Steve 96C4S

Ok, please don't laugh, don't think I'm nuts, and try not to chide me too hard, but repair expense on my older cars - my 993 and my 01 BMW 740i Sport are starting to drive my wife batty. We'll plan for an expensive trip, and then the 993 will need $6k of work done to it (this is regarding my recent post about rust repair and needing a new suspension this year). Granted, it's probably not going to be $6k every year, but the CEL has been on for 2+ years not so eventually I'll need those ports cleaned or worse. It just starts adding up, and we're not rich. When the cars need a lot of repair expenses each year, and it will no doubt get worse each year unless I have some lucky years, it cuts into our trip money.

I'm not trying to open up my personal finances to you all here and I realize this isn't the "Money Magazine Chatline", but we can go into savings to pay for this stuff, though it doesn't make my lovely wife that happy. I love my bimmer but it being a 2001 car, it will undoubtedly start having more issues soon too - it already has.

I have always lusted after this car, a 2004 MBS55
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...eadExists=true










Pros: Logically it makes sense to get the 2004 S55 and sell the older 993 and the BMW. I could get around $20K for the BMW and $35k for the 993 which would pay for the MB. I wouldn't have to have a car in the driveway anymore as I'd only have this one car and it would go in the garage (down from 3 cars to 2 cars - she's got the Acura). Also, it would cost alot less to maintain due to it being only 1 car to have something to go wrong with. And, insurance would be less overall. Less things to clean when it comes time to clean cars. This one car would be "more" of a car than my current BMW (better back seat room) and it's 496 HP wouldn't be a slouch.

Cons: I wouldn't be a Porsche owner anymore... I wouldn't have the Rennlist community, or the Meet and Drives to look forward to, or Panorama or Excellence. I might really regret selling it. I might miss it terribly.

Also, I have been a BMW owner most of my life, but the new BMW 7's don't appeal to me. The new AMG MB's do. I am really torn. Live without a Porsche? I could do it, but this is such a special "club"... What do do?

This is a really hard decision. I know you guys will mostly say to keep the 993 and BMW and just deal with high cost repairs - it's life, get over it. I realize I'm not going to get an unbiased decision here. I'm asking anyway...

Have you guys ever thought of a move like this?

Steve R

chris322

I don't think that you are alone on this. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I think a lot of us make more money than the avg. person, but we have also been financially successful by thinking through money decisions and being somewhat rational.

The choice to have a 911 and a daily driver is a money decision with a lot of emotion attached to it. I love my 993, but I have had my moments when I think about buying an E39 M5 and a set of snow tires and consolidating down to two cars. Two cars is less hassle and maintenance. Of course, everytime I have had that moment I go out and drive the 993 and I realize that selling my life long dream would only result in regret. The M-B is a sweet ride, however I don't know that maintenance and repairs in the long run would be a lot less given MB's reliability record lately.

Test drive the MB and ask youself if it would satisfy you more than having the 740 and the 993. Also, spread out the maintenance costs based on neccessity. Holding off on the 993 suspension isn't a bad thing especially if you park it during the winter.

DJF1

Hey Steve, over the years that you are on this board I've been reading your trials and tribulations with mixing your passion and your relationship with your wife. Obviously she has some very strong and powerful opinions and does not share your passion. The question that you have to ponder is how this pressure on doing what she wants affect you in the long run. While its always nice to give in to the Mrs as this saves a lot of nagging at night, on the long run have you thought that you might actually resent her?
Its always very delicate to talk about someone else's relationship and I wont go there as its not appropriate nor I know the full story. However from my own relationship with my wife, I'm on the firm belief that for both to be happy, both have to accept each other for who they are... As such when last year I was in financial doldrums, my wife left the decision to sell one of my 993's to me. She did not pressure me, nor asked me to do this. That is because she knows the emotional investment that I have with both my cars and how important they are to me. I respect her dearly for that and I know that if she had pressured me to give up my dream, I would have resented her in the long run and maybe that would have led to an eventual separation. Sacrificing for one another on equal terms is always a great thing...
Good luck to you with whatever decision you are going to make, the important thing is that YOU have to be happy at the end of the day...

DC from Cape Cod

Stop listening to your wife - problem solved.

Steve 96C4S

Good points, Chris. Maybe because I haven't had my 993 for 2 weeks as it's been at the autobody shop, it's seemed "less crucial" in my life.

I definitely need to drive the S55. I've been in the back seat of my buddy's car a few times and have marvelled at it's speed and beauty. I've tried to keep up with him when following him once up I-95 but my BMW isn't even the same league, not that having a 496 HP car is that important to my existence. It's not like I live in Germany and cruise the Autobahn alot. I mostly just plug around town doing errands and sales calls.

The 993 is special, but I'm not sure how practical it's become with the rising cost and frequency of repairs. On the other hand, can you imagine NOT having this community anymore, this lifestyle (993 ownership), this great car in your garage?

Stumped...

Steve R

Ed Burdell

The cost/benefit ratio of owning these cars is an ongoing calculation, unique to each individual.

And changing one's mind is OK.

Make your trades. If the MB makes you and your family happier, then congrats, you're done. If, over time, you find the lack of a Porsche in your driveway is a yawning gap in your life, then trade again. (Yes, I know swapping cars is expensive, but presumably, you'll have enjoyed some relatively maintenance-free years in the meanwhile.) Perhaps you'll find a better example, one that won't eat your lunch every year. After years on this board and almost 2000 posts now, you'll be a savvier shopper for sure if you decide to re-enter Porscheland.

Going on over a year now, the thrill of owning a Porsche for the first time runs hotter than ever for me. That's all I read about, that's (almost) all I think about. I'm so hard core now, I want to buy a second one, a 3.2.

Still, after ripping up several sets of tires last year, doing the 60K service, paying for speeding tickets, and doing a parade of relatively minor enhancements (not to mention the endless stream of cleaning tools and products), I get green to the gills thinking about the cash outlay. So far, I haven't had to sell any of my children off for medical experiments, but maybe they don't get to go to Harvard, either.

Someday, maybe my answer to the calculus of ownership will change, too.

Good luck.

max911

i just used the "search" function; entering your user name and "wife" as the keyword.
150 hits - (which i think may be a pre set limit)



just jerking your chain. LOL

(and I know you must have a chain!)

Steve 96C4S

So, dumb question I guess, but ... this particular S55 doesn't really fill the gap where the 993 and BMW were? Could it? Ok, it's really fast, it's still silver, it's got cool, sporting seats, but ... yes, I know. It's not a sports car. It's not a Porsche.

Steve R

billh1963

Steve,
You have a tough decision to make. You and I bought our C4S's around the same time; however, I had to sell mine because of a company merger and potential job/income loss. I have missed my 993 almost every day.

Since then I have been casually (and sometimes seriously) looking at 996's and 997's. I keep coming back to the 993. Maybe you should consider getting the M-B and picking up a lower mileage 1995 NB 993 w/o the CEL issues?

Good luck whichever way you decide to go.

Bill

Ash

"So, dumb question I guess, but ... this particular S55 doesn't really fill the gap where the 993 and BMW were? Could it?"

Steve, from a purely pragamatic point of view, it might...but this isn't about pure pragmatism is it?

Facing such high repair bills, I'm sure the current luster of 993 ownership is being tested to say the least, but inside your heart, I'm sure you already know that the MB will never fill the gaps that the Porsche satisfies. There's nothing wrong with that because they're different cars that have been built for different purposes. We all know that purchasing a Porsche was never made for practical reasons.

I wish you luck in your decision...tough one....but not irreversible if you find yourself deep in regret.

Terry Adams

I sold a 300SEL 6.3 to buy my first Porsche, an '87 3.2 Cab. The maintenance bils dropped in half. We have owned 6 MBs over the last 20 years. Have you considered a sportier lighter MB, eg the CLK 550?

Steve 96C4S

Thx Ash and Bill1963: Buying the MB and a 95 lower mile 933 is definitely not an option. Buying the MB is the only option. 1 more car, not 2. Money's not there for both, plus, if I have to sell my 993, I doubt I could ever go through this again, getting another one after searching so long for my current one and fixing it up to the point it's at now.

I called my local MB dealers but they don't have one in stock right now. I'm waiting to drive one to see if it could replace the 993 and BMW.

Replace? It's just a word. The only problem I see would be what to do with the hole in my heart when the 993 goes down my driveway for the last time with someone else driving it and the title in their pocket instead of mine. Now that would be hard... I can only imagine that sick, sinking feeling, like losing a lover or a long lasting relationship.

Steve R

Peter R.

I it were up to me, which luckily it isn't, I'd rather have a Ford Fiesta and a 993 than just the MB.
My DD is a rather agrarian 4x4, no creature comfort, it isn't even watertight, but it's cheap to run and insure, easy to repair, and runs on about 27mpg of diesel.

If needs must I'll buy a yaris or a matiz second hand for a crate of beer and put the 993 in storage (no road tax or in-sewer-ants), but I'm not selling it. Unless it's to buy another one.

Peter R.

Steve 96C4S

Peter R - Man, you really put this in perspective, how important it is to keep a 993! I never thought of selling my BMW and getting something super low maintenance and newish like a ... Honda Civic if I had to, or something similar.

It didn't occur to me how important a 993 is. Until I drive the MB I won't know for sure, but the tide of my original thought may be turning, slowly. Plus, I just called 2 more dealers and none have a preowned S55.

Steve R

Deanriffs

Steve R.,

A big sedan, fast and well-handling as it may be, just won't be the same. I'd rather have a sedan in the driveway which I didn't have to worry about so much, but was reliable, and keep my 993.

The summer days cruising in a nice Mercedes sedan just would quite get it for me. My $0.02. Good luck.