby the car to the point where it isn't driven as much as it should be...yes...guilty as charged. That said, I'll gladly do the time...

kilodawg: DON'T LOOK at this video
 

Funny video (even a bit scary)

http://www.centraalbeheer.nl/cbi/cb/corporate/fun/commercial.jsp?commercial=boodschappen&bw=dsl&stop AtEnd=false&linkAtEnd=&linkTarget=

Kees.
SmileWavy

Where's the wifes Zoloft! :eek:

Well, there's paranoia, and there's stupid.

For you guys that say drive it regardless, I have read a lot of counterpoints right here on this forum. Some run along the lines of it being more special when it's not the usual.

Then there's the SoCal911SC approach. For him, it's a simple passion. The car as an object d'art. Yes, he is mirco focused.

But, to put your car in harm's way when you could aviod it is lacking some dedication IMHO. I refer here to where to park, etc., not driving.

Everyone has confirmed that I'm quite normal..to all here anyway.
The rest of the planet , stay away from my P.

Rika

SoCal, is that your sleeping bag on the car?

Do you use the mirror for a pillow or what?

Life is short and you guys are taking years off worrying about things you can't control.

Drive smart, park smart and enjoy what you have while you can.

At first glance, I thought for additional protection you were sleeping on the fender as well. ;) The mirror makes it look like a person in a sleeping bag.

There must be a term for this phenomenon. I used to have a gorgeous BMW 318ic--my first nice car, in perfect condition. Whenever it was not in my control (for things not happening to it), it would get dinged or damaged. It was incredible that it always happened when I thought it would. I was once sitting in a Best Buy-garage traffic jam waiting for the light to turn green, and I see some movement off to my right periphery. I look over and to my disbelief/horror ther is a shopping cart gaining speed toward my passenger side door. Bam! I was so enraged that I almost picked up the cart and threw it like the Hulk would. Then once in Ocean City, MD some stupid hick keyed the hell out of it. I was all too exhausting to own anymore so I got rid of it!

In a busy parking lot I always keep an eye out for the "ultimate" spot - the spot between two passenger side doors. While this is far from a guarantee, there is the magical hope that NO ONE is going to use those doors....

My happiest parking lot moment came last summer when I was forced to park on a slope with my entire flank exposed to (gasp!) a minivan, positioned uphill from me. I could almost see the future: busy grocery-laden housewife turns head to scold children and WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! - my Porsche get bumped, I punch out a soccer mom and end up in jail.

Imagine my happiness when I returned to my 911 to find an 8 year old girl clutching her (passenger side) door from moving even an inch closer to my car. As she identified me as the owner she said "I think your car is the coolest car I've ever seen".

Finish My Story Pelicans
 

I am not as paranoid as other are but I do watch were I park .
Christmas time is the worst time to find the best parking place at the mall.
Some of you guys know where the Pacific View mall in Ventura, Ca, is . I had to do some last miniute shopping on the 24th so I took my P-car and was determined to find a good space .
I found an almost empty lot next to Mimi's resturant , a crappy Denny's lookalike where I took two stalls. This was a good 1/8 of a mile from the mall. Believe me there was no one for at least 20 spaces around .My 18 year old daughter was with me. We shopped for about an hour .
To my surprise when I returned from the mall I noticed from far away that a SUV was parked very close to my car on the driver's side . By the way there was still 10-15 empty stalls all around where people could park .
When we approached my car a guy in his late 30's was standing on his driver's side running board looking over the top as we approached ( new Ford Expedition)

Soon as I got in range he looked at us and said " Just wanted to see what kind of A-Hole parks like this !"

I told my daughter to get in the car and wait .

Finish My Story Pelicans




http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1136417897.jpg




Vinnie From Ventura
1989 Silver Anniversary

I'm afraid I've got to side with the guy in the exp--- . I get very irritated when people take up two parking spots. With parking at the premium that it is around here, no one deserves two spots, no matter what kind of car they have. Doing that is just plain selfish. Besides, if you were parked that far away, you didn't need two. Don't know if you're just tweaking our chains, but that's my .02.

ianc

I must agree with ianc above, you just gotta park and pray. Nobody deserves two spots in this world... even the Pope had a single seater coffin....

Every ding gets you closer to a glorious respray - or a new toy.

Danl, I have to disagree with your strategy. I almost never park the Porsche between two cars. I always look for a spot far off from the traffic where my passenger side is against a curb. And ideally I'd be uphill from the parking space next to me.



How can you be forced to park in such a position? See, I would circle the parking lot for another 20 minutes before taking a space like that. With my daily driver VW, I took a space like that once in 10 years of ownership and it was the first and only time I got a door ding. I knew better when I took the spot. The spot even gave me the heebie jeebies but I parked there anyway because we were late for the movies. I'm glad the girl appreciated the 911 though.

thanks Anthony, you crack me up!

I spent the last ten years watching my pefectly restored 1965 Microbus accumulate a vast collection of parking lot scrapes, so I guess I've become immune.

My Porsche was keyed after two days of ownership, maybe it's best to get the pain of first damage over with quickly and try to live worry free from then on. Stuff gets scratched if you take it out of the garage, it's a good trade if that involves driving a Porsche.....http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1136421472.jpg

Are you guys really unable to find spots at the far end of the lot?

I just figure I need the exercise anyway. If I'm buying something heavy, I'm in the Honda Pilot...

I have a new Accord. I can never catch the bastards who bang my doors in the parking facility. Whenever I do see a car parked close to me , there is no ding! But I know that one day I will see a car in close proximity with a corresponding ding. That day, the heel of my hard-soled shoe will be buried nicely into the driver's side door.

Well, you could wire up a camera to come on when you lock the doors... put one on each side of the car angled out a bit.

Kalifornya is not Orygun...

ianc

Hey kilodawg!

No damage to the baby was there? Will it be visiting me any time soon?

(Let me guess, Charlie & Jake's?)

AFJ

Like that would even make a difference! I don't know about anywhere else but in SoCal parking waaay out at the other end of a parking lot; or worse, in the MIDDLE of the hinterlands of a huge parking lot is GUARANTEED to make some moron bring his hump of a car over and park it as close to your Porsche as possible as though it was magnetic :eek:

I totally "get it" that people generally don't care about their cars like we do, fine...really. Just leave me alone. If you admire my car, wonderful, I am flattered...don't touch it!

P.S. ALWAYS park uphill from everything you can, ESPECIALLY at a grocery store. Personally I avoid grocery store parking lots with the stray carts rolling all over the place like the plague.

Kilodawg? Can a "citizen" buy a Vicky like that? Cop equipment, ordered in black or white? If so, I may have a bead on my next daily driver. :D

SoCal911SC,
are you in SCal? Show some pics of your car please

kilodawg,
maybe we should have those on the rear bumper of our car :lol:

Dam parking lots are the bane of car ownership, my kids dont even comment "Dad why are you parking so far away" anymore. In Colorado it seems like every parking lot has spaces designed for small cars, but everyone here drives a truck, van or suv. My Audi (that I had to park in a crowded work lot) really took a beating from door dings.

Let's see, Mike the baby is fine!

pwd72s: You can't buy 'em brand new but you can get them with anywhere from 5-10 miles all the way up to 150,000. All the lights are generally removed but even that depends on the seller sometimes. They are supposed to last a good 200,000-300,000 miles depending. I'll let you know how mine make out.